For two decades Robert Stone made his living on the high seas. A modern-day pirate, he was a pioneer saturation oil-field diver, treasure hunter and smuggler, which brought him more money than he knew how to spend. Stone spent the last ten of his smuggling years in Africa, where he traded in illicit fuel. The murky waters of the Niger delta were his place of business as he operated in the most corrupt regime in the world, a place ruled by money and guns. Protected by the military he sold his black cargo to legitimate businesses all over the world, making millions of dollars in the process. 'Chasing Black Gold' is a tale straight out of Hollywood, one which throws the reader into a world where suitcases full of millions in cash are flown around the globe on private jets, where the corrupt practices of Third World governments and military regimes must be mastered and a world of numbered bank accounts and countries of convenience, where living under false IDs and money laundering are all in day's work. AUTHOR: Robert Stone was a serial entrepreneur ? an enterprising individual, mostly on the wrong side of the law, who spent twenty-five years operating all over the world, before being arrested in Switzerland as a result of an international manhunt led by an Organised Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. Over the course of his career, Stone earned and lost several lifetimes' worth of fortunes, went to prison on three continents, used dozens of aliases, saw men die, and masterminded one of the biggest marijuana smuggling operations in criminal history. Fuel smuggling in Africa, trading fuel with generals, rebels and businessman, was both his career high and, ultimately, what brought him down. SELLING POINTS: ? The author has never talked publicly about his experiences ? Unique insight into crime and corruption within Africa ? Will appeal to the many readers of books such as Mr Nice and Outlaws Inc. ? Foreword by Matt Potter, author of Outlaws Inc.
