Spanish reporters also recognize WGA as a fraud

The following was translated from the Spanish News site Marca.com. Here’s the original link.

Syed Ali has to pay 2.6 million by Friday

HEAD ANGEL 03/15/1911 – 19:52.

Western Gulf Advisory Company (WGA), owned by Indian Syed Ali, in turn owns the Racing de Santander, may be reported to the Australian authorities and the countries where it operates if not paid on Friday of $ 3.62 million (2 6 million euros) to an Australian manufacturer.

Keith Johnson denounced last week in the Australian newspaper Sydney Morning Herald an alleged scam to him and other businessmen from Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia, amounting to approximately 72 million euros.

The alleged scam was that some employers, most builders, the WGA went in search of a widely publicized claims in Australia, at an interest rate lower than that offered by banks in that country.

Once granted credit for the WGA it required a series of amounts of money by way of non-refundable deposits. Then the credit money I never got to the petitioner did not return the deposit or widened return.
Syed Ali took five days to respond to the information published in various Australian media and also in Mark, which fell like a bomb in the city of Santander and racinguista environment.

The denial
Finally on Saturday, You First Sports, the firm that Syed Ali’s relations with the Spanish media, made public a short comunucado (see next page) in which the Indian belied an unknown newspaper in Bahrain, the country of residence and the host country of the company, which had granted a loan of 155 million dollars (111 euros) to Keith Johnson company. Syed spoke of the false news reports about the case.

Yesterday, Johnson Property Group, Keith Johnson company, issued a statement to this newspaper and other international media with irrefutable evidence that the statement of Syed Ali and told the Daily Tribune does not conform to the truth.

MARK is in possession of documents published today, which demonstrate that the WGA granted credit, Johnson faced by transferring securities to the account of the WGA at Credit Suisse in Zurich, and one of the receipts issued by Syed Ali’s company upon receipt of bank transfers.

In addition, MARK held a series of letters between the lawyers of Johnson Property Group and John Mullaly, lawyer and Syed Ali straw in Australia on increasingly urgent claims for repayment of money since the credit of 155 million never became effective.

Payments (1.11 and 1.25 m illion dollars) were made on 21 September and 26 October 2010 and since then, the WGA has had that amount which has obviously been wrongly charged.

Sources of Sydney law firm that advises Keith Johnson said yesterday in this newspaper that if the payment is not made reported to the WGA to the authorities and it shall inform those who may be at the mercy of Ali’s business, such as Racing de Santander.

 

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Indian TV also claims Ahsan Ali Syed is a fraudster

From New Zealand:

The National Business Review, has kindly provided Wikifrauds with the following translation of parts of the broadcast on Mumbai’s TV9 on February 2 as published in its February 18 Print Edition:

“A Telugu translator commissioned by NBR to review the bulletin said TV9 reported Mr Ali had “cheated countless numbers of people in Hyderabad and fled overseas” and had generated his wealth “by converting black money into white.”

The report questioned claims made by Mr Ali that he owned 364 hectares of land in the town of Bhuvagiri. “However, according to records, he owns only a house which is 80 square yards (66.8sq m) in the old city of Hyderabad.”

The bulletin also made allegations of immigration fraud from more than two dozen people, each of whom paid about $3000 to Mr Ali in return for promised visas, travel and jobs in countries like Singapore.

“Victims of Mr Ali are demanding the refund of their hard-earned money,” TV9 said.

Here’s the video (but it’s in Telegu): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfhHEGAGxVE&feature=related

NZ Herald Article Goes missing

Strangely, NZ Herald’s article entitled  Serepisos saviour ‘fraudster‘ has gone missing. Hmm…

In any case, here’s a reprint of a portion of the article. It’s annotated with comments and hence falls under fair use of this content. CAPS ARE MY COMMENTS.

12:02 PM Monday Mar 7, 2011 Email author

The man who Wellington Phoenix owner Terry Serepisos has turned to in hope to save the club and business empire has been accused of duping hundreds of people in loan scams. THAT’S AHSAN ALI SAYED, IN CASE YOU’RE WONDERING.

Serepisos had announced a $100 million loan package from Western Gulf Advisory that would allow him to restructure his Century City empire, of which the Phoenix are a part, and pay off all his debts.

But the loan has not yet arrived from WGA, the company of new Spanish football club owner Ahsan Ali Syed. Serepisos admitted last week that he has paid a fee to WGA, understood to be more than $1.5 million. WGA HAS PROMISED MANY LOANS TO MANY PEOPLE…NONE OF THEM HAVE BEEN PAID.

Doubts about whether the loan may ever arrive may have grown in theSerepisos camp after Ali Syed was labelled as a ‘fraudster’ in an Australian newspaper today. YES, HE HAS BEEN LABELLED A FRAUDSTER IN MANY PAPERS. ANYONE WHO LOOKS AT THE FACTS CONCLUDES HE’S A FRAUDSTER.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a millionaire property developer claims Ali Syed runs a sophisticated international scam that has led to Australians being defrauded by up to $AU100 million. YES.

The paper says Ali Syed has reportedly “duped hundreds of victims into paying millions of dollars to obtain loans that never eventuate”. GOOD QUOTE GUYS.

Possibly not a good sign for the $1.5 million paid bySerepisos. I WOULDN’T THINK SO EITHER.

Ali Syed has strenuously denied allegations against him, describing those who have made them as “fraudsters”. THAT’S AN INTERESTING NAME TO THROW AROUND ALI SYED

Serepisos wasn’t available for comment to the Herald on Sunday but was quoted by the Dominion Post this week as saying he was still confident the loan would eventuate. “WASN’T AVAILABLE FOR COMMENT”?

“I am still comfortable,” he said. “I’ve done my homework on this gentleman.” THAT’S WHAT THEY ALL SAY.

Ali Syed failed in a bid to buy English Premier League side Blackburn but recently acquired Spanish La Liga club Racing Santander. ACCORDING TO SOURCES IN THE UK, BLACKBURN LOOKED AT WGA’S BOOKS AND DETERMINED THEY WERE NOT LIQUID ENOUGH TO BUY THE TEAM. He claims to have access to $8 billion. QUITE A CLAIM, BUT WHERE’S THE MONEY? The Australian reported Sydney public relations firm Jackson Wells – hired to promote WGA as potential providers of loans up to A$500 million – “sacked” the company as a client. John Wells, the founding partner of Jackson Wells, told the newspaper he had severed ties with WGA and regretted having made the connection. HE SEVERED TIES BUT HE DID NOT GO PUBLIC WITH WHAT HE KNEW–THAT WGA IS PERPETRATING A FRAUD.

“Last August, Jackson Wells had a disagreement with Western Gulf Advisory after we had asked the company to substantiate [the truth of] a number of announcements it had made through the media relating to the funding of projects in Australia,” Wells said.

“WGA refused to substantiate these announcements. Jackson Wells parted company with WGA immediately. We told WGA that we were no longer prepared to work for them. Jackson Wells is owed a substantial amount of money in unpaid fees.” JACKSON WELLS, WE DON’T FEEL SORRY FOR YOU. YOU ENABLED THIS FRAUD BY YOUR INACTION.

Meanwhile the IRD are pressing ahead with efforts to liquidate five companies owned by Serepisos, including the one that owns the Phoenix, as they seek $3.5 million in unpaid taxes.

This morning the High Court at Wellington heard an application from the IRD to liquidate five of Serepisos’ Century City Companies.

The companies are: Century City Investments Limited, Century City Football Limited – which owns the Phoenix A-League soccer club – Century City Developments Limited, Century City Management Limited, and Century City Hunter Street Limited.

Serepisos was not in court for this morning’s hearing but filed a sworn affidavit this morning stating his absolute commitment to repay what he owed the IRD and the ACC in tax and penalties.

Associate Judge David Gendall adjourned proceedings until Thursday morning but said he was concerned that Serepisos’ companies were continuing to trade, and in doing so were potentially becoming weighed-down by further debt.

The Christchurch earthquake would not have helped Serepisos’ efforts to get a definitive statement of his accounts for WGA – with a handful of his loans said to be with South Island companies.

Phoenix chief executive Nathan Greenham said he wasn’t privy to Serepisos’ business dealings and had to assume everything would be sorted.

“It’s business as usual,” Greenham said. “We are in the middle of strategic planning for the off-season and new season with every confidence the situation will be sorted out by Terry when the time comes.

“I would be lying if I said I didn’t worry about it [the future of the club] from time to time. The same applies to the staff in the office, we are only human.”

There is some confidence, however, that others would be willing to buy the Phoenix should Serepisos need to sell. Trade Me founder Sam Morgan and Infratil boss Lloyd Morrison have long been linked to the club, while NZF are aware of a handful of potential owners. GOOD PLAN B, FELLERS.

Speculation and concerns will go away for Serepisos and WGA if the loan is forthcoming. WHICH AS OF MARCH 15TH IT IS NOT.

 

About the WGA Scam

This is a cross post from our tumblr

Western Gulf Advisory’s scam is simple.

1. WGA manufactured a base reputation as a reputable fund using PR agencies, websites, and fake social media profiles.

2. WGA issued press releases announcing successful delivery of loaned funds to various corporate entities. Then they used subsequent press reports (not fact-checked by stupid journalists) to solicit targets for their scam.

3. WGA paid for ads in local papers offering loans to businesses who required liquidity.

4. WGA offered these targets generous loan terms, but…

5. WGA required upfront payment of fees to begin processing or dilligencing the investment opportunity. “Refundable” of course.

6. WGA then issued additional press releases once fees were paid (but before they made good on their loans).

7. WGA dragged their feet for months insisting that they would pay the loans. This was a critical activity since it bought more time. Victims remained engaged with WGA and therefore hopeful that money would be returned.

8. WGA used funds paid in upfront fees to further their PR efforts in high profile ways. This included attempting to buy a UK soccer club, donating to charity, and generally issuing other press releases that would make them seem wealthy and legitimate.

9. To this day, no loans have been paid. WGA is so good that some of their victims still believe that they will receive their loans.

Western Gulf Advisory is a fraudulent company run by scammers. They were aided in their efforts by numerous agents, PR agencies, journalists, lawyers, and others who failed to fact check their clients or to sound the alarm when it became obvious that WGA was a fraud. The victims themselves are also at fault for failing to properly diligence WGA prior to handing over money. A simple google search and common sense could have prevented this financial disaster from happening. But as with most confidence scams, the victims wanted to believe that WGA was legitimate.

 

Ahsan Ali Syed terrorism links

Some have speculated that WGA is connected to terrorist organizations in the Middle East and is perhaps using its cash to fund those operations or using WGA as a vehicle to make legitimate investments for illicitly gained money. Given the murky nature of WGA’s Indian and Arab relationships it’s difficult to know without further investigation whether these accusations are credible. But we are told that WGA and its employees are being investigated for terrorist links by various law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

Connections to Osama Bin Laden, Al qaeda, and Lashar-e-Taiba

Sources in India say that Ahsan Ali Sayed is closely tied to Hasan Ali Khan, who was recently arrested in India and is likely to be charged with money laundering, tax evasion, and transacting with terrorist organizations. See one article here.

Hasan Ali Khan is believed to have made billions conducting an international money laundering operation that leaned heavily on his network of hawala brokers. Hawala, which is an informal money transfer system used to move money off the radar, has been targeted since 9/11 because it has been a primary means of distributing terrorist money. Officials in Indiahave claimed Hasan Ali Khan has been using his hawala network to clean money from the Middle East so that it can be invested more easily in Europe.

Hasan Ali Khan is known to be closely connected to one of the world’s most wanted criminals: Dawood Ibrahim who is wanted by Interpol and subject to UN sanctions including a travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo. He’s right up there with Osama Bin Laden on the list of most wanted criminals. According to Forbes:

The most wanted man in India has for years led a 5,000-member criminal syndicate known as D-Company. The organized crime group has engaged in everything from narcotics to contract killing, working mostly in Pakistan, India and the United Arab Emirates. Ibrahim shares smuggling routes with al Qaeda, the U.S. government says, and has collaborated with both al Qaeda and its South Asian affiliate, Lashkar-e-Taiba, which pulled off the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, possibly with Ibrahim’s help. Ibrahim is suspected of having organized the 1993 Bombay bombings that killed 257 people and wounded 713. Though the Pakistani government denies it, Ibrahim is probably in Pakistan, where he has important ties to the powerful intelligence service.

There are also reports out of Russia that Ahsan Ali Sayed also has links to Russian criminal organizations and money launderers. These seem less relevant to the terrorism angle and less substantiated at this stage.

If you have any information about these men or their relationships, please send to

wgafraudtips@gmail.com

 

Track WGA’s movements

Cross post from: http://wgafraud.tumblr.com/track

WGA recently began using a Canadair CL-600-2B16 Challenger 604. Photos are included below.

Here is the link to Airliners.net, which has multiple photos of the plane. The current tail number is M-ALII. It previously operated as an air ambulance under tail number HB-JRN (Nomad Aviation). Before that it was operated under D-ANKE by Jet Connection. Additional photos are available here.

Also, you can follow the plane’s known movements by clicking here. The plane was last seen near Pafos, Cyprus on February 28th, 2011.

 

John Mulally: Enabler

There have been many people who enabled this fraud in Australia. One who deserves particular attention is attorney John Mulally of Sydney. He’s not listed on WGA’s company website, but he’s their #1 guy down under. Here’s his photo.

Hi John. We’ve put your photo up on Facebook and Twitter too. Isn’t that cute.

So here’s the deal with John Mulally. According Kate McClymont (who deserves some of the blame herself, but we’ll get to that later):

Several victims, including Mr Johnson, claim they were assured by WGA’s Australian lawyer John Mulally, 70, as to WGA’s bona fides.

Not only is he WGA’s lawyer but the Herald has documents which show Mr Mulally, along with the Newcastle developer Alan Keller, were directors of the company Landmark, which was used in press material throughout last year confirming it had received a $US200 million loan.

In January last year The Australian ran an advertisement in which WGA claimed it had extended a line of credit of ”USD $200 million to the Australian firm, Landmark Business Developments International.”

A week after the ad appeared, Mr Keller’s local MP, Liberal Bob Baldwin, wrote to Mr Ali, thanking him for ”making this level of investment in Australia”.

http://smh.domain.com.au/real-estate-news/victim-rails-against-100-million-fraudsters-20110306-1bjln.html

We did our own fact checking here too (including reviewing a number of emails). There’s no question that John Mulally’s actions enabled this fraud. It remains to be seen whether he was merely duped too or whether he was an active participant in the crimes. Time will tell. But we know he did nothing to refute incorrect facts that were published by major national newspapers, so at a minimum his silence contributed to the fraud. He’s an enabler.