(Mike Tolson, Houston Chronicle)
Kase Lawal, the politically connected head of a local energy company who also serves as a commissioner on the Port of Houston Authority, was the main organizer of an illicit gold smuggling operation that went awry last February in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a United Nations report on the nation’s natural resources and their misuse by various militia groups.
Lawal, chairman of CAMAC International and a prominent Houston philanthropist, used company money to finance a scheme to take approximately 475 kilograms of gold out of Congo for resale despite a national ban on gold exports, which often have been used to finance paramilitary activities and ethnic strife, stated the report, which was publicly released last week. The scheme originally called for the transaction to be conducted in Kenya, where the export of gold is legal, but was belatedly moved to Goma, Congo, at the insistence of the sellers.
(Read the full story at the Houston Chronicle)
Of Related Interest:
For Congo Children, Food Today Means None Tomorrow (New York Times)
OTHER HEADLINES:
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- Good Samaritan Killed on her Birthday (KRIV-26 News)
- Smoke Blankets Galveston County from 10,000 Acre Wildfire (Galveston Daily News)
- Houston Chapter of Hadassah Honors ‘Women of Courage’ from Community (Your Houston News)
- UT Health Professor Elected to Leadership Positions of Infectious Diseases Division (Your Houston News)
OPINION:
- Houston Area Well Below Recommended Cancer Screening Levels (Your Houston News)
- Falling Behind: Minimum Wage Needs a Revisit (New York Times)