Posted on 04/11/2019 9:25:54 PM PDT by csvset
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The chief executive and a managing partner of the collapsed Dubai private equity firm Abraaj Capital Ltd were arrested on U.S. charges that they defrauded their investors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a federal prosecutor said on Thursday.
Abraaj founder and Chief Executive Arif Naqvi was arrested in the United Kingdom last Friday, while managing partner Mustafa Abdel-Wadood was arrested at a New York hotel on Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Griswold said at a hearing in Manhattan federal court.
Abdel-Wadood appeared at the hearing and pleaded not guilty to securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy charges. His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, did not immediately request bail, saying he needed more time to become familiar with the case.
Griswold said prosecutors would seek to have Naqvi, who is charged with the same crimes, extradited. Casey Larsen, a spokesman for Naqvi, could not immediately be reached.
Abraaj had been the largest buyout fund in the Middle East and North Africa until it collapsed last May, after the Gates Foundation and other investors raised concerns about the management of its $1 billion healthcare fund.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
The indictments were short on detail, Griswold said, because authorities moved quickly to arrest Abdel-Wadood upon learning he was in the United States with his wife and son to visit colleges.
She said prosecutors intended to file more detailed charges by the end of May.
After the hearing, Abdel-Wadood spoke briefly to his wife, who had watched from the courtroom gallery, before U.S. marshals led him away in handcuffs.
Glad to see the DOJ was quick to grab this guy while he was here in the states.
Arif Naqvi. Pretty sure Obama and this guy are pals.
Maybe the world has just about HAD it with all these muslim types.
are we F()&)&ng everyone up or what?
Hey, Bill Gates needs his money. Every last billion of it.
Wonder if Mustafa Woody is related to the the Turkish sculptor Mustafa K@nt.
President Barack Obama will host a two-day summit... to include Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus; and Arif Naqvi, head of Abraaj Capital ...
=======================================
Did Abraaj Capital contribute the Obama Foundation?
Did Abraaj Capital contribute the Obama Foundation?
Not taking that bet. Nope.
L
<><> The Chicago-based tax-exempt Obama Foundation says it wont release the names of his donors.
.........Americans need to have this information.
<><> Obama is exploiting the presidency----pocketing huge speaking fees...
.........he will not reveal the terms of his speaking engagements.
Americans demand to know more on this.
CONTACT: Judicial Watch
425 3rd Street, SW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20024
TELE 1-888-593-8442 between 8:30am and 5:30pm EST.
Well, it looks as though you can clean up a corrupt individual, put him in a suit and tie, and he is still unsightly.
Crooks are looking different these days.
Many thanks for the link..............
AMERICAN TAXPAYERS FINANCE CROOKED PAKISTANI COMPANY
Connected to the Clintons and Obama
(hat tip mewzilla)
freebeacon.com
April 7, 2016
A major Clinton Foundation donor company that has been granted millions in U.S. federal loans has been linked to a corruption probe in Pakistan, according to reports.
The Abraaj Group, a Middle Eastern investment fund that contributed between $500,000 and $1 million to the Clinton Foundation, has not been charged in the case (as of 2016), but its name has surfaced in Pakistani media reports.
Authorities in Sindh province have accused a prominent government official of providing illegal favors to K-Electric, a power company owned and managed by the Abraaj Group since 2009. Former Pakistani oil minister Dr. Asim Hussain was arrested last year amid allegations that he helped harbor terrorists in a string of hospitals he owned and doled out illegal contracts to companies, including K-Electric. Both Hussain and K-Electric have denied the allegations.
The investigation has not impacted the U.S. governments ongoing partnership with the Abraaj Group, which dates back to at least 2012. That year, the Overseas Private Investment Corporationa federal agency that dispenses corporate loans under the guidance of the U.S. State Departmentselected the Abraaj Group to manage its $150 million Middle East investment fund.
Two weeks later, the Abraaj Group co-sponsored the Clinton Global Initiatives annual meeting.
Last October, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation again pledged up to $250 million to help fund the Abraaj Groups K-Electric operations. The announcement came less than a month after the Sindh Rangers, a Pakistani law enforcement agency, reportedly issued a 12-page report accusing Hussain of passing illegal favors to K-Electric.
According to the Sindh Rangers, Hussain was “involved in various acts of corruption, corrupt practices and misuse of authority as public office holder.” The paramilitary group claimed he also embezzled money that was “subsequently used in terror financing and funding target killers.”
The Rangers report claimed that “Dr Asim [Hussain] gave favours and illegal gas connections to KESC [K-Electric], which was owned by Abraaj Group with links to [former Pakistani president] Asif Zardari and [Zardaris sister] Faryal Talpur to the tune of Rs100 billion,” according to a summary by the International News.
A spokesperson for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation told the Washington Free Beacon that its board approved the project with the Abraaj Group and K-Electric before news of the investigation emerged. “We are aware of the situation and are following up with the borrower,” OPIC press secretary Sandra Niedzwiecki said. A spokesperson for the Abraaj Group referred the Free Beacon to an Oct. 2, 2015 statement on the K-Electric website, which strongly denied the charges.
“K-Electric has categorically refuted and denied the false and defamatory allegations that have been referenced in a few publications regarding undue favors taken by the company and/or the provision of illegal gas connections and supply,” the statement said. “K-Electric is a publicly listed company and operates in strict compliance with national laws and regulations and adheres to the highest standards of ethics and corporate governance.” A spokesperson for the Abraaj Group said K-Electric “has not been contacted by any government or judicial agencies on this matter.”
Dr. Asim Hussain has pleaded not guilty to separate charges of aiding terrorists and corruption. Hussain appeared in Karachis Accountability Court on Thursday, where he was expected to be indicted, according to reports. However, jail authorities brought him to the courthouse over an hour late, and the hearing was rescheduled for a later date.
Last month, Pakistans anti-corruption agency, the National Accountability Bureau, filed a corruption reference against Hussain. “In this case, the accused persons were alleged to have illegally fraudulently and with the connivance of officials of OGDCL [Oil and Gas Development Company, Limited] and SSGCL [Sui Southern Gas Company, Limited] awarded gas contracts,” the bureaus executive board wrote in a March 2 statement.
K-Electric is not the only part of the Abraaj Group entangled in a corruption case. The CEO of PetroTiger, a Colombian petroleum company in the Abraaj Groups portfolio, pleaded guilty to bribing a foreign official last June. He was sentenced to probation. PetroTiger reportedly cooperated in the case and the company was not charged.
Ken Boehm, US chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, a government watchdog group, said the situation raised questions for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.”By law, OPIC is required to conduct due diligence efforts on any potential recipient of financing, especially matters involving millions of dollars,” said Boehm. “Yet more and more cases have emerged in which recipients of OPIC financing with ties to the Clinton Foundation were not properly vetted. One major Clinton donor, Claudio Osorio, is now doing 12 years in prison for defrauding OPIC in a $10 million financing deal.”
https://freebeacon.com/issues/clinton-foundation-donor-kickback-probe/
Did Abraaj Capital contribute the Obama Foundation?
The Chicago-based tax-exempt Obama Foundation says it wont release the names of his donors.
When other NP groups were working in favor of traditional marriage the Left was stamping their feet and demanding lists of their donors. I believe they sued to get them. Dont know the status of that.
But my point still stands.
L
In the Middle East, an Equity Oasis
...Abraaj was up and running in very late '08, very early '09.
Interesting timing.
The same is true of Planned Parenthood.....they will not release the names of all the “kindly, compassionate” people who donate to them.
U.S. agency invests $455 million in Middle East
Abraaj got a sizeable chunk.
Barack Obama And Mitt Romney To Attend Clinton Global Initiative
Probably the tip of the iceberg.
Jafars Abraaj Group Paid Clinton Foundation; Jafars rewarded with Port Canaveral Gulftainer Deal
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