Billy Rautenbach

Muller Conrad "Billy" Rautenbach (born in Salisbury, 23 September 1959) is a Zimbabwean businessman. His ventures span transportation, cobalt mining, platinum mining and biofuel production primarily across Africa. The 2022 data leaks from Credit Suisse appeared to confirm allegations (previously linked to American and European sanctions) that Muller used proceeds from a mining deal to support the ZANU-PF regime of dictator Robert Mugabe during the latter's repressive 2008 election campaign in Zimbabwe. From 1999 to 2009, Muller was a fugitive facing fraud and corruption charges in South Africa, the EU, and the U.S. for his role in the violent 2008 Zimbabwean election.

Billy Rautenbach was born on the 23rd of September 1959 in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (also known as Harare, Zimbabwe since April, 18, 1980). He inherited a Rhodesia-based trucking company from his father, Wessels and his rise in the business world began when he moved to Johannesburg, South Africa.

Rautenbach's first venture was the expansion of his father's transport company, Wheels of Africa. The company became a significant player in southern Africa, with the Financial Mail estimating that it controlled 75% of the Zimbabwean haulage market in 1999. Wheels of Africa also expanded into car assembly and distribution; Rautenbach held a 50% stake in Hyundai's operations in South Africa and Botswana and owned the Volvo heavy vehicle franchise in thirteen African countries. He also had business interests in construction, land, and mining.

Rautenbach left South Africa in late 1999 because of fraud and corruption charges . This coincided with the financial collapse of several of his South African business interests. By February 2000, several companies in the Wheels of Africa Group had been liquidated, leaving significant debts in South Africa. Rautenbach did not return to South Africa until 2009, when he reached a R40 million (~$5 million US) plea agreement with prosecutors.

In the late 1990s, Rautenbach became involved in mining ventures in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In 1998, following Mbaka Kawaya Swana Ambroise, DRC President Laurent-Désiré Kabila appointed him as the chief executive of the state-owned mining company, Gécamines. Before his appointment, Wheels of Africa had held transport contracts with Gécamines, and Rautenbach's company, Ridgepointe Overseas Development Limited, had successfully managed at least three of its copper and cobalt mines, increasing their revenue. He was removed as Gécamines chief executive – apparently acrimoniously – in 2000, and his Congolese assets were seized.

Rautenbach controlled Boss Mining Ltd, which held the rights to half of the Mukondo mine and two other mining concessions in the Katanga province of the DRC. In February 2006, he became a major shareholder in the Central African Mining and Exploration Company (CAMEC), receiving a 17% share when it acquired those mining rights. He owned 8% of CAMEC shares as of July 2007, and reportedly made an estimated $50 million from the 2009 sale of CAMEC to the Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation. Yet by 2007, Rautenbach was again an unpopular figure among some DRC politicians. CAMEC had been building a stake in Katanga Mining, but faced government opposition, at least partly due to the involvement of Rautenbach, who was wanted by the South African authorities for fraud at the time. In July 2007, Rautenbach was detained in Katanga and deported to Zimbabwe. Moise Katumbi, governor of Katanga, said, "[e]ven if we have as yet no extradition facilities in place, we will not continue to allow such people to operate in the DRC with impunity."

In November 1999, after investigating Rautenbach for about two years, South African law enforcement conducted a raid on Rautenbach's Johannesburg home and private aircraft, as well as the Johannesburg offices of Wheels of Africa. Following the raid and amid financial strain in his South African business interests, Rautenbach fled South Africa. On 19 September 2000, Rautenbach's South African assets, worth at least R40 million, were seized by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). He faced charges for crimes he had allegedly committed while at Hyundai, including numerous counts of fraud and theft. In March 2007, South African authorities filed for his extradition from Zimbabwe. On 18 September 2009, Rautenbach handed himself over to the NPA. Charged with 326 counts of fraud, he pleaded guilty on behalf of one of his companies, SA Botswana Hauliers, and, in a plea bargain, agreed to pay a fine of R40 million in exchange for the withdrawal of the charges against him, having continued to deny personal liability.

Rautenbach launched a legal challenge against the validity of the 1999 raids and the evidence seized in the process, with the Constitutional Court ultimately ruling against him. In court papers, the state claimed that Rautenbach was linked to the murder of Yong Koo Kwon of Daewoo Motors, who had been shot dead in his car in Johannesburg in February 1999. Rautenbach emphatically denied any involvement in the murder and described the allegations as a "witch-hunt." No charges were ever laid against Rautenbach, while three other men were charged with the murder in 2006.