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AHAB and Maan al-Sanea
曼恩·阿爾薩尼亞
Clash of the Saudi titans
沙特巨頭沖突
The contours of a Saudi financial scandal become clearer
沙特財務丑聞真相日顯
AT THE weekend, many Saudis speed across the 28km causeway joining their country to the more relaxed kingdom of Bahrain to enjoy a drink, a film,
每逢周末，許多沙特阿拉伯人穿過連接沙特阿拉伯和巴林王國的28公里堤道，去享受巴林更為悠閑的生活，譬如喝喝飲料、看看電影、
or a pair of beautiful legs, as one Bahraini delicately puts it.
賞賞美腿，一名巴林人這樣細致描繪道。
Sometimes, in their eagerness, they crash over the rails.
但有時由于太過熱切，就會在軌道上相撞。
The financial traffic between the two countries also produced a terrible wreck last year—one of the worst in the history of banking in the Gulf.
去年，兩國之間的金融交通也發(fā)生了嚴重破壞，這是波斯灣銀行業(yè)歷史上最為嚴重的一次。
In May 2009 The International Banking Corporation, a Bahrain bank owned by a venerable Saudi merchant family, the Gosaibis, defaulted on its obligations.
2009年5月，可敬的薩特商業(yè)家族Gosaibis所擁有的巴林國際銀行公司出現(xiàn)債務違約。
The default was an early sign that its parent, the Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers Group, was in financial trouble.
這也是其母公司艾哈邁德·哈馬德·阿爾戈薩伊及兄弟公司陷入財務困難的早期跡象。
In the legal disputes that followed, AHAB alleged it was the victim of a spectacular $9 billion fraud, orchestrated by Maan Al-Sanea,
在隨后的法律糾紛中，AHAB宣稱其是沙特億萬富翁薩尼亞精心策劃的90億美元巨額欺詐案的受害者，
a Saudi billionaire married to the daughter of one of the group's founders.
薩尼亞還娶了一名集團創(chuàng)始人的女兒。
Mr Sanea, they alleged, enjoyed complete control of their financial businesses, raising money in their name from as many as 118 banks.
AHAB創(chuàng)始人宣稱薩尼亞完全控制了集團金融業(yè)務，還以他們的名義從118家銀行籌資。
He siphoned billions out of the group, they claim, to entities he controlled.
他從集團抽取數(shù)十億美元到他自己控制的企業(yè)。
Mr Sanea denies any wrongdoing, and insists that although he used to be involved in the running of AHAB, he has not been for many years.
但薩尼亞否認做過任何違規(guī)行為，并堅持他雖過去參與過運營AHAB，但已退出多年。
The court battles surrounding TIBC's collapse hinge on this row about the extent and nature of Mr Sanea's role—something that recent court filings and TIBC's former boss have shed some light on.
圍繞TIBC倒閉的法庭紛爭關(guān)鍵在于對薩尼亞的角色的范圍和性質(zhì)的爭論，即是最近法庭備案和TIBC前CEO已清楚闡明的一些事情。
The subject is urgent, as AHAB's creditors are closing in.
當AHAB的債權(quán)人們步步緊逼時，這一主題也變得相當迫切。
On June 16th TIBC's administrators, Trowers & Hamlins, who are running the bankrupt firm on behalf of its creditors,
6月16日，Trowers和Hamlins代表債權(quán)人運行這一破產(chǎn)公司，
filed a $720m claim against AHAB in Saudi Arabia, the first of a series of proceedings that they hope will recover $3.2 billion from the group.
他們對薩特阿拉伯AHAB發(fā)起了一項7.2億美元的索賠，開始了向該公司索賠32億美元的一系列訴訟。
Others are pursuing the Gosaibis in Bahrain, London, New York and elsewhere.
巴林、倫敦、紐約和其它地區(qū)的Gosaibis也正在受到起訴。
Saudi Arabia's king has formed a 12-member committee to resolve the dispute, and Bahrain's public prosecutor is questioning executives from time to time.
沙特國王已組成了一個由12人組成的委員會來解決這一糾紛，巴林的公訴人也不時對高官們進行質(zhì)詢。
One of them was Glenn Stewart, the chief executive of TIBC until its collapse.
格林·斯圖爾特就是其中一員，他在TIBC倒閉之前任該公司的首席執(zhí)行官。
Mr Stewart recently escaped from Bahrain to America, eluding a travel ban.
斯圖爾特最近避過了一項旅游禁令，從巴林逃到了美國。
In a complaint to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Mr Stewart says that he was caught in the middle of a Clash of the Titans, between the Gosaibis and Mr Sanea.
斯圖爾特向聯(lián)合國人權(quán)理事會提出了投訴，稱自己被夾在兩大巨頭-Gosaibis和薩尼亞-的沖突中，進退兩難。
As boss of TIBC, Mr Stewart says he took instructions from Mr Sanea because he believed that the Gosaibis had given Mr Sanea full power of attorney to act on their behalf.
斯圖爾特稱作為公司CEO他接受薩尼亞的指示，因為他認為Gosaibis已全權(quán)授命薩尼亞代表其行事。
Mr Sanea had indeed been given power of attorney to run one of AHAB's financial divisions, the Money Exchange, in 1983.
1983年，阿爾巴尼亞確實被授權(quán)運營AHAB金融分支-貨幣交易所。
But that was revoked in the 1990s, he says, and a narrower authority to sign documents on a case-by-case basis lapsed in 2003.
但他說這在90年代就取消了，一項根據(jù)具體情況簽署文件的較為狹義的授權(quán)也于2003年被取消。
In 2005 Mr Sanea resigned from the board of TIBC and other AHAB financial businesses, citing too many pressures on my time.
2005年，薩尼亞以閑暇時間的壓力太大為由，辭去了在TIBC董事會以及其它AHAB業(yè)務上的職位。
After TIBC's default, he issued a statement saying he was not involved in the operations of AHAB in any way,
在TIBC違約事件后，他發(fā)表了一項聲明，稱自己并未以任何方式參與AHAB的運營。
although his spokesman now refuses to confirm or deny whether he had any continuing power of attorney related to AHAB.
但對薩尼亞是否具有任何與AHAB相關(guān)的代理權(quán)，其發(fā)言人目前還拒絕表示確認或否認。
He also claims the Saudi committee has found no evidence of wrongdoing.
薩尼亞還稱沙特委員會并未發(fā)現(xiàn)任何違規(guī)證據(jù)。
The Gosaibis, in a lawsuit against Mr Sanea in the Cayman Islands, say he exercised complete managerial control of the business of Money Exchange, with the full trust and confidence of AHAB.
在開曼群島Gosaibis對薩尼亞發(fā)起一項法律訴訟，稱他在AHAB的充分信任下，實施了對貨幣交易所的完全經(jīng)營控制。
They allege that Mr Sanea abused their trust, concealing his borrowings from them and forging documents bearing the signature of Sulaiman al-Gosaibi, one of the founders of the group.
他們指控薩尼亞濫用了他們的信任，對他們隱瞞借款，偽造有Sulaiman al-Gosaibi簽名的文件。Sulaiman是集團創(chuàng)始人之一。
The Gosaibis point out that TIBC's financial statements were purportedly signed by Sulaiman shortly before his death in 2009,
他指出，據(jù)稱TIBC的財務報表是在Sulaiman2009年去世前簽過字的，
when he was in a coma in Zurich.
但當時他在蘇黎世，還處于昏迷中。
A guarantee to a creditor was supposedly signed in 2000 by Sulaiman's brother, Abdulaziz, after a stroke left him unable to hold a pen.
而一項債權(quán)人擔保也據(jù)推測是由Sulaiman的兄弟Abudulaziz簽署的，而此前他在中風過后連只筆也拿不了。
They say that Audrey Giles, a forensic scientist in London, has cast doubt on hundreds of Sulaiman's signatures, finding that many were too perfect a match to one another to be true.
他們稱倫敦法證科學家奧德利·賈爾斯對數(shù)百個Sulaiman的簽名產(chǎn)生了懷疑，發(fā)現(xiàn)許多簽名相互之間匹配得太過完美，不像是真的。
Three of the documents she examined were the subject of a hearing last month in Bahrain, where Bank Muscat International of Oman is demanding $25m from AHAB.
她檢查的其中三份文件就是上月在巴林舉行的一場聽證會的主題，當時阿曼馬斯喀特國際銀行要求AHAB償還2500萬美元。
The tribunal ruled that they were not forged.
但法庭判決這些文件并非偽造。
But the ruling does not necessarily contradict Ms Giles's findings, since it merely concluded that the three documents were not among those she found to be forged.
但這不一定與賈爾斯女士的發(fā)現(xiàn)相抵觸，因為裁決僅僅推斷這三份文件不在她發(fā)現(xiàn)是偽造的文件之列。
Mr Stewart's claims raise one further question about this murky affair.
斯圖爾特的聲明引發(fā)了對此模糊事件的另一個疑問。
Why did he consent to be the boss of a bank he did not run?
他為什么會同意擔任一家未由自己運營的銀行的CEO呢？
You are nothing more than a glorified servant, he admits.
斯圖爾特承認你只不過是一個被美化的仆從罷了。
Wasn't that a waste of his talents?
但這豈不是對他才能的一種浪費。
Mr Stewart, who studied Islamic history and Arabic at Oxford, says that after his long years in the Gulf he would find it hard to adjust to Western corporate culture.
斯圖爾特曾在牛津?qū)W習伊斯蘭歷史和阿拉伯語，他宣稱在波斯灣生活多年后，將發(fā)現(xiàn)很難適應西方企業(yè)文化。
He is fascinated by the turbulence and anarchy of the Arab world, he says,
他稱，自己深深著迷于阿拉伯世界的動亂和無政府狀態(tài)，
although he is now bearing the consequences of that ill-discipline.
盡管現(xiàn)在承受著不良紀律造成的后果。
