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Nathan Jacobson was known for his philanthropy, and for business bravado. For decades, the 59-year-old Winnipegger travelled the world, making deals in difficult places — the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, Southeast Asia — and meeting with high-ranking government officials. He has courted conservative politicians, including current members of Stephen Harper’s cabinet.

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Born and raised in Winnipeg, he travelled to Israel in 1973 and “provided volunteer support services to the Israeli army during the [Yom Kippur] War. I then joined the Israeli army, eventually rising to the rank of Captain. I was honourably discharged in 1979.”

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He returned to Canada and settled in Toronto, where he joined a subsidiary of IBM.

There’s no mention of Mr. Jacobson’s activities in the former Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia. According to contemporaneous media accounts, his private holding company, Toronto-based West Group of Companies, was building hundreds of gasoline stations in Russia and Ukraine in the early 1990s, along with fuel terminals and a pair of oil tank complexes. It was reportedly involved in Russian steel production and pipelines, as well.