U.S. sanctions Benjamin Bol Mel over corruption
The Trump
administration on Thursday announced sanctions against 52 people and entities
from around the world over alleged human rights abuses and corruption,
including Benjamin Bol Mel of South Sudan.
“Today, the United
States is taking a strong stand against human rights abuse and corruption
globally by shutting these bad actors out of the U.S. financial system.
Treasury is freezing their assets and publicly denouncing the egregious acts
they’ve committed, sending a message that there is a steep price to pay for
their misdeeds,” said Secretary of the Treasury Steven T. Mnuchin.
“At the direction of
President Trump, Treasury and our interagency partners will continue to take
decisive and impactful actions to hold accountable those who abuse human
rights, perpetrate corruption, and undermine American ideals.”
Benjamin Bol Mel is
the President of ABMC Thai-South Sudan Construction Company Limited (ABMC), and
has served as the Chairman of the South Sudan Chamber of Commerce, Industry,
and Agriculture.
Bol Mel has also
served as President Salva Kiir’s principal financial advisor, has been Kiir’s
private secretary, and was perceived within the government as being close to
Kiir and the local business community. Several officials were linked to
ABMC in spite of a constitutional prohibition on top government officials
transacting commercial business or earning income from outside the government.
Bol Mel oversees ABMC,
which has been awarded contracts worth tens of millions of dollars by the
government of South Sudan. ABMC allegedly received preferential treatment
from high-level officials, and the Government of South Sudan did not hold a
competitive process for selecting ABMC to do roadwork on several roads in Juba
and throughout South Sudan. Although this roadwork had been completed
only a few years before, the government budgeted tens of millions of dollars
more for maintenance of the same roads.
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