Article content continued

In addition, the contract reads, “we shall strive to provide you with economic aid by soliciting buyers for your oil when the need arises as well as tankers for the transport of oil.”

Reached at his office in Montreal, Mr. Ben-Menashe said he thinks he can achieve these objectives “quicker in Russia than in the U.S.” But he admits his clients made a serious blunder on Monday, by trying to have a Malta-flagged tanker pick up an illegal shipment of oil from the eastern Libyan port of Es Sider, which is under their control. The Libyan navy intercepted the tanker before it could enter the port, and forced it to turn around empty. Mr. Ben-Menashe said the attempted shipment wasn’t his idea and ran contrary to any advice he has offered. He said he is “very disappointed” at his clients’ actions.

It isn’t the first time Mr. Ben-Menashe has promised to help an African country obtain financial and military assistance from Russia. In 2010, he signed a secret contract with Arthur Porter, then chairman of Canada’s Security Intelligence Review Committee, the federally appointed body that examines activities by the nation’s spy service, CSIS. The deal would have delivered a Russian development grant worth US$120-million to Sierra Leone through a private company that Dr. Porter claimed to own.

The arrangement fell apart, and Mr. Ben-Menashe and Dr. Porter had a falling out. When a National Post investigation described their failed deal, Dr. Porter immediately resigned from SIRC and then vanished. He is now in a Panamanian prison and fighting extradition to Canada, where he faces numerous criminal charges relating to an alleged cash-for-contract deal involving Quebec-based SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.