For the last three decades, Chagoury spent at least a few months each year in Beverly Hills, where he owns an 18,000-square-foot estate, once the home of actor Danny Thomas, with commanding views of West Los Angeles and the ocean. Gilberts name is on a gallery at the Louvre in France and a medical school in Lebanon, and he has received awards for his generosity to the Catholic Church and St. Judes Childrens Hospital in the USA. Its grand cheerleaders boast that on completion, the new Eko Atlantic would match that of New Yorks Manhattan Island. In a separate and unrelated matter, Ray LaHood, 75, who served as U.S. Secretary of Transportation from 2009 to 2013, paid a $40,000 fine to resolve a federal criminal investigation into LaHoods conduct related to a $50,000 financial transaction between LaHood and Baaklini in June 2012. Growing up steeped in the cultural traditions of two countries, Lebanon and Nigeria, Ronald quickly realised that his adopted country cried out for mechanisms to harness the boundless talents of its peoples. Chagoury believes it was unfair for government officials to disclose the episode and to suggest that he was a potential threat, Corallo said. Ronald returned to Nigeria after his education. The United States Justice Department on Tuesday, charged Nigerian billionaire, Gilbert Ramez Chagoury with one count of scheming to falsify and conceal material facts and two counts of making false and misleading statements to federal investigators during an investigation into illegal contributions he made to the re-election campaign of Nebraska Republican Congressman, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry. When Bands email was made public this month, Donald Trump pounced, calling the Chagoury episode illegal and a pay-to-play scheme. Typically, the person is told of the grounds for refusal, but not the details. A cookie is a text file placed on the hard drive of your terminal (computer, smart phone, tablet, etc.) Chagoury told ABC News and the Center for Public Integrity at the time that he was miffed because his travel problems made him miss seeing the Lakers in the playoffs. 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In the mid-1990s, Chagoury donated nearly $500,000 to a voter-registration drive designed to help Democratic candidates, attended a White House dinner for premium donors, and met with. Chagourys companies were awarded contracts for the construction of the Lekki-Epe road, the Murtala- Mohammed International Airport road and the Eko Atlantic City mega project. Over the years, Chagoury attended Clintons 60th birthday fundraiser and helped arrange a visit to St. Lucia, where the former president was paid $100,000 for a speech. He was admitted to the New York bar in 2006 and practiced law in the United States for 2 years. Chagoury, who denied knowing the funds were stolen, paid a fine of 1 million Swiss francs, (about $600,000), and gave back $65 million to Nigeria; to get his Swiss conviction expunged. Clintons aide, Doug Band, even invited Chagoury to his wedding. Public Information Officer But the turnout of the result of that election shook Chagoury who couldnt predict what would become of him with the new sheriff in town and then opted to stay away to avoid having problems with the new administration. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. Gilbert and his brother, Ronald Chagoury, who have built a reputation as giants of global philanthropy, are among Africas richest men with generous donations to charitable projects around the world. Before joining The Times in 2012, he worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer, where he was a reporter and investigations editor, and at the Miami Herald, the Press of Atlantic City and the Williamsport Sun-Gazette. The billionaire was said to have made the US his initial new abode, while his younger brother, Ronald held forte in Nigeria. President Muhammadu Buhari is offering multi-million dollar contracts to the powerful leaders of armed local political groups in the hopes of being able to use their influence to the advantage of his party in the 2023 elections. For the last three decades, Corallo said, Chagoury spent at least a few months each year in Beverly Hills, where he owns an 18,000-square-foot estate, once the home of actor Danny Thomas, with commanding views of West Los Angeles and the ocean. 312 North Spring Street How will society and cities evolve over the coming decades? LaHood failed to disclose the $50,000 check on two government ethics forms as required because LaHood did not want to be associated with Chagoury. This month, the foundation announced that it would stop accepting donations from foreigners and corporations should Clinton win the presidency. Currently, Ronaldis the Vice Chairman of South Energyx Nigeria Limited, the company which is currently buildingEko AtlanticCity,a new city construction project located off Victoria Island, adjacent to Lagos. They have four children. The brothers returned briefly to the spotlight in April 2020 when they significantly boosted Nigerias fight against the spread of the deadly coronavirus pandemic with the donation of N1 billion to Lagos State government. Chagoury was born in 1946 in Lagos to Lebanese parents, and as a child attended school in Lebanon. Soon after President Clinton named Donald E. McHenry a special envoy to Nigeria in 1995, Gilbert and Ronald Chagoury visited McHenry in his office at Georgetown University in Washington. All rights reserved. Now Ronald Chagoury's primary focus is finishing Eko Atlantic. Accept Read More, Nigeria: 830 persons kidnapped, 69 terror bandits killed in Kaduna State within 3 months, Black Americans undercounted in U.S. 2020 Census, two new studies show, Worries Over Future Of The Internet As ITU Plenipotentiary Holds, What pandemic? All Rights Reserved. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Bringing with him his experiences, Laurent continues to push the core values of The Chagoury Group. Clinton's aide, Doug Band, even invited Chagoury to his wedding. Your email address will not be published. Instead, Band, Bill Clintons aide, pushed for new access for Chagoury after Hillary Clinton took over at the State Department. She said at a recent briefing that she was unaware of whether Hillary Clinton knew the site was under consideration; it was on a list of possibilities submitted by a real estate firm in 2012, Trudeau said in response to questions from The Times. Both Fortenberry and Chagoury face up to 15 years imprisonment if convicted. See All Contacts. As you know hes key guy there and to us and is loved in Lebanon. Dynamic search and list-building capabilities. Chagoury also contributed $1 million to $5 . Your email address will not be published. . Ronald Chagoury Jr (@ronaldchagoury) Instagram photos and videos ronaldchagoury Follow 172 posts 17.5K followers 1,045 following Ronald Chagoury Jr Infrastructure Africa City Building @ekoatlantic Shore Protection Green Tech . Seyi and Ronald Chagouri are close business partners. This website uses Cookies to improve User experience. Chagoury was born in 1946 in Lagos to Lebanese parents, and as a child attended school in Lebanon. Co-founders, in 1971, of the Chagoury Group, brothers Gilbert and Roland Chagoury are, at the age of 70, the head of a very diversified conglomerate (construction, real estate, milling, bottling, insurance, hotels, telecoms, etc.) 2018 Chagoury Group. Other clients are the Federal Ministry of Works; Abia State Government, the Nigerian Breweries; Bayelsa State Government and the Lagos State government. Arsan agreed to pay $1.7 million in penalties to resolve the tax probe and to cooperate in the governments investigation. Through her many endeavors, both within The Chagoury Group and out,Calinecontinues her commitment to Nigeria. Chagoury is alleged to have bankrolled the election campaign of then President Goodluck Jonathan who was defeated by Buhari. Ronald Chagoury, almost ten years later, in turn attended the wedding of Tinubu's son, Oluwaseyi (Seyi) Tinubu. Chagoury is married to Berthe, the daughter of Blanche and Eduard Awad, and they have two children. As a noncitizen, Chagoury is barred from donating to US political campaigns, but in 1996, he gave $460,000 to a voter registration group steered by Bill Clintons allies and was rewarded with an invitation to a White House dinner. (213) 894-4465. LOS ANGELES A Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire has resolved and two of his associates have agreed to resolve a federal investigation that they conspired to violate federal election laws by scheming to make illegal campaign contributions to U.S. presidential and congressional candidates, the Department of Justice announced today. After a review, Chagoury was refused a visa to enter the U.S. last year. For Ronald, sustainability. It cited terrorism-related grounds, a broad category that can apply to anyone believed to have assisted a terrorist group in any way, including providing money. An Artist's Homing Beacon to Creativity: Connecting with the Universe is The Ultimate Transcendence. In spite of his network of powerful friends, Chagoury has aroused the suspicions of U.S. security officials. Its grand cheerleaders boast that upon completion, the new Eko Atlantic would match New Yorks Manhattan. Of course, thats his new home since he chose to leave Nigeria in 2015. Discover businesses, people, places and things in and outside Nigeria. Manage Settings Their effort was to try and influence anyone who they thought could influence the U.S. government, McHenry said, adding that the approach was heavy-handed. The State . Al Anany. A year ago, after his visa application was denied, Chagourys mansion was put on the market, with an asking price of $135 million. Ronald Chagoury Jr. is the Vice Chairman of South Energyx Nigeria Limited. Under 18 USC Section 1001, the penalty for making false statements is a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison. Nigerian businessman Ronald Chagoury is the latest African name to show up in the Panama Papers. Since the 1990s, Chagoury has also cultivated a friendship with the Clinton family in part by writing large checks, including a contribution of at least $1 million to the Clinton Foundation. For years Chagoury had facilitated oil business deals in Nigeria for the French oil company TotalEnergies. At a 2009 Clinton Global Initiative conference, where business and charity leaders pledge to complete projects, the Chagoury Groups Eko Atlantic development nine square kilometers of Lagos coastal land reclaimed by a seawall was singled out for praise. The 75-year-old Nigerian billionaire of Lebanese descent has been living in Paris, France since 2015, after he fell out of favor with the new political establishment in Nigeria led by President Muhammadu Buhari. The groups net worth, according to Forbes, is about $4.2 billion. During that time, Chagoury alongside his co-billionaire businessman brother, Ronald were effervescent. But no meeting ever happened, according to both Feltman and Chagourys spokesman. The family has an estimated wealth of $4.2 billion. Google's Sparrow will Kill ChatGPT It is Microsoft Teams vs. -major contractor an offshore company registered in tax haven, British Virgin Islands. . But even as those talks were underway, bureaucrats in other arms of the State Department were examining accusations that Chagoury had unsavory affiliations, stemming from his activities and friendships in Lebanon. Chagoury also has given to Republicans: He and his brother, along with Eko Atlantic, are listed as sponsors for a 2014 art exhibit at the George W. Bush Presidential Center. It aims to make browsing more fluid and to offer you content and services tailored to your interests. Ribadu described Chagoury as the lynchpin in the corruption that smeared the Abachas regime. Mrs. Moussalli-Nouri holds a first degree in civil engineering and a master's degree each in construction and structural engineering.. She currently serves as CEO of Wazobia TV & Wazobia MAX TV and is a member of the Young Presidents Organisation. He owns a seven-bedroom hilltop mansion in Beverly Hills in California, and he has a high-level network of friends from Washington to Lebanon to the Vatican, where he serves as an ambassador for the tiny island nation of St. Lucia. In 2010, he was pulled off a private jet in Teterboro, N.J., and questioned for four hours because he was on the Department of Homeland Securitys no-fly list. Originally published in Huhuonline, https://huhuonline.com/index.php/home-4/huhuonline-more-news/15009-nigerian-billionaire-indicted-for-us-campaign-finance-violations. [17] Personal life [ edit] He has been married since 1969 to Rose Marie Chamchoum. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Ronald Chagoury was born in Nigeria on January 8, 1949. He aims high, targeting resource-rich or vulnerable third-world countries, and then finds a way of attaching a puppet string to the neck of that countrys president. How NNPC intrigues stalled ExxonMobils sales of $1.52 billion assets to Seplat, BUSINESS LEAKS invited to speak at UKs Financial Crime Roundtable, SPECIAL REPORT: Nigerias seaports of oligarchs and monopoly czars, SPECIAL REPORT: Nigerias deep-sea paradox, Botswana at 57: The need to break the barrier of insularity, How Nigerian fraudsters loot European banks (2). ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. "Lagos's population is growing to 25 million," he said. Operating under the Chagoury Group an industrial conglomerate founded in 1971 with interests in almost every viable sector in Nigeria. According to Wikipedia, Forbes, IMDb & Various Online resources, famous Businessperson Ronald Chagoury's net worth is $1-5 Million at the age of 70 years old. The terminal handles wheat, maize and malt used for the brewing process. Ronald Chagoury was born on January 8, 1949 in Lagos, Nigeria to Lebanese immigrant parents - Mr Ramez and Mrs Alice Chagoury. RonaldChagouryJR.org. A red thread that goes from the entrepreneurs of Lebanese origin Gilbert and Ronald Chagoury to the former dictator, Sani Abacha, to the businessman and leader of the political party PDP (in . Founder of the Chagoury Group, Ronald Chagoury was born in Nigeria on 8th January 1949. According to the Justice Department, on Oct. 21, Joseph Arsan at Chagoury's direction wired $30,000 to Ayoub, indicating on the wire form that the funds were for a "wedding gift." Franco-Lebanese businessman Gilbert Chagoury, who lives in Paris, is banking on Bola Tinubu becoming Nigeria's new president after next year's elections. The visa decision process is opaque and provides little recourse for those who are denied entry. Franklin further instructed that the signed letter was to be "delivered to Ronald Chagoury." The draft letter, also obtained by Fox News, was undated and addressed to Chagoury care of his firm South Energyx Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of the larger Chagoury Group that is spearheading the Eko Atlantic real estate venture. During the rule of Gen. Sani Abacha, who seized power in Nigeria in 1993, Chagoury prospered, receiving development deals and oil franchises. Two years after the death of Abacha, a court in Switzerland convicted Chagoury for his involvement in what was globally seen as epic treasury looting and money laundering. In 2012, Baaklini handed LaHood a $50,000 personal check with the word "loan" written on it. Fearing the worst after the second meeting, he left never to return. Learn More In the News The Justice Department also said Rep. Fortenberry repeatedly lied to and misled authorities during the investigation into illegal contributions made by Chagoury to his reelection campaign. He has used some of that money to build political connections. No deal has been signed, State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said. [citation needed] Between him and his younger brother Ronald Chagoury, is the conglomerate, the Chagoury Group which owns close to a hundred businesses spanning construction, hospitality, energy, healthcare, industry, telecommunications, real estate and entertainment. Official websites use .gov Ronald Chagoury (born 8 January 1949) is a Nigerian businessman, the co-founder (with his billionaire brother Gilbert Chagoury), and CEO of the Chagoury Group. Chagoury has contributed to charitable projects there, advocated on behalf of the countrys Christians and formed political alliances, including with Michel Aoun, a Lebanese Christian politician who served as army commander and prime minister during the countrys civil war. He is from Nigeria. When Buhari won, Tinubu arranged a second meeting where Chagoury met Buhari as president-elect but met a different man who gave him the cold shoulder. 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