 However, a turn in Nigeria's economy in 1984 caused non payment of government's promissory notes tied to his firm's assets affected his commodity business.Beginning in 1991, Gaon developed a barter trading interest with the Soviet Union that ended in acrimony, thereafter Gaon sought legal options to claim unpaid debts through confiscation of Russian assets abroad.Gaon was born in the Sudan to Turkish Jews from Spain, who later moved to Egypt and the Sudan.