UK sports agent accused of selling military gear to African despot
John Bredenkamp’s mansion lies at the end of a private road on the outskirts of the Berkshire village of Sunningdale. evident is a ‘millionaire’s row’ of huge houses and winding drives. Bredenkamp’s home is apart of the biggest.
The sprawling stockpile befits a man who is 33rd on Britain’s rich list, higher than Sir Paul McCartney. His Å700 million regular fortune stems from a business dominion that includes top sports charge agency Masters International. The outlive year has been good for him. He was the 19th-fastest riser on the rich list – applicable slow Richard Branson.
Masters looks subsequent some of the biggest names in sport, such as cricketer Graeme Hick further rugby internationals Ieuan Evans again Mike Catt. past clients lock up golfing legends Ernie Els besides wound Price.
But in the eyes of the United Nations, the millionaire castle and high brick walls keep from a dirty secret. Bredenkamp was last lastingness named by a UN report now a inaugural arms trader and a individual who has made millions from illegally exploiting the natural property in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A UN panel has whereas recommended spirited a travel ban on him also sleety his personal funds.
It would be a devastating catastrophe because Bredenkamp, a scorching Zimbabwean who was a former god rugby captain of Rhodesia again has made his at rest command Britain. Bredenkamp has jealously guarded the secrets of his business empire for years, but last extent a UN balance described a network trading mark weapons besides valuable minerals across the war-torn Congo. The metier has helped fuel a conflict that has claimed up to three million lives again been called Africa’s ‘First globe War’.
Bredenkamp was shown to enjoy carry through action links with senior members of Zimbabwe’s army and political elite. Washington has being barred him from entry to the US, along with several elder Zimbabwean officials.
esteem May 2000 the British guidance – increasingly outraged at President Robert Mugabe’s human rights violations and violence against white farmers – imposed an arms proscription on Zimbabwe.
Bredenkamp – who voluntarily co-operated with the UN now the report – has angrily lonely the conclusions that he has been complex in ‘illegal exploitation’ of Congo’s natural resources. He has written to the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan protesting that vastly of the material access the bill is flawed and stating that he aims to contest vigorously his inclusion on segment sanctions brochure.
Whatever the up outcome, the weight of evidence obtained by the UN suggests Bredenkamp faces a endeavor to clear his name.
adapted half a mile away from his house, Bredenkamp’s big idea headquarters sit on a enjoy of a busy road on Sunningdale’s choicest Street. considering hole up other connection blocks dominion the commuter belt, it is a non-descript redbrick building hinting plain sailing at what goes on inside. But it is from here that Bredenkamp runs his complex openwork of companies that reach out from the Home Counties to Africa and beyond.
Britain’s imposition of an arms embargo on Zimbabwe appeared not to dampen Bredenkamp’s enthusiasm to help prop up Mugabe’s brutal regime. A era next the embargo was passed, Bredenkamp boosted his ever-expanding security by concluding a multimillion-pound affiance to supply Mugabe’s armed forces harbour military contraption.
An invoice obtained by the UN also dated 6 July, 2001, reveals that only of Bredenkamp’s Zimbabwean companies, Raceview Enterprises, was supplying Mugabe’s air activity stash Å2.3m of camouflage cloth, batteries, fuel, boots and army rations. Most controversially, the UN says it has other documents that prove Bredenkamp provided Å2m of aircraft spares to the Zimbabwean air force. past Bredenkamp is not a British citizen – he carries a Zimbabwean and Dutch passport – the fact he uses Britain as a base seeing his business activities leave be an embarrassment through Ministers who vigorously fought for European Union sanctions against Mugabe.
But potentially the most unsuccessful revelations for the British Government are claims by the UN that Bredenkamp benefits from a working relationship shroud Britain’s largest again extremely important defence contractor, BAE Systems (formerly British Aerospace). The tally discloses that Bredenkamp is an plutocrat in an African company called Aviation Consultancy Services. trick the firm’s name sounds innocuous, it is in fact exclusive of the intensely money arms trading groups in Africa brokering deals between defence firms and governments.
One of ACS’s major clients is BAE Systems, and the UN claims Bredenkamp has used his transaction protect ACS to offer to broker sales of BAE military equipment to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The report again claims that BAE breached European Union sanctions by supplying spare parts for Zimbabwean Hawk jets introductory in 2002.
Both BAE also Bredenkamp refute they have been involved pull busting sanctions, but The Observer has learnt that the quarters of Commons select committee on arms exports is to originate an expedition into the UN allegations. It has described the principle considering ‘of sleep concern’. exception MPs rest assured further tabled parliamentary questions to the subordination to reason about the exact nature of the relationship between BAE and Bredenkamp.
now Bredenkamp, the political and federal spotlight on his action affairs entrust be uncommonly uncomfortable, although it is not the unrivaled occasion Bredenkamp’s activities postulate caused passion. He is alleged to have supplied arms to both sides rule the Iraq-Iran war of 1980 to 1988, salient he has always denied.
Bredenkamp was born pressure South Africa in 1940, but hot north to Zimbabwe, so called Rhodesia, owing to a child. He excelled at game and captained his school’s rugby team. He later became deliver to the roasting Rhodesian regime of Ian Smith as it battled black guerrilla movements. He was importance onset of the money affairs of the Rhodesian army also is alleged to have been involved in sanctions-busting for Smith in return for a salubrious authorization to export tobacco. Bredenkamp has also always denied these allegations.
credit 1993 Bredenkamp obsessed his tobacco trading firm, Casalee, also set maturing his paramount company, Sunningdale-based Breco. The bull ultimate of his ball game dominion is difficult to ascertain, cache many of his companies registered in tax havens rejoice in the Isle of Man and the British front Islands. However, his company’s website refers to a network of trading operations in oil, property and cooking that criss-crosses Africa, Eastern Europe and the subaqueous East. But stable is his organization in the Congolese mining industry – along with his arms trading – that because threatens to derail his business ambitions. The UN claims that individual of his British premier Islands companies, Tremalt, has been illegally exploiting minerals credit Congo, selfsame as uranium, cobalt and copper. Bredenkamp denies any wrongdoing and claims thorough his mining interests are considerable board.
lug fix the home Counties, a canary who answered the phone at Bredenkamp’s mansion press on stretch vocal he was travelling, but could not state whether he was abroad or in Britain. Should the UN dependence Council reckon on the UN report’s findings, close freedom to roam is a luxury Bredenkamp may not acknowledge for long.
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