The General Mediterranean Holdings (GenMed) is a financial holding established in 1979 in Luxembourg, through which Anglo-Iraqi billionaire Nadhmi Auchi control his financial empire. Nadhmi Auchi is "one of the most important intermediaries in the affairs of Middle Eastern countries.", according to various sources, among them Italian banker Pierfrancesco Pacini Battaglia ^[1]. The firm has holdings in real estate, finance, aviation and technology. The consolidated group assets exceed US$ 2.25 Billion [1]. Finance addresses the ways in which individuals, business entities and other organizations allocate and use monetary resources over time. ... This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... Nadhmi Auchi, born in 1937, is a British-resident, Iraqi-born billionaire. ... Real estate is a legal term that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings. ... Finance studies and addresses the ways in which individuals, businesses and organizations raise, allocate and use monetary resources over time, taking into account the risks entailed in their projects. ... It has been suggested that Modern Aviation be merged into this article or section. ...

Financial empire

GenMed is one of the largest single shareholders of the French bank BNP Paribas, through which the Oil-for-Food money transited through an escrow account. Mr. Auchi's London lawyer, David Corker, said that since 2001 General Mediterranean Holdings had reduced its BNP Paribas stake to about 0.4 percent of the bank's total shares, about half of the position he held before then. That stake would still make Mr. Auchi one of the bank's biggest single shareholders ^[1]. Regent-GM, one of Britain’s biggest suppliers of generic drugs to the National Health Service (NHS) is a subsidiary of GenMed. The chairman of Regent-GM was former Tory health minister Gerry Malone. GenMed bought Riverside Park, a yet-to-be-built development on a prime 62-acre parcel on Roosevelt Road, investing in Antoin Rezko's Rezmar Corp.'s project ^[2] (Rezko is linked to US Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich). GenMed also has stakes in Orascom, the most important Egyptian telephone company owned by Onsi Sawiris. Auchi helped Orascom obtain a deal in post-Saddam Iraq. BNP Paribas (Euronext: BNP, TYO: 8665 ) is one of the main banks in Europe and France. ... The Oil-for-Food Programme was established by the United Nations in 1996 to allow Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine and the like. ... A generic drug (pl. ... The logo of the NHS for England. ... In business, a subsidiary is a company controlled by another company or corporation. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Riverside Park is a scenic waterfront public park on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, consisting of a narrow four-mile strip of land between the Hudson River and the gently curving rise-and-fall of Riverside Drive. ... Official language(s) English Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 25th 149,998 km² 340 km 629 km 4. ... Rod R. Blagojevich ( â–¶ (help· info), born December 10, 1956) is an American politician from the state of Illinois. ... Orascom Telecom or (“OTH”) (LSE: OTLD) is telecommunication company established in Egypt in 1998 and owned by Onsi Sawiris. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

GenMed and Nadhmi Auchi were involved in the Elf scandal. The sale of Spanish company Ertoil to Elf oil company has formed a substantial part of the court case. Auchi has been charged on the extradition warrant with three charges of conspiracy to defraud involving the takeover of Ertoil by General Mediterranean Holdings (GMH) and its subsequent sale to Elf between December 1990 and August 1994.

In 1996, according to European news accounts, Belgium's ambassador to Luxembourg charged that Banque Continentale du Luxembourg, a bank that Nadhmi Auchi and Paribas jointly controlled until 1994, had handled personal accounts for former dictator of Iraq Saddam Hussein. Nadhmi Auchi sold his stake in the bank to Paribas in 1994, and Paribas sold off its stake in 1996. Auchi's lawyer, Mr. Corker, said that Banque Continentale contested the Belgian ambassador's charge ^[1]. Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti, (Arabic ), born April 28, 1937 , was the President of Iraq from 1979 until he lost power over Iraq when American troops arrived in Baghdad on April 9, 2003. ...

Ties with Luxembourg and UK politicians

GenMed counted several English and Luxembourg personalities, such as former president of the European Commission Jacques Santer. General Mediterranean Holdings, which is also involved in arms-dealing, celebrated its 20th birthday party in 1999 with a bash at the Park Lane Hilton Hotel. There a member of the British government, Lord Sainsbury, presented Auchi with a painting-on behalf of Tony Blair. The painting was signed by 100 MPs, including former Conservative Party leader William Hague and Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy [2] [3]. The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive body of the European Union. ... Jacques Santer (born May 18, 1937) is a politician from Luxembourg. ... The word arms may refer to: The arm is anatomically the part of the body extending from the shoulder to the elbow. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Park Lane could refer to: Park Lane, a road in London, England Park Lane, a mall in Halifax, Nova Scotia Mercury Park Lane, a car produced by the Ford Motor Company This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... The Hilton Hotel chain is owned by Hilton Hotels Corporation and is based in Beverly Hills, California. ... There have been three life peers with the surname Sainsbury; all are from the Sainsbury family, namesake of the supermarket chain. ... Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service. ... William Hague The Right Honourable William Jefferson Hague (born March 26, 1961) is a British politician, the Member of Parliament for Richmond, North Yorkshire, former leader of the Conservative Party, and currently Shadow Foreign Secretary. ... Rt. ...

Lord Steel, former Liberal Party leader, has been under pressure to sever links with GenMed. He was paid between £10,000 and £15,000 a year as a non-executive director of General Mediterranean ^[3]. Former UK Foreign Officer Minister Keith Vaz was also paid as director ^[4]. Former Conservative Chancellor Lord Lamont was chosen to serve on the board of Luxembourg banking company Cipaf, another subsidiary of GSM. The Right Honourable David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, KT, KBE, PC (born 31 March 1938) is a British and Scottish politician and a Liberal Democrat member of the UK House of Lords. ... Liberal Party is the name of dozens of political parties around the world. ... Nigel Keith Anthony Standish Vaz known simply as Keith Vaz (born November 26, 1956) is a British politician, and MP for Leicester East for the Labour party. ...

References

1. ^ ^a b c "Iraqi-Born Billionaire Has Stake in Bank That Holds Oil-for-Food Funds", New York Times, April 30, 2003. URL accessed on April 29, 2006.
2. ^ "Rezko sells Loop project for $131M", Chicago Business, September 29, 2005. URL accessed on April 29, 2006.
3. ^ "Steel Urged to Cut Ties with NHS Fraud Case", The Sunday Times, April 28, 2002. URL accessed on April 29, 2006.
4. ^ Select Committee on Standards and Privileges Fifth Report, UK Parliament Report

The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... The Sunday Times is the name of several Sunday newspapers. ...

See also

• Clearstream