FBI investigating deaths of two Kazakh oligarch whistleblowers
The FBI is investigating the mysterious deaths of two potential witnesses in a corruption probe into a £20billion mining giant lead by three Kazakhstan oligarchs.
James Bethel, 44, and Gerrit Strydom, 45, were originally
believed to have died of cerebral malaria when their bodies were discovered in
a motel in Springfield, Missouri, in May 2015.
The FBI has since taken over the investigation - which was
never officially closed - from Springfield police.
This comes as a new book by Tom Burgis reveals that the
probability that the two men would die of malaria at the exact same time were
very small.
Sam Wassamer of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical
Medicine said: 'The likelihood of two separate people developing the disease at
the exact same time and dying the same night is almost certainly nil.'
Genetic analysis ruled out the theory that the men were
bitten by the same mosquito - which was the only plausible way the initial
cause of death could have been explained.
Mr Bethel and Mr Strydom, both from South Africa, were
senior officials in Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation's interests in
Africa.
The company is in the midst of a criminal corruption
investigation by Britain's Serious Fraud Office and it is understood that the
men - who left the company in 2015 - were seen as potential witnesses.
The SFO - whose bribery investigation focuses on the
company's mines in Africa - had reached out to Mr Bethel before he and Mr
Strydom left Johannesburg and flew to Chicago via Amsterdam, sources said. The
pair took a trip along Route 66 on Harley-Davidson motorcycles which they
hired.
They were found dead in their room by staff at the La Quinta
Inn.
The CDC found malaria in blood and tissue samples samples
sent off by a local medical examiner. Fears that the samples were unreliable
have now emerged, the Financial Times reports.
Confirmation that an official custody chain - to make sure
the evidence was properly handled - existed was not confirmed by private coronor
sent by the ENRC nor the area's medical examiner.
The CDC believed the men may have contracted the deadly
disease during a fishing trip they took together in Zambia - two weeks before
they started feeling ill on their flight to the US.
However, it now been deemed highly improbable that the
disease could have killed them both at the same time.
The case was never officially closed by local police. It was
passed over to the FBI - but it is unclear when this handover happened.
The ENRC was set up by oligarchs Aslexander Mashkevitch, Patokh
Chodiev and Alijan Ibragimov, who have a respective estimated wealth of $1.9
billion, $1.8 billion, and $1.9 billion, Forbes reports.
The men took hold of mines in Kazakhstan after the Soviet
Union's collapse lead to mass privatization. The ENRC was worth £20 billion at
one point.
They expanded to various mines in Africa, where Mr Bethel
and Mr Strydom worked.
Author Mr Burgis told The Daily Beast: 'The billionaires who
control ENRC holiday in the south of France with presidents or on superyachts
half as long as the Titanic [Uzbekistan-born Ibragimov, spends much of his time
on a reported 26-cabin, $200 million yacht].
He added: 'But more importantly, their money is power in the
rawest sense. In places like Kazakhstan and Congo [...] oligarchs such as these
have power like that of the old imperialists.
'They have extended that power into the rich democracies with
the help of lawyers, bankers, spin doctors, lobbyists and spies.'
A spokesperson for ENRC commented: 'Mr Burgis' attempts to
draw a link between these deaths to ENRC are entirely without substance.
'It appears as though he has been used to advance an agenda
by ENRC's adversaries, and is using sensationalist headlines in order to
generate negative publicity around the company.'
The ENRC sued the SFO for £70million last year, alleging
wrongdoing in the way it conducted the investigation.
It claims the lawyer it hired to look into fraud and
corruption allegations internally passed on details to contacts at the SFO.
Allegations are denied by all parties.
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