Erik Prince founded Blackwater, now Academi, infamous for Iraq War involvement. Mercenaries massacred 17 Iraqis in Baghdad's Nisour Square in 2007, causing global outrage.
The 2004 Equatorial Guinea coup was led by former British Army officer Simon Mann. Mann's work with Executive Outcomes and Sandline International raised Africa worries.
The Iraq actions of Tim Spicer's private military company Aegis Defence Services were controversial. A 2005 video of Aegis contractors shooting Iraqi civilian vehicles sparked outrage.
After 9/11, Jack Idema was a private military contractor in Afghanistan. Running a makeshift prison got him arrested and imprisoned in Afghanistan for years.
French mercenary Bob Denard participated in many 20th-century African coups. His coups in Comoros and other African states gained him a terrible notoriety.