Abraaj: Losing USD 14 Billion & The Unfolding Global Chaos

From Arab News, courtesy AFP

As this blog had suggested that whoever will not file a lawsuit against Abraaj is set to lose everything, just that, with a lawsuit, the chances go up slightly to recover some money, a few years from now, as permitted by the court.

From Kuwaiti Govt to the closest partner/fellow director, many have filed a lawsuit against Abraaj and the CEO. We can also add one ex-employee 2 days ago, on Thu, 28 June 2018, who filed a case in DIFC.

An arrest warrant has been issued but Arif Naqvi’s lawyer has claimed that he cannot return to UAE due to the threat of jail, on Thu, 28 June 2018.

The company has failed and liquidators have been appointed in Cayman, UK and Dubai.

Some of the top most people of Pakistan are involved in this scandal, due to which news is not coming out in detail in the Pakistani media. They are investors at Abraaj and also have a stake through Karachi Electric and shall remain unknown until they file claims or accept to lose hundreds of millions of dollars.

The main electricity supply company in Karachi (one of the largest cities in the world), Karachi Electric, has been owned 50% by Abraaj since Oct 2008, purchased at a total value of USD 400m (price for 100% stake).

Oct 2008 - Dubai's Abraaj Capital buys into Karachi power firm

In Oct 2016, a deal was signed to sell Karachi Electric to Shanghai Electric for USD 1.77b approx.

China’s Shanghai Electric to buy $1.77bn stake in K-Electric

Bali Volcano Erupts, Airport Shut: 3rd Major Volcano Eruption In 57 Days!

Bali Airport & Bali Eruption Pic-June 29, 2018: ABC AU

Mother Earth is getting angrier in 2018. Earthquakes and volcanoes (which are a function of earthquakes) are erupting more rapidly than ever before.

This is the fourth major eruption of the Mt. Agung volcano in Bali within a few months.

First one was several small ones during Nov 2017, then 11 Jan 2018, then 12 June 2018 and finally today 29 June 2018.

Water is finishing in many cities/countries, volcanoes are erupting in several cities, wars are going on in 8-10 countries, people are mass protesting on the streets in Venezuela, Iran, Brazil, China, parts of Europe, parts of India and Vietnam etc, business is going to get much worse and same for jobs EVERYWHERE!

3 major eruptions have occurred across the planet in less than 60 days: Hawaii, Guatemala and now Bali.

29^th June 2018

Bali shuts airport after volcanic eruption

Bali's Mt Agung volcano erupts again, closing Denpasar Airport and leaving flights cancelled

Abraaj: The Grand Finale : CEO Arif Naqvi & His Colleague Headed To Jail

Nobody is advised when they first land up in the GCC countries including the UAE that bouncing of a cheque, for whatever reason, is a criminal offence with guaranteed jail time.

EVERYONE learns it the hard way and that too at the worst time possible.

Such is the situation of Arif Naqvi today.

From flying in private jets to dining at the fanciest restaurants of Dubai (with a little bird saying some lunches used to run up bills in excess of 100,000 dirhams) and his son’s wedding in romantic Italy and more such salacious details yet to come out including during the court trial.

How the life of 400 employees and a (“fraudstar”) CEO got destroyed in less than 5 months is a fascinating story of greed and intrigue and of breaking the laws during a time of acute financial crisis rippling through UAE since 2015.

Since the previous post of 8 June of this blog, the SCA responded from Abu Dhabi, the closest partner of Arif Naqvi, Badr Jafar, also a director and investor in Abraaj, sued Arif and his company in Cayman (which has all been mysteriously erased from the bowels of the internet), and finally, Abraaj itself filed for liquidation, all within 7 days of the 8^thJune blog post.

Now, things are unraveling at the fastest speed possible.

As mentioned in the 8^thJune post, the company is going to die, either way.

Reference: Abraaj Capital of DIFC: How 16 years of success, collapsed in less than 5 months!

Which is precisely what is occurring.

Trump Tantrum: Leading The Entire World Into A Great Depression

EU put tariffs on US Bourbon & a US factory collapsed

Entire world population of 7.3 billion (out of 7.63b) stands firmly united against the 327m (a paltry 4.28%) US population.

Every nation is against the Trump tantrum of imposing unilateral tariffs against the entire world from whom America imports goods for it’s own survival and growth.

Trump wishes that it was a zero sum game. 

His entire career of 71 years is littered with no less than 6 corporate bankruptcies by him between 1991 to as recently as 2009. 

If Trump is driving America towards bankruptcy, then he is doing a fantastic job!

I have agreed with Trump (and his policies) so far, even as recently as March when he imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum tariffs whereas China agreed to reduce tariffs instead of hiking them on US imports.

However, the recent episode of tantrums of Trump within the last 2 weeks is a cause of grave concern for every single individual around the world.

Hottest News – 21 June 2018

Luxury

Wealthy Asians get richer fastest in the world

Most Expensive Car: 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO Auction Could Top $70 Million

Only top restaurant from Dubai - Zuma is out and many from Asia and even 1 from India (New Delhi) make it to the Top 100 restaurants in the world.

Osteria Francescana Is the Best Restaurant in the World, Again

Harrod’s : Take that! 20 storey luxury mall with over 1,000 top brands in the beautiful city of Xian, China.

Sybarite designs a 2.7 million-sq-ft luxury retail destination in China’s oldest city (20 storey luxury mall)

Trade War

The fact is that the US' poverty issue is rooted in an unequal distribution of wealth. However, the Trump administration isn't able to launch a domestic reform, and as a result intends to dredge for money from the outside world to meet domestic demands.

Trump's trade war will disrupt world economic order 

Lavasa & Aamby Valley: 2 of India’s largest ever real estate projects have defaulted

Words being used to describe 2 of India’s largest ever "entire new large scale city" real estate projects are “hell on earth” and “ghost town”.

Saddled with a rapidly declining real estate transactions as well as prices, dozens of large Indian developers have gone bankrupt across India. While more than 10 million houses remain unsold across India, and rising.

Lavasa project was launched in 2008 in Pune, India (near Mumbai) and sold as a replica of Portofino city of Italy.

At 100 square kilometres, it was going to be one of the largest cities in India to be built in one go from scratch.

It was the brainchild of billionaire, Ajit Gulabchand, of Hindustan Construction Company. Shares of this company are down 90% so far over the last few years.

The best architects in the world (HOK from USA), Golf course by Nick Faldo (world famous golfer), schools on international level, Manchester City branded football academy, multiple hotels, Oxford University affiliation, residences, health and wellness centres, all were planned.

Today in 2018, it is a shattered dream, with decaying unfinished structures and the billionaire is facing bankruptcy.

India is suffering worst water crisis in its history!

 In Jan 2018, Cape Town in South Africa and subsequently neighboring cities ran out of water. Until date, the situation remains extremely grim.

In late May 2018, a city in the foothills of the Himalayas, Simla, an erstwhile summer capital of the British rulers since 1864, ran out of water, sending shockwaves during the hot summer season.

43 hotels were shut in Simla due to non-payment of bills while tourists were asked to stop coming. BBC and various global media reported on it.

Now a major Govt body in India - Niti Aayog (successor to the erstwhile Planning Commission, now with a Hindi name) has said that India is running in extremely dire straits.

600 million Indians are currently impacted who are living under severe stress of India's water crisis (46.1% of India's population and 7.9% of world's population).

By 2020, 21 cities in India (out of 497 cities with a population above 100,000) will run out of water.

By 2030, the Govt body estimates that water demand will be TWICE of water supply!

It will reduce 6% of GDP.

Currently, 200,000 people die due to water scarcity per annum in India.

Over 70% of water supplies in India are polluted.

Many cities including the capital city of New Delhi are running short on water availability.

References:

Al Jazeera, Qatar:

India faces 'worst-ever' water crisis: report

Asian Correspondent, HK:

 India suffering worst water crisis ‘in its history’

Independent UK:

India’s ‘worst water crisis in its history’ is only going to get worse, government think tank says

Hindu, India:

Parched or polluted: on India's water crisis 

The Wire, India:

India Facing Worst Water Crisis in History, Likely to Get Worse: NITI Aayog

Lives of the rich & the famous in London : Scary & fearful amid regular random robberies & attacks!

The Finance Minister of U.K. (Chancellor of the Exchequer) was robbed in London by moped robbers in Oct 2017!

Just now, the Home Secretary of U.K. himself has spoken that he too was robbed by moped robbers sometime in the past! 

On June 5, 2018, Michael McIntyre, a comedian was robbed by moped robbers too in London who broke his Range Rover with a hammer and robbed his watch while he was inside the car!

The "fun" lives of rich people in London while the world juggles with the highest income equality ever in world history!

Sometimes, need to dodge random bombs, sometimes terrorist cars mowing people, sometimes random acid attacks, sometimes random machete beheading, sometimes random moped robbers, sometimes random stabbing and sometimes random gun shootings in London, rest all is ok!

Who is safe in London if the Ministers themselves are not safe?!

Welcome to London in 2018!

Stay safe if you are in London or most parts of the UK!

Home Secretary Sajid Javid reveals moped muggers robbed his phone as he stopped to call a taxi outside London's Euston station

Canada is literally & figuratively a 3rd world country now!

From CTV.ca

This is Toronto city’s most famous Eaton Centre Mall (in the heart of downtown Toronto) and this happened on the evening of 13th June with some wind and some rain! J

Electric lights inside the mall turned into spontaneous water falls!

Watch the video for yourself and check it out.

Toronto malls are now providing a new experience of electric lights, water faucets and water falls - all in one! :)

It poured so hard in Toronto that rain fell inside the Eaton Centre

Rain pours from Eaton Centre light fixtures as storm hammers Toronto

Some more videos here:

https://twitter.com/NatashaFatah/status/1006997397401100288

Dubai is THE MOST EXPENSIVE CITY in the WORLD while Auckland is at No 2

One of the reasons, Dubai rose to the top over the last few decades is because until about 2005 Dubai used to be an inexpensive and tax free city that led to it’s rapid growth.

Contrast it to 2010 onwards, with multitude of taxes, it has become THE MOST EXPENSIVE CITY in the WORLD!

Right after the 2009 crisis, they needed to raise revenues and hence the taxes causing the single biggest reason of the success of Dubai, of being inexpensive, to go away.

Auckland, NZ is at second place followed by San Francisco plus NY and London to round up the Top 5 most expensive cities in the world, according to Nestpick.com who do relocations.

No wonder economy doesn’t look too rosy in the most expensive city while the media hides it in Dubai though it is garnering global headlines.

Compare it to about a decade ago, Angola was the No 1 most expensive city in the world. 

Angolan currency Kwanza was 74 to 1 USD, today it is at 238 to 1 USD (221% decline) and their economy has crashed and burned. Their reserves have depleted dramatically. Capital controls tightened. Many airlines have shut going to Angola since they cannot withdraw funds, Angola's rating is now at B3 and B minus....

Do all the above conditions remind you of any another city today??

You may draw your own conclusions.

Meanwhile, just look at the comparative headlines arising out of NZ media:

Auckland’s latest claim to shame

Auckland second most expensive city to relocate to 

Cyprus, Caribbean Citizenship: Why you should have it

Aerial view of Cyprus

I have been advocating a Plan B for having an alternate citizenship to all the wealthy clients around the world since at least 2010 (except those already carrying G-7 citizenships).

Reasons can be varied:

1.    Alternate residency

2.    Ease of travel- to countries previously restricted by time consuming visa process

3.    Safety– alternative in times of instability, privacy in banking & for stable legal environment

4.    Children’s education– Graduation & language skills from top schools resulting in a future successful career

5.    Tax planning– reduce tax burden & reduce regulatory restrictions by relocation

6.    Quality of Life– Better life, cleanliness, healthcare, climate & personal security

7.    Independence- to relocate anytime as back up as compared to current country of residency

8.    Freedom of movement- if overly exposed to physical or financial threats

9.    Ease of Retirement- without fear of ever changing immigration laws and planning for future retirement

The difference between citizenship and residency is that a citizenship can be passed on to the next generation but residency cannot. Voting is also another one, residency does not allow voting. Citizenship allows international travel whereas residency does not. Residency affects tax status and can also be withdrawn but citizenship cannot be withdrawn (if obtained through legal process). 

Cyprus program is one of the best citizenship by investment programs in the world.

Cyprus (an EU country) offers an instant citizenship in about 3-6 months in lieu of an investment of 2 million Euros in a property. It cannot be leveraged. All money needs to come into Cyprus from overseas (so your overseas bank could leverage it after doing an investment).

For example, one can invest EUR/USD 3.5-4m in an overseas bank in a stable bond portfolio generating 2%-4% pa. Then borrow EUR 2m and remit to Cyprus and invest in a property.

Caribbean countries like Antigua, Dominica, St Kitts, Grenada etc also offer citizenship by investment. These passports allow living in those countries only but allow travel to Schengen (entire Eurozone), Singapore, Russia, HK and also to China (in case of Grenada) on a visa free basis.

Some, like Antigua, are offering a discount of 50% for another few months, in real estate investment amount, if 2 unrelated parties make a joint investment of USD 200,000 into an approved real estate project (instead of USD 200k individually). 

If a donation is made to the Govt, then the amount is 50% off at USD 100,000 currently instead of USD 200k. Both are valid until 31 Oct 2018 only.

Even St. Kitts has reduced their fees recently to USD 150,000 (including Govt. fees) and adjusted the real estate investment to USD 200k (instead of USD 400k) for each applicant but 2 applicants are required jointly. We can help arrange the second applicant.

In most cases, children below the age of 18 can also be included in the application while different rules apply in different countries if children are above 18 years of age but must be dependent as well as attending a degree education program.

The US visa/Green card through EB-5 route has also seen excessive demand from Indians just this year who usually never did so. 

This new development indicates the dangers afflicting the social fabric of India where business climate, safety, security, education, jobs etc. are all deteriorating rapidly, hence smarter (and wealthier) Indians are leaving for USA and towards the safety of other countries.

USA is a good option for those who will always live in the USA and shall never think of coming back or go anywhere else. It is a great option also for parents who wish a safe and better future (through education) for their children.

US EB5 visa (Green Card) investment amount is expected to rise sharply after Sept 2018 due to which there is a sudden rush (it has been rumoured since late 2017, but Trump has delayed it by a few months since Apr 2018).

Just remember one last thing, laws can change at anytime. Over the last few years, Canada, Singapore, Australia have tightened the rules severely that most cannot reach the criteria or shut it completely. UK has also tightened significantly and increased the amounts required up to GBP 10m.

My motto has always been simple: Take a citizenship when you don't need it NOW, because when you need it in the future, the door will certainly be shut!

If you or anyone you know is looking or considering taking any citizenship option or have any enquiry, please do not hesitate to contact at voiceofthemarkets@ protonmail.com 

Not only the Chinese, but more and more Indians, Middle Easterners, Filipinos, Iranians, Syrians, Libyans etc all are looking for new citizenships and so should you!

Reference:

According to the latest information coming, Indians are leaving for other passports at a very high rate since 2017.

Why India's Richest Are Seeking Citizenship In Cyprus

Good news for ‘Golden Visa’ seekers: Sharp hike in US EB5 visa investment limits expected

Indians may see jam on EB-5 visa route to the United States 

What is common between a CEO level banker in Australia, Mexico & India? Answer: Jail!

In the last few years, various CEO level executives have been charged in UK, Switzerland or US etc. But mostly mid to senior level executives were put in prison as the juniors took the brunt of the damage.

These financial crimes committed over the last 1-2 decades don’t seem to end.

I have predicted in the years gone by that most bankers would face jail time because laws are so tough while bankers keep doing the same things what they did previously that are all illegal.

From exchange houses to banks to hedge funds to private equity, everyone in the financial sector is being caught for money laundering, insider trading and breaking all sorts of laws simply because it is not easy to adhere to all the compliance and meet customer requirements of return expectations.

Or even predict what’s going to happen in the stock and bond markets because there is no visibility or stability in the markets like the years gone before.

Hence, in order to keep their jobs and make money, all of today’s bankers and advisors keep mumbling the same old crap that markets always go up until everything tanks!

Overseas bankers are not even allowed to deal with American clients due to FATCA. Europeans have much stringent laws to keep funds abroad. UK and India are cracking down heavily. Germany and France are prosecuting clients for their Swiss accounts including a French Minister.

China has frozen assets abroad and banned capital outflows. 

Pakistan, Greece, Indonesia, Russia etc have introduced tax amnesties to bring assets stashed abroad back to home countries. Philippines is due to introduce tax amnesty any month now, latest in early 2019.

Meanwhile, just to stick to a job and a sector because of making money and survival indicates that today’s bankers do not have the skill set to survive anywhere else and are addicted to the jobs for money and lack any morals and ethics to earn it legally and professionally.

Banks have wafer thin margins and many have losses, hence bankers need to keep lying to themselves, their clients, their regulators etc just to keep their head above water and their job until they caught or fired.

Hundreds of thousands of financial sector jobs are disappearing every year since the 2008 global financial crisis hit, yet, no Govt wishes to change course and inform the graduates of today that financial sector is not a great sector to be in.

Banks have imploded every year from Cyprus to Portugal to Latvia to Russia etc. Hundreds of banks have merged worldwide. Thousands upon thousands of bank branches have been shut worldwide. Almost every single bank in the world has been downgraded and many have taken bailouts from their Govt's else they will collapse.

From Switzerland to Korea to India to UAE to USA to UK etc, more than half the foreign banks have sold or completely withdrawn.

Now courts are charging bank CEO’s all across the globe as skeletons keep coming out of their closets and their past misdeeds catch up with them.

Imagine a world, where an entire bank across an entire country watches their top most boss being charged for criminal deeds and mostly facing years in jail! 

How do you explain that to clients? How do you justify to yourself that what you and your colleagues are doing is even legal? How about morale? Motivation?....

Guess what, worse is still yet to come.....

Today, JP Morgan CEO in Mexico had an arrest warrant issued. Not confirmed whether he in jail yet.

Mexico judge signs arrest warrant for local JPMorgan head: BVG World

Last week in Australia, CEO’s of ANZ, Deutsche and Citi were charged. Many more executives have also been charged.

Ex-heads of Citi, Deutsche, ANZ in Australia charged in cartel case

Last month in India, 3 CEO’s and several directors and many other executives were charged

PNB fraud: CBI names 2 EDs, ex-CEO Usha Ananthasubramanian in charge sheet 

These are the fancy mansions where these bankers live:

Inside the lavish mansions owned by bankers and executives who now face ten years' jail if convicted over their roles in ANZ's alleged $2.5BILLION criminal cartel

Dubai: 5,800 Indians under investigation by Indian intelligence for high end property ownership in Dubai

Indian investigative agencies have all the names, addresses and details of all tax evaders etc from various countries now provided by the UAE, as per OECD data sharing agreement.

All owners of properties across Dubai especially in top areas like Emirates Hills, Palm Jumeirah, Burj Khalifa, Downtown, Marina etc should consider them under active surveillance because almost everyone is under surveillance.

5,800 Indians in Dubai from various sources who own property in Dubai (can be resident in India, Dubai or anywhere else in the world) are in the crosshairs of the Indian intelligence services it includes those who have been NRI’s for several generations!

“Of the 129,000 entries in the Dubai database from 181 countries, those of Indians form a sizeable chunk with 5,800 linked to properties in top sites such as the Palm Jumeirah, The World, Motor City, Emirates Living, Dubai Marina, Burj Dubai, Old Town Island, etc. Most of these Indians are long-term residents of Dubai, with many having lived outside India for more than a generation.”

7 names of Indians and their property details are in the article!

Good, bad and the ugly are all probably in the same basket!

You may check if any of the friends or neighbours are mentioned here!

This is just a tiny glimpse of what the Indian Govt have but they have intricate details of all the 5,800 Indians associated with Dubai whether they live in Dubai, India or abroad!

Reference:

Indians probed by Govt agencies are linked to high-end real estate in Dubai