Epstein and Israeli official promote spy technology to Nigerian officials

Investigation Reveals Collaboration Between Disgraced Financier and Former Israeli PM on Surveillance Deals in West Africa

A recent investigation by Drop Site News has uncovered evidence of a long-standing collaboration between convicted American financier Jeffrey Epstein and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, involving the use of surveillance technology developed under Israel’s occupation of Palestine to secure lucrative deals in Nigeria.

According to the investigation, which analyzed emails originally released by the US Department of Justice, Epstein and Barak worked together for over a decade to profit from instability in Nigeria. The emails reveal that they leveraged the Boko Haram rebellion to pitch “field-proven” security solutions to Nigerian officials, with these deals often serving as a gateway for broader commercial interests.

The correspondence indicates that Epstein and Barak viewed the escalating violence in West Africa as a business opportunity, rather than a humanitarian crisis. In one email, Epstein wrote to Barak in 2014, stating “isn’t this perfect for you”. Barak replied, “You’re right in a way. But not simple to transform it into a cash flow”.

The investigation found that Israeli intelligence firms marketed their technology to Nigeria using euphemisms such as “field-proven”, which refers to systems deployed by the Israeli military against Palestinians under occupation. In 2015, Barak and a business partner invested $15m in FST Biometrics, a firm founded by the former head of Israeli military intelligence.

The documents detail how Barak facilitated the sale of biometric surveillance equipment to Babcock University, a Christian institution in Nigeria, with the project framed as a counterterrorism measure. The emails suggest that this initial foothold allowed Barak to institutionalize Israeli cyber-expertise within the Nigerian state.

By 2020, the World Bank had tapped the Israel National Cyber Directorate and a startup cofounded by Barak to shape Nigeria’s national cyber-infrastructure. The investigation highlights the immense access Epstein and Barak secured within the Nigerian government, including high-level talks with officials such as Jide Zeitlin, then-chair of Nigeria’s sovereign investment fund.

The correspondence also reveals that security cooperation was often used as a pretext for accessing Nigeria’s vast resource wealth.

Source: Al Jazeera