Billionaire said to be under U.S. investigation in dealings with Jordan

[IDemo]

Source: msnbc.com

The Justice Department is investigating whether a prominent billionaire bribed a Middle Eastern government, according to court filings in Florida.

Harry Sargeant III, a well-connected energy magnate, was once the finance chairman of the Florida Republican Party and a principal supplier of fuel to U.S. forces in Iraq. In April, msnbc.com reported that his Florida-based oil trading business, International Oil Trading Co., may have secured an exclusive license to ship the fuel through Jordan — as defense contracts required — by paying off the country's government.

Unearthed emails from 2007 showed Marty Martin, a manager at the oil company and former head of the CIA's Osama bin Laden unit, wiring $9 million to an account "designated" for the chief of the Jordanian intelligence agency. The Jordanian king's brother-in-law, Mohammad al-Saleh, has called the money a kickback, and he is suing Sargeant and a partner, Mustafa Abu-Naba'a, in Palm Beach, Fla., for purportedly cutting him out of a one-third share in the oil company.

In new court filings, al-Saleh's lawyers allege that the $9 million wire is the focus of a pending grand jury investigation by the Justice Department into possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. And the Jordanian government has launched its own investigation of Gen. Mohammad Dahabi — ex-chief of the country's intelligence agency — for his involvement in the wire transfer, the filings state.

Read more: http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/06/28/6968421-billionaire-said-to-be-under-us-investigation-in-dealings-with-jordan

[Ian David]

1. Wow. I bet this leads back to Bush and Arbusto Energy. n/t

[monmouth]

2. If it does we'll never hear another word about it. I'm going over to

Palm Beach tomorrow for lunch, I'll have my ears perked as they say..LOL.