Robertson settles diamond minining suit televangelist spared a public acconting in trial.

The Virginian-Pilot/September 9, 1997
By Bill Sizemore

There's one piece of good news for Pat Robertson as he sorts through the aftermath of his failed African diamond mining venture: He'll get some of his money back.

A lawsuit the televangelist filed against a mining equipment manufacturer last November after pulling the plug on the faltering operation has been settled out of court, attorneys for the two sides said Monday.

The manufacturer, California-based Keene Engineering Inc., agreed to pay Robertson's for-profit mining company, African Development Co., $197,000 over three years at 10 percent interest, the attorneys said. That will mean a total payout of $224,000.

That's substantially less than Robertson's company had sought in the suit, filed in U.S. District Court. The company accused Keene of fraud and breach of contract, claiming that the dredges it supplied for extracting diamonds from a remote jungle riverbed in Zaire, since renamed Congo, were defective and caused the mining venture to fail.

The suit sought $1.25 million, which included $1 million to cover Robertson's business losses, plus an unspecified amount to cover additional losses to be proved at trial.

A Religion News Service report last year put the venture's losses at $5 million to $7 million.

Still, Robertson is happy with the settlement, his lawyer, David Ventker, said Monday.

``Keene is paying more money in settlement than it would have had to pay before this lawsuit was filed,'' Ventker said. ``We originally said, `Look, we'll take $167,000 and change. Don't make us sue you.' ''

African Development ordered and paid for six mining dredges, but canceled the order before the last four were delivered.

Ventker said the settlement amount represents what Robertson paid for the four undelivered dredges minus what he got for two dredges that were used in the venture and then resold.

Keene's attorney, Kevin Cosgrove, said his client, too, was satisfied with the settlement.

``Robertson ordered six dredges; he paid for six dredges,'' Cosgrove said. ``Keene spent the money building him the six dredges. Then Robertson says, `I'd like to cancel, and I want my money back.' We said, `Well, the problem is, we don't have your money because it's in your dredges right now. We will be happy to sell them, and when we get the money we'll pay you back.' There's never been any dispute that Robertson was entitled to be repaid.''

``The other part of the suit - involving his diamond mining operation going belly-up - wasn't really much of a consideration,'' Cosgrove said.

The settlement means Robertson will be spared having to give a public accounting of his diamond dealings in a federal trial.

Airplanes sent to Zaire by Operation Blessing, Robertson's tax-exempt humanitarian organization, were used almost exclusively for the evangelist's diamond venture, two pilots who flew the planes told The Virginian-Pilot earlier this year.

That revelation prompted a state senator from Northern Virginia to seek an investigation by the state attorney general. The use of the charity's planes for an unrelated business purpose has ``potential tax and consumer fraud implications,'' Sen. Janet D. Howell, D-Reston, said in her complaint.

The matter was referred to the Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs, which is conducting an investigation.

A Robertson spokesman said that the charity's planes turned out to be unsuitable for medical relief and that Robertson reimbursed Operation Blessing for their use.

The spokesman said Robertson had planned to fund humanitarian-relief efforts in Zaire with his mining profits, had there been any. Robertson ended the venture in fall 1995, the spokesman said.

For years, Robertson was one of the staunchest U.S. supporters of longtime Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, who died Sunday. The evangelist continued backing Mobutu even after the dictator became a pariah in Washington and many capitals of Europe.

Last spring, however, as it became clear that Mobutu was being driven out by the forces of rebel leader Laurent Kabila, Robertson sent an emissary to Kabila offering his assistance and cooperation.

Pat Robertson will collect $224,000.