Posted on 10/14/2001 6:27:18 AM PDT by SlickWillard
Saudi elite linked to bin Laden financial empire
Special Report by Jonathan Wells, Jack Meyers and Maggie Mulvihill
Sunday, October 14, 2001
Saudi Arabia, whose leaders had until yesterday refused to join U.S. efforts to freeze terrorist assets, may be an ongoing source of financial support for Osama bin Laden, the reputed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S.
Some of Saudi Arabia's richest families, including at least one member of the ruling al-Saud family, have had dealings with banks, charitable organizations and other financial institutions linked to bin Laden's complex funding network, according to public records, intelligence reports and terrorism experts.
``It stretches credulity to say that there are not certain rich and conservative Saudi individuals lending some financial support (to Osama bin Laden),'' said Dominic Simpson, a former British intelligence officer in the Middle East who now works for Kroll Associates in London.
``It is also not inconceivable that there are young princes and princesses on the outer edges of the royal family who are sympathetic to (bin Laden's) ideologies,'' Simpson added.
To date, the Saudi government and virtually every Saudi businessman, bank and charitable organization cited as a possible funding link to Osama bin Laden has publicly denied any involvement with the exiled terrorist.
Yesterday, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates agreed to freeze the assets of an expanded U.S. Treasury Department list of groups and individuals American authorities believe are linked to terrorism.
However, suspicions persist that certain members of the Saudi elite are secretly supporting bin Laden's cause and they are fueled by business relationships and financial events which include the following:
Three banks allegedly used by Osama bin Laden to distribute money to his global terrorism network have well-established ties to a prince in Saudi Arabia's royal family, several billionaire Saudi bankers, and the governments of Kuwait and Dubai.
One of the banks, Al-Shamal Islamic Bank in the Sudan, was controlled directly by Osama bin Laden, according to a 1996 U.S. State Department report. A second bank, Faisal Islamic Bank, appears to have a relative of Osama bin Laden on its board of directors, the bank's records show.
Despite repeated denials of any connection to their notorious relative, members of the family of Osama bin Laden continue to have close business relationships with another wealthy Saudi banking clan, the bin Mahfouz family, which is suspected of shipping millions of dollars to the exiled terrorist as recently as three years ago.
The bin Mahfouz family was placed in the spotlight Friday when the Bush administration moved to freeze the assets of 39 more individuals and groups it believes are supporting terrorism.
One of the names on the list, Saudi businessman Yasin al-Qadi, is involved with members of the bin Mahfouz family in a Muslim charity, Blessed Relief, which the Treasury Department says has steered millions of dollars to bin Laden.
Abdulrahman bin Mahfouz, the son of family patriarch Khalid bin Mahfouz, has served on the board of directors of Blessed Relief. Khalid bin Mahfouz was indicted in the BCCI banking scandal in the early 1990's and ended up paying $225 million in a settlement with U.S. prosecutors. In 1999, he was placed under house arrest by the Saudi government after his National Commercial Bank allegedly funneled millions of dollars to front organizations for Osama bin laden, including Blessed Relief.
A chapter of a Muslim charity, which receives money from the Saudi government, the International Islamic Relief Organization in the Philippines, is linked to one of bin Laden's brothers-in-law, Mohammad Jamal Khalifa. Philippine and U.S. authorities have accused Khalifa of using the charity's funds to bankroll Abu Sayyaf, a terrorist group associated with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
Khalifa, believed by U.S. intelligence officials to manage money for his brother-in-law in Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore and the Philippines, was arrested in the U.S. in 1994 for ``providing financial, logistical and training assistance to international terrorism.'' The charge was later withdrawn because of insufficient evidence and Khalifa was deported.
Khalifa also reportedly helped fund the Islamic Army of Aden, the group that claimed responsibility for the 1999 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen.
One of Osama bin Laden's half brothers, Yeslam bin Laden, was reportedly questioned by Swiss authorities last month after terrorists struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
According to the Swiss magazine L'Hebdo, federal inspectors were seeking information on the activities of several bin Laden family companies. One of them is Geneva-based Saudi Investment Company, or SICO, a financial clearinghouse for the family's international investments.
The other, Avcon Air Charter, owns a fleet of private jets which it leases to business clients. Avcon offered flight training to clients at one of the same Florida pilot schools attended by some of the 19 hijackers, according to the French newspaper Le Monde.
Yeslam bin Laden is one of three half brothers of Osama bin laden who head the Saudi Binladin Group, the parent company of the family's far-flung business ventures, which include construction, telecommunications and finance.
In the U.S., Bush administration officials are apparently taking a close look at possible Saudi involvement in the funding of bin Laden's terrorist network.
That financial infrastructure was originally put in place in the 1980's as the Saudi and U.S. governments, along with wealthy Persian Gulf businessmen, sent billions of dollars to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan who were waging war against the Soviet Union.
The money, which was a critical factor in the defeat of the Soviets and Osama bin Laden, one of the leaders of the Mujahideen, was a key link to his fellow Saudi millionaires.
Officially, bin Laden has been banished from Saudi Arabia by the royal family and disowned by his 52 siblings for the last seven years.
Those two public breaks began in 1991, when Osama bin Laden was forced to leave Saudi Arabia after he criticized the Saudi monarchy for allowing U.S. armed forces to occupy bases near Islamic holy sites even after the Gulf War ended.
Bin Laden moved his operations to Sudan, where, according to the U.S. State Department, he helped establish al-Shamal Islamic Bank with a personal stake of $50 million.
Bin Laden's links to banks in the Sudan were confirmed last year when Jamal Ahmed Mohamed al-Fadl, a former business associate of bin Laden, testified against the al-Qaeda operatives responsible for the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. He said bin Laden used al-Shamal Islamic Bank and two other banks - Tadamon Islamic Bank and Faisal Islamic Bank - to distribute money to his terrorist agents around the world.
According to an intelligence report released last week by the French National Assembly and other public records, those three banks are part of a matrix of interlocking Islamic financial institutions run by some of the richest men in the Middle East, including Saudi princes and Saudi billionaires.
Two of the chief stockholders in al-Shamal are the Tadamon and Faisal banks. The chairman of Faisal Islamic Bank is Prince Mohammad Al Faisal Al Saud, a member of the Saudi royal family.
Another founder of the Faisal Islamic Bank who still has a major stake in the bank is Saudi magnate Saleh Abdullah Kamel, whose Dallah Albaraka Group owns 23 banks and investment companies in 15 countries. Forbes Magazine estimated last year that Kamel is worth $4 billion, making him the 137th richest man in the world.
Last year, Faisal Islamic Bank merged with another bank controlled by Prince Al Faisal Al Saud, the Bahrain-based Islamic Investment Company of the Gulf, and the new entity is called Al-Shamil Islamic Bank. One of Al-Shamil's directors is Hyder Mohammed bin Laden. His relationship, if any, to the Saudi bin laden family could not be confirmed yesterday.
Al-Shamil Islamic bank is a subsidiary of the giant banking conglomerate Dar Al Maal Al Islami in Geneva, Switzerland. Dar Al Maal Al Islami, founded 20 years ago and now chaired by Prince Mohammed Al Faisal Al-Saud, is seen in the Muslim world as the primary vehicle for Saudi financing of the international Islamic fundamentalist movement.
Public records and intelligence reports show that the Saudi Binladin Group, the international business conglomerate run by some of Osama bin Laden's half-brothers, has numerous business ventures with the bin Mahfouz family.
Like the bin Laden family, the bin Mahfouz clan originated in the Hadhramaut valley in southern Yemen, which has long been a hotbed of radical Islamic fundamentalism. Both families cultivated close relationships with the Saudi royal family and, as a result, rose to prominence and amassed great wealth.
Founders of the National Commercial Bank, the largest private bank in Saudi Arabia, the bin Mahfouz family is worth more than $4 billion, according to Forbes Magazine. The bin Ladens' fortunes reportedly total in excess of $5 billion. Intelligence Online, a Paris-based information service, has reported that Khalid bin Mahfouz is related by marriage to Osama bin Laden.
In 1999, the Saudi government conducted an audit and discovered that the bin Mahfouz family's National Commerical Bank had transferred at least $3 million to charitable organizations believed to be fronts for bin Laden terror network, intelligence sources said.
Khalid bin Mahfouz has remained in government custody for the last two years, and, officially at least, he is no longer involved with the affairs of the bank, which is the largest private bank in Saudi Arabia and is closely associated with the ruling Saud family.
The Saudi government purchased Khalid bin Mahfouz's 50 percent share of the bank, which reduced the family's stake to 20 percent. However, one of Khalid bin Mahfouz's sons, Abdulrahman bin Mahfouz, is now in charge of the bank, sources said.
Simpson, the former British intelligence officer, said it is unclear whether bin Mahfouz's detention by the Saudi government was primarily related to the National Commerical Bank transfers.
Simpson said Khalid bin Mahfouz is not technically under house arrest anymore as Saudi officials have placed him in a hospital in Taif. He said bin Mafouz may have been taken out of circulation for other financial transgressions or disagreements with one of the Saudi princes.
``It's perfectly possible to imagine monies were funneled through National Commercial Bank accounts without the senior management of the bank, including Khalid bin Mahfouz, knowing about it,'' Simpson said ``On the other hand, there could have been individuals inside the bank who were sympathic.''
The financial ties between the bin Laden and bin Mahfouz families are many and run the gamut from telecommunications to construction management to high finance. Their partnerships, co-ventures and common investments include:
Binladin Telecommunications Co., Ltd. The Saudi Binladin Group and a bin Mahfouz family holding company, Saudi Economic Development Co., are the primary shareholders.
The Middle East Capital Group, one arm of an international finance network formed in 1996 to recruit investors and raise capital worldwide. The Bin Mahfouz Group is identified as one of four ``core shareholders'' in MECG and one of the Saudi Binladin Group's directors, Henry Sarkissian, sits on MECG's board of directors. MECG's mission is to become ``the premier investment and merchant bank in the Middle East and North Africa region.''
Hybridon, a small Massachusetts biomedical company engaged in advanced DNA research. Yahia M. A. bin Laden is a major stockholder in the firm, as is Abdela bin Mahfouz. Abdulrahman bin Mahfouz is a former shareholder.
The Port of Aden and the Aden International Airport. The Bin Mahfouz Group and the Port of Singapore Authority comprise an entity called Yeminvest, which is under contract with the Yemen government to run the facilities and operations in the port. In 1999, the Saudi Binladin Group was hired by Yemen officials to rebuild the nearby airport.
It was in the port of Aden in 1999 that suicide bombers were able to manuever a boat packed with explosives next to the USS Cole warship. The ensuing blast killed 17 sailors. U.S. authorities believe Osama bin Laden ordered that attack.
Dar Al-Hekma college in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Mohammed Salem bin Mahfouz and the Saudi Binladin Group were among a handful of Saudi individuals and business groups who founded the college. Yahia bin Laden is the vice chairman of the school's board of trustees.
Some Middle East experts said the many business associations between the bin Laden and bin Mahfouz families is not a surprise given the similar backgrounds of the two clans. They also said those dealings do not, in and of themselves, suggest that bin Laden's relatives are involved in supporting Osama bin Laden's operation.
However, Simpson said he believes some religiously conservative Saudi businessmen continue to provide financial support to the Taliban, which is tantamount to bankrolling bin Laden's terrorist organization.
Simpson said he has seen no evidence that the bin Laden relatives who run the family's business empire are among them, but noted there are persistent reports that several of the female members of the family and their husbands have remained in contact with their terrorist half-brother.
At various times since 1994, when the Saudi government revoked Osama bin Laden's citizenship, the leaders of the bin Laden family have issued statements disavowing their exiled half-brother and condemning the acts of terrorism attributed to him.
A few days after the September 11 terror attacks in New York and Washington D.C., Abdullah Bin Laden declared in a written statement that the ``Bin Laden family has no relation at all with his (Osama's) acts and conducts.''
Jonathan Winer, a former deputy assistant Secretary of State specializing in international law enforcement, said the statement falls short of saying the family has severed all financial ties to Osama bin Laden.
``Certainly their statement is not categorical,'' Winer said, adding that the family should specifically address the issue of financial support for Osama and the various charities tied to him.
Paul Michael Wihbey, a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies in Washington D.C., believes Osama bin Laden's ultimate goal is to overthrow the Saudi royal family and may have some high-level support in that endeavor.
``I think we underestimate bin Laden,'' Whibey said. ``He comes from the highest levels of Saudi society and he has supporters at all levels of Saudi Arabia. There is no reason to think that every single member of his family has shut him down.''
PR NEWSWIRE FINANCIAL NEWS
Hybridon Elects New Chairman of the Board; H. F. Powell to Serve as Chairman
December 21, 1999, Tuesday
MILFORD, Mass., Dec. 21
Hybridon, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: HYBN) announced today that H. F. "Jake" Powell, a former Nabisco executive and member of Hybridon's Board of Directors, has been elected chairman. E. Andrews Grinstead III, Hybridon's chairman since 1991, will remain on the Board and continues to serve as Chief Executive Officer and President.
Mr. Powell was the Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Nabisco, Inc. from 1994 to 1996 and held various executive positions with Nabisco affiliates for the prior twelve years, including President of the International Division. He joined Nabisco from Standard Brands, Inc. where he held various executive positions, including Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Powell has served on Hybridon's Board of Directors since March, 1999.
Mr. Powell stated, "I am pleased to be able to bring my experience to this position and look forward to continuing to work closely with Andy and his management team."
Mr. Grinstead commented, "I look forward to working with Jake and the other members of the Board as he takes a more active role in developing the considerable potential of our proprietary antisense technology."
Also elected in March to Hybridon's Board of Directors was Camille Chebeir. Mr. Chebeir is President of SEDCO Services, Inc., a company which manages investments for the bin Mahfouz family of Saudi Arabia, a position he has held since 1994. Previously, he was Executive Vice President/General Manager of the National Commercial Bank, New York Branch. Mr. Chebeir has also served as the President of the Arab Bankers Association of America. He is a member of the Board of Directors of various entities in which SEDCO invests.
Located in Milford, MA, Hybridon, Inc. is engaged in the discovery and development of novel genetic medicines based primarily on antisense technology for the treatment of diseases for which there are currently limited or no effective treatments. Antisense technology involves the use of synthetic segments of DNA to stop the production of disease associated proteins by interacting at the genetic level with target strands of messenger RNA. Hybridon's lead compound, GEM(R)231, is currently in Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of solid tumors. In addition, the company has a custom manufacturing division, Hybridon Specialty Products. Hybridon also has two spinouts, MethylGene, Inc. and OriGenix Technologies Inc., in which it holds minority ownership positions. For more detailed information about Hybridon, please visit our website at http://www.hybridon.com.
The statements made in this press release contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including the risk that the company will be forced to cease operations. Such statements are only predictions and actual events or results may differ materially. In addition to the matters described in this press release, risk factors as stated from time to time in Hybridon's SEC reports, including but not limited to, its Annual Report on Form 10-K, may affect the results achieved by Hybridon.
This and other Hybridon press releases can be found at http://www.hybridon.com and http://www.noonanrusso.com.
DUBAI MAJID AL FUTTAIM, JAPAN ORIX IN LEASING JV
Khaleej Times
June 12, 2001
Global News Wire DUBAIS Majid Al Futtaim Investments has signed a joint venture agreement with Orix Corporation of Japan to form a leasing company in the UAE. The new company will engage in equipment leasing and related financial services.
The joint venture partnership was announced through a Press release issued both in Tokyo and Dubai yesterday. The release, however, did not disclose either the size of the investment or the equity of the respective partners. This is the first major deal Majid Al Futtaim Group of Companies has carried out after the recent sale of its stake in Al Futtaim Trading Group of Companies.
Last week, Majid Mohammed Al Futtaim sold his 50 per cent stake in Al Futtaim Trading Group of Companies, one of the leading business houses in the UAE, to his cousin Abdulla Hamad Al Futtaim who has become the whole owner of the group which comprises almost 40 companies.
According to the release, the joint venture agreement was signed in Tokyo by Yoshihiko Miyauchi, chairman and chief executive officer of Orix Corporation, Majid Al Futtaim, chairman of Majid Al Futtaim Investments, and S.U. Durrani, vice-chairman, Orix Leasing Pakistan. Orix Corporation is Japans largest leasing company and one of the biggest diversified financial services companies in the world with special expertise in aircraft and ship leasing and financing. The company, which has operations in 21 countries and has assets in excess of $ 50 billion, is listed on Tokyo and New York stock exchanges, the release said.
After the recent restructuring, Majid Al Futtaim owns City Centre, Carrefour hypermarkets, City Centre Hotel and Residence (Sofitel), Cinestar and MAF Securicor under the banner of Majid Al Futtaim Group of Companies.
But, as a key partner in Al Futtaim Trading Group, he has a long history of association with Japanese companies, including Toyota, Honda and Panasonic.
Orix Pakistan, a subsidiary of Orix Corporation, is one of the biggest leasing companies in Pakistan and acts as the regional head office for Orix Corporation for the MIddle East and North Africa which includes joint venture leasing companies in the Sultanate of Oman, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Leasing, which is well established in Japan and the Western economies, has had a late start in the MIddle East, but is rapidly receiving recognition in the region as a conduit for assisting small and medium size enterprises.
Orix Groupss worldwide leasing experience and Majid Al Futtaim Investments knowledge of the UAE business environment indicate that the UAE market has good potential for developing a successful leasing operation, the release said.
I'm going now to search "MAJ Securicor"!I have spent a lot of time doing that , and I never came up with that name,(MAF).
If Securicor is owned by an Arab, I think I will jump off a bridge!
Please dont go to sleep early tonight!
I'll get back as soon as possible!
So far, all I can find is that there is a MAF Securicor.
There is also a Jardines Securicor.
It looks to me like maybe you can own a piece of Securicor,like a gas station, or a McDonalds.
Does this mean that the Arab Futtaim had anything to do with Arab terrorists killing thousands of WTC people?
I'm getting a severe headache!
I still cant find the stockholders of Securicor.
Hopefully, someone smarter than me can figure this one out!
Dubai -- Leading businessman Majid Al Futtaim is understood to have sold his stake in the Al Futtaim Trading Group to his cousin, Abdullah Al Futtaim. Details of the deal are expected to be released soon.
Majid Al Futtaim was president of Al Futtaim Trading Group. He retains control over Majid Al Futtaim Group which includes City Centre, Carrefour hypermarkets, Greater Union, Securicor and City Centre Hotel and Residence. Abdullah runs the Abdullah Al Futtaim Group which is setting up the Dh6 billion Dubai Festival City.
Abdullah's sons run Al Futtaim Sons Group which includes Marks & Spencer, Toys 'R' Us and other brands.
From pearls, textiles, timber and foodstuffs, the growth of Al Futtaim Trading Group has been phenomenal in the past seven decades. Its status as one of the largest privately-owned business houses in the lower Gulf is undisputed.
Although turnover has not been made public, the fact that it runs about 40 businesses testifies to its diversity, profitability and size. It has a staff of over 8,000 from more than 20 countries. Its retail presence comprises more than 70 showrooms nationwide.
Diversification is indicated by the group's interests in automobiles, consumer electronics, insurance, civil engineering, computers, furnishings, hardware, advertising, construction, real estate and property development, light and heavy engineering, ship repair and steel fabrication.
To manage these companies the Al Futtaim Trading Group has established a decentralised corporate structure with six autonomous core divisions. They are automotive, electronic, retailing and services, insurance, overseas and joint venture and real estate.
The group comprises over 39 divisions and operating companies, besides joint ventures in several countries. The Al Futtaim Trading Group began in the 1930s as a trading establishment for mainly pearls, foodstuffs, timber and textiles. The conglomerate still retains the legacy in its name - Al Futtaim Trading Group.
And the group statement symbolises relationship with the past - "Our roots are embedded in tradition while our vision encompasses the skies".
"The core of the Al Futtaim Trading Group of companies is fortified by the diversity of the activities within its trading arms. Strategically planned operating subsidiaries and associate companies enable and ensure the versatility necessary for the company, not only to keep ahead of its local competition, but moreover, to remain on a par with increasing international competitors.
A combination of astute awareness and careful deliberation, together with imaginative ingenuity, encapsulates the trading group's business philosophy," the group claims.
"Majid Al Futtaim was president of Al Futtaim Trading Group. He retains control over Majid Al Futtaim Group which includes City Centre, Carrefour hypermarkets, Greater Union,Securicor "
Securicor could face legal claims over hijack airports
UK firm bought into US market
Special report: Terrorism in the US
Audrey Gillan and Stuart Millar
Thursday September 13, 2001
The Guardian
Securicor could face a multi-million dollar compensation claim after it emerged yesterday that the British company owns the firm responsible for security on two of the hijacked flights.
Securicor bought Argenbright Security, which has 40% of the US aviation security market, last December for an initial cash payment of $185m.
The Guardian has established that Argenbright is contracted by United and American Airlines, whose planes were used in the attack, to provide security at Washington Dulles and Newark international airports.
Notice---no mention in this about Arab Ownership.
Does MAF just have a franchise to use the "Securicor" name in a non-airport security deal, or is MAF actualy some kind of owner of "Securicor" Airline-Airport security?
There is a difference there!
Does the present setup allow MAF Securicor to have things ,like passes, ID's badges to acess planes , particularly in the US?
Also, I still cant find the major stockholders of "Securicor" the main corp, in the UK.
Its directors are all White Brits,Lords and such.
If some one could find that there are indeed Arabs as major stockholders in Securicor,UK, we would have FBI,Homeland Seucrity evidence, bigtime!
The Saudis are not our friends, never were. They just want our petrodollars.
Most of the threads of the present crisis come back to Saudi Arabia: bin Laden himself, most of the terrorists, the Al Qida network, and the financing.
We're wasting out time bombing Afghanistan. It probably won't produce bin Laden. Our first step should have been to take back the Saudi oil fields (they belonged to Aramco before nationalization). It would take the wind out of the terrorists' sails, and tell the Muslim world that they bit off more than they can chew.
Try this at Edgar and see if what you're looking for is in it ---- Edgar- Securicor
EXHIBIT A DIRECTORS OF THE SURVIVING CORPORATION
Robert B. Kelly Robert J. Shiver John Wareham Steven L. Wasserman Roger Wiggs Michael Wilkinson
I hope he starts making the rounds of all the shows!
I had pretty much searched all the SEC docs, looking for Arab names.
Thanks for trying!
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