Trouble on Oily Waters (DoD/Feith link to EG coup)

[Snazzy]

Trouble on Oily Waters
A bear market for freelance soldiers in Africa?

By Mark Hosenball and Tom Masland
Newsweek International


Oct. 4 issue - The International Peace Operations Association has a lot more clout at the Pentagon than the name might suggest. Calling itself an "association of military-service provider companies," it's the closest thing in Washington to a lobbying group for soldiers of fortune. At the outfit's annual dinner last November, the guest speaker was Theresa Whelan, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for African affairs, from the policy directorate headed by Douglas Feith, the controversial under secretary of Defense. Whelan's topic: the U.S. government's increasing use of private military contractors, especially in Africa.

That evening and its aftermath are raising awkward new questions about a botched coup attempt this year in sub-Saharan Africa's third largest oil producer. It's hard to blame anyone for wanting to see the last of Gen. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. He seized power in Equatorial Guinea 25 years ago by overthrowing his own uncle, the nation's first president, and today his regime ranks as one of the most corrupt and brutal in the world. Obiang has survived numerous efforts to dislodge him over the years, but the latest try, allegedly involving 90 mercenaries and a $14 million bankroll, was one for the books.

...

The Pentagon insists it had no advance knowledge of any plot against Obiang. Nevertheless, the audience at Whelan's speech included a British security consultant named Gregory Wales—now one of six defendants in a lawsuit filed by Obiang's attorneys in London against the alleged plotters. Wales gave Whelan his card after the speech, and later called to request a face-to-face chat. The meeting came in mid- to late February, according to a Defense official, who says, "Mr. Wales mentioned in passing, as part of a larger unrelated discussion of African issues, that there might be some trouble brewing in Equatorial Guinea. Specifically, he had heard from some business associates of his that wealthy citizens of the country were planning to flee in case of a crisis." The official adds that Wales's mention of Equatorial Guinea was "such a general remark about one troubled country in a troubled region, there was no reason to follow up on it, and Ms. Whelan did not."

....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6100308/site/newsweek

[UpInArms]

1. how do we know that Whelan

"did not" follow up on EG?

'Cause she said so?

Any records getting subpoenaed?

There have been so many lies spew from the lips of these vermin, I would not believe a single thing they say.

:grr:

[seemslikeadream]

2. Request for halt to Santander takeover

Request for halt to Santander takeover


LEADING US-based human rights group has written to Britain's financial regulator urging it to halt Santander's £8bn acquisition of Abbey National until it fully investigates its part in the alleged "violation" of US money laundering laws.
Inner City Press and its Fair Finance Watch, based in New York, has drawn the Financial Services Authority's attention to the US Senate's recent report on Riggs Bank's alleged money laundering for former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, and the dictator of Equatorial Guinea.

Earlier this year, Senate investigators said Riggs Bank helped Pinochet hide millions of dollars in assets from international prosecutors while he was under house arrest in the UK.
Pages 55 and 56 of the report state that Riggs asked two banks – HSBC and Santander – for the identities of the beneficial owners of accounts belonging to Apexside and another company.
Following the request, Santander's New York office responded that the account had been opened by its parent bank in Madrid, but that it could not disclose the account's beneficial owners because of Spanish statutes which prevent disclosure of bank information, even in cases of suspected money laundering.

.....

A LEADING US-based human rights group has written to Britain's financial regulator urging it to halt Santander's £8bn acquisition of Abbey National until it fully investigates its part in the alleged "violation" of US money laundering laws.
Inner City Press and its Fair Finance Watch, based in New York, has drawn the Financial Services Authority's attention to the US Senate's recent report on Riggs Bank's alleged money laundering for former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, and the dictator of Equatorial Guinea.

Earlier this year, Senate investigators said Riggs Bank helped Pinochet hide millions of dollars in assets from international prosecutors while he was under house arrest in the UK.
Pages 55 and 56 of the report state that Riggs asked two banks – HSBC and Santander – for the identities of the beneficial owners of accounts belonging to Apexside and another company.
Following the request, Santander's New York office responded that the account had been opened by its parent bank in Madrid, but that it could not disclose the account's beneficial owners because of Spanish statutes which prevent disclosure of bank information, even in cases of suspected money laundering.
Santander was even prevented from disclosing the information to its US subsidiary under the terms of the law.

The Senate report added: "This bar on disclosure across international lines, even within the same financial institution, presents a significant obstacle to US anti-money laundering efforts."
A spokesman for Santander last night said that it was bound by the laws which govern it. He denied the Riggs report was critical of Santander, noting the criticism was against the bar on disclosure across international lines. Nonetheless, in its letter to the FSA, Fair Finance Watch said: "This proposed acquisition (of Abbey) should not be permitted, at least not until the troubling issues raised herein are fully addressed, responded to, and acted on."

more
http://www.theherald.co.uk/business/24582.html



:hi: Snazzy

[Snazzy]

3. Interesting. Just digging into some other connections

Thinking about what Emad's been saying about William Farish, Jr., when I saw Riggs come up in today's news search as sponsoring horse races in the UK (and elsewhere:

For example:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=%22riggs+bank%22+thoroughbred

Emad's Farish thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=632508

Turns out Riggs invested heavily in Calumet Farms under Allbritton, which was involved in massive bank and insurance fraud after a guy from Houston was hired to smash the leg of a famous horse, which was then put-down, to collect the $36.5 million in insurance money. They also defrauded a Texas bank (First City) of $65 million--a large part of that money used to pay Riggs. Riggs eventually forced Calumet's bankruptcy.

Farish had tried to buy Calumet (a KY neighbor) just before Riggs got involved.

The dead horse was collateral on the Riggs loan.

(See: http://www.kyeb.uscourts.gov/opin/leeopin/1994/Calumet%2092-5059%202-3-94.html)

(And Clinton pardoned (?) JT Lundy--the Calumet guy who set up all the scams--not going with that can of worms though--Roger Clinton fiasco).

A book on Calumet Farms downfall from about the time Riggs and BFEE got involved, a familiar pattern (can't paste the search inside feature):

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0805042423/ref=sib_vae_dp/104-3455517-7009501?%5Fencoding=UTF8&no=283155&me=ATVPDKIKX0DER&st=books

------------

Wapo: An Overdue Withdrawal At 'Joe's Bank'

By Steven Pearlstein
Friday, April 30, 2004; Page E01

...

His love of thoroughbreds and horse racing led to Riggs's involvement with Kentucky's Calumet Farms, a ride that lasted until the farm wound up in bankruptcy court.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54972-2004Apr29.html

---------

Allbritton had/has other horse interests. I think he more or less ended up losing just a couple million, at most, for the bank, while ending up with several excellent horses for his own farm/hobby. Meanwhile other friends got cash payouts, a Texas bank benefitted, somehow Roger Clinton gets dragged into it, huge frauds were committed and a horse was murdered. All in all, business as usual.

These guys, Allbritton, Farish and the Calumet scamer all run in the same circles (not trying to make a horse racing pun, really). Probably can add Thatcher and Pinochet to that mix somehow--for sure some Saudi's. Wonder how it came to be that Riggs is sponsoring races in the UK. Farish?

Think that's enough googling for the moment, but clearly there is something to be learned about the Riggs scandal and the horse thieving branch of the BFEE here.

(Howdy Dream! Broken computer last week. Back on scandal watch.)

[seemslikeadream]

4. Remember the Saudi prince and the race horse?

The dead one, the prince that is. I'll look him up.

I saw 3 commericals on CNN for the Royal Bank of Scotland today.

:hi:

Oh, it's in one of your links! Maybe there is more?

[Snazzy]

5. Was thinking of of that: Prince of a Guy or Al-Qaida Spy?

Prince of a Guy or Al-Qaida Spy?
Amid allegations, horsemen, Saudi royals rise to defend late racing magnate Prince Ahmed
By John Eisenberg

Two years ago, the Preakness Stakes spotlight shone brightly on Prince Ahmed bin Salman, an affable, highly Westernized member of the ruling family of Saudi Arabia.

A familiar face in thoroughbred racing circles, he was in Baltimore as the owner of War Emblem, winner of the Kentucky Derby. He stayed at the Harbor Court Hotel, attended the post position draw at the ESPN Zone and went to Pimlico Race Course to watch his horse gallop.

"He was as genuinely excited and enthusiastic as any Preakness owner I've ever seen," Pimlico president and chief executive officer Joe De Francis said.

Some six weeks earlier, a high-ranking al-Qaida operative captured in Pakistan reportedly had named him as a go-between linking the terrorist organization and the Saudi royal family.

...

Three weeks later, War Emblem disappointed in a bid to win the Triple Crown, finishing eighth in the Belmont Stakes. The prince was strangely absent, on business in Saudi Arabia, his racing associates said.

A month after that, the prince was dead at age 43. News accounts said he succumbed to a heart attack in Saudi Arabia.

....

http://www.saudi-american-forum.org/Newsletters2004/SAF_Item_Of_Interest_2004_06_09.htm

--------

He was on the bin Laden evacuation flight, after he concluded his business buying horses on 9/12/01 in KY. But I don't see direct links to Farish or the above horse farm. Bet we know where he banked however.

----------

Somebody quoting Posner:

THE ABU ZUBAYDAH CASE. Abu Zubaydah was one of the most wanted Al Qaeda operatives. According to Gerald Posner (Why America Slept), the CIA, FBI, and United States leaders missed numerous clues over 10 years to nab Zubaydah before the September 11 terrorist attacks. Zubaydah was wanted for the attack on the USS Cole in October 2000 as well as the 9-11 attacks.

According to Posner, “two government (unnamed) sources,” Zubaydah was captured on March 28, 2002, American military team stormed a Pakistan safe house and arrested Zubaydah along with 62 other suspects. United States interrogators used drugs, including Sodium Pentothal, to coerce him to talk. But the Americans were stalled. They flew Zubaydah to an Afghan complex that resembled a Saudi jail chamber, where “two Arab-Americans, now with Special Forces,” pretending to be Saudi inquisitors, used drugs and threats to scare him into more confessions.

According to Posner, the American ploy backfired. When Zubaydah was confronted by American interrogators posing as Saudis, “his reaction was not fear, but utter relief.” Zubaydah was happy to see the “Saudis” and gave them telephone numbers for a senior member of the royal family who would, said “tell you what to do.” One such member was Prince Ahmed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz, a Westernized nephew of King Fahd. Aziz’s horse had won the Kentucky Derby in 2002. Not only did the phone numbers provided by Zubaydah prove to be true, but he also provided the Americans the Saudi-Pakistani-bin Laden triangle. (Gerald Posner, Why America Slept)

Zubaydah said the Saudi connection ran through Prince Turki al-Faisal bin Abdul Aziz, the kingdom’s longtime intelligence chief. Zubaydah said Bin Laden “personally” told him of a 1991 meeting at which Turki agreed to let Bin Laden leave Saudi Arabia and to provide him with secret funds as long as al-Qaeda refrained from promoting jihad in the kingdom. Zubaydah also implicated the Pakistanis. He said he had attended a meeting with Pakistan’s high-ranking air force officer Mushaf Ali Mir in 1996.

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:EyNpNoCD_QAJ:www.angelfire.com/ca3/jphuck/Book28.html+%22Ahmed+bin+Salman%22+riggs&hl=en

[emad]

7. Wish I hadn't erased my Salman brothers story from DU archive

after the bookmarks got wiped last week.....

The saga of thoroughbred champion "War Emblem" and the chicanery surrounding the sudden and unexpected deaths of the Salman brothers (2001 and 2002) high up the Saudi cabinet with posts connected to security/intelligence etc - a great precursor to 9/11.

Farish up to his ass with the Salmans, Paul Mellon and Irish gangsters turned respectable racing nuts John Magnier and JP McManus.

His sudden and mysterious exit from the US Embassy in London in July this year is a story yet to be told.

No other country apart from Libya/a few other "terrorist" states is without diplomatic represetnation in the UK. Deputy Ambassador doesn't count...

[seemslikeadream]

9. Is it here?

Poppy's bagman Farish quits top London posting
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=632508

or

WaPo: Allbritton Loses Riggs Bank (front page, day 3)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=691609

[emad]

10. Thanks!

Somewhere in here yes....

[Snazzy]

6. Also this PNC story slipped through the crack

PNC accounting fallout spreads

By Thomas Olson
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, September 26, 2004


Fallout from PNC Financial Services Group's accounting scandal about its 2001 disposal of sour corporate loans has spread -- not over the Pittsburgh institution, but the world's largest insurer and the nation's second-largest accounting firm.

American Insurance Group is facing federal charges of securities-law violations for its role in structuring the partnerships that allowed PNC to remove $762 million in bad loans from its books that year. The corporation widely known as AIG was notified of civil charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday and had 30 days to respond.

The accounting firm Ernst & Young has been the target of an investigation by the SEC for blessing PNC's convoluted loan accounting while PNC's outside auditor in 2001, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

...

Meanwhile, PNC is still trying to close another controversial transaction: the $779 million purchase of scandal-marred Riggs National Bank in Washington, D.C.

....


http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/business/s_255002.html

(and recall that PNC links to Sec. Snow and both link to Marathon Oil. Their stock is up.)

[Snazzy]

12. AIG Says Unit Faces U.S. Criminal Probe

AIG Says Unit Faces U.S. Criminal Probe
Wed Sep 29, 2004 05:37 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has opened a criminal probe into whether American International Group Inc. (AIG.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , the world's largest insurer by market value, helped a major banking client move bad loans off its books, AIG said on Wednesday.

AIG said in a regulatory filing it believes the Justice Department investigation relates to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission probe into whether an AIG unit helped PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (PNC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) cloak $762 million of bad loans, inflating the bank's profit by $155 million.

...

PNC last year paid $115 million to settle criminal charges by the Justice Department that it fraudulently moved the loans off its books.

AIG announced the probe after U.S. markets closed. Its shares rose 14 cents to $68.50 in Wednesday trading on the New York Stock Exchange, but fell to $66.99 in after-hours trading on INET.

http://olympics.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=6370099

------------
Excerpts from:

http://www.whitehouseforsale.org/ContributorsAndPaybacks/pioneer_profile.cfm?pioneer_ID=79


Name Maurice 'Hank' R. Greenberg
Industry Insurance
Employer American International Group
Occupation Chair & CEO
Address New York, NY
Status for 2000 Raised at least $100,000
Status for 2004 Ranger

Greenberg led a lobbying blitz to get taxpayers to bail out terrorism-related insurance losses. At Greenberg’s request, a handwritten amendment was added to a 2001 bill granting war-risk insurance to airlines. The addendum extends the coverage to insurers that lease planes to airlines, namely AIG.

Clamoring for limits on class-action lawsuits in a 2004 speech, Greenberg denounced plaintiff lawyers as “terrorists.”

Clamoring for limits on class-action lawsuits in a 2004 speech, Greenberg denounced plaintiff lawyers as “terrorists.” AIG helped Enron cook its books by investing in its notorious LJM2 partnership along with Merrill Lynch (see Stanley O’Neal) and J.P. Morgan (see Alan Buckwalter).

AIG paid $10 million in 2003 to settle Securities and Exchange Commission fraud charges that it helped a struggling mobile phone company pad its earnings by selling it a phony, back-dated, insurance policy.

and so on.

[annabanana]

8. I am absolutely KNOCKED OUT

by the tremendous work done here. And I am gratified that you are on the side of the angels
O8)

[Snazzy]

11. Text of her speech on 'contractors' in Africa is here:

http://www.defenselink.mil/policy/isa/africa/IPOA.htm

(lotta info in here for future ref. about mercs in Africa)

----------

Theresa Whelan

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs

Remarks to IPOA Dinner

19 November 2003

Washington, D.C.

Thanks very much for asking me to speak tonight. After looking around the room before and after the dinner started, I realized that a lot of you could probably do this better tonight than I could, but unfortunately you’re stuck with me.

What Doug asked me to speak on tonight was our experiences from a DoD perspective in using contractors in Africa in supporting US government objectives.

...

Plus, contractors get more bang for the buck in Africa by providing skilled management teams that rely on host nation labor which is generally cheaper. So you get considerable cost savings.

(Here's the part where she winks:

Plus, the use of contractors in Africa also means that the U.S. can be supportive in trying to ameliorate regional crises without necessarily having to put U.S. troops on the ground, which is often times a very difficult political decision.

....

Also, the current International Criminal Court situation leaves the civilians out in the open with regard to potential criminal sanctions. Again, this is an area that needs to be explored more. The military are automatically covered by SOFAs, but the contractors are hanging out there. It gets back to my earlier comments that we have to try to work the contractors into the SOFAs in order to provide protection.

---------

Also worth checking out is the hillariously Orwellian International Peace Operations Center:

http://www.ipoaonline.org/

WELCOME
The International Peace Operations Association (IPOA) is an association of Military Service Provider companies - companies who work or are interested in international peace operations around the world. This includes companies that do everything from mine clearance, to armed logistics, to emergency humanitarian services, to actual armed peacekeeping.

....



Here's their PR on the EG Coup (which sounds like they deny involvement, but they don't actually. At the bottom they list Sandline as a member)

Zimbabwe/Equatorial Guinea Events - IPOA Statement

3/12/04

Recent events in Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea have captured headlines and, not surprisingly, have spurred a great deal of frenzied speculation and spur-of-the-moment analysis.

While this can be distracting, the International Peace Operations Association (IPOA) wants to emphasize that these events highlight exactly why our members have joined the association. They are distinguished by a published code of conduct, operate strictly within international legal frameworks, work only for legitimate clients, and have a tangible corporate presence. Impeccable reputations and the highest level of professionalism are fundamental in order to provide services to international peace operations. These attributes are the defining characteristics of our members.

...

Background:

The International Peace Operations Association (IPOA) is an association of military service companies that support international peace and stability operations around the world. This includes companies that do everything from mine clearance, to armed logistics, to emergency humanitarian services, to the provision of specialized equipment, to actual armed peacekeepers. The association was founded to institute industry-wide standards and a code of conduct, maintain sound professional and military practices, educate the public and policy-makers on the industry’s activities and potential, and ensure the humanitarian use of private peacekeeping services for the benefit of international peace and human security.

IPOA represents a growing list of companies including:

AirScan, ArmorGroup, DEI/CITSC, ICI of Oregon, J-3 Global Services, Main Street Supply, MPRI, Pacific Architects & Engineers, Sandline International, and (affiliated member) O’Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt.

http://www.ipoaonline.org/news_detailhtml.asp?catID=4&docID=13

[seemslikeadream]

13. Feith family is one of Comcast's largest private shareholders

As Iraq struggles, critics zero in on Pentagon aide

.....

Gen. Tommy Franks, field commander, and his deputy, Gen. Michael DeLong, opposed the idea. "A waste of time and energy for us," DeLong said of the plan in his book, Inside CentCom.

A halfhearted effort ensued, and by the start of the war, only 70 Iraqis had been trained.

Franks, now retired, described Feith both in his own book and in one written by the Washington Post's Bob Woodward as the "stupidest guy on the face of the Earth."

This took Feith by surprise.

.....

Dalck Feith, now 90, owned a sheet-metal business that supplied parts for Jerrold Electronics, a firm founded by former Gov. Milton J. Shapp that made set-top boxes for cable TV. Through this connection, Dalck Feith got to know Ralph Roberts, founder of Comcast. Today, the Feith family is one of Comcast's largest private shareholders.

Douglas Feith's brother, Donald, runs Feith Systems & Software in Fort Washington, which sells computer programs that store huge numbers of documents. It has contracts with the Defense and Commerce Departments and other government agencies, as well as Comcast, AT&T, Toll Bros. and others. In the last two years, Feith family members have contributed at least $14,500 to President Bush, the Republican Party, and Sen. Arlen Specter (R., Pa.), according to campaign records.

The family also has strong ties to Israel. Feith's former law partner, Marc Zell, lives and works near Jerusalem.

This month the FBI began investigating Pentagon employee Larry Franklin, who works in Feith's organization, for allegedly passing memos to Israel. Feith has declined to discuss the probe.

James Zogby, head of the Arab-American Institute, a Middle East lobbying group, said Feith was too close to Israel's right-wing Likud Party.
more
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/special_packages /...