ABDUL AZIZ BIN FAHD
Named after his grandfather, the founder of Saudi Arabia, Abdul
Aziz grew up as the richest child in the world. He is his father's
favorite son; this affection is shown in very extravagant ways. In 1987,
after receiving reports that his son was spending more than his more than
generous allowance, the King reached into government coffers to give
14-year old Abdul Aziz $300 million to play with. The king was quoted as
explaining, "Young Azoouzi overspends. But Allah gave us wealth and
we are glad to share it with our son. I've just transferred $300 million
into his personal account to meet his needs." Imagine a 14-year old
boy have needs worth over $300 million dollars. Just picture what his
appetite is like now almost 10 years later. Being his father's favorite
son has its positives.
Abdul Aziz grew up receiving and, therefore, expecting presents
from powerful strangers. From the time he was about thirteen on he would
often accompany his father for public occasions. This happened when his
mother seeked a palm reader for her husband the powerful king. The palm
reader was paid five million Saudi Riyals ($1.3 million) to tell the King
a far fetching story. She said that he should take his son Abdul Aziz
everywhere he goes if he wishes to safeguard his life from assassination.
Since Fahd killed King Faisal and King Khaled (King Fahd) , he needed self
gratification and self protection. He obtained that by taking Abdul Aziz
everywhere he went including official visits and state affairs. At a state
dinner for King Fahd, hosted by President and Mrs. Reagan, Abdul Aziz bin
Fahd was given a model of the space shuttle and a book about the National
Air and Space Museum. He got to sit next to actress Sigourney Weaver for
dinner. Such a contrast.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
In 1984, King Fahd led his country to the brink of bankruptcy
and broke his agreement on oil production with OPEC, just to get his son
the "perfect" birthday present. Saudi Arabia was in the middle
of a recession, so the king looked to the boy's maternal uncles, Abdul
Aziz and Khaled al-Ibrahim, to get money from abroad.
The child had said something about liking 747's, hence the
beginning relationship of Saudi Arabia with Boeing and Rolls Royce. King
Fahd ordered the sale of $2 billion worth of Saudi Arabian oil (34.5
million barrels) for 10 Boeing 747 jets equipped with Rolls Royce engines.
Heedless of the oil minister Ahmed Zaki Yamani's reminder that dumping
that much petroleum on the market would further reduce the price of oil
and therefore, worsen the recession, and disregarding the national airline
Saudia's assurance that they did not need the planes, Fahd approved the
deal. The Ibrahim brothers made $100 million in commissions from the deal
and the king gave them an airplane. Boeing threw in a 165-foot hydrofoil
yacht in appreciation to the birthday boy who gave the king the idea to do
business with them. It is safe to say that Abdul Aziz has brought upon the
economic demise of Saudi Arabia because of a whim and a father who has no
common sense and no sense of the national interests of Saudi Arabia.
Between them, the al-Ibrahim brothers have made over $1 billion
as agents to Boeing and Rolls Royce. They also have handled investments
for Prince Abdul Aziz, who at 18, was recognized as the world's richest
teenager. Fortune magazine put his worth, then, at almost $1 billion.
INVESTING IN US PUBLIC LANDS
One deal that allegedly made Abdul Aziz the world's richest
teenager involved waterfront property in Marina Del Ray, California. The
publicly-owned land is leased, long-term, to investors. Because it is
publicly owned, the identities of investors are required to be disclosed.
Although Abdul Aziz was not named, an August 1988 letter outlining the
proposal refers to the investor as "a member of the Saudi Arabia
royal family." By that time it was common knowledge that the Ibrahims
worked for their nephew, Prince Abdul Aziz.
The Marina del Ray deal was part of a string of real estate
investments including land near Disney World, an office complex near
O'Hare International Airport, a hotel next to the Mayo Clinic, and
interest in some Ritz Carlton hotels. In none of these deals do the
Ibrahims identify themselves or their client.
To prevent anyone from linking the prince to the deal, the
Ibrahim brothers allegedly set up shell companies in different countries
and set up an account in Luxembourg where to disclose the identity of an
account holder is a crime. Ibrahim's group, and ultimately Abdul Aziz,
came away with 49.9% ownership of the marina's three existing hotels, a
planned luxury hotel, two apartment complexes, office buildings, shops,
restaurants and more than 1,000 boat slips. The estimated cost was $300
million.
The Ibrahims had already set up "The Fund" as the
money source for their investments. According to Khaled Al-Mansour, the
Ibrahims' attorney, The Fund "is not a permanent fund. . . It is not
a mutual fund. It is not a real estate investment trust where you set up a
prescribed amount of capital. It is more like a huge shopping center in
which the investors can buy as much or as little interest in any given
project as they wish." The Ibrahims use a percentage of the profits
from the commissions they make on arms and aircraft deals to finance The
Fund.
By May of 1989, the shell companies were in place. 10 California
corporations were set up to be the named owners of 49.9% of the leases.
Marina Enterprises, in the Cayman Islands, was established as the name
owner of 100% stock in the 10 California companies. In Luxembourg, North
American Real Estate Holding was formed to be the named owner of 100% of
the stock in the Cayman company. On paper, 10 California companies would
be the lease holders. These corporations were to be managed by Newfield
Enterprises, a front company set up by the Ibrahims for their real estate
deals.
ABDUL AZIZ, THE COLLECTOR
Currently being groomed for power, Abdul Aziz, 24 and a graduate
of King Saud University in Saudi Arabia, plays a leading role government
affairs, including supervising a program for children under the
International Islamic Relief Organization. As advisor to the Royal Court,
he continues his practice of being with his father to receive foreign
heads of state administers. Keep in mind that as a 24 year old, the only
thing he can advise the court at that age is how to loot the country
because that is the only thing he has ever done in his young life. We know
for a fact that Abdul Aziz has never known pain as a human being. His
shield, protector, and mentor is his father, the killer of two previous
kings and a ruthless, stupid undertaker of senseless acts and whimsical
actions. When the father leaves the scene, Abdul Aziz will find himself a
lonely boy with a child like brain in a world of sharks such as his
uncles.
He uses his status as the king's favorite son to increase his
wealth. Last year, he allegedly seized $15 million worth of land, near the
Prophet's Mosque in the holy city of Medina, whose ownership was under
dispute by getting his father to sign a royal decree granting him the
land. Land in that area is being developed by the Taibah Investment and
Real Estate Company, ostensibly to increase the accommodation capacity of
the vicinity near the Prophet's Mosque. Ironically, that same year he paid
$875,000 for a land in Los Angeles which is purported to be the future
site of a mosque. His father King Fahd had a stroke in November 1995.
After that stroke, Khaled al-Ibrahim, a frequent visitor in the
king's palace, convinced His Majesty to insure the future of Abdul Aziz by
giving him a strong base to launch future bids for power. The king heeded
the advise of Khaled and transferred in late December almost 10 billion
dollars to his son's account. That large transfer of cash created a buzz,
even in the highly secretive world of Swiss banking, that had quite an
effect in that circle. Armed with enough cash to buy several countries,
Abdul Aziz, the young empty head prince, will be a thorn in the sides of
his cousins and uncles once his father dies.
In addition to collecting real estate, Abdul Aziz has a passion
for sports cars. In 1993, after the Ratwah Group for Investment Cars
signed a contract to be the Saudi Arabian agent for Bugatti cars, the
prince ordered a '94 model. He had it modified to have four doors instead
of standard two and other changes to make his particular car the first of
its kind in the world.
Keep in mind that the money he spends comes from the government
treasury. Many princes, including Abdul Aziz, use public money to buy land
needed for business or real estate projects and then resell it at
exorbitantly inflated prices, pocketing the proceeds. This is called
looting and that is one way they do it.
ABDUL AZIZ, THE PIMP
Abdul Aziz owns MBC, the Arabic television station operating out
of London with the help of Abdullah al-Masri. Several cases of hiring
practices at the station have been brought to the attention of the media
and the community at large that allegedly involve hiring pretty women and
use them as business baits. Women who have applied for a job at the
television station have been discreetly approached with offers for dinner
and friendship. Some have gone as far as telling the prospective hiree on
their third or final interview that if they acted along, they will make a
lot of money.
Scotland Yard has been amassing data on the operation of the
station and may one day close that station for breaking British laws and
most importantly indecency laws. Two of these women who have been asked
for more cooperation have told our Committee of these acts (They refused
the job after being offered one). Follow-up by these people with the
British authorities confirmed that they are being watched along with
Abdullah al-Masri, the head of these operations in London.
On July 29, 1998. the actress Yasmin Bleath appeared on the
Tonight Show with David Letterman, a popular late night talk show in the
US to present us with this story straight from Hollywood. Apparently after
meeting with President Clinton, Abdul Aziz bin Fahd traveled to Hollywood
where he tried to invite actress Yasmin Bleath. She refused his invitation
but he insisted by showing up with his entourage and all his wealth to her
studio. Once again, he invited her to a party and Bleath agreed to meet
him there. After the party, Abdul Aziz presented Bleath with a diamond
bracelet as a thank you for just showing up. Of course, the bracelet was
paid for by Saudi public funds pilfered from the national treasury by His
Majesty.
SOURCES
| "Chicago Tribune" L. A. gets a mosque courtesy of
Saudi king, by Reuters, July 11, 1995
|
| "Euromoney" Investment policy must change, by
Michael Field, November 1995
|
| "Financial Times, Rise to prominence with modern-minded
outlook, by Michael Field, April 22, 1985
|
| "Fortune" The Billionaires 1990, September 10, 1990
The others, by Alan Famham, September 12, 1988
|
| "Jane's Intelligence Review" Saudi Arabia faces
more turbulent times, by Andrew Rathmell, April 1, 1996
|
| "Los Angeles Times" Saudis secretly bought stake in
Marina leases; real estate: county supervisors approved the
multimillion-dollar deal involving public land, by Jeffrey L. Rabin
and William C. Rempel, November 12, 1989
|
| "Moneyclips" King Fahd receives Kuwait, Gahrain FMs,
June 3, 1996 Taibah investment and real estate development, April 19,
1995. Fahd announces major privatization plan, by M. Ghazanfar Ali
Khan, May 9, 1994 IIRO raises SR15m in funds, by Abdul Wahab Bashir,
December 22, 1993 Ratwah to become Bugatti's agent, by Ezzuddin Hafez,
December 15, 1993 Taiba Investment and Real Estate Development Co.
diversifies, April 18, 1992 Madinah land auction, April 16, 1992
Estate value in Madinah skyrockets, by a Staff Writer, April 8, 1992
|
| "New Statesman and Society" The Saudi cesspit, by
Paul Lashmar, January 12, 1996 (also used for al-Yamamah article)
|
| "The New York Times" Bombing in Saudi Arabia: The
Overview; Saudies, aided by F.B.I., seek Blast Clues, by Douglas Jehl,
June 27, 1996
|
| "Regardie's Magazine" A royal pain; rude behaviors
of royalities from Saudi Arabia, by Lynda Edwards, April 1991
|
| "The Reuter European Business Report" Saudi firm
embarks on huge real estate project, March 7, 1994
Reuters, Limited Saud king gives $4 mln for Los Angeles mosque, July
8, 1995
|
| "The Sun (Baltimore)" The crumbling House of Saud;
Unrest: Saudi Arabia's rulers sit atop the world's largest family
business. But the business is shaky and the pie it has to split up is
shrinking, by Jim Rogers, June 30, 1996
|
| U.P.I. Foreigners face complex Swiss property laws, by Jan
Kriesemer, May 7, 1984
|
| "The Washington Post" Saudi court case raises
question of wide corruption by Leadership, by David B. Ottaway,
January 2, 1996
|
| Fahd's Night; Fanfare fit for a king; Gold, diamonds and talk
of soccer, by Elizabeth Kastor and Donnie Radcliffe, February 12, 1985
|