A three-year investigation by The Sentry into a loan deal between a local company and a regional bank— with the backing of the South Sudan government—has uncovered red flags for illicit business practices, including bribery, tax evasion, and trade-based money laundering. The investigation found clear indications that the arrangement enabled powerful individuals to benefit from the manipulation of business worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The loan deal skirted legislation on oversight, transparency, and competition and facilitated off-book government spending, including supplies of fuel to the South Sudan army. It also perpetuated a damaging reliance on future oil production to finance current spending, mortgaging the future prosperity of the country and its citizens.

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