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served as Chairman of Lonrho, thus working alongside board Another client is Canadian-based Ranger Oil, which by happy directors such as British MI6 luminary Nicholas Elliot.** coincidence is the same name as an entity that forms part of the Shepherd, his wife Sherry and du Cann were being sued for Palace Group and which is run by arms trader Mick Ranger. By £1.25 million in a dispute involving the search for "one of the miraculous good fortune, Mick Ranger was also a board member world's most fabulous buried treasures". The treasure in question of Bridge SA—one of the entities formed and run by Rolf van was "30 tons of gold statues, bullion, doubloons and precious Rooyen and Riaan Stander. Meanwhile, Sandline, which many stones", stolen by Scottish pirate Captain William Thompson. knowledgeable insiders believe is Executive Outcomes by another The treasure was currently valued at £500 million. The lawsuit name, has a client base that includes Rio Tinto Zinc. was brought by Richard Bethell of the Bermuda-based Hart DSL is now owned by Armor Holdings, Inc. of Jacksonville, Group, who alleged that Shepherd and du Cann were guilty of Florida, but is still headquartered in London. This affiliation "misrepresentations" over an agreement for the provision of vari- seems, on the face of it, to be a particularly binding one, for ous "services" to Shepherd's planned treasure hunt. Armor Holdings is said to have its very own US spook-type One cannot help but be reminded of stories that have circulated "network".“* The senior executives of Armor Holdings are in the past concerning gold plundered by the Japanese during predominantly bankers of one strain or another. Take, for WWII and hidden in the Philippines—later to be recovered and example, Thomas W. Strauss, formerly a Vice Chairman of "laundered" as treasure retrieved from Spanish galleons that had Salomon Brothers, the Wall Street investment bank that was once sunk while travelling from Peru to Spain. A variation of this story minority owned by the Oppenheimers' Anglo American and De is the recovery of lost "pirate treasure"—otherwise known as Beers strategic holding company, Minorco.*°? Until 1993, gold—on the Cocos Islands. Salomons owned the controlling interest in the Bank of New Richard Bethell—elevated to Lord Westbury following the York, which, as you will recall, is the current affiliated clearing recent death of his father—is a former SAS and Scots Guards bank of Gregory Serras's Vanguard Capital. Today, Salomons is officer and, like Alan Shepherd, an owned by Citigroup.” Old Harrovian. The Hart Group, of We might also mention Armor which he is the Chief Executive Holdings director Burtt R. Ehrlich, Officer, is one of a number of com- . whose family securities firm, Ehrlich panies that form me Soong (GNSS. Executive Outcomes and Doser. ‘5 Owned a cater rae ecurity Systems Company - . ank of the Channel Islands, whic CO). A distinct cynic—as this writer has been described as specialises in "offshore finance"; has become—would easily conclude "the advance guard for major likewise, Nicholas Sokolow, former- that a marked similarity in structure . . . ly a partner in the Wall Street firm of exists between GMSSCO and Rolf business interests engaged Ina Coudert Brothers, and Warren B. van Rooyen's South African latter-day scramble for the Canders, a former Senior Vice Eastcorp Syndicate that was closely . ow President of Orion Bank Ltd, a mer- allied with the London network of mineral wealth of Africa . chant bank owned by the Royal Bank of Canada. A subsidiary of Armor Holdings is the very shadowy United States Defense Systems, Inc. (USDS), which on paper is based in Chantilly, Virginia, although its real APARTHEID'S MISSING BILLIONS operating headquarters are in Manassas, Virginia. Staff recruited But the similarity doesn't end there. Lord Westbury is currently by USDS are usually former military types or specialists with serving as Chief Executive Officer of Defence Systems Limited criminal intelligence backgrounds and possessing surveillance (DSL), which, as we have already seen, is an integral member of skills. They are usually told they will be working in support of the London network of the Palace Group (named so because of its Department of Defense programmes and will require a DoD secu- close proximity to the royal family's official London residence, rity clearance. Operations in the past have included surveillance Buckingham Palace).** Moreover, Executive Outcomes has been __ of US citizens during Fourth of July events at Capitol Mall in described as "the advance guard for major business interests DC. Executive Outcomes. For example, companies belonging to the Eastcorp Syndicate also had a maritime and security theme. "the advance guard for major business interests engaged in a latter-day scramble for the mineral wealth of Africa’. APARTHEID'S MISSING BILLIONS But the similarity doesn't end there. Lord Westbury is currently serving as Chief Executive Officer of Defence Systems Limited (DSL), which, as we have already seen, is an integral member of the London network of the Palace Group (named so because of its close proximity to the royal family's official London residence, Buckingham Palace).** Moreover, Executive Outcomes has been described as "the advance guard for major business interests engaged in a latter-day scramble for the mineral wealth of Africa.” This is a particularly incisive description, and readers of the irst part of this series will recall that one aspect of Project Hammer apparently involved the disappearance of substantial quantities of gold reserves, as well as stocks of De Beers diamonds, just prior to the takeover of the Republic of South Africa in 1994 by Nelson Mandela and the ANC. This theft has come known as "apartheid's missing billions". Defence Systems Limited has a client list that comes straight from the top drawer and includes oil and gas companies like British Petroleum, Shell and British Gas of the UK and Amoco, Chevron, Exxon, Mobil and Texaco of the United States. Major mining and mineral extraction companies such as Canada's Cambior and De Beers and Anglo American of South Africa also eature, as does the giant US construction firm, Bechtel. BIN LADEN AND SAUDI ARABIAN LINKS A Google Internet search using the search term "Armor Holdings, Inc." revealed a curious message dated September 2001 from an aggrieved investor: "I'm horrified to find one of my investments is in a company with links to bin Laden. Apparently it is common knowledge in London that a senior figure in Armor, Ambrose Cary, has familial ties to bin Laden and uses those in his work. How can it be allowed that a US company providing security to US companies, embassies and airports round the world can deal simultaneously with this type of person? Does anyone else have further information on this?" Unsurprisingly, no answer to the question has been posted.” Had this been the first bin Laden connection, it is likely I would have ignored it. However, the name had already arisen during a NEXUS * 35 Executive Outcomes has been described as OCTOBER — NOVEMBER 2003 www.nexusmagazine.com