US sanctions against illegal gold companies that fund Wagner

Still developments last Saturday, when the commander decided Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin, launching a military rebellion in Russia, continues.

On Tuesday, the United States announced the imposition of sanctions on companies in Central Africa and Russia, accusing them of involvement in
Illegal dealings with gold to finance the Russian private military Wagner Group.

4 companies associated with the Wagner Group

The US Treasury said in a statement that it had imposed sanctions on 4 companies linked to the Wagner Group and its president, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Adding that illegal dealings with gold finance the group and help it to keep its members and increase their number in Ukraine and some countries in Ukraine
Africa.

Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson continued in a statement that the Wagner Group partially financed its brutal operations.
By exploiting natural resources in countries such as the Central African Republic and Mali, explaining that the United States will continue to target the group’s revenue sources to limit the expansion of its business volume and its violent operations in Africa, Ukraine and elsewhere.

The sanctions list included Midas Resources and Diamville, based in the Central African Republic, and DM LLC, based in Russia.

The United States also issued a circular highlighting the risks posed by the gold trade in sub-Saharan Africa and encouraging participants
In this sector to enhance due diligence practices in light of the increasing disturbing reports about the role of illicit actors in the gold trade, including the Wagner Group.

Washington also imposed sanctions on Andrei Nikolayevich Ivanov, a Russian citizen who the Treasury Department has accused of being a group executive.
Wagner said he worked closely with senior Malian officials on arms deals and other activities of the group in the country.

Although the American announcement came hours after the end of the Wagner problem, the US State Department had stated before this announcement that any action against the group had nothing to do with the rebellion that took place in Russia earlier this week, which did not last long.

While Russian President Vladimir Putin said today, Tuesday, in front of a group of soldiers in the Russian army, that he had always respected my fighters
Waner, adding that the group was “fully funded” by the state budget.

The bloodiest battles were fought

It is noteworthy that Wagner has participated in the fighting in Libya, Syria, the Central African Republic, Mali and other countries, and has fought the bloodiest battles of the 16-month-old war in Ukraine.

The group was established in 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea and began supporting pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region.

And Moscow had announced earlier, dropping all prosecutions against the group, although Putin vowed last Saturday, hours after the military rebellion launched by his former ally Prigozhin, to inflict the most severe punishment on those he described as “traitors.”