MANILA, Philippines — A French-Russian businessman who is reportedly interested in investing around P8 billion to develop a Cavendish banana plantation at Camp Abubakar in Maguindanao has been accused of fraud and money laundering in Spain.
Robert Gaspar represents Solway Investment Group and Techiron Resources Inc., the Russian and Swiss companies planning to convert 7,000 hectares of land at Camp Abubakar, a former stronghold of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), into a banana plantation.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol earlier said a Bangsamoro group representing owners of land in Barira town signed an agreement with the Russian and Swiss investors for the project.
According to Open Media website, the European press tagged Gaspar as one of the leaders of the Kremlevskaya criminal group, which allegedly laundered money from drug trafficking.
Gaspar is said to be the right-hand man of the Eastern European mafia.
“He is a businessman engaged in vodka and media business but his business partners often ended up in prison or became victims of homicides and accidents,” the article said.
The article reported that Gaspar was among the investors involved in the plan to develop a banana plantation in Mindanao.
Open Media released a photo of a young Gaspar obtained from The Olive Press article about his activities with the “Kremlin gang” and compared it with the photos of Gaspar posted on Piñol’s Facebook.
Solway, in a statement posted on its website, clarified that the company “does not have any plans to invest in the agricultural industry” in the Philippines.
“Solway Investment Group is a private mining and metals group headquartered in Switzerland with global operations. We invest in industrial assets, relaunch producing assets and develop greenfield projects. Our core businesses are ore extraction and metal smelting. Agriculture has never been and is currently not under consideration for potential investment,” the statement read.
“Techiron is the group’s partner in the mining and metals business in the Philippines. Other details recently reported in the news regarding our investment plans in the Philippines are not accurate and do not reflect the current state of the group’s business,” it added.
Piñol clears Gaspar
Piñol said he has known Gaspar through Lion Air president Archibald Po and remained firm that Gaspar holds a valid visa to stay and do business in the country.
“I am aware that there are groups and persons trying to discredit him and linking him to issues of which I have no knowledge,” Piñol told The STAR.
“I was made to understand that he has been cleared of those cases. But we will conduct a background check. I believe that since it is a private investment and we are just facilitating, that should not really concern the agriculture department,” he added.
Piñol noted that Gaspar is not the main investor in the project.
“He is just facilitating the entry of Russian investors who will be coming in before the end of February to finalize the transactions,” Piñol said. – With Pia Lee-Brago, Charmie Joy Pagulong