A Landscape of Lies

In 2007 I was the joint owner of a building services consultancy which undertook the mechanical and electrical design and production tender documentation relating to new construction and refurbishment projects. In addition, we also undertook the technical project management of the contracts whilst on site. Our projects typically comprised hospitals, offices, schools, factories and hotels, etc. One day, one of the contract engineers, John G., came into my office and asked if he can have a chat, “Yes, no problem,” says I. John G. then sets the scene regarding how much construction work is occurring in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which could be an avenue for the firm to explore. John G. also tells me, “‘Our Phil’ is very well connected with some of the large construction companies in Dubai as he worked out there for an extended period of time and there is a good chance of securing some large contracts and, for a small percentage, Phil could introduce the firm and assist in securing some commissions.”

Well, this opportunity sounded too good to refuse and following discussions with my business partner we agreed the opportunity needed to be explored; so late in 2007 ‘Our Phil’ and I flew out to Dubai. The flight was uneventful and we disembarked and headed to passport control. As we entered the passport control area my heart sank upon seeing the huge queues of what turned out to be migrant workers and, thinking I would have to join the queue, I let out a heavy sigh. Phil said, “Don’t worry, we don’t use that queue, we use the priority queue.” This was practically empty so we were through passport control in no time at all. We then passed the customs table which had a sign advising that any significant amounts of money and/or gold needed to be declared, and I thought it’s good to know the UAE are really on the case regarding their international obligations relating to illegal money movement/laundering, then I realised it was unmanned!

Whilst in the hotel on the first night Phil advises me to, “Keep your passport on you at all times and if you end up in a serious situation and you are able, go straight to the airport and catch the next flight to leave Dubai.” I’m thinking this doesn’t sound good so I asked Phil, “What sort of trouble are you thinking?” Phil replies, “Here they have a different view on right and wrong. For instance, if you are driving and you have a road traffic accident involving a local, it’s your fault full stop; no ifs, buts or maybes, and if you’re really unlucky and knock over or kill a camel it’s like injuring or killing a child, hence the need for you to carry your passport at all times and be prepared to get out of here.” I thought to myself well this is cheery news!

In addition to Phil’s passport advice, three other experiences helped me form the view that Dubai/UAE was not a nice place to reside in for any length of time. One night I was on my own in the hotel and I ended up playing pool with a local. He had a glass of water on the bar and his whisky hidden in a different location just in case the religious police or some other outfit came visiting. At the end of the night, the waiter started to clean up and I gave him a cash tip, this local chap threw some change on the ground and said to the waiter, “There’s your tip – pick it up,” – what a despicable way to treat people.

One day Phil and I went to the Dubai Country Club and I believe it was the last week before it closed permanently as the current ruler wanted the land to extend the racecourse and even though the land had been gifted by the previous ruler, that did not count and the land was repossessed. At the time there was no offer of recompense or offer of new land, though I believe alternative land was subsequently allocated: The point being, whatever the ruler wanted he got, irrespective of any implications. At one of our marketing visits Phil had arranged a meeting with a very high-up individual with one of the large construction companies; our contact took a telephone call and what we heard was, “Right, round up the leaders and I want them out of Dubai today!” Our contact came back to the table and said, “Sorry about that, we have an issue with the migrant workers, they don’t want to come out of their accommodation camp as they are moaning about their conditions of employment and camp conditions.” It was clear certain elements of the immigrant workforce had minimal rights.

The rest of the trip was uneventful and we subsequently met with a few other potential clients and at the end of the visit the general feeling was that there were significant opportunities that could and should be explored and that additional visits needed to be undertaken.

Having got back to the UK, I reflected on the meetings and discussions and concluded that some of the developments/opportunities were significantly larger than we could undertake on our own and that we needed additional capacity. I therefore contacted two other BS consultancies with which I had strong ties and they were both interested: One of my contacts said, “It’s good that you called as we are currently in contact with a British Chamber of Commerce (BCOC) chap who is assembling a multi-disciplinary team/consortium to undertake design and construction developments in the UAE.” The Consortium was soon established and the major constituents comprised the three BS consultancies, an architectural practise headed by Ian Sherwood and a property developer, Bashar Al-Issa, an Iraqi. These two names will become more relevant as this story unfolds.

Whilst the UAE was still a major focus, other developments were also explored including opportunities in Iraq. During 2008 I undertook a few more visits to Dubai and on one occasion the BCOC chap arranged a meeting with the ruler’s construction/development office which was attended by lots of design and construction companies. This resulted in providing fee bids/proposals for a number of schemes, however they did not come to fruition as we were being undercut by Indian companies.

We held a few Consortium meetings and it was subsequently agreed that we needed to focus on more bespoke projects and have a focused sales enquiry strategy. I’m not sure what happened with the BCOC chap as he stopped attending our meetings (lucky chap). One day one of the Consortium contacts phoned me and advised that they had made contact with an Abu Dhabi property developer/regional fixer and he had asked if we could meet up to discuss the opportunity. This Abu Dhabi contact wanted to discuss a hospital, hotel and school development and had some other schemes that he wanted to discuss with us.

I can’t recall how I got the gig however, towards the end of 2008 Bashar and I fly out to Abu Dhabi to meet this developer/fixer. This chap’s office was on the 19th floor of a twenty-two storey glass tower block in the centre of Abu Dhabi, all very nice! The formalities were very quickly over and our host continued to provide us with his history and background: He was Iraqi and his wife was Libyan with high-placed contacts in Colonel Gaddafi’s regime, and he was an ex-nuclear scientist for Saddam Hussein. I’m sat there thinking OMG (well something like that, although there might have been the odd F-word involved) and I start to plan my escape route should the SAS come abseiling down the outside of the building to take us out! Our host advised that whilst the hotel and hospital schemes were still on the agenda, what he really wanted to explore was, were we capable and interested in building a hundred mile road in Libya, from the coast and into the interior?

I was just about to say, “That’s not our area of expertise,” when Bashar jumped in and said, “Oh yes, we can do that!” To say my ‘flabber’ was ‘gasted’ is an understatement! The host then apologised to me and said they needed to discuss some issues in Arabic and they started talking gobbledegook. I’m now sat there staring out across Abu Dhabi thinking, “Please God take me now,” when I heard the word Zionist. They eventually concluded their discussion and the host said to me, “Sorry about that. Did you gather what we were discussing?” and I said, “I think you were discussing if the funding money was Jewish money,” and the host said, “Correct.” The meeting was concluded and the host drove us back to our hotel. As you can imagine, once we departed ways with our host I had an expletive heavy rant with Bashar and he said, “Don’t worry, I have contacts that can sort the road project out.” Looking back, Bashar took my rant very well, although I do recall he had a face like a slapped arse in response to my opening line which was, “Holy Mother of God what the…”

When we got back to the UK we had a debriefing meeting with the Consortium members, if that’s what you could call it, at which I expressed my concerns about the visit and that we were not actually nailing down any of the enquiries. I was about to say enough was enough, when one of the lads said, “Don’t worry, APO, we understand your concerns and should any of these schemes progress we will ensure we are not exposed. By the way, we have some good news: Whilst you have been away we have been contacted to undertake some large schemes in Iraq and there is an almost certainty that we will be awarded them. We just need to make a visit to Iraq to finalise the details.” I thought to myself — OK, I’ll give it one last chance. The meeting concluded and as we were milling around in the room Ian Sherwood advises, “I’m not being rude chaps, but I need this meeting room for another meeting. Could I ask you to vacate?” “OK,” says I, “no problem.” “Thanks,” says Ian, “only I have another consortium meeting.” I was curious so asked what it was about: “Oh, we are looking at making a movie film.” I thought this is a bit strange for an architect to get involved in, but that’s their business and off I trotted.

Time moves on and it is now 2009 and there had been no progress on the Abu Dhabi projects and the potential visit to Iraq is coming into focus. Although it’s not decided who is actually going to fly to Iraq, I thought it best to do some travel research. I therefore contacted a specialist travel insurance company and explained that a visit to Baghdad was likely and they advised that a three day visit would cost £1,000 for the insurance. There were also a few specialist conditions that needed to be considered to visit the Baghdad Green Zone where our contact was based: This required the person to be transported in an armoured convoy from the airport, that they would need to pass through seven checkpoints and were strongly advised to carry a sidearm.

I reported to the Consortium what the insurance company had advised and one of the other lads said he would take the lead on the Iraq venture. It all goes quiet for a few months until I get a call from him saying, “The Iraq projects are dead in the water as our contact was suspected of fraud and had been arrested on the plane trying to flee to Dubai”. Presumably with some of his ill-gotten gains. (I’m not sure if this chap knew how seriously the UAE took their international money laundering obligations and that he would have been required to declare any large amounts of money and gold at the unattended customs desk). I did a bit of research and the BBC reported on the 30th May 2009 that, “Iraq’s former trade minister has been arrested on corruption charges as he was trying to leave that country.” It’s at this point I decided enough was enough and bailed out of the Consortium, though I did keep in touch with the directors of the two BS consultancies as we were still good mates.

Time moves on, it’s now 2013 and the Consortium have undertaken a few smallish projects in the UAE: Nothing to get too excited about, when one of my Consortium contacts phones me out of the blue and says, “Hey APO, have you heard?” “Heard what?” was my reply. “Well,” he says, “Ian Sherwood and Bashar Al-Issa have been convicted of VAT film fraud along with a few other people,” and he went on to briefly outline what had happened.

The case was reported by the BBC (Film fraudsters jailed over tax scam) and other media outlets: In summary, as part of the fraud they pretended to make a £20m Hollywood film so they could claim tax credits and VAT repayments. The tax inspector got wind of the scam and was closing in on them, so in 2011 they quickly produced a low-budget film A Landscape of Lies to throw the investigators off the scent. They even managed to engage Loose Women hostess Andrea McLean and former EastEnders actor Marc Bannerman to appear in the film, the irony being it was entered at the Las Vegas Film Festival and won an award. Five of the Consortium members were convicted and Ian Sherwood received a three and a half year sentence for allowing his office to be used for the fraud and Bashar Al-Issa was jailed for six and a half years. Wow! Thank God we never got involved with that caper!

You know you are going to have to look this up now!
 

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