MEMORANDUM & ORDER In the aftermath of Defendant OZ Africa Management LLC’s guilty plea in this case, about fifty former shareholders (“Claimants”) of the Canadian mining company Africo Resources Ltd. (“Africo”) seek restitution pursuant to the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act, 18 U.S.C. §3663A (the “MVRA”), for losses they allegedly incurred as a result of Defendant’s bribery of corrupt officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (“DRC”). (Feb. 20, 2018 Claimants Mem. in Supp. of Rest. (“Claimants Mem.”) (Dkt. 26).) The Government and Defendant oppose an order of restitution. (See Def. Sentencing Mem. (“Def. Mem.”) (Dkt. 37); Mar. 2, 2018 Gov’t Letter Regarding Restitution (“Gov’t Mem.”) (Dkt. 39); July 13, 2018 Gov’t Letter Regarding Restitution (“Gov’t Suppl. Mem.”) (Dkt. 48).) For the following reasons, the court finds that Claimants are victims of Defendant’s crime under the MVRA and directs the parties to submit supplemental briefing regarding how to calculate the appropriate restitution amount. I. BACKGROUND A. Facts1 As of 2006, Africo indirectly held rights to develop the Kalukundi Mine, a copper and cobalt mine in the southern region of the DRC. (Claimants Mem. at 2-3.) According to Claimants, Africo held a 75 percent interest in the Kalukundi mining rights, while DRC state — owned entity Gecamines held the remaining 25 percent interest.2 (Id. at 2 n.2.) Claimants aver that they invested ample time and resources into developing the mine. (Id. at 2-3.) In 2006, a former Africo employee sued Africo in DRC for wrongful termination and obtained a $3 million ex parte default judgment (the “Default Judgment”). (Gov’t Mem. at 2; Statement of Facts 24.) A DRC court allowed the former employee to auction off Africo’s interest in the Kalukundi Mine to satisfy the judgment, again without notice to Africo. (Gov’t Mem. at 2.) The former employee then sold the mining rights at issue to Akam Mining SPRL (“Akam”), a DRC mining company. (Id.) Africo did not learn that its mining rights had been expropriated until April 2007, when Gecamines publicly confirmed that Akam held the majority interest in the Kalukundi Mine. (Gov’t Mem. at 3.) Africo then fought the expropriation “with some limited success in the DRC courts,” including by obtaining the DRC Supreme Court’s review of the Default Judgment. (Id.; see Statement of Facts 24.) Per Claimants, their counsel reassured them that the default judgment would be overturned through the DRC legal process, so they initially continued to work towards the development of the mine. (Claimants Mem. at 3.) Unbeknownst to Claimants (id. at 3-4), a DRC senior government official, “DRC Official 2,” structured these transactions to convey Africo’s interest in the Kalukundi Mine to Dan Gertler, an Israeli billionaire active in the DRC mining sector and close to various high-ranking DRC officials. (Statement of Facts 24 (“In fact, DRC Official 2 had orchestrated the taking of Africo’s interest in the DRC Mine and made it available to DRC Partner.”); see Claimants Mem. at 2 (identifying Dan Gertler as the “DRC Partner”).) Between December 2007 and March 2008, Gertler discussed the possibility of using Defendant’s money to acquire the Kalukundi mining rights with Defendant’s employees. (Id.
16-27.) As part of the agreement negotiated between Gertler and Defendant, Defendant invested $150 million in “Camrose,” a special-purpose entity controlled by Gertler. (Id. 26; see also Gov’t Mem. at 3.) Using these proceeds, Camrose (1) acquired Akam for approximately $15 million,3 (2) offered to invest $100 million in Canadian dollars in Africo in exchange for a 60 percent stake in the company, and (3) paid millions of dollars in bribes to DRC officials. (Statement of Facts
