Report: Ex-NBAer Mutombo in $10M Congo gold scam

By: Joshua Norman
Topics: Basketball

Dikembe Mutombo (C) of the NBA Houston Rockets receives a standing ovation, applaued by US First Lady Laura Bush (2R) and Lynne Cheney (R), wife of US President Dick Cheney, after Mutombo was honored by President George W. Bush during the president's annual State of the Union address January 23, 2007, in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC.

(Credit: TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images)

After being a defensive All Star in the NBA for nearly two decades, Dikembe Mutombo made a name for himself as a humanitarian and champion of good causes in his native Africa. He even built a hospital and named it after his mother in his home country of Congo.

That profile stands in sharp contrast to a Houston Chronicle report that the world-renowned humanitarian has been implicated in a scheme that saw a Houston investor shorted more than $10 million in a deal to buy 1,045 pounds of gold from the mines of eastern Congo in November, 2010.

In fact, the deal went down just two weeks after Mutombo had met with State Department officials to discuss the problem of illegal mineral sales from the deeply troubled and mineral-rich eastern Congo region.

The Chronicle writes:

"If Mutombo had reservations about the apparent contradiction between word and deed, he did not show it. He eagerly explained how he and his family had 4 tons of Congolese gold just waiting for a buyer. Because of an internal ban on mining and exports, imposed to try to stop the main revenue source for the mafia-like militias that controlled them, the gold could not be taken to market in usual ways. What Mutombo needed was somebody with money, connections and the ability to put a deal together."

While the plot quickly unraveled, and employees for the Houston-based company lured in by Mutombo were arrested and hit with racketeering and other charges in a semi-related scam, initial reports of the incident made no mention of Mutombo.

One of the principal players in the deal insists Mutombo initiated it, and that he and his family played a key role from the onset, one not revealed until recently with the release of a United Nations report on Congo's militia activity that recounts the incident, the Chronicle reports.

Mutombo refused comment when reached by phone by the Chronicle.

Joshua Norman
Joshua Norman is an associate editor at CBSNews.com.

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by tanama2012 January 20, 2012 9:59 AM EST: This man is a disgrace to his country of origin and to all suffering Africans. To date there are over 8million dead people in the DRCongo because of our western material greed. Wealthy people and company fuel war lords who are exterminating congolese people just for the minerals that country holds. It is the richest country in the world in terms of minerals. People like mutombo Dikembe go back to Africa, deal with murderers to get richer. A few years ago, he donated discarded US yellow buses to the Congo pretending to help transportation problems. Isn't that a joke? For a Millionaire, he couldn't even afford to buy 10 new buses to help his own people. He has been involved in a large number of fraud and "blood minerals" in the Congo. He has been killing his own people to get richer and it is high time the UN highlighted this. He is a corrupted man who deserves to be sent to the Hague and be judged for all his crimes. He is a disgusting man. FOR ALL OF YOU WHO KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THESE SUFFERING CONGOLESE, iT'S TIME YOU WAKE UP. They have been marching all over the world for a month now for justice in their country.; Reply to this comment


by propiation100 January 17, 2012 6:37 AM EST: We idolize athletes, make them multi-millionaires, and their morals and values are generally in the toilet.; Reply to this comment


by smrtr1 January 16, 2012 10:33 PM EST: Gee, I didn't know Mr. Cheney was ever president! oops; Reply to this comment


by smittyc January 16, 2012 10:13 PM EST: Sounds like Mutombo was used to set this crowd up. They got arrested and he didn't.; Reply to this comment


by igotchew January 16, 2012 8:55 PM EST: Ah, the beauty of sublime messages, and the choice of a picture with Laura Bush and Lynne Cheney implying guilt by association. I am not a Republican, but people like Mr. Norman and the editors are pure human garbage, never missing an opportunity to advance their agendas. I am certain that plenty of pictures were available of Mutombo playing. But since he's black, maybe Obama is not better, which would be just as disturbing. Shame on these reporters that still think that they smarter than they actually are.; Reply to this comment


by sallychicago January 16, 2012 7:28 PM EST: This story seems incomplete. Either he did something "illegal" according to international law or he didn't. Seems that the company tried to cash in on the price of gold, and the NBAer sold it to the company that tried to avoid taxation. That the gold is banned makes no sense, unless we have an embargo against Congo gold. Is that what this is about?; Reply to this comment


by lilbear925 January 16, 2012 7:07 PM EST: The lure of big money seems to affect even people with good intentions. Where did Mutombo's family get that much gold in the first place? If it is illegal to export gold from there, why was he trying to do just that? Sounds like just another Nigerian scheme.; Reply to this comment


by DocD--2008 January 16, 2012 6:57 PM EST: "Mutombo refused comment when reached by phone by the Chronicle."

he was probably too busy on the way to the bank. Maybe justice will come and he will lose everything and go back to living in a shack.; Reply to this comment