"When Harken needed an infusion of cash, Bush turned to family friend and investment banker Jackson Stephens of Little Rock, AK. The firm of Stephens Inc. was at the time one of the largest investment banks outside Wall Street. (The Stephens family was also active in Republican circles: Jackson Stephens would later contribute at least $200,000 to the Bush for President campaign, and his wife would become the Arkansas campaign chair.) Stephens rescue plan was to obtain $25 million in investment capital from Union Bank of Switzerland -- a joint venture of BCCI and the Banque de Commerce et de Placements in Geneva. UBS did not normally invest in small U.S. companies, but it made an exception in this case.
As originally structured, the deal apparently did not comply with U.S. banking regulations, according to the Asian Wall Street Journal. In the course of restructuring the deal, UBS decided to sell its shares as soon as possible, and Stephens obligingly found a new buyer: Sheikh Abdullah Bakhsh, a Saudi Arabian real-estate magnate. Bakhsh's representative is Talat Othman, a Palestinian born Chicago investor.
For several years Bakhsh was chairman of Saudi Finance Co., a holding company based in Luxembourg that operated French and Swiss financial enterprises. Bakhsh sold his interest in Saudi Finance Co. in 1983, although it is not clear to whom. By 1989 the firm was under partial control of the Gokal family of Pakistan -- shipping magnates who were BCCI shareholders. Bakhsh conducted business with the most prominent people in Saudi Arabia, reportedly including two oil ministers and members of the Saudi royal family. Among his notable co-investors was Ghaith Pharaon; Khalid bin Mahfouz was Bakhsh's banker. Bakhsh's stake in Harken was 17.6% in 1991, making him the third largest shareholder. The first, with 24.5%, is a Harvard University investment fund.
Jackson Stephens was identified by the Kerry committee as possibly "BCCI's Principal U.S. Broker," having facilitated BCCI's first acquisitions of U.S. banking concerns National Bank of Georgia and its former parent, Financial General Bankshares.
Ghaith Pharaon is still wanted by the FBI for wire fraud and racketeering conspiracy, according to the Justice Department's Interagency International Fugitive Lookout. (Incidentally, the DOJ site lists him as 93 inches tall, although "of short stocky build….") Pharaon's own web site relates that he is the son of the personal physician and advisor to former King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia. He attended the Colorado School of Mines and Stanford University, graduating with a degree in petroleum engineering. In 1965 he received an MBA from Harvard Business School, as his web site says. "a degree and training which became common to a number of other Saudis and Middle Easterners who later rose to prominence in government, business and commerce in the area," -- not to mention George W. Bush."
The Hijackers of Harvard: Herbert S. (Pug) Winokur - By Catherine Austin Fitts
"Harvard would never be so irresponsible as to make multimillion investments based on a personal connection, Harvard would like every investment to come out ahead, but they don't."
Joe Wrinn, spokesman for the university. Boston Globe - By Richard Kindleberger - April 30, 1991.
"The head of Harvard University's $5 billion endowment defended yesterday one current and one former employee of Harvard Management Co. against suggestions of a conflict of interest. Jack R. Meyer, president of Harvard Management, said he is persuaded that partner Michael R. Eisenson behaved appropriately in owning stock in a company that is part of the university's portfolio. Meyer said he has no reason to believe that Donald D. Beane, formerly with Harvard Management, did anything wrong ... "
"Two Harvard University officials who manage the investment of Harvard's endowment have themselves owned stock in one of the companies in the university's portfolio, raising questions of conflict of interest. Michael R. Eisenson and Donald D. Beane, partners in the Harvard Management Company, each owned 10,000 shares of common stock in Harken Energy Corp., worth about $26,250 each, the Harvard Crimson reported. Harvard owns about $28 million of stock in Harken, a Texas oil and gas concern ... "
Anthony Flint, Boston Globe - April 29, 1991.
Richard C. Breeden Biography
Richard C. Breeden is chairman, president and CEO of Equivest Finance Inc., and is the past chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Equivest Finance Inc. is a publicly traded company in the travel and leisure industry with annual sales exceeding $160 million, approximately 2,000 employees and a compound annual growth in earnings per share of more than 40 percent per year over the past four years. Since 1996, Breeden also has been bankruptcy trustee of The Bennett Funding Group Inc., of Syracuse, N.Y., a leasing company that failed as a result of a multibillion-dollar fraud. Breeden also is president of Richard C. Breeden & Co., which handles turnarounds of troubled companies, as well as consulting on international capital markets.
A graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School, Breeden began his career practicing law in New York City specializing in acquisitions and corporate finance. For almost four years he served in the White House as a senior economics and financial adviser to George Bush (both as president and vice president), during which time he was responsible for defusing the savings and loan crisis and modernizing U.S. financial regulation. From 1989 to 1993 he served as chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, following appointment by former President Bush and unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate. During a portion of that time, Breeden also served as president of the International Organization of Securities Commissions and worked actively with many of the emerging markets around the world. After leaving government service in 1993, Breeden served until 1996 as the chairman of the worldwide financial services practice of Coopers and Lybrand LLP, where he consulted on risk management systems, internal controls and securities offerings in the United States by foreign companies.
Breeden serves as a director and member of the audit committee of eSpeed Inc., operator of the world's largest electronic trading network. ESpeed completed its Initial Public Offering in December 1999 and is one of the leading forces in creating a fully electronic, ultra-high speed, global trading network in securities, energy, telecommunications and other types of tradeable assets. Breeden also is a director and member of the audit committee of Claritybank.com, a startup retail Internet bank, and W.P. Stewart & Co. Ltd., one of the largest privately owned investment managers for high-net-worth individuals, as well as institutions in the United States, Europe and Asia. He is a frequent guest commentator on financial issues with Fox News.
I think it's getting clear WHY there will be no release of the identity of that "Institutional Investor", isn't it? Throw in a few Palestinians and Saudis, and you've got a real buffet of a mess. Served up by Jackson Stephens.