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The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned two companies owned by Benjamin Bol Mel, a prominent South Sudanese businessman who once served as the chairman of the South Sudan Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture.
Bol Mel is a leading South Sudanese businessman and the president of ABMC Thai-South Sudan Construction Company Limited, a company that received millions of dollars in contracts from the South Sudanese government.
The businessman is involved in road construction and other infrastructure project contracts worth at least $3.5 billion, including the construction of the Bor-Juba Highway in South Sudan.
The sanctions will see ARC Resource Corporation Limited and Winners Construction Company join companies such as ABMC Thai-South Sudan Construction Company Limited and Home Away Limited in the list of blacklisted companies linked to the sanctioned businessman.
The sanctions falls under the Global Magnitsky Act and will prevent U.S. entities from dealing directly or indirectly with the companies through related entities.
This action comes nearly four years after Bol Mel was sanctioned alongside 52. other people and entities over alleged human rights abuses, corruption and use of public funds and assets for personal benefit during the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Experts believe the sanctions were placed on the two companies to block the South Sudanese businessman from potentially skirting existing U.S. sanctions and dealing indirectly through associates.
A careful review of the companies’ status and registration details by Billionaires.Africa revealed that ARC Resource Corporation Limited and Winners Construction Company were both established in 2019, two years after Bol Mel was designated for sanctions by the United States in 2017.
In December 2017, Bol Mel and two companies in his vast corporate network, Thai South Sudan Crusher, Aggregates and Building Materials Company (ABMC) and Home and Away Limited were designated by the United States for their involvement in corruption in South Sudan.
In line with the sanctions, ARC Resources and Winners are now designated pursuant to E.O. 13818 for being owned or controlled by, directly or indirectly, Bol Mel, a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 13818.
Several companies that have received millions in dollar-denominated contracts from South Sudanese government over the past three years are owned by Bol Mel, who is likely the beneficial owner, according to incorporation records and contracts.
