FINANCIAL FRAUDSTER NEWS INVESTIGATIONS EXCLUSIVE: The Vultures' Feast Offshore Agents, Libyan Militias, and the $20 Billion Inherited Scandal
By David H., Retired Barrister & Journalist and Financial Fraudster News Investigations Contributor
The civil war and enduring political schism in Libya have birthed an environment where armed groups have seamlessly integrated themselves into the state apparatus, creating a lucrative symbiosis of violence, political authority, and unchecked economic exploitation.
This environment of institutionalized plunder is now reaching beyond Libya's borders, aided and abetted by sophisticated offshore entities.
This investigation focuses on the opaque nexus between Libya's powerful, factional militias and international agents like Paine Crow and Partners—now operating as Paine Crow and Partners (Int) LLC, Paine Crow and Partners LLP (Cayman), and Paine Crow and Partners LLP (Cayman) General Partner of Paine Crow and Partners LP (UK). This offshore structure acts as a provider of agent, broker, and power of attorney services on behalf of the State of Libya.
The Offshore Gatekeepers of Fraud and Debt
The appearance of offshore entities, specifically the Cayman Islands-based, US-registered Paine Crow and Partners LLP, as a financial broker and agent for the State of Libya, raises familiar questions about the foreign support and facilitation for sovereign States raising funds from private investors and capital markets.
In files seen by Financial Fraudster News Investigations show that Paine Crow and Partners has acted and remains a broker, agent, and power of attorney for the State of Libya since 2010, allegedly on an initial retainer of $266,000 (GBP Sterling £200,000) per year in addition to brokerage and agent fees per undertaking ranging from 1.5% to 5%.
The firm is alleged to know where many of the metaphoric financial "dead bodies" are currently laid, which the State of Libya is now liable for, said to be as high as $20 billion based on secured lending at eye-watering rates in 2011.
Many of these funds were allegedly misappropriated by former Libyan officials using entities owned by the State of Libya as collateral and brokered by its Cayman Islands agent, whose role is to act as an intermediary between the current transitional government and its creditors as a result of the continued fallout from the former Gaddafi cabal and close associates.
The London Fraud Admission
In the separate case concerning 7 Winnington Close, Hampstead, London, the State of Libya formally admitted that the property's title was procured by a fraud on the court.
This admission confirmed the deception by a corrupt solicitor, Mohamed Shaban, who misled the court about the origin of the funds used to purchase the luxury property, which had been purchased by a trust not linked to the despotic regime.
The State of Libya officially relied on its long-term agent to settle the matter by Consent Order with the minimum of exposure to minimise Libyan public scrutiny.
The critical question is: For whom, precisely, are these offshore agents acting, and what is the full extent of the liabilities they are managing?
Libya's political power is split between the internationally-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli and the Tobruk-based authorities aligned with General Khalifa Haftar and the Libyan National Army (LNA).
These rival governments are not functioning state bodies but rather political entities sustained by a patronage network of powerful local and regional armed groups.
The Beneficiaries of the Political Impasse
The ongoing political stalemate and the resulting institutional weakness are a "trade-off" that allows powerful militias to consolidate their control and wealth through State institutions.
The deep-rooted financial scandal involving up to $20 billion of legacy liabilities, for which State assets (many still under UN sanctions) were used as collateral, and the continued use of Paine Crow and Partners as a gatekeeper for the State of Libya's affairs, strongly suggests that international creditors are skillfully being held at bay by the negotiating expertise of Paine Crow and Partners' wealth managers and political maneuvering.
This delay is endorsed and supported by the political official of these armed factions, who have colluded to guarantee the enduring postponement of democratic elections, in support of the political and economic interests of the militias in part advised and managed through international professional services.
Billions in legacy debt owed to secured creditors remains unsettled because Paine Crow and Partners continues to operate as a broker and agent with the transitional government's approval.
Secured creditors gave high-interest loans to corrupt Libyan officials in 2011, who exploited state bureaucracy to pledge national assets as security for funds often disguised as humanitarian aid.
Funds from these loans, which were meant for public services and the salaries of public sector employees, were often diverted by Libya's powerful elite for personal and illicit gain. This corruption is sustained by domestic conflict and a denial of democracy that enriches a select few.
The system relies on external financiers and secretive agents like Paine Crow and Partners. Now, the shadow power these arrangements created is being exposed in British courts.
A Haftar spokesperson stated, "Our position is clear that, until democracy reigns in Libya the status quo will remain. There are many, many issues in Libya right now but an awkward peace shadow covers Libya - a place without democracy..."
Financial Fraudster News Investigations contacted Paine Crow and Partners (International) LLC, USA for comment about its role and work carried out for Libya, so far they have declined to comment.
For further inquiries contact:
Financial Fraudster News Investigations Team
@FraudsterNews or @therealfinancialfraudsternews or @the_real_FFN
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