Jacobson is not new to scandal. Back in 2012, he was arrested by Toronto police after pleading guilty to a money laundering charge the U.S. Dept. of Justice had laid against him. In the years leading up to this controversy, Jacobson was a key political ally to former prime minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives. But news of his legal problems sent shock waves through Ottawa, given his ties to the Harper regime and its cabinet.
Indeed, at the pinnacle of his influence, Jacobson was a very wealthy man, a renowned philanthropist, worth “hundreds of millions” he says, with a business empire that stretched from Canada to Russia, Israel, Asia and Central America. He could get audiences with not only Netanyahu, but Russian President Vladimir Putin, the leaders of Costa Rica and Kazakhstan, and had direct access to Harper. He was friends with Jason Kenney – current leader of Alberta’s United Conservative Party – and former foreign affairs minister John Baird.
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