Ziad Abdelnour

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Person.png Ziad Abdelnour   Powerbase SourcewatchRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
(financier, businessman, fraudster)
Zanour.jpg
Born1960-12-03
Beirut, Lebanon
NationalityLebanese, American
Alma materAmerican University of Beirut, Wharton School of Finance, University of Pennsylvania
ReligionRoman Catholic
Criminal charge
Violation of Sections 17(a)(1) and (3) of the Securities Act, Violation of Section 15(a) of the Exchange Act
Criminal penalty
$25000 fine, 5 year ban from dealing in securities
Founder ofUnited States Committee for a Free Lebanon

Ziad Abdelnour is a Lebanese American financier who reportedly had close ties to the US Neocon network. However, he fell foul of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, who charged him under the Securities Act. He agreed to a cease and desist order which banned him from the securities industry for 5 years.[1] Reporting on this settlement, Dealbreaker magazine remarked that Abdelnour used to be a prominent "junk bond salesman during Michael Milken’s glory days ... so he’s not all fraud all the time, whatever he’s up to these days."[2] In 2016, Richtopia ranked him as one of The 500 Most Influential CEOs.[3]

Background

Abdelnour is the son of Lebanese industrialist and former MP Khalil Abdelnour (1992-2000) and the nephew of former Lebanese financier and MP Salem Abdelnour (1960-1964 and 1972-1992).

Career

Abdelnour is a regular speaker on TV[clarification needed][4] and has written on wealth creation, physical commodities trading and Middle East geo-political analysis at industry conferences in USA.[5][6][7]

Blackhawk Partners

Abdelnour established Blackhawk Partners, which appeared "geared towards high net worth individuals or entities, requiring a minimum investment ranging from $10 million to $100 million, and running in duration from one day to forty weeks."[2] For an eighteen month period beginning in September 2009 the firm offered in a web posting investments in prime bank instruments that were claimed to yield returns of as much as 600% without risk.[8] Such remarkable offers (up to 100% in one day!) did not attract any investors, but did attract the attention of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which began an investigation and subsequent lawsuit.[1]

SEC fraud case settlement

On 7 May 2013, the SEC and Abdelnour reached an out of court settlement, amounting to a $25,000 fine and 5 year ban from the securities industry, after which he can reapply for permission to enter the business.[1][8]

Matt Levine writing in Dealbreaker magazine remarked that "a $25,000 fine is I guess a little harsh for a scam that didn’t actually hurt anyone, but at the same time it’s a little mild for an intentionally scammy effort to steal millions of dollars, failed or not."[2]

Publications

Abdelnour has contributed a number of articles to the Middle East Forum web site.[9] With Daniel Pipes he was co-Publisher of Middle East Intelligence Bulletin [10] including the report Ending Syria's occupation of Lebanon: The US Role.[11]

In 2011 he wrote Economic Warfare: Secrets of Wealth Creation in the Age of Welfare Politics, arguing that governments should focus on wealth creation, not job creation.[5]

Quotes

In an interview with Trish Schuh in 2005, he said: [12]

“Iran? We will not let Iran become a nuclear power. We'll find a way, we'll find an excuse- to get rid of Iran. And I don't care what the excuse is. There is no room for rogue states in the world. Whether we lie about it, or invent something, or we don't... I don't care. The end justifies the means. What's right? Might is right, might is right. That's it. Might is right...”
Ziad Abdelnour (November 18, 2005)  [13]

And:

“Iran's going to be finished and every single Arab regime that's like this will be finished. Because there is no room for us capitalists and multinationalists in the world to operate with regimes like this. Its all about money. And power. And wealth... and democracy has to be spread around the world. Those who want to espouse globalization are going to make a lot of money, be happy, their families will be happy. And those who aren't going to play this game are going to be crushed, whether they like it or not! This is how we rule. And this is how it's going to be as long as you have people who think like me.”
Ziad Abdelnour (November 18, 2005)  [13]

On Israel's Invasion of Lebanon

“The end justifies the means. I don't care about how it's done. The important thing is that it is done. I don't rule out force. I'm not against force. If it's an option, it will be an option... I have — we have — absolutely no problem with heavy US involvement in Lebanon. On an economic level, military level, political level, security level... whatever it is. Israel is the 51st state of the United States. Let Lebanon be the 52nd state. And if the Arabs don't like it, tough luck.”
Ziad Abdelnour (18 November 2005)  [13]

“The Lebanese cannot have their cake and eat it, too...Let’s get rid of this cancer [Hezbollah]... Let’s finish the job."”
Ziad Abdelnour [14]

See Also

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References

  1. ↑ a b c https://web.archive.org/web/20140110213035/http://www.sec.gov/litigation/admin/2013/33-9402.pdf
  2. ↑ a b c "Investment In Paranoid Fantasy". - Dealbreaker. Archived on December 29, 2014.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  3. ↑ "The Most Influential CEOs in the World". Richtopia - Retrieved June 5, 2016.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  4. ↑ "Ziad Abdelnour". FoxNews. Retrieved April 17, 2012.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  5. ↑ a b {{URL|example.com|optional display text}}
  6. ↑ "Ziad K. Abdelnour". Freedom Fest Las Vegas Conference. Retrieved July 8, 2016.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  7. ↑ "Ziad K. Abdelnour". -The Atlas Society Conference. Retrieved May 11, 2012.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  8. ↑ a b http://www.secactions.com/this-week-in-securities-litigation-week-ending-may-10-2013/
  9. ↑ Articles by Ziad Abdelnour - Middle East Forum - searched 4 September 2013
  10. ↑ Middle East Intelligence Bulletin - Web site Home page. 4 September 2013
  11. ↑ Daniel Pipes and Ziad Abdelnour, Ending Syria's occupation of Lebanon: The US Role, Lebanon Study Group Report (Middle East Forum, May 2000)
  12. ↑ Mehlis's Murky Past; US and Israeli Proxies Pushing the Next Neo-Con War: Faking the Case Against Syria, Counterpunch, November 18, 2005 - Retrieved from Internet Archive 21 September 2016 (No longer available on Counterpunch
  13. ↑ a b c https://web.archive.org/web/20110805071341/http://www.counterpunch.org/schuh11182005.html Internet Archive
  14. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/01/business/worldbusiness/01wall.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=middleeast&adxnnlx=1154455370-sCKn8yFUsT7Aa+FIOYZXGA New York Times 1 August 2006
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