Kim's Place

THIS WAS AN EMAIL I GOT...THE OPINIONS IN THIS ARE NOT MINE, THEY ARE THOSE OF THE PERSON THAT I RECEIVED THIS FROM.

Subject: Way To Go Harper Woods, Michigan - We Used to Live 1 Block Outside of That Town:


It's About Time Someone Held Those Saudi Sand Niggers Accountable:

Judge Blocks Saudi Prince From Moving Real Estate Proceeds Out of U.S.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

WASHINGTON A federal judge has temporarily blocked Prince Bandar bin Sultan,
the former Saudi ambassador to the United States, from removing real estate
sales proceeds from the United States pending resolution of a class-action
lawsuit.

The suit filed last September by a tiny Michigan city retirement system accuses
current and former directors of BAE Systems PLC, a giant British defense
company, of breaches of fiduciary duties in connection with $2 billion or more
in alleged illegal bribes paid to Bandar in connection with an $86 billion BAE
arms sale to Saudi Arabia in 1985.

Bandar also is named a defendant in the suit, along with the former Riggs Bank
of Washington and its successor, PNC Financial Group.

BAE and Bandar have strongly denied that illegal payments were made to Bandar.

Without ruling on the merits of the case, U.S. District Judge Rosemary M.
Collyer said in a temporary restraining order, signed Feb. 5, that the suit by
the City of Harper Woods Employees' Retirement System raises serious questions
of law that warrant a temporary order keeping Bandar from taking the proceeds of
real estate sales out of U.S.-based accounts.

The order directs that such sales proceeds "be deposited and/or invested
pursuant to a prudent man standard" in U.S. accounts, but specifically notes
that it "does not prevent him from selling real property" and "only interferes
with his ability to invest and/or deposit any sales proceeds in a minimal way."

The order further notes that "it may, of course, be terminated or modified upon
application to the Court by Prince Bandar." A hearing was set for Feb. 14 on
whether to issue a preliminary injunction extending the temporary order.

The retirement system suit maintains that Bandar used funds illicitly obtained
from BAE Systems to acquire U.S. real estate, including a Colorado ranch and
mansion once placed on the market at $135 million and the former William
Randolph Hearst mansion in California, offered for sale last summer at $165
million.

Harper Woods is a community of 14,200 people covering 2.63 square miles
bordering the northeast corner of Detroit. It is the home of Eastland Center,
one of the Detroit area's first enclosed shopping malls.

A message seeking comment on the case was left Saturday night at the office of
Harper Woods City Manager James Leidlein.

Bandar had denied previously through a London law firm that he received improper
commissions through accounts at Riggs Bank in Washington.

"The accounts at Riggs Bank were in the name of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of
Defense and Aviation (MODA). Any payments into those accounts made by BAE were
pursuant to the Al-Yamamah contracts and as such would not in any way have been
secret from the parties to those contracts," Bandar's statement said. Al-Yamamah
was the name given to an agreement under which BAE supplied Tornado fighter jets
and other military equipment to Saudi Arabia, which paid the British government
with oil.

"Whilst Prince Bandar was an authorized signatory on the accounts any monies
paid out of those accounts were exclusively for purposes approved by MODA," the
statement said. "In addition, the accounts in question were audited on an annual
basis by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Finance on behalf of MODA."

In London, lawmakers disclosed last month that Britain's head of overseas
intelligence had warned that Saudi Arabia probably would stop sharing vital
information on terrorism if prosecutors pursued an investigation into alleged
corruption in the arms deal.

MI6, Britain's overseas intelligence service, believed Saudi Arabia would
probably end information-sharing with Britain if investigators continued the
inquiry, former Attorney General Peter Goldsmith told the committee. MI6 raised
objections to the prosecution before Britain's Serious Fraud Office decided to
end the case, he said.

After the inquiry was dropped, Saudi Arabia signed a $8.7 billion agreement with
Britain to buy 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jets from BAE.

The company announced last June that the Justice Department has begun an
investigation of the company's dealings with Saudi Arabia, looking into whether
it complied with anti-corruption laws.