by Khadija Sharife (OCCRP), Lara Dihmis (OCCRP), 3Ayin, Erin Klazar (OCCRP), and Le Monde
[OCCRP] Wagner, the Russian mercenary company owned by the infamous businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, secured and maintained its position in Sudan’s gold sector while working closely with companies affiliated with Sudan’s brutal military.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has attracted condemnation, sanctions, and unprecedented media attention on some of the most powerful figures inside Vladimir Putin’s regime. Among them is the man known as “Putin’s chef,” Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman and caterer who in September finally admitted to founding the notorious Wagner Group of mercenaries, which deploys to war zones around the world, often fighting for factions allied with the Russian government. Company employees have been accused of murder and war crimes in operations in Africa, Syria, and Ukraine.
This year, reports in Bloomberg, The New York Times, and CNN exposed the role of Meroe Gold Limited, a Sudanese company within the Wagner network, alleging that Wagner was giving support and advice to Sudan’s brutal dictatorship in order to access gold. Now, OCCRP, working in partnership with Le Monde, has obtained leaked documents, including contracts, letters, and internal memos, that provide new details of how Meroe’s parent company M Invest — which is owned by Prigozhin — paid millions of dollars to a company operated by Sudanese military intelligence. In exchange, it obtained access to residence permits and weapons for its Russian personnel. Meroe also appears to have received special treatment from the Sudanese presidency, according to leaked correspondence.
M Invest’s deal with Sudan’s military is especially problematic because the army is known for being “deeply and systemically corrupt,” as well as a major conduit for illegal weapons, said Andrew Feinstein, an anti-corruption expert and author of “The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade.”
“M Invest is effectively utilizing a criminal military to conduct its criminal activities,” he said.
Richard Messick, a former senior operations specialist at the World Bank who now consults for international organizations on legal development and anticorruption, said Wagner and the Sudanese military were “two of the blackest of the black figures in the world economy.”
“The question is how these transactions [between Wagner and Sudanese military companies] are being conducted,” said Messick. “These are two really bad actors that shouldn’t be allowed to purchase arms, anywhere. If the payment is in gold, it needs to be shut down. If it’s through the international financial system, sanctioning authorities must make sure the companies and individuals associated with them cannot hold any [bank] account.”
Prigozhin repeatedly denied having any connection to Meroe, or indeed Wagner. Over several years, he even sued media outlets that claimed Wagner belonged to him. Not until September did Prigozhin admit he had founded the company — not long after videos of him recruiting Russian prisoners to fight with Wagner in Ukraine appeared online.
Although he has not publicly acknowledged that he owns Meroe, the company was sanctioned by the U.S. in July 2020 for its ties to him. The Treasury Department said Meroe was owned by a company called M Invest that was owned or controlled by Prigozhin. M Invest provided a cover for Wagner operations inside Sudan while obtaining gold mining licenses, the U.S. said.
Mikhail Potepkin, who leads Meroe in Sudan, declined to respond to questions from OCCRP. Emails to Meroe bounced back.
Emails to Sudan’s Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Energy seeking comment bounced back because their inboxes were full, and none of the listed phone numbers for either ministry would connect. Aswar could not be reached for comment.
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