The war in Ukraine is confirming the truth of Ferengi (fictional species in the Star Trek universe) Rule of Acquisition No. 34: “War is good for business.” Specifically, an American-staffed training and evacuation business called The Mozart Group. That is, before it folded up shop last week after nearly a year of operating in Ukraine.
The visible partner in this venture was former U.S. Marine Andy Milburn, a high-profile supporter of the Ukrainian cause and a charismatic social media source for plenty of on-the-ground updates.
Mozart positioned itself as the reverse, good-guy version of the infamous Russian private military group (PMG) called the Wagner Group, which is conducting front-line combat operations in Ukraine today. According to its mission statement on the Mozart website, the group's mission is "to build sustainable capacity in the Ukrainian military and territorial defense units so that Ukraine can defend itself from Russia’s invasion. A vital component of our mission is battlefield clearance — removing the tons of un-expended ordnance, mines and booby traps that litter the area previously occupied by Russian troops. We want to enable the people of Ukraine to return to their homes and begin rebuilding their lives, free from threat.”
Both Milburn and the brand had drawn nothing but praise since planting a flag in Ukraine. One New York Times article said that, for Milburn, “Ukraine represents the morally just war that eluded him his entire career.”
Mozart claimed to not carry weapons or traffic in weapons but engage in training of troops, such as its Territorial Defence Brigades, along with other services, according to the website, including emergency extraction and humanitarian aid.
Their work had been effective enough that it caused Russia to mount disinformation campaigns against them.
But recent news reports indicate that perhaps more scrutiny should have been paid to The Mozart Group from the beginning. The core problem is that TMG was structured as a limited liability company registered in Wyoming. But Milburn and TMG had encouraged tax-exempt donations through its "alter ego" humanitarian organization, Task Force Sunflower [TFS].
The key difference between LLCs and nonprofits is what they do with the money they generate: LLCs can choose to distribute profits from their business operations, products, and services to their owners. Nonprofits must use revenue after operating expenses and employee salaries to carry out their mission. Nonprofits do not have to pay federal taxes, whereas LLCs do.
The Mozart Group was founded in March 2022 by Milburn and Andrew Bain, a businessman who has lived in Ukraine for over 30 years and who retired with the rank of colonel in 2014 from the Marine Corps Reserve.
Milburn retired from Marine Corps active duty as a colonel in 2019 after 31 years of service. By all accounts, he had a distinguished career. His last position in uniform was as deputy commander of Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT), and prior to that, commanding officer of the Marine Raider Regiment and Combined Special Operations Task Force–Iraq.
Milburn first arrived in Ukraine the month after the February invasion working as a correspondent for the U.S. military publication Task & Purpose. He and Bain started The Mozart Group shortly thereafter. On January 12, Bain wrote, “TMG has done great good for Ukraine, and is filled with idealistic and moral people who are trying to do their best for the country.”
According to Bain, Mozart “was established as a limited liability company (LLC), given some of its activities (military training and equipping) would not qualify as charity under US law, with my owning 51% and Milburn 49%.” The Mozart Group insisted it was not directly involved in combat and volunteers (typically ex-servicemen and locals) do not carry weapons, making the business compliant with the US Neutrality Acts which prohibit U.S. citizens from joining foreign militaries or launching wars against countries not at war with the U.S.
As of late last summer, the Mozart Group consisted of 20-30 volunteers hailing from the U.S., U.K., Ireland, and other Western countries. According to The Intercept, “By August, Mozart deployed three teams of former soldiers — two teams for military training, one for extracting civilians from the front lines — with each one costing up to $100,000 a month in expenses.”
Milburn was appointed CEO, and Bain worked behind the scenes. According to Wikipedia, they set up an office in Kyiv and began soliciting donations. The group subsequently relocated from Kyiv to the Donbas, according to The Guardian.
Milburn was also listed as a principal in its affiliated humanitarian NGO, Task Force Sunflower (TFS), which was established as a non-profit 501c3 in May 2022. By April 2022, Mozart quickly became a media favorite given its emphasis on conducting primarily humanitarian assistance and military training. The venture had a robust social media presence with Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn sites.
But by mid-January all hell had broken loose, with Bain revealing he had sued Milburn to get him out of Mozart.
A complaint filed by Bain in the Third Judicial District Court of Wyoming on Jan. 10 accuses Milburn and ten other defendants whose true identities are unknown of taking actions that have and will continue to cause harm to the company.
First, Milburn may have been misrepresenting Mozart as a charity.
Second, despite Mozart saying that it funds its operations through donations and claiming that its main cause is helping Ukraine, Bain's lawsuit accuses Milburn of going after paid military contracts in Armenia.
Third, Mozart seemed to be edging closer to taking on combat roles. A Daily Telegraph article noted that “Milburn has outlined a desire, in the future, to see Mozart members helping with command and control in the operational headquarters, or assisting in the ‘fires cel,’ where artillery and other indirect fire platforms, such as drones are brought to bear.”
Bain’s most serious charge is:
Taking various actions and carrying on various activities in the name of the Company which require prior approval and permits issued by the United States Department of State in compliance with International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)… Milburn failed to secure the necessary approvals prior to taking such actions and when notified by the United States Department of State of alleged violations of ITAT an attorney was retained to respond to the claims. Milburn unilaterally and without explanation terminated the services of the attorney responding to the allegations, failed to engage substitute counsel, and as a result failed to meet the required response deadlines set by the government. The matter is still open and remains unresolved creating significant potential liability for the Company.
Bain wrote on his LinkedIn page that “As time went on Milburn became increasingly problematic as a partner. Eventually, his disorganization and unreliability became liabilities, impacting operational effectiveness. For various reasons the focus he’d brought to the mission in those early days was diluted by substance abuse, petty and self-serving feuds, and personal aggrandizement.”
Examples of this type of behavior, according to the complaint, include:
—Outside the scope of the original business interest in Ukraine, seeking commercial contracts for military training in Armenia which would divert resources from Ukraine, having done so knowingly and deliberately without United States Department of State registration or approval in violation of ITAR.
—Promoting himself as a selfless volunteer helping Ukraine but misleading journalists to believe Mozart Group LLC is a charitable entity under 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) when it is not.
—Insisting on personal compensation payments exceeding $35,000 per month from company accounts which was not formally approved by the Members, and not accounting to the company for donated funds received which were received in personal or other accounts controlled by him. According to Milburn (as of December 2022), Mozart Group's monthly expenses amounted to about $170,000, so his salary would be about 20 percent of that.
—Unilaterally hiring as his personal assistant a Ukrainian woman whom upon information and belief he met on the social media dating application and with whom he had a prior personal relationship, and paying her an annual salary of $90,000 which is at least four times more than the usual compensation rate for a Ukraine-based employee in such a position.
Also according to the complaint, “Subsequent to taking the position as Director of TFS Milburn caused the donation link on the website for Mozart Group LLC to forward to the donation page for Task Force Sunflower, thereby intentionally misrepresenting to Mozart Group LLC donors where their funds would be used and diverting funds to a different entity with which he was involved and upon information and belief has a financial interest in.”
Bain has not emerged unscathed from the ongoing controversy. According to Milburn, he was “fired by me in December for financial fraud and because he is under criminal investigation for a number of allegations from sexual assault to sanctions violation (Russian and Afghanistan).”
Neither side is commenting on the lawsuit. Bain wrote that “I need to run all questions by my lawyers.” Queries to Milburn and to The Mozart Group received no response. Nor did the State Department or Pentagon return calls for comment on the activities of the Mozart Group in Ukraine or the accusations against Milburn.
The bottom line is that the children suffer when the adults quarrel. It is doubtful donors want to put money into yet another unresolved conflict within a conflict. And perhaps ex-military providers aren’t the best suited for organizational harmony under stress.
Despite all the regulations and controls that have been devised and implemented in the past three decades to provide oversight and accountability of private businesses operating in war zones, it is still far too easy for them to be corrupted.
While the fundamental missions differ, Mozart shares similarities with past private security contractors like Blackwater.
When it operated in Iraq and Afghanistan, Blackwater claimed its contractors operated strictly in a defensive role, protecting diplomats and other officials. Yet there were numerous occasions when its employees fired their weapons for non-defensive purposes. Mozart was focused on rescuing endangered civilians from the front lines, yet was also engaged in paramilitary activities by training Ukrainian military and security forces. Blackwater was an explicitly for-profit group, and Mozart seemed to be positioning itself to become one too.
On Jan. 31 Milburn tweeted the following: “Today was the last day for the Mozart Group The Mozart Group ended today. The name and entity -had become the subject of litigation and a distraction from our core mission: training Ukrainian soldiers and rescuing civilians But, the mission and the people continue.” The New York Times also reported that the group had literally run out of money.
The Mozart Group’s humanitarian mission was laudable, but esprit de corps is lacking, making it yet another PMC that appears destined to fall apart before the mission was completed. Perhaps they could learn from a quote by the real Mozart:
“All I insist on and nothing else is that you should show the whole world that you are not afraid. Be silent if you choose but when it is necessary speak—and speak in such a way that people will remember it.”
