NEW YORK, (Reuters) – A former minister of mines in Guinea was arrested yesterday on U.S. charges that he laundered bribe payments he accepted in exchange for facilitating the award of valuable investment rights to a Chinese conglomerate.
Mahmoud Thiam, a U.S. citizen who served as Guinea’s minister of mines from 2009 to 2010, was accused in a criminal complaint filed in Manhattan federal court of accepting about $8.5 million from the Chinese company.
Thiam, 50, was arrested at his residence in Manhattan, a spokesman for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said, and was expected to appear in court later yesterday.
A lawyer for Thiam did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the complaint,Thiam used his position to help an unnamed Chinese company receive valuable rights in a wide range of sectors in Guinea’s economy, including near control of the African nation’s mining business.
Thiam hid his job while opening a Hong Kong bank account that the bribes were deposited into and used the money to, among other things, buy a $3.75 million estate in New York state and enroll his children in private schools, the complaint said.
The case is U.S. v. Thiam, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 16-mj-7960.
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