Robert Granieri — the co-founder of buying and selling agency Jane Avenue Group, which as soon as gave jailed crypto titan Sam Bankman-Fried his massive break in finance — was allegedly deceived into funding a plot to buy AK-47s, Stinger missiles, and grenades for a coup in South Sudan, in line with courtroom papers.
Federal prosecutors in Arizona first charged Harvard Fellow Peter Ajak and Abraham Keech in March 2024 with conspiring to illegally export arms to South Sudan, their house nation, to overthrow its authorities.
Each have pleaded not responsible.
Granieri, 53, allegedly offered $7 million in two funds after assembly Ajak in February 2024 at a Midtown Manhattan condominium, prosecutors mentioned. Ajak’s legal professionals acknowledged in a Could courtroom submitting, which was reviewed by The Submit and first reported by Bloomberg, that Granieri’s financing was “important to the plan.”
They claimed within the Could 29 courtroom doc that with out his help, the alleged conspiracy would have been unattainable.
The lawyer for the Jane Avenue founder, whose agency employed now-convicted fraudster and former FTX CEO Bankman-Fried in 2013, claimed he was misled by Ajak, whom he believed was a human rights activist.
“Granieri is a longtime supporter of human rights causes,” his lawyer was quoted by Bloomberg as saying. “On this case, the individual Rob thought was a human rights activist defrauded Rob and lied about his intentions.”
The case additionally references chess champion Garry Kasparov, although he’s not named as a defendant nor accused of any wrongdoing, for allegedly connecting Ajak with Granieri by way of their shared work with the Human Rights Basis.
Ajak, a former baby soldier who resettled within the US, studied at Harvard’s Kennedy College and labored as a World Financial institution economist earlier than changing into a South Sudanese opposition activist.
He and Keech allegedly met with an secret agent and inspected weapons in a Phoenix warehouse earlier than their arrest, the Could 29 movement mentioned.
Protection attorneys allege US authorities had been conscious of the plan, citing a “public authority” protection and claiming that the State Division informed Ajak in October 2023 it will not help non-democratic regime change.
In addition they accused prosecutors of selectively focusing on Ajak and Keech, each black males, whereas sparing Granieri and Kasparov.
The financing was allegedly organized by way of conferences, together with some on the regulation agency Paul Hastings, the place Ajak’s former professional bono lawyer, Renata Parras, labored, in line with the Could submitting.
PR guru Michael Holtzman, who beforehand suggested the State Division, additionally attended some conferences, the submitting claims. Prosecutors haven’t accused Parras or Holtzman of any wrongdoing.
The Submit has approached Holtzman and Parras for remark.
South Sudan, barely bigger than France, turned the world’s youngest nation in 2011 after seceding from Sudan following greater than 20 years of civil struggle.
The battle displaced tens of millions of individuals and drew consideration from human rights activists throughout the globe, together with actor George Clooney.
Regardless of its independence, South Sudan has struggled with continued violence between rival forces over the previous 15 years.
Jane Avenue, recognized for its $20.5 billion in internet buying and selling income final yr, has drawn consideration for its success and Granieri’s philanthropy, together with help for human rights causes and Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley.
Granieri, one of many agency’s 4 founders and the one one nonetheless working there, additionally supported causes backed by Kasparov.
Regardless of the corporate’s prominence, he maintains a low profile and isn’t featured on its web site.
Jane Avenue is a quantitative buying and selling agency, which means its merchants use arithmetic and statistics to find out how one can guess on sure belongings or monetary markets.
It boasts to be “a agency of puzzle solvers on and off the clock” and has even seen its earnings surpass these of main banks similar to Financial institution of America or Citigroup, permitting Granieri to fund ventures just like the Scarlet Pearl on line casino resort in Mississippi.
