.

Monday, April 02, 2007

US man guilty

Detroit - A man has been sentenced to 40 months in prison for trying to defraud the government of Sierra Leone and a private military company of $23m (about R166m) for work done during the west African nation's civil war in 1995-'97.

Pasquale DiPofi, 36, of New Baltimore, pleaded guilty in the case in October and was sentenced on Thursday.

DiPofi owned the now-defunct Executive Outcomes, based in Mount Clemens. His company had the same name as a South African company that did the work for Sierra Leone.

Authorities said DiPofi and Christopher Belan tried to trick Sierra Leone officials into thinking DiPofi's company was the one that was owed the money. No money was paid to DiPofi's company.

Belan also pleaded guilty in the case.

Link to Sierra Leone con: US man guilty: Africa: News: News24