Jeb, Marvin & Neil - 3 Profiteering Bush Brothers

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Sun, 30 Jan 2005 22:11:18 -0800 (PST)

Jeb, Marvin & Neil - 3 Profiteering Bush Brothers

 

 

 

 

Jeb, Marvin & Neil - 3 Profiteering Bush Brothers

 

(And you should see what Daddy is raking in)

 

 

 

January 28, 2005

By: Evelyn Pringle

 

Independent Media TV

 

Its time to take a closer look at First Brothers, Jeb, Neil, and

Marvin Bush, and see how much they stand to benefit from W's

presidency and his perpetual war on the world.

 

First, there's brother Marvin. He's the quietest member of the Bush

clan. Marvin is co-founder and partner in Winston Partners, a private

investment firm. In turn, Winston Partners is part of a larger firm

called the Chatterjee Group.

 

Here's where it gets complicated. Marvin is obviously the family

member with a sound criminal mind. He has managed to bury almost all

the evidence of his profiteering profits inside a host of corporations

and entities, with many being located offshore. Its not easy to track

the money through such a tangled web. But it can be done.

 

SEC filings show that the Chatterjee Group consists of Winston

Partners, LP; Chatterjee Fund Management, LP; Winston Partners II LDC,

a Cayman Islands-based company; Winston Partners II LLC; Chatterjee

Advisors LLC; Chatterjee Management Company; Mr. Chatterjee himself;

and Furxedown Trading Limited, a company organized under the laws of

the Isle of Man. The address for Winston Partners II LDC is in the

Netherlands Antilles. The other subsidiaries were organized in Delaware

 

Marvin is not the only family member plugged into the group. Brother

Jeb is also an investor in the Winston Capital Fund, which happens to

be managed by Marvin's firm.

 

Profits From Iraq

 

Following the tangled web of Winston this and Winston that, is

difficult in itself, but tracing the links to Iraq is even more

difficult. A good place to start is with a company known as Nour USA.

According to the Sept 30, 2003, issue of Mother Jones, an $80 million

Iraq contract was awarded to Nour, a company with ties to Winston

Partners.

 

Nour set up shop in May 2003, right in time to cash in on the war in

Iraq. When it opened for business, the firm's website described the

company as an " international investment and development company " with

more than 100 employees based in Iraq, and listed expertise in

telecommunications, agribusiness, internet development, recruitment,

construction materials, oil and power services, pharmaceuticals and

fashion apparel. "

 

Nour had ties to several companies, backed or owned, by Marvin's

Winston Partners, including Hobart West, a Fortune 500

personnel-services company; LogoTel, a clothing company; and Axolotl,

a computer-services company in medical care.

 

In January, 2004, Nour was awarded another contract, worth a whopping

$327 million, to equip the Iraqi armed forces and Civil Defense Corps.

However, not long after it was awarded, Nour came under heavy scrutiny

because of a financial scam involving the company's president and

Ahmed Chalabi, the leader of the US appointed Iraqi Governing Council

(the neocon's all time favorite fellow until they booted him out of

the club).

 

Newsday reported that Chalabi received a $2 million " fee " for helping

to arrange a $80 million contract, that was actually awarded to a firm

called Erinys International to begin with. The problem arose,

according to Newsday, because " within days " of being granted the

contract, Erinys became a joint venture operation with Nour.

 

Next, the $327 million contract came under investigation after it was

revealed that Nour had no prior experience whatsoever in providing

military equipment. When confronted with that fact, Nour claimed that

it planned to subcontract its weapons procurement to the Polish firm,

Ostrowski Arms. However, the army soon determined that Ostrowski

didn't even have a license to export weapons.

 

Soon thereafter in March 2004, there was a sad turn of events for the

First Brothers, when the Army decided to terminate the contract after

six of the 17 firms that bid on the project, complained that Nour's

winning bid was ridiculously low.

 

It seems a review of all bids revealed that some bids were as much as

$700 million apart. " That was a pretty clear indication that the

industry did not have a good understanding of the procurement, " said

an Army official.

 

During a House Government Reform Committee hearing on Iraq contracts

on March 11, 2004, some members of Congress tried to raise questions

about private connections behind some of the contracts. However,

committee Chairman Tom Davis, (R-Va), cut off the questions before the

witnesses could answer.

 

But at least the Bush gang lost control of the profits from the next

contract. The first Nour contract was awarded by Bremer and the CPA in

Baghdad, but the process of re-bidding was turned over to the Army

Material Command.

 

Iraq Not Sole Source Of Profits

 

But not to worry, the First Brothers profits are by no means limited

to Iraq. They have irons in the fire all over the map.

 

For instance, Winston Partners' portfolio includes another military

contractor, the Amsec Corp. In 2001, Amsec was awarded $37,722,000 in

contracts from the Navy. Marvin's long-time business partner, Scott

Andrews, sits on the Amsec board of directors, and the firm's CEO in

the relevant time-frame was Michael Braham, who used to work for none

other than Paul Bremer, the top dog with the Coalition Provisional

Authority (CPA), which was then responsible for awarding contracts in

Iraq.

 

In addition, the Chatterjee Group also owns 5.5 million shares in a

security company known as Sybase. SEC filings show the shares as being

divided up between, Winston Partners LP with 1,036,075 shares; Winston

Partners LDC holding 1,317,825 shares; and Winston Partners LLC owning

1,221,837 shares.

 

And thanks to brother George W, there would be plenty of profits for

this security company. Obviously armed with insider knowledge from the

White House, Sybase geared up to make big money off the Patriot Act

long before it was passed.

 

The Act was designed in part, to prevent money laundering by

terrorists. As soon as news of the pending law became public, all

kinds of companies began developing new products that would soon to be

a requirement for financial institutions that had to comply with the

Patriot Act.

 

However, to no one's surprise I'm sure, the most aggressive marketer

out of the box, was probably Sybase, with a product called the " Sybase

PATRIOT Compliance Solution. " In fact, the company was so quick on the

draw that it already had a deal with the People's Bank of China, and

the Sumitomo Mitsui Bank, by the time the October 2002 compliance

deadline rolled around.

 

Which proves there's much to be said for benefits derived from a

direct link to information about what the US government is up to and

how much it plans to spend.

 

In addition, according to Progressive Populist, the PATRIOT Act is not

Sybase's only federal conduit. The company is also a significant

government contractor, with contracts from the Agriculture Department,

the Navy ($2.9 million in 2001), the Army ($1.8 million in 2001), the

Department of Defense ($5.3 million in 2001), Commerce, the Treasury

and the General Services Administration, among others. The federal

procurement database lists Sybase's total awards for 2001 as $14,754,000.

 

But then, making money off wars in the Middle East is nothing new for

Marvin. Back in 1993, after the first gulf war, he joined his father

(3 months out of office), on a trip to Kuwait. Where, according to the

March 16, 2001 Austin Chronicle, " Marvin was representing U.S. defense

firms selling electronic fences to the Kuwaiti Defense Ministry. "

 

From 1993 to 2000, Marvin was also a major shareholder in the

Kuwait-American Corp, which had holdings in a wide variety of US

defense, aviation and industrial security companies.

 

No doubt about it, W's perpetual war on terror, is very profitable for

the Bush Boys.

 

Almost Forgot Romeo

 

How could I ever forget little brother Neil? Until recently, he was

best-known for his role in the collapse of the Silverado Savings and

Loan which left a bill of $1.3 billion for tax payers to repay, as the

culprit, Neil, walked away without ever seeing the inside of a police

station, much less a jail cell.

 

I say until recently because last year, his testimony in a divorce

deposition revealed a $2 million consultant contract between Neil and

a Chinese computer chip company, which apparently came with perks

consisting of women showing up at his motel room door wanting to have sex.

 

I've since nicknamed him Romeo.

 

But all kidding aside, the guy has really come along way since the

Silverado days, thanks to his brother in the White House. According to

the Nov 28, 2003, Financial Times, " Neil Bush, a younger brother of US

President ... has had a $60,000-a-year employment contract with a top

adviser to a Washington-based consulting firm set up this year to help

companies secure contracts in Iraq, " it reported.

 

Neil disclosed the contract during the deposition. He said he was

co-chairman of Crest Investment Corporation and received $15,000 every

three months for working an average three or four hours a week.

 

The Times went on to report, " The other co-chairman and principal of

Crest is Jamal Daniel, who is an advisory board member of New Bridge

Strategies, a company set up this year by a group of businessmen with

close links to the Bush family or administrations. Its chairman is Joe

Allbaugh, George W. Bush's campaign director in the 2000 presidential

elections. "

 

On December 11, 2003, the Times reported that " two businessmen

instrumental in setting up New Bridge Strategies, a ... firm designed

to help clients win contracts in Iraq, have previously used an

association with Neil, the younger brother of President Bush, to seek

business in the Middle East, " an FT investigation has found.

 

Daniel's investment fund, Crest, also helped fund Neil's educational

software company, Ignite!, which was no doubt set up as a conduit to

funnel tax dollars through public schools via W's No Child Left Behind

Act. In fact, according to the Times, Daniel sometimes introduces

himself as a founding backer of Bush's company, and has persuaded the

families of prominent leaders in Middle East to invest, it notes.

 

Daniel, Neil and Howland have also been directors of Silvermat, a

Swiss company controlled by Crest, that supplies the hospitality

industry and has had financial and industrial relations problems.

 

When asked the specifics of his position with Crest, Neil testified

that he was responsible for " answering phone calls when Jamal Daniel,

the other co-chairman, when he called and asked for advice. "

 

However, Neil's is not merely a receptionist at Crest. He can

obviously type as well, because three people contacted by the

Financial Times have seen letters written by Neil that recommend

business ventures promoted by New Bridges in the Middle East. So here

again, we have Brother Neil being paid to " help companies secure

contracts in Iraq, " the Financial Times reports.

 

Neil & Marvin Hit The Jackpot In China

 

On still another front, many people were alarmed when W came down in

favor of the People's Republic of China, against a democratic

referendum in Taiwan. But his support of China became suspect after it

was discovered that well-connected Chinese firms were funneling huge

amounts of money to his brothers, Neil and Marvin, according to Margie

Burn in the Dec 16, 2003 Online Journal.

 

Soon after Neil's deposition, the media began reporting that the

computer chip company, Grace Semiconductor had entered into a $2

million contract with Neil.

 

The world business press reported that by hiring Neil, Grace hoped to

influence US limits on exporting technology to China and repeal

restrictions designed to keep gear from being used by the Chinese

military.

 

And who knows, Neil may have come through, because on Oct 29, 2004,

Electronic Engineering Times, reported that Grace was in the final

stages of negotiating a technology transfer for a manufacturing

process from a US manufacturer, which if " brought about ... would

signal the further erosion of a post-Cold War-era pact - known as the

Wassenaar Arrangement - set up to limit the dissemination of

technology that could have potential military use. "

 

The Wassenaar Arrangement is a real headache for Grace because in

order to make advanced semiconductors, it has to rely on imports that

require prior approval.

 

So exactly who is this US manufacturer, and what, if any, connections

does it have to Neil Bush? According to EET, Grace refuses to disclose

the name of the company, which leads me to wonder why the secrecy, and

as usual where is the US media?

 

Of course EET had to remind the world of the connection between Neil

and his foreign buddies, and that he was paid $2 mill. " In the U.S.,

it has reportedly agreed to pay $2 million for consulting services

from semiconductor neophyte Neil Bush, the younger brother of

President George W. Bush. In China, one of Grace's founders is Jiang

Mianheng, the son of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, and in

Taiwan, its other founder is Winston Wang, scion of a powerful

petrochemical magnate.

 

This deal would have never been disclosed if not for Neil's divorce.

But while everybody was paying attention to Neil, an even bigger

Chinese company was making deals that would benefit that quiet little

mouse Marvin, and almost nobody noticed.

 

Cheung Kong Holdings, is a gigantic real estate and investment company

in Hong Kong. How big is it? Well, according to the company's own

estimates, " combined market capitalization of the Cheung Kong Group

amounts to HK$515 billion, " or better yet picture this, " approximately

11.5 percent of the total market capitalization of the Hong Kong stock

market. " That is big with a capital B.

 

Cheung Kong's expanded its portfolio, which now includes a company

known as Critical Path, Inc, a software and Internet-messaging service

firm. And guess who the company's SEC filings list as a major

shareholder in Critical Path? Mr Purnendu Chatterjee, acting for

Winston Partners LP, owned by none other than Marvin Bush and Scott

Andrews.

 

SEC filings show the Chatterjee's group, including Winston Partners,

owns approximately 5.5 million shares in the company. Which means,

Cheung Kong's investment had to boost profits for Winston Partners.

 

Thanks to the US Media, and to the fact that none of the Bush brothers

are named Roger Clinton, few Americans seem to know about these deals.

But the international business community sure does. Cheung Kong and

Grace are both major players in China's entangled economy made up of

public and private partnerships.

 

For W to allow his brothers to profit from deals with these firms is

bad enough. But to follow up with a major shift of support to China,

and discourage a democratic referendum in Taiwan, is worse. The whole

world cannot help but view this turn of events as one big Bush payoff.

 

Whenever I write about the profiteering First Family, I like to remind

readers of what Bush told reporters when the Clinton pardon scandal

hit the headlines with charges that brother-in-law Hugh Rodham had

accepted $400,000 to lobby for clemency for two felons. When reporters

asked George W what advice he would give to his own family members, he

said: " My guidance to them is, 'Behave yourself.' And they will. "

 

Yea right.

 

(Evelyn Pringle is a columnist for Independent Media TV and an

investigative journalist focused on exposing corruption in government)

 

By Evelyn Pringle e.pringle

 

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