Ptech

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Ptech Inc. was a Quincy, Massachusetts-based provider of business process modeling software that was closed down in late 2003 as a consequence to the media frenzy following the consented search on December 5, 2002 by federal authorities under the auspices of Operation Green Quest. The search was related to the relationship of the company to businessman Yasin al-Qadi, a multi-millionaire from Jeddah, trained as an architect in Chicago, IL.[1] He is the son-in-law of Sheikh Ahmed Salah Jamjoom, a former Saudi Arabian government minister with close ties to the Saudi royal family.[2][3][4]

Business domain

Describing itself as a "provider of enterprise architecture, business modeling, analysis and integration software solutions,"[5] the privately held corporation was founded in 1994, and known for its technology, which was based on a unique implementation of neural net and semantic technologies. Ptech was recognized as one New England Technology's "Fast 50" by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu in 2001.[6] For four years in row (from 2000 to 2003), Ptech was also recognized, for their velocity of innovation in the knowledge economy, as one of the hundred companies that matters in the world of IT and Business [7] with the major names in Technology companies such as Microsoft, IBM, HP and Oracle Corporation.[8][9]

The CEO of Ptech Oussama Ziade appeared on different television shows in the USA and has been featured on the cover of several magazines.[10] The company was once part of UML Partners, the consortium that was convened to develop standards for UML, the Unified Modeling Language.

Federal investigation

Ptech was thrust into the national spotlight following a consented search by U.S. law enforcement officials at Ptech’s headquarters on December 5, 2002, in connection with Operation Green Quest. The consented search was misrepresented by national news media as a raid.[11] This unfavorable national publicity resulted in the eventual closing of the company in late 2003. Former Ptech employees described Ptech as a company which encouraged diversity in the workplace that respected their cultures and traditions; they attributed the media frenzy that engulfed Ptech to the politically-charged atmosphere generated by the 9/11 terrorist attack.[12]

The Ptech investigation followed sanctions placed on Yasin al-Qadi, a former Ptech investor, after he was placed on a list of alleged terrorists. On October 12, 2001, the U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ordered the assets of Yasin al-Qadi in the United States to be frozen [13][14][15] and Federal law prohibited financial transactions involving his property. The European Union also applied sanctions to Qadi.[16][17][18]

On July 15, 2009, the FBI unsealed indictments against former Ptech CEO, President, and Board Chairman Oussama Ziade and former Ptech CFO Buford George Peterson. Peterson was arrested at JFK Airport upon his return to the U.S. from South Korea. The indictments charged Ziade and Peterson with concealing Ptech's relationship with Qadi and dealing in his assets.[19] Peterson was specifically charged with providing false information on a Small Business Administration loan application submitted in September 2002. The government had alleged that the omission of Sarmany as a Ptech shareholder on the Small Business Administration loan application was purposeful and criminal because one of Sarmany's shareholders was Kadi.

Evidence at Peterson’s trial showed that Peterson did not prepare the loan application. It was prepared by Ziade and another Ptech manager. Evidence at trial also showed that Ziade personally prepared a supporting document submitted to the SBA—a list of Ptech shareholders that omitted a foreign corporation, Sarmany, which owned a significant portion of Ptech shares; and that Peterson had not reviewed this shareholder list before it was sent to the SBA as part of the loan application. Moreover, the evidence at trial showed that Kadi was not a shareholder of Sarmany at the time Peterson had signed the SBA loan application. Peterson's trial ended in a hung jury and all charges against him were subsequently dismissed May 3, 2012.

Qadi's listing as a terrorist was later overturned by several European courts, and his name was removed from blacklists by Switzerland (2007),[20] the European Union (2008 and 2010),[21] and the United Kingdom (2008 and 2010).[22]

On 13 September 2010, Yasin al-Qadi "succeeded in having dismissed in their entirety the civil claims brought against him in the United States on behalf of the families of the 9/11 victims." [23] On 5 October 2012, the UN Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against al-Qaeda granted Qadi's petition to be removed from its blacklist.[24][25]

Notable clientele

Ptech's roster of clients included several governmental agencies, including the United States Armed Forces, NATO, Congress, the Department of Energy, the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Customs, the FAA, the IRS, the Secret Service, and the White House. Despite the eventual 2009 indictment of PTech's CEO and CFO, as late as May 2004 they were still contracted by several federal agencies, including the White House.

Ptech had a security clearance to work on sensitive military projects dating to 1997.

Notable personnel

References

  1. ↑ Jackson, David et al. "U.S.: Money Trail Leads to Saudi," Chicago Tribune, 29 October 2001
  2. ↑ Blackburn, Chris "Jamaat-i-Islam: A Threat to Bangladesh?" Secular Voice of Bangladesh website
  3. ↑ Simpson, Glenn R. "Well Connected, A Saudi Mogul Skirts Sanctions," Wall Street Journal, 29 August 2007
  4. ↑ Who's Who in the Arab World: 1981-1982 (University of Michigan: Publitec, 1981) p. 820
  5. ↑ KMWorld: Breaking the knowledge barrier
  6. ↑ Deloitte & Touche Fast 500: Technology Fast 50
  7. ↑ Goliath: Business Knowledge on demand, Ptech Inc. named among 100 companies that matter for second year in a Row
  8. ↑ Ptech Inc. Named Among 100 Companies That Matter for Second Year in a Row
  9. ↑ Dossier on Content & Knowledge Management Systems, September 2003
  10. ↑ Mass Impact: an official report on the aftermath of 9/11 on the state of Massachusetts, page 10
  11. ↑ Mass High Tech: The Journal of New England Technology - August 22, 2003: Wrongly Suspected Ptech ...
  12. ↑ Computerworld: Ptech workers tell the story behind the search, January 17, 2003
  13. ↑ Thomas Jr., Landon "A Wealthy Saudi, Mired in Limbo over an Accusation of Terrorism," New York Times, 12 December 2008
  14. ↑ Richard C. Morais, Denet C. Tezel (24 January 2008). "The Al Qadi Affair". Forbes Magazine. Retrieved 23 October 2008. mirror
  15. ↑ John Heilprin (22 October 2008). "UN expert wary of handling of suspected terrorists". Associated Press. Retrieved 22 October 2008. mirror
  16. ↑ Marty, Dick, "United Nations Security Council and European Union Blacklists," Doc. 11454 Report, Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, Parliamentary Assembly, Council of Europe, 16 November 2007 provides hyperlinks to relevant documents, namely "Council Decision 2001/927/EC Establishing the List Provided for in Article 2(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No. 2580 on specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities with a view to combating terrorism, 27 December 2001, "Council Common Position 2001/930/CFSP of 27 December 2001," "Council Common Position 2001/931/CFSP of 27 December 2001," etc.
  17. ↑ Posch, Albert, "The Kadi Case: Rethinking the Relationship between EU Law and International Law?" Columbia Journal of European Law, 15 Colum. J. Eur. L. F. 1 (2009), http://www.cjel.net/online/15_2-posch/
  18. ↑ European Union, "Consolidated list of persons, groups and entities subject to EU financial sanctions," Updated 13 October 2012, http://eeas.europa.eu/cfsp/sanctions/consol-list_en.htm
  19. ↑ >DOJ Press Release on PTech Indictments
  20. ↑ "Qadi Exonerated," Arab News, 24 December 2007.
  21. ↑ "EU Court Annuls Funds Freeze Against Saudi Terror Suspect," EUBusiness 30 September 2010
  22. ↑ 9/11-related U.S. Civil Claims Against Prominent Saudi Businessman Dismissed. , 13 September 2010.
  23. ↑ Associated Press, "UN removes Saudi businessman from al-Qaida sanctions blacklist," Washington Post, 5 October 2012
  24. ↑ Rubenfeld, Samuel "UN Removes Saudi Businessman from Al Qaeda Blacklist," Wall Street Journal (Blog), 8 October 2012,

External links

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