Treasury officials target companies tied to a gold selling scheme that benefitted the Russian mercenary group
A Russian national with business ties in Mali was also named as a target of U.S. sanctions for his work tied to the Wagner Group’s commander, Yevgeny Prigozhin. | Sergei Ilnitsky/AFP/Getty ImagesU.S. officials unveiled new sanctions Tuesday against companies and an individual tied to the Wagner Group, focusing their attention on the Russian mercenary group’s African connections in the wake of its botched mutiny over the weekend.
“The Wagner Group funds its brutal operations in part by exploiting natural resources in countries like the Central African Republic and Mali,” Brian Nelson, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the Treasury, said in a news release. “The United States will continue to target the Wagner Group’s revenue streams to degrade its expansion and violence in Africa, Ukraine, and anywhere else.
Treasury officials have focused their attention on two mining and precious minerals and metals companies in the Central African Republic — Midas Ressources and Diamville — as well as a Dubai-based industrial goods distributor and a Russian-based liability company, for their participation in a gold and minerals selling scheme that financially benefited the Wagner Group. A Russian national with business ties in Mali was also named as a target of U.S.
The Wagner Group, which led an aborted mutiny and rebellion against the Russian government on Friday and Saturday, has been present since 2017 in Central Africa, becoming one of Russia’s most valuable foreign policy tools on the continent in the process.
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