According to the New York Post, New Jersey congressman Bill Pascrell Jr. has asked for a government inquiry into Prokhorov's business dealings in Zimbabwe. Government sanctions put into place by the United States government prohibit American citizens, companies or subsidiaries of those companies from doing business with the current president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, or anyone associated with him.
Prokhorov’s dealings in Zimbabwe may not be directly tied to Mugabe, but Onexim — the Russian’s $25 billion investment fund responsible for his attempted purchase of the Nets — is a 50 percent owner of Renaissance Capital, a company that is intertwined with Zimbabwe’s economy. Renaissance Capital has offices in New York, but it has interests in Zimbabwe ranging from banks and mining companies to a big-game reserve.
Business dealings in Zimbabwe never came up in the NBA’s background check, a Renaissance Capital spokesman in Moscow told the Post. But if Prokhorov and Onexim are found guilty of violating government sanctions, the deal for the Nets — and Brooklyn’s new Atlantic Yards — could fall through.
Prokhorov was able to turn his encounters with Russian models at a French ski resort into billions, setting the stage for becoming the first non-North American NBA owner. Dealing with a foreign leader of an oppressive regime who's been accused of torturing the people of his own country? That’s a different story.
