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Already implicated in 2020 in the context of a tens of millions of dollars fraud linked to an arms contract in his country of origin, Niger, Aboubakar Hima, known as “Petit Boubé”, is once again being talked about. In Senegal this time. Our partners at the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) had access to a contract raising fears of further embezzlement by this businessman who is also wanted by Nigeria for other files.
The article published Tuesday, October 25 on the OCCRP website affirms in fact that the Senegalese Ministry of the Environment signed, at the beginning of 2022, a contract worth 77 million dollars for, in particular, the purchase of assault rifles, semi-automatic pistols and ammunition. The supplier and signatory is Lavie Commercial Brokers, a company almost unknown in the market, created a few weeks before the agreement was concluded.
The deal was not subject to any call for tenders and was not made public, in accordance with Senegalese legal provisions on the confidentiality of defense and security contracts. But the OCCRP, in partnership with the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz, had access to a copy of the contract, the value of which, according to several experts, could be overvalued. A suspicion fed by the past of Aboubakar Hima, accused of having embezzled several million dollars on other arms contracts in Nigeria and Niger. Some of his assets have also been seized by the American and South African authorities.
Armaments, agriculture and health
In the Senegalese case, the suspicion is not only linked to the curriculum vitae sulphurous of “Petit Boubé”, but also to the confused legal identity of the stakeholders. Thus, the name of Aboubakar Hima is the only one recorded on the documents creating Lavie Commercial Brokers. On the other hand, it does not appear in any way on the contract with the Senegalese ministry. The signatory is a certain David Benzaquen, general manager of Lavie Commercial Brokers.
The same David Benzaquen founded the company Gour Arye Africa Ltd in Israel in 2013, renamed Lavie Strategies in 2019. The company, which has an arms export license from the Israeli Ministry of Defense, is also present in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Niger, Nigeria and Ivory Coast, according to its website. In addition to the arms sector, it is active in agriculture and health.
If they exist, the links between Lavie Commercial Brokers, incorporated by Aboubakar Hima in Senegal in November 2021, and Lavie Strategies, of David Benzaquen, are not known. But disturbingly, a number of other companies with similar names are linked, separately, to the two businessmen.
In Burkina Faso, registration documents show that Aboubakar Hima is the director of Lavie Commercial Brokers and Lavie Consulting Ltd, established in January 2022. In Niger, he is the manager of Lavie Strategies Ltd and Lavie Consulting, incorporated in early 2021 Dubai company records show the existence of Lavie Commercial Brokers in the United Arab Emirates. No owner or director is named, but the contact email address is [email protected], suggesting David Benzaquen may be involved with the company.
This one worked for the Israeli arms dealer Gabi Peretz. This close friend of the Senegalese President, Macky Sall, has supplied military equipment to several countries in West and Central Africa. He also opened a $300 million line of credit for the benefit of the Senegalese army, according to AfricaIntelligence. Almost simultaneously with this last agreement, but without any other link being able to be established, “Petit Boubé” signed with the Ministry of the Environment.
Contacted by OCCRP, Gabi Peretz said by e-mail that he had not been in contact with Aboubakar Hima since 2015. He also clarified that David Benzaquen had not worked for him since 2018. “He does not represent us”, he added. Gabi Peretz indicates that he has never heard of the Lavie Commercial Brokers company, nor of the Senegalese contract.
“A risk of corruption and overpricing”
In substance, this contract raises several questions. “Do rangers really need to have assault rifles? »asks Professor Semou Ndiaye. This consultant and researcher on economic governance denounces a market “opaque” comprising “a risk of corruption and overpricing”.
On condition of anonymity, an analyst in the security sector in Senegal considers ” very unlikely “ the need for the Ministry of the Environment to buy tens of millions of dollars worth of weapons: “Recently there has been fighting between the army and the rebels [indépendantistes] from Casamance, but I am not aware of any major incidents with the rangers. » He is also surprised that a contract “as important as can be signed without the involvement of the security forces, whilee the Ministry of the Environment obviously does not buy weapons for the army”.
The involvement as a partner of a trader suspected of fraud with other governments is also surprising. “No responsible buyer, whether a government agency or a private company, does business with an individual who has a history of fraudulent transactions”says Richard Messick, former head of institutional ethics at the World Bank: “The charges against Mr. Hima may be baseless, but a responsible buyer would remove all doubts before entering into a contract with him. »
OCCRP could not confirm whether the weapons were delivered. The contract covers a wide range of materials and services, from guns and ammunition, to boats, vans and cars, to uniforms and drone pilot training courses.
OCCRP journalists failed to reach Aboubakar Hima. Questions sent to his Nigerian lawyer, Kayode Ajulo, were not forwarded to him. “I don’t do such races”, said the latter. On his side, Ha’aretz contacted David Benzaquen by telephone, who declined to answer questions. The Senegalese ministries of environment and finance did not respond to written questions.