MEET…THE SHEIKH
Sheikh Ahmad Meshal is a shadowy figure.
Type his name into Google and you’ll only find his father – the similarly named Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Meshal Ahmad.
Like any loving father, Sheikh Senior was concerned for his son’s job prospects. So he found Sheikh Junior a role as director of Kuwait’s Government Performance Follow-Up Agency, an organization set up – presumably – to improve government performance.
As the Amir’s own son, Sheikh Ahmad was probably not the best person to provide objective oversight over the Kuwaiti government’s performance…
Fortunately for the people of Kuwait, Sheikh Ahmad was a successful businessman. In 2014 he was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Kuwait Ports Authority, which oversees the operation of the country’s main ports. And the Sheikh’s expertise was in high demand – just a year earlier, he signed a million-dollar consulting contract with KGL Investment, which specialised in investing in large infrastructure projects.
Unfortunately for the people of Kuwait, both KPA and KGL Investment found themselves at the heart of a huge embezzlement scandal just a few years later.
The story? When the Port Fund – an investment vehicle set up KGL Investment and part owned by KPA – came to sell its flagship investment in a Philippines infrastructure project, around $500 million from a reported sale price of $1 billion went missing.
As for Sheikh Ahmad, he had track record. That very same consulting contract he won from KGL Investment thanks to his industry expertise…it turns out he was Assistant Undersecretary of Kuwait’s Council of Ministers, the government organization that approved a multi-million dollar investment in KGLI’s Port Fund just a few weeks earlier.
I wonder where they found the money to hire the Sheikh?
WHY IT MATTERS
Kuwait was once a healthy democracy in region best known for war and political instability.
But in the years that have followed America’s liberation of Kuwait from Saddam Hussein, Kuwaiti democracy has regressed into corruption and political infighting.
If Sheikh Ahmad, the son of the Amir himself who holds a senior government position in the GPFA, is involved in corruption, it could be the fatal final blow for Kuwaiti democracy.
THE PAPER TRAIL
2010 – Sheikh Ahmad is appointed Assistant Undersecretary of the Council of Ministers.
2012 – Sheikh Ahmad is appointed director of the Government Performance Follow-Up Agency.
2013 – The Council of Ministers approves a multi-million dollar investment by KPA in the Port Fund, an investment vehicle part owned by the Kuwait Ports Authority. Just a few weeks later, financial records show that Saeed Dashti, a director at KGL Investment – which set up the Port Fund – paid Sheikh Ahmad $1.4 million to a bank account registered in Panama for his “consulting” services.
2014 – Sheikh Ahmad becomes a Director at Kuwait Ports Authority – which had invested in the company that paid for his consulting services the year before.
2017 – The Port Fund – set up by KGL Investment and part owned by KPA – sell their stake in Clark Global City, an infrastructure development project in the Philippines. Around $500 million of the declared final sales price is unaccounted for. The remaining money is frozen in Noor Bank in Dubai over concerns of embezzlement.
2019 – Funds in Noor Bank in Dubai are released after significant lobbying efforts on behalf of the Port Fund and its investors.
2020 – After a long and complex legal case, two of KGL Investment’s Directors – Saeed Dashti and Marsha Lazareva – are sent to jail for corrupt consultancy contracts signed with KPA officials – where Sheikh Ahmad was appointed Director in 2014.
Today – Sheikh Ahmad is still director of the Government Performance Follow-Up Agency, a powerful oversight organization in Kuwait.