Financial Regulator's Murder Distracts Focus

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ULAANBAATAR 000469 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV EMIN EINV CASC MG SUBJECT: Financial Regulator's Murder Distracts Focus from Foreign Mine Standoff Ref: Ulaanbaatar 461 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Boroo Gold re-started operations on the afternoon of June 16 after police moved protesters away from the mine site. The government's attention to the Boroo situation -- including the key role of the Health Minister and Member of Parliament Gundalai in the protests -- was diverted by the murder of D. Badraa, the 32-year old head of the new Nonbank Financial Regulatory Commission. Badraa, a rising and active member of the MPRP Youth wing, was stabbed to death the morning of June 15. An Ulaanbaatar City Hural (council) member who is the head of a reportedly bankrupt savings and loan was arrested on the spot. The government will have to decide next week what to do, if anything, about Gundalai's behavior. Post believes if it hesitates to act, Mongolia's reputation among foreign investors will be further tarnished. END SUMMARY. Boroo Gold Resumes Operations -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Boroo Gold began operations again at 2:00 PM on June 16. Additional police arrived at the site late on June 15, and met with Boroo Gold the next morning to coordinate action to remove the protesters from Boroo's property and allow the safe resumption of operations. Protesters have now been relocated off the mine property. An official in the President's Office asked to meet with Boroo Gold the late afternoon of June 16 to review the situation. ¶3. (SBU) Reftel noted that the DCM had contacted the PM's Office and MFA on June 15 to ask for assurances that the safety of Americans at the Boroo Gold site would be protected. According to Boroo officials, there are 8-10 American employees and 5 American dependents at the mine. There are no reports of any injuries among Boroo employees. Brutal Murder Shocks, Distracts Government -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The brutal murder on June 15 of D. Badraa, the head of the new Nonbank Financial Regulatory Commission (NBFRC),distracted the attention of government officials from the situation at the mine. Badraa was stabbed three times as he arrived for work in the morning. He died in the early afternoon. Police apprehended at the scene Ts. Tumengerel, an Ulaanbaatar City Hural member who is the head of the "Ger District Building" savings and loan, along with a clerk of the company. The two men were being beaten by a crowd of onlookers when police arrived. ¶5. (SBU) The 32-year old Badraa became the head of the NBFRC when it began operations in January. On June 13, he briefed a special Cabinet session regarding the NBFRC's initial audit of the previously unregulated sector. On June 15, Chief of Police Sandag-Ochir noted to reporters that the 15 bankrupt institutions discussed in Badraa's report had lost over 32 billion MT ($26 million) from 6400 depositors. While Sandag- Ochir said that Tumengerel's institution had not been among those discussed in the report, other press stories indicate Badraa had stated there were serious violations at this savings and loan. (Comment: Reporters in Mongolia frequently file stories without fact checking -- and often appear to make up stories out of whole cloth. It is entirely possible that Tumengerel was enraged by a press story reporting something Badraa never said at the Cabinet session.) ¶6. (SBU) The Economic and Commercial section was beginning to develop ties with Badraa and his agency in our anti-corruption and anti-money laundering efforts. Badraa's brother, D. Zorigt, the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Policy and Strategic Planning ULAANBAATA 00000469 002 OF 002 Department, is a frequent interlocutor. Badraa was a rising figure in the MPRP Youth wing and well regarded by a wide range of people as a bright and committed civil servant. Embassy contacts were shaken by the death and many were involved in planning a large funeral on Monday. Gundalai: Consequences Delayed -------------- ¶7. (SBU) With the government focused on Badraa's murder and funeral, Health Minister Gundalai's conduct in the Boroo Gold situation has become a side show for the moment. At a June 15 press conference held by the Police Chief and the Minister of Justice (which largely focused on the murder, but also mixed in some questions about the Boroo situation),the Minister of Justice and Home Affairs said that the government would have to draw conclusions about Gundalai's behavior, and if crimes were proven, then assess his responsibility. However, he said Gundalai had not responded to numerous phone calls by the Government Secretariat to attend an emergency Cabinet meeting and, since he was not present, his conduct was not discussed. On June 16, MPRP caucus head Idevkhten told the Embassy that a press report that Gundalai's dismissal had been proposed the previous day was untrue; the subject had not come up. ¶8. (SBU) While the government was meeting to deal with the Badraa stabbing Thursday morning, Gundalai remained at the Boroo Gold site. According to Boroo Gold, an official in the Prime Minister's Office told it near mid-day that the PM was working through official channels to get Gundalai to return the 70 miles to Ulaanbaatar. Gundalai did leave the mine site at 2:00 PM on June 15 (other protesters remained),and held a press conference immediately upon his return to the capital. (NOTE: DCM observed Gundalai mid-day June 16 at a UNDP-sponsored community development event in Ulaanbaatar attended by the Prime Minister.) Gundalai and other protesters repeated claims that the death of a 60-year old protester had occurred after Boroo security guards used stun guns. (Note: At the press conference on Badraa's murder, Police Chief Sandag- Ochir said that final results were not in, but the man had been in poor health, and had become short of breath and distressed while protesters were climbing out of a mine pit they had broken into.) At its own press conference in the morning, Boroo Gold officials condemned threats to mine personnel by Gundalai and other protesters, and said the protester had apparently died of a heart attack. Comment: Stay Tuned Next Week -------------- ¶9. (SBU) We believe the Government will take up Gundalai's behavior only after Badraa's Monday funeral. One likely occasion is the regular Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. If a decision were made to remove Gundalai, the opportunity might be taken to make other changes in the coalition government. Minister of Industry and Trade Jargalsaikhan is another loose cannon in the Cabinet. If made, those changes would not imperil the MPRP-led government. Both Gundalai and Jargalsaikhan are their parties' only MPs. The MPRP has 38 MPs (out of 76 total including one vacant seat) on its own, and expelling Gundalai and Jargalsaikhan would leave two other parties with eight MPs as partners -- plus the option of bringing in the many Democratic Party MPs who tried to join the new government in late January. The latter plan likely would have the happy side effect for the MPRP of further splitting the Democrats. If the government fails to act against Gundalai or dithers too long, then post believes Mongolia's already-wavering reputation among foreign investors will suffer a further blow. SLUTZ