Lobbyist hit with 8-count indictment

Robert Cabelly, who was a State Department official in the George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations, was charged by federal prosecutors with violating U.S. sanctions against Sudan and acting as an unregistered agent for the country in Washington, as well as passport fraud, money laundering and making false statements, according to his eight-count indictment.

{mosads}Cabelly was scheduled Tuesday to appear in federal court before U.S. magistrate Deborah Robinson. If convicted, the lobbyist could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Among the charges, Cabelly is facing four counts of violating sanctions against Sudan, with each count carrying a 20-year prison sentence if proven in court.

The indictment comes as the Obama administration has adopted a policy of engagement toward the country, which is on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism. Sudan has faced war-crime charges of genocide for the massacres by government troops in the region of Darfur.

According to the indictment, Cabelly represented Sudan from early 2005 to mid-2007 without first seeking approval from the U.S. government, which is required under law due to U.S. sanctions. He provided Sudan with sensitive and controlled information from government sources, and he acted as an intermediary for an unnamed French oil company that wanted to do business in the African country, prosecutors charged.

In addition, Cabelly allegedly directed the oil company to deposit more than $180,000 of his lobbying fees in an offshore account in the Cook Islands, concealing the fact that the funds were in violation of U.S. sanctions against Sudan.

“Those who pursue their own personal gain at the expense of our nation’s trade embargoes can expect to be aggressively prosecuted,” acting U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips said in a statement. “Our national security depends on strict enforcement of U.S. export laws such as the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations.”

 Cabelly is the head of C/R International, a firm that has represented the governments of Angola, Ethiopia and Equatorial Guinea. He signed a $530,000 annual contract with the Embassy of Sudan in July 2005 but the contract was terminated in February 2006, according to Justice Department records. Cabelly also agreed to help Sudan with its U.S. embassy’s website for an additional fee of $70,000, according to the indictment.

  In May 2005, Cabelly applied for a waiver from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to lobby for Sudan, which he received in July of that year, according to the charging document. The waiver was necessary because of the U.S. sanctions against the country, which were first imposed by President Bill Clinton in 1997. 

Lawmakers have protested any effort by Sudan to hire a Washington lobbyist, with Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) among the most vocal.

In an Oct. 15 letter to President Barack Obama, Wolf said the White House should order the Treasury Department to deny any requests by U.S. companies seeking to lobby for Sudan.

“It is unconscionable that any government with blood on its hands be permitted the privilege of having a Washington lobbyist on retainer,” Wolf wrote in his letter, referring to the genocide in Darfur.

Wolf has criticized Cabelly in the past for his lobbying for Sudan. In October 2005, the Virginia lawmaker sent a letter to the State Department protesting the waiver Cabelly received to represent Sudan.

Cabelly terminated his lobbying agreement with Sudan in February 2006, according to Justice records.

But according to federal prosecutors, Cabelly conspired with several unnamed individuals — a Sudanese government official, a U.S. citizen living in Bahrain and a Middle Eastern businessman, according to the indictment — to lobby for Sudan until 2007. In addition, authorities allege Cabelly was doing work for Sudan before he obtained the waiver in 2005.

{mosads}To conceal his lobbying for the African country, Cabelly used two passports — one for travel to the United States and the other to obtain visas to Sudan — and booked airline reservations separately.

In addition, in October 2005, Cabelly signed a one-year, $90,000 contract with a French oil company to help its business in Sudan, according to the indictment.

Cabelly’s waiver did not authorize him to do business that would “economically benefit” anyone in Sudan. He re-signed the contract with the oil company in October 2006.

Cabelly also helped to set up oil deals for Sudan with assistance from an investor based in the United Arab Emirates, oil engineers in Houston and another Washington consultant. He also tried to secure aircraft and helicopters for Sudan Airways, the government alleges.

Sudan has sought better relations with the United States for some time and has provided intelligence to help with U.S. counterterrorism operations in Africa. The White House has shifted U.S. policy toward the country since the George W. Bush administration.

Last week, the Obama administration announced a new tack toward engagement with Sudan instead of isolating the nation due to war-crime charges of genocide.

That move, and the conciliatory approach by the U.S. special envoy to the region, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. J. Scott Gration, has led to complaints by activists pushing for justice for those killed in Darfur.