Ashraf Seed Ahmed Al-Cardinal and Kur Ajing Ater, two South Sudanese businessmen have been charged for bribery and fraud by the US government. These businessmen have been sanctioned by the US for their involvement in kickbacks, bribery and procurement fraud. As per the Treasury Department, the defendants were charged for bribing the senior government officials. The statement surfaced on Friday.
According to the statement made by the Treasury Department, the U.S. Treasury Department further imposed sanctions on Benjamin Bol Mel. Mel is the key adviser to the South Sudanese president. In 2017, Mel has been charged for using an account in the name of the companies of Al-Cardinal. This was to dodge sanctions.
It was in the early of 2019 that the South Sudanese government paid millions of dollars to the company that was owned by Al-Cardinal ostensibly. This money instead of being used for food was transferred to senior South Sudanese government officials. The Treasury Department made this clear with a statement mentioned on Friday.
There is another list of five companies on which the sanction has been imposed. These sanctions have been imposed by the Treasury Department. These companies are either owned or controlled by Ashraf Seed Ahmed Al-Cardinal.
Ater, the other businessman who has been targeted by Friday’s sanctions by the Treasury department has been charged for bribing key South Sudanese officials. The bribing was done to maintain influence as well as for accessing the country’s oil market. The stance was made lucid by the Treasury Department through their statement.
The investigation has further revealed that Ater had received a large cash payment. The payment that was made in 2018 by South Sudan’s government was routed to a senior South Sudanese government official in the form of bribery.