Mugabe’s $3.4m US fixer convicted

via Mugabe’s $3.4m US fixer convicted 10/10/2014

A CHICAGO man was convicted Friday on one of three counts accusing him of illegally lobbying on behalf of top Zimbabwe government officials in violation of US economic sanctions.

C. Gregory Turner, 72, sat calmly with his hands folded on the defence table and showed little reaction as the verdict was read in U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo’s courtroom after the jury had deliberated over three days.

Turner was acquitted of two counts accusing him of failing to register with the U.S. Attorney General as an agent of a foreign power.

But the jury convicted him of a conspiracy count for acting on behalf of President Robert Mugabe’s administration by organising a delegation of Illinois lawmakers to push for the lifting of sanctions first imposed in 2003.

Mugabe’s regime — accused of using political violence and vote-rigging to maintain power — had been the target of U.S. sanctions for seven years, when Turner and his co-defendant, Prince Asiel Ben Israel, in 2008 saw an opportunity to cash in on Obama’s election by lobbying on behalf of the Zimbabwean government, said Assistant U.S. Attorneys Barry Jonas and Georgia Alexakis during the trial.

Turner and Ben Israel helped arrange for state senators to visit Zimbabwe as part of the doomed bid to end sanctions, they said.

And Jonas during closing arguments on Tuesday pointed to emails in which Turner fawned over Zimbabwean officials and called himself their “eternal warrior” as evidence he was working for Mugabe.

He suggested Turner was motivated by money, pointing to another email in which Turner wrote about his hopes of scoring a “PAYDAY.”

But Turner’s attorney, Michael Leonard, said his client was simply “sucking up” to the officials because he was moved by the plight of Zimbabweans and wanted to help end the sanctions.

Turner had longstanding links to African politics, “a deep love of Africa” and was “working for an issue, not a government,” Leonard said, adding that there was no evidence that the “spiritual” Turner ever received any cash from the Zimbabweans.

With the conviction, federal prosecutors asked the judge to place Turner on electronic monitoring pending sentencing, arguing he had been living in Israel at the time he was charged last year and was a risk to flee.

Turner had returned to Chicago from his home in Israel to stand trial. Bucklo said she would decide on any restrictions next week.

Prosecutors alleged that Zimbabwe officials agreed to pay $3.4 million to Turner and his longtime friend, Prince Asiel Ben Israel, for their lobbying efforts after they bragged about close ties to Barack Obama after his election as president in 2008.

In early December 2008, Turner and Ben Israel arranged for a delegation to travel to Zimbabwe. After the delegation’s return, Obama’s transition team alerted the FBI over its concerns that the trip may have violated the sanctions.

According to the charges, Turner and Ben Israel tried to arrange for another trip to Africa in 2009 with Illinois state Sen. Donne Trotter and two U.S. representatives from Chicago, but the effort ultimately failed.

The case was filled with strange twists as it neared trial, including defence efforts to take a videotaped deposition of Mugabe when he visited New York last month to participate in a United Nations conference.

Turner’s attorneys also argued the jury should see a clandestine video recording of then-Sen. Joseph Biden shaking hands with one of Mugabe’s top officials (ex-RBZ chief Gideon Gono) at a meeting at the U.S. Capitol in 2006.

The judge allowed the jury to hear testimony about the meeting but said the video could only be shown if Turner took the witness stand. He never did.