African leader of Obama’s Africa summit from bank that violated money-laundering regulations

One of the African leaders at the forefront of President Barack Obama’s Africa summit headed a bank that was fined eight figures for violating money-laundering regulations and is closely associated with the foundations of liberal billionaire George Soros and the Clinton family.

Nigerian Tony Elumelu—a “banking titan” and one of Africa’s richest men—is acting as a spokesperson for the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit this week. He penned an op-ed last week in the Wall Street Journal calling the event a “defining moment” for both the African continent and “for the United States as it formally recognizes the strategic importance of Africa.”

He started his career by growing United Bank of Africa (UBA) from a small struggling Nigerian bank into a leading financial services institution with worldwide operations. Now he runs one of Africa’s largest investment firms and a foundation that has partnered with the Clinton Global Initiative and has ties to others in America’s left.

In 2010, Elumelu was forced to leave United Bank of Africa (UBA) due to a law enacted by former Nigerian President Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua that limited the number of years any CEO of a major Nigerian bank could hold that position. Yar’Adua came from the banking industry and knew that it was corrupt and “needed to be sanitized.”

While Elumelu was at the helm of UBA, it was forced to pay a $15 million fine to the U.S. Treasury Department for failing to comply with anti-money-laundering rules at its New York branch.

The fine was tied to Elumelu’s position on the board of the African Finance Corporation (AFC), a multinational project designed to develop infrastructure across Africa. The initiator of the project, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria Charles Chukwuma Soludo, was later found guilty by the Minister of Justice of “money laundering and abuse of office among myriads of financial misdoings” relating to the operation of the AFC.

The Treasury Department fine for Elumelu’s UBA was for failure to report suspicious transactions by the Central Bank of Nigeria in its New York branch to the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

Central bank moved close to $300 million from its AFC bank account to the New York UBA account to an account in UBA’s New York branch. The money was used in short-term investments in New York for businesses that were unrelated with that of the stated mission of AFC.

Elumelu has tried to distance himself from the financial corruption in Nigeria’s banking sector, despite his direct involvement in it.

In 2012, he made an appeal for Nigeria to be talked about more positively, rather than with a focus on the rampant corruption.

“Without sounding a bit defensive, I think we tend to over bloat this issue of corruption in Nigeria and in fact, almost all the speakers who have spoken today are talking about corruption,” Elumelu said at a economic summit in Nigeria. “Yes some people are corrupt in Nigeria, a country of about 170 million people; we have one, two, or five per cent that are corrupt.”

Transparency International rates Nigeria as “highly corrupt” and finds that it ranks 144 out of 177 on its corruption index.

Elumelu founded Heirs Holdings Limited, an investment holdings company that invests in African companies, and the Tony Elumelu Foundation in 2010. His investment company gained notoriety last November when, in just three weeks, Elumelu made $123 million off Transcorp PLC, a conglomerate with holdings in a diverse range of African sectors, according to Forbes.

Obama spoke at the summit on Tuesday and announced plans for $14 billion in U.S. corporate investment in Africa.

Elumelu founded the Tony Elumelu Foundation in 2010 with the goal of “enhancing the competitiveness of the African private sector.”

Sitting on the advisory board of Elumelu’s foundation is one of left-wing billionaire George Soros’ closest associates, Stewart Paperin, who was executive vice president of Soros’ Open Society Foundations and president of the Soros Economic Development Fund.

Also on Elumelu’s advisory board is billionaire Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a longtime political supporter of the Clintons. She hosted the first political event Hillary Clinton attended in 2014, a fundraiser for Chelsea Clinton’s mother-in-law Marjorie Margolies, who was running for a House seat in Pennsylvania.

De Rothschild has called Obama a “loser” and said that he “will be devastating for the country.”

“He’s so vain and he’s so convinced of his own transcendence as a solution to everything that he’s incapable of doing the right thing for the country,” de Rothschild said of Obama in 2011.

Elumelu has built a strong relationship with both Bill and Hillary Clinton and their Clinton Global Initiative. In 2012, CNN described Elumelu as the “darling of the Clinton Global Initiative.”

Former President Clinton is involved in the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit as well, hosting the opening session of Tuesday morning’s business forum. Clinton said that American business is “missing the boat” and that investing in Africa is a “massive opportunity for American business.”

Clinton was a keynote speaker at de Rothschild’s own conference earlier this year, where Elumelu also spoke.

Elumelu’s foundation was spotlighted in President Clinton’s Time magazine article “How To Save the World” as the prime example of a CGI partner organization that is “solving the world’s problems.”

Elumelu has been a regular speaker at CGI events over the years. He used the 2011 CGI annual conference to announce the launch of a new ratings system that measures the “social and environmental impact” of investment portfolios.

The system is funded in part by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which fostered a relationship with Elumelu while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state.

Under Clinton, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah traveled to Nigeria for a town hall hosted by the Tony Elumelu Foundation. He is now an advisor for USAID’s Private Capital Group for Africa.

Elumelu was an attendee at the official United Kingdom book release party of Hillary Clinton’s latest memoir, Hard Choices. Clinton was pictured alongside Elumelu and de Rothschild at the event.

The Bottom Banner sat Thank you Mama Graca: Mama Graca was Mendela's 3 rd wife. http://www.citypress.co.za/news/graca-machel-threat-bitter-rows-erupt-madibas-money/ A raging war has broken out in Nelson Mandela’s family. Its members are fighting over his estate and are moving to kick out his widow, Graça Machel, from the house she shared with her late husband. The past six months have been a nightmare for Machel as the world’s beloved statesman lay dying. She has endured rejection and abuse from some members of the sprawling Mandela dynasty. Six sources inside and outside the Mandela household have told City Press that: » Machel was told by members of the Mandela family that she should leave the Houghton home as soon as Madiba died; » There was a massive row in the weeks before his death between Machel and grandson Ndaba in which household members had to intervene; » Mandela’s eldest daughter, Makaziwe, often refuses to speak to Machel; and » Makaziwe has verbally abused staff and repeatedly insisted she alone will determine how to divide the spoils of Mandela’s estate. Attempts to obtain any comment from the family were unsuccessful. Voice, text and Facebook messages, as well as emails, went unanswered as were questions sent to Makaziwe and Ndaba Mandela through their lawyer on Friday. Machel’s personal assistant said the widow could not comment because she was in mourning. The feuding and tension is over two issues – control over the Mandela legacy and control over his money. Last weekend’s funeral saw all of this coming to the fore despite a more contained and unified face to the public. Sources in the Mandela household and the family, as well as family friends, say the Mandelas have never really accepted Machel. She is often rejected, excluded and often simply ignored. But simmering hostilities erupted into bitter feuding when, earlier this year, grandson Ndaba Mandela, who lives in the Houghton home, had a raging row with Machel. He allegedly accused her of being an opportunist and of stealing his grandfather’s money. At one point, household sources told City Press “he even tried to attack her physically but was restrained from doing so after the intervention of household staff”. Another close family friend said: “I don’t know where they get the idea that there is all this money. Trusts were set up and each member was taken care of. Other than that, there are no hidden sums of money tucked away.” As one staff member said: “They all hate Graça and believe there is a lot more money than there really is and that she is hiding it. “Mandela looked after every child and grandchild but they seem to think there is a lot more money and want to get their hands on it.” In fact, there was not enough money and they did not even have enough to pay the bills. “Previously, there was always some benefactor who would come to the rescue. But then Mandela got sick and the funds started drying up,” said the staff member. Another family member said the suspicion remains “that Graça has spent all the money”. However, Machel, like other family members, had been taken care of by Mandela but also has her own income and a separately funded charity foundation. Before Mandela fell ill, she was told by some of his family members that she “should watch out” as “she would be kicked out of the Houghton house as soon as Tata died”. Machel has already bought another home in Bryanston and is expected to move in once the mourning period for Mandela is over. She spent the week after the funeral at Mandela’s Qunu residence and only returned to Houghton this weekend. However, it’s unlikely that Machel found much peace in Qunu. Her eldest stepchild, Makaziwe Mandela, flew there after the memorial service at Johannesburg’s FNB Stadium and reduced staff to tears as she “stomped around the place, barking orders”. A family friend who visited the house immediately after Mandela died, said Makaziwe was already throwing her weight around insisting that “she would determine who would get which Mandela house”. Staff and family members said that before her father was discharged from the Pretoria Heart Hospital, Makaziwe insisted on a massive renovation of the Houghton home’s kitchen. At family gatherings during this period, she refused to spend her own money and insisted that the Mandela household account be used to pay for all expenses. However, staff say that Makaziwe, the other children and grandchildren barely visited Mandela when he was in Qunu. A close family member said: “They couldn’t care less about him. They just dumped him in the care of staff and Graça for months on end.” Another added: “Maki hardly ever went to visit him so nobody can understand what’s going on with her and why she is suddenly all over this.” These revelations follow eight months of working on the story, during which at least 22 different people have been interviewed including staff members, family, family friends and ANC officials. In the coming weeks, attention will turn to Mandela’s will. Attempts to gain control of his trust by daughters Zenani and Makaziwe earlier this year failed. The pair tried to sue for the removal of George Bizos, Tokyo Sexwale, Bally Chuene and Eastern Cape Judge President Themba Sangoni as directors of two companies owned by the Mandela Trust. But they eventually withdrew their application and paid the costs of the proceedings. The family was severely rebuked in a statement issued by law firm Norton Rose Fulbright on behalf of the directors. “This ill-considered and misguided application had the effect of causing reputational harm not only to the respondents as directors and trustees but also to the trust and the image of the founder, Mr Nelson Mandela, himself.”

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