Khalid bin Mahfouz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| Born: | 1949 Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|
| Occupation: | Investor |
| Net worth: |  $3.2 billion USD |
| Website: | http://www.binmahfouz.info |
Khalid bin Mahfouz (Arabic: خالد بن محفوظ; born 1949) is a wealthy Saudi Arabian businessman accused of supporting al-Qaeda. The veracity of such accusations is controversial and supported mainly by allegations, as Mahfouz himself claims to "condemn terrorism in all of its forms and manifestations."[1]
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Khalid bin Mahfouz is the eldest son of Salim Ahmed bin Mahfouz, a Saudi entrepreneur who rose from being an illiterate moneychanger to the founder of the first bank in his country, the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia (NCB). Salim Ahmed then became the personal banker of the Saudi royal family. He handed management of NCB, the largest bank in the country, to Khalid sometime in the 1980s.[2]
In 1990 Khalid bin Mahfouz acquired Irish citizenship through inward-investment procedures. The practices of the Haughey and Reynolds administrations between 1989 and 1994 are a matter of controversy in Ireland and are being investigated by the Moriarty Tribunal, but there is no question that bin Mahfouz acquired his citizenship legitimately under the procedures applicable at the time.
Bin Mahfouz is married with three children. His personal net worth was $3.2 billion in 2006, making him one of the richest people in the world; his family fortune is worth over $4 billion. He has been involved in various business and charitable organizations throughout his life.[3]
[edit] Controversies
[edit] BCCI
Bin Mahfouz was a non-executive director of Bank of Credit and Commerce International, a huge financial conglomerate later convicted of money laundering, bribery, support of terrorism, arms trafficking, and many other crimes.[4] Mahfouz personally owned a 20% stake in BCCI. He was indicted by a New York state grand jury for fraud but denied any culpability. The fraud charges were dropped after Mahfouz agreed to pay $225 million in lieu of fines.[2]
[edit] Donations to Osama bin Laden in 1988
Craig Unger's book House of Bush, House of Saud claims that bin Mahfouz donated over $270,000 to Osama bin Laden's Islamist organization at the request of Osama's brother Salem bin Laden. Bin Mahfouz's lawyer stated: "This donation was to assist the US-sponsored resistance to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and was never intended nor, to the best of Sheikh Khalid's knowledge, ever used to fund any 'extension' of that resistance movement in other countries."[5]
[edit] Alleged familial relationship with Osama bin Laden
In US Senate testimony in 1998, CIA Director James Woolsey stated that bin Mahfouz's sister is a wife of Osama bin Laden, making the two brothers-in-law. Bin Mahfouz has consistently denied this. Many publications, including the Wall Street Journal, the LA Times, Fortune Magazine, the Washington Post, and USA Today, reported that the two were brothers-in-law. Each publication has since issued a retraction, sometimes after lengthy litigation.
In the libel trial against Wall Street Journal, Woolsey testified that bin Mahfouz had been misidentified. Woolsey later stated, "I don't know what to say other than there was some confusion, but I never meant to refer to Bin Mahfouz's sister."[6]
[edit] Alleged NCB funding of al-Qaeda
Khalid bin Mahfouz has denied that NCB, his bank, was involved in funding an al-Qaeda group. According to reports, high-placed Saudi businessmen transferred millions of dollars through NCB to charities operating as fronts for al-Qaeda. Mahfouz states that he could not have been aware of every wire transfer moving through the bank, and that he would not have allowed such transactions had he known they were taking place. There is no evidence that Mahfouz was personally involved in any of these transactions.
Additionally, Forbes reports:
[I]n 1999 the [Saudi] government stepped in, buying a controlling 50% stake of NCB from Khalid for at least $1 billion, partly used to wipe Khalid's debt from the books. Khalid and his family retained 34% ownership, but he again surrendered his management positions. . . The extent of Khalid's mismanagement at NCB remains shrouded. NCB has not issued audited numbers since 1998, but it did acknowledge last year that provisions for bad loans in 1999 and 2000 reached $934 million, covering 86% of its doubtful debt.[2]
NCB senior officials vehemently deny the existence of this audit.[7]
[edit] Muwafaq Foundation
Khalid bin Mahfouz helped set up a charity organization called the Muwafaq Foundation, Muwafaq being Arabic for "blessed relief". He funded this charity with $30 million, and put his eldest son, Abdulrahman bin Mahfouz, on the board of directors. In October of 2001, the U.S. Treasury Department named Muwafaq an al-Qaeda front organization. Neither Khalid nor Abdulrahman were accused of funding terrorism by the United States; however Yasin al-Qadi, a Saudi national hired to run the charity, was named a supporter of terrorism by and had his assets frozen by the U.S. Treasury Department.[2]
Khalid bin Mahfouz claims that he was not aware of the charity being used to fund terrorists. He claims further that he has initiated an investigation of his own into Muwafaq's activities.[citation needed]
[edit] Ties to George W. Bush
Khalid bin Mahfouz inherited many assets from the Saudi Binladen Group when the group's director, Salem bin Laden, died in a plane crash in 1988. Among these was an interest in Arbusto Energy, a Houston oil firm founded by George W. Bush. His holdings were managed by James R. Bath, a close friend to Bush and the former manager of Salem bin Laden's US assets.
After Arbusto merged into Harken Energy, Mahfouz continued to be tangentially involved in the company's affairs through BCCI representatives. Bush, Harken's CEO at the time, denies any knowledge of his involvement. According to the Modern History Project Mahfouz was the owner of Harken energy.[8]
[edit] UN designation
There have been numerous allegations that Khalid bin Mahfouz was named a terrorist financier by the United Nations. The controversy springs from a report prepared by French investigator Jean-Charles Brisard and his research agency, the JCB Consulting Group, for the President of the Security Council of the United Nations in December of 2002. In this report Khalid was listed as one of seven "main individual Saudi sponsors of al Qaeda."[9] JCB Consulting claimed that the report was issued at the request of the UN, but Alfonso Valdivieso, then president of the UN Security Council, denied commissioning the report in a letter sent to representatives of Mahfouz.[10] Valdivieso went on to state that the report was unsolicited and that "Mr Brisard's conduct and attitude is totally deceitful and marked by the intention to mislead."[10] JCB Consulting is a paid investigator for a group of 9/11 victims who are suing hundreds of defendants, including Khalid bin Mahfouz, for allegedly financing al Qaeda.[9] In 2001 Brisard and another investigator, Guillaume Dasquié published in 2001 a French book entitled "Ben Laden: La vérité interdite" (Forbidden Truth) (ISBN 2070423778). In November 2006 they retracted their findings and issued an unreserved apology to Khalid bin Mahfouz and his son Abdulrahman, undertaking never to repeat their allegations.[11]
[edit] References
- ^ Sedky, Cherif (2003-02-05). Letter from Cherif Sedky, legal counsel for Khalid bin Mahfouz and his immediate family, to Gunter Pleuger, President of the United Nations Security Council. Retrieved on 2006-06-26.
- ^ a b c d Vardi, Nathan. "Sins of the Father?", The World's Billionaires, Forbes, 2002-03-18. Retrieved on 2006-06-26.
- ^ Kroll, Luisa; Fass, Allison. "Khalid Bin Mahfouz & family", The World's Billionaires, Forbes, 2006-03-09. Retrieved on 2006-06-26.
- ^ Kerry, John; Brown, Hank (December 1992). BCCI in the United States - Part Two: Acquisition, Consolidation, and Consequences. The BCCI Affair, A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations. United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Retrieved on 2006-06-26.
- ^ David, Leigh. "Bush, the Saudi billionaire and the Islamists: the story a British firm is afraid to publish", Guardian Unlimited, 2004-03-31. Retrieved on 2006-06-26.
- ^ Silverstein, Ken. "Top Investigator in 9/11 Victims' Lawsuit Faces Libel Action", Los Angeles Times, 2003-02-26. Retrieved on 2006-06-26.
- ^ Jackson, David; Cohen, Laurie; Manor, Robert; Salopek, Paul. "Money trail leads to Saudi, U.S. says", Chicago Tribune, 2001-10-28.
- ^ Harken Energy. The Modern History Project. Retrieved on 2006-06-26.
- ^ a b Mowbray, Joel. "Saudis Behaving Badly", National Review Online, 2002-12-20. Retrieved on 2006-06-26.
- ^ a b Valdivieso, Alfonso (2004-03-12). Letter addressed to Kendall Freeman (PDF). Bin Mahfouz Information. Retrieved on 2006-06-26.
- ^ An apology by Jean-Charles Brisard and Guillaume Dasquié to Sheikh Khalid Bin Mahfouz and Sheikh Abdulrahman Bin Mahfouz
