U.S. Company Evacuates Staff From Mongolia Before Being Kapla-sized
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Fluor, a company based in Irving, Texas USA, has reportedly removed all foreign personnel from Mongolia rapidly at the first hint that the government of Mongolia may have a tax inquiry for the company.
A local person reports, “The Fluor case is very tight lipped, nobody is saying anything. Fluor got their people out of here at the first hint of a tax issue.” ‘Mogi’ Munkdhul Badral, the founder and CEO of a Mongolia news aggregator, noted Fluor’s departure on Twitter earlier today as well: “Fluor has reportedly packed up and left Mongolia after declaring Sainshand [industrial park] project unfeasible for fear of staff getting banned from leaving.”
The U.S. State Department’s annual Investment Climate Report on Mongolia consistently highlights Mongolia’s exit visa ban policy – of being able to indefinitely detain foreigners in the country – as a cause for concern. The most notable current example of the use of Mongolia’s exit visa ban is American Justin Kapla’s situation, as well as the situation of his former Philippine colleagues Hilarion Cajucom, Jr. and Cristobal David.
Messrs. Kapla, Cajucom and David have now been detained under exit ban for approximately two and a half years. They may live and work in Mongolia but are unable to depart the country while under investigation for corporate tax evasion charges from their prior posts with SouthGobi Resources. Two times this year Mongolian courts have ruled that Mongolia’s prosecutors had insufficient evidence against the men, yet they are still detained.
Jon Springer
