U.S. ties Israeli billionaire
with Chinese intelligence
A report ties Lev Leviev with Chinese intel,
which is busy making crucial acquisitions in Africa, South America
and the U.S.
By Yossi
Melman
Israeli paper Ha'aretz, Jan. 28, 2010
The Admiralty complex is one of the trademarks of Hong Kong's urban
landscape. Overlooking the port, the complex used to house the
soldiers of the British army and the headquarters of the Royal Navy
in the region. Today it is part of the city's business center. One
building there houses a group of companies nicknamed the 88
Queensway Group (the address of the building), which the U.S.
administration suspects is nothing more than a cover for activity
conducted by the People's Republic of China's foreign intelligence.
Wu Yang, one of the group's senior directors, provided the Registrar
of Companies in Hong Kong with an address that matches the address
of Chinese foreign intelligence.
The suspicions were spelled out in a report recently compiled by
the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which was
established by Congress in 2000 in order to "monitor, investigate
and submit to Congress an annual report on the national security
implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship
between the United States and the People's Republic of China, and to
provide recommendations, where appropriate, to Congress for
legislative and administrative action." The report noted, among
other things, that the group of Chinese corporations has business
ties with Israeli businessman and diamond magnate Lev Leviev.
Using the group, Chinese intelligence acquires oil and energy
companies and other important assets in countries in Africa, Latin
American, Southeast Asia, as well as in the United States. In this
way it promotes Chinese national interests, increases its influence
and guarantees the supply of raw materials - first and foremost oil
- necessary for its economy.
China is already an important economic-diplomatic and security
factor in Africa, and the day is not far off when it will become the
major power on that continent - surpassing the United States, France
and Great Britain in importance. It has large investments in
Congo-Brazzaville, Guinea, Zambia, Nigeria and Angola. Some of these
countries are oil producers and some are subject to U.S. and EU
boycotts due to their human rights situations. For China, however,
the absence of human rights is not an obstacle. Trade between China
and African nations has increased tenfold in the past nine years -
from $10 billion in 2000 to $107 billion in 2009.
China also aims to penetrate the economies of Argentina and
Venezuela. By means of liaisons, the directors of the Chinese
companies have succeeded in forging personal ties with Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez, and Nestor Kirchner, the former president of
Argentina who is married to the current president.
The three businessmen
The Chinese companies are assisted in some of their international
activities by the Angolan government, a rising economic power in
Africa, and particularly its national oil company Sonangol. The
report mentions three international businessmen connected to the
Angolan-Chinese cooperation, with the help of a company called
China-Sonangol, which is registered in Hong Kong. China-Sonangol is
part of the 88 Queensway Group.
One is Helder Battaglia, a Portuguese businessman with close ties
to Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, as well as Chavez and
Kirchner. Battaglia has varied investments in Angola, Congo and
Latin America. The second is Pierre Falcone, a French businessman
who was Arcadi Gaydamak's partner, and together with Gaydamak was
involved in supplying arms to the tune of about $800 million to
Angola in the 1990s. Falcone, Gaydamak and others were recently
convicted in a French court for illegal arms trade conducted in the
'90s. In recent years, Falcone moved the main center of his business
to Beijing, and has become the person who opens Angola's doors to
China (for huge fees). Gaydamak is not mentioned at all in the
report; it is known that he is at odds with Falcone and the two are
embroiled in legal proceedings over the profits of the arms deal.
The third businessman mentioned in the American report is Lev
Leviev, who was Gaydamak's partner and who according to the report
continues to have a strong standing in Angola, where he has mines,
diamond polishing plants and a diamond trade company.
The report does not note whether there are business connections
among the three - or in fact any acquaintance whatsoever. It does
mention that Leviev is considered a close friend of Isabel Dos
Santos, the president's daughter. There have been newspaper reports
and investigations in the past, which claim she is a partner in
several of Leviev's diamond businesses in Angola.
According to the new American report, due to his standing in
Angola Leviev came to know the Chinese companies and began to form
business ties with them. These ties produced several huge deals
involving the prestigious Manhattan real estate owned by Leviev and
the companies owned by Africa Israel and Memorand. China Sonangol
purchased the JP Morgan building on 23rd Street opposite the New
York Stock Exchange for $150 million; for another $150 million it
purchased 49 percent of the Met Life clock tower apartment building
on Madison Avenue; and for about $400 million (including the
purchase of the building's debts) acquired the old New York Times
building, the jewel in the crown of Leviev's real estate empire.
Sources in Africa Israel claimed in response that the findings
are not correct, and that these are public companies which report to
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and whose activity is
transparent. According to these sources, only one transaction
actually took place: the purchase of the JP Morgan building.
The report casts no aspersions on Leviev or the transactions, nor
does it claim they were improper or not kosher. But its authors
emphasize that the 88 Queensway Group falsely represents itself as a
"private" business when it actually is not.
"The lack of transparency and public accountability surrounding
the 88 Queensway Group is a major concern for the United States,"
the report notes. "The 88 Queensway Group's purchase of high-profile
real estate assets in the United States underscores the importance
of identifying the extent of the group's connections to the Chinese
intelligence community."
