WASHINGTON (Reuters) – America on Monday revoked a sanctions waiver for Israeli mining magnate Dan Gertler that was issued within the dying days of the Trump administration.

The Treasury Division mentioned exempting Gertler from sanctions was “incompatible with the overseas coverage pursuits of the USA in preventing corruption around the globe,” significantly within the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The motion got here after Congolese and worldwide human rights teams and a number of other US lawmakers final month known as on the Biden administration to overturn a last-minute transfer by Biden’s Republican predecessor Donald Trump.

The Treasury imposed the sanctions in December 2017 and June 2018, accusing Gertler of utilizing his friendship with the previous President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila, to win mining contracts value greater than a billion {dollars}.

The Trump administration eased sanctions as a part of a covert motion throughout its final week in workplace in January, a license granted by the Treasury Division confirmed.

Gertler’s authentic designation beneath the Magnitsky Sanctions program made it clear that “Mr. Gertler has engaged in intensive public corruption, ”the Treasury mentioned in a press release Monday.

Sanctions had banned Gertler from doing enterprise with U.S. residents, corporations, or banks, stopping him from doing greenback transactions.

Gertler has denied wrongdoing and argued that his investments in Congo have supported the nation’s growth.

Democratic Senator Ben Cardin, lead creator of the International Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, mentioned Gertler mustn’t have been granted “an eleventh hour allow” to do enterprise with US banks and companies.

“If well-connected worldwide billionaires like Gertler assume there’s a likelihood they may get away with their corrupt actions, then they won’t be deterred,” Cardin mentioned.