SoylentNews

takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Erik Prince, the founder of the security contractor Blackwater USA [wikipedia.org] (renamed many times, such as Xe Services and Academi), is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice [theintercept.com]:

Erik Prince, founder of the now-defunct mercenary firm Blackwater and current chairman of Frontier Services Group, is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal agencies for attempting to broker military services to foreign governments and possible money laundering, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the case.

What began as an investigation into Prince's attempts to sell defense services in Libya and other countries in Africa has widened to a probe of allegations that Prince received assistance from Chinese intelligence to set up an account for his Libya operations through the central bank of China. The Justice Department, which declined to comment for this article, is also seeking to uncover the precise nature of Prince's relationship with Chinese intelligence.

[...] For more than a year, U.S. intelligence has been monitoring Prince's communications and movements, according to a former senior U.S. intelligence officer and a second former intelligence official briefed on the investigation. Multiple sources, including two people with business ties to Prince, told The Intercept that current government and intelligence personnel informed them of this surveillance. Those with business ties were cautioned to sever their dealings with Prince.

[...] "He's a rogue chairman," said one of Prince's close associates, who has monitored his attempts to sell mercenary forces in Africa. That source, who has extensive knowledge of Prince's activities and travel schedule, said that Prince was operating a "secret skunkworks program" while parading around war and crisis zones as FSG's founder and chairman. "Erik wants to be a real, no-shit mercenary," said the source. "He's off the rails exposing many U.S. citizens to criminal liabilities. Erik hides in the shadows ... and uses [FSG] for legitimacy."

Original Submission