Eko Hotel Owner, Nigerian-Lebanese Billionaire banned from US

Nigerian-Lebanese billionaire Gilbert Chagoury, owner of Eko Hotel has reportedly been banned from entering the United States.

NTA reports that Chagoury, who is a big time Clinton Foundation donor with a home in Beverly Hills, California had his visitor’s visa cancelled because he gave financial support to popular Lebanese politician, Michael Aoun.

Reports have it that Aoun’s party reportedly is in coalition with Hezbollah, a group which had been flagged as a terrorist organisation by the United States.

Here’s what the NTA said about Chagoury:

“Following a WikiLeaks publication, Chagoury’s name has also been an issue in Hillary Clinton campaign for US presidency, with Donald Trump, among others, using his link with the Clinton Foundation to accuse the Clintons of offering favours to the businessman.

The businessman’s trouble with American security officials began in 2010, when he was pulled off a private jet in Teterboro, New Jersey, and questioned by Homeland Security officials for four hours because his name was now on the no-fly list within the United States.

Chagoury later received a letter that said his name was taken off the list and he was now considered a ‘selectee,’ meaning he was allowed to fly, but would receive extra scrutiny.

In 2013 and FBI intelligence report claimed Chagoury sent funds to Aoun, who, in turn, gave the money to Hezbollah. The report said the information was unverified from a source, who also said the Lebanese Christian politician was ‘facilitating fundraising for Hezbollah.’

Chagoury’s name was added to a database used to screen passengers for terror links.

Michel de Chadarev, an official with Aoun’s party, told the Times that Chagoury stopped supporting the politician years ago after a dispute over oil franchises, noting that the billionaire backs one of Aoun’s rivals for the Lebanese presidency.

This all culminated in the State Department’s decision last summer to deny Chagoury a visitor’s visa to enter the United States, citing the FBI report among other sources.”

The business man was born in Nigeria to Lebanese parents and is married to Rose-Marie Chamchoum, who is also a Lebanese but with Niger Republic heritage. The couple have four children, Ramez, Gilbert-Antoine, Christopher and Anne-Marie.

Gilbert Chagoury founded the Chagoury Group in 1971 with his younger brother Ronald, and the duo also founded C & C Construction.