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Index to British press articles on the Fayeds' purchase of Harrods

The Observer's top financial investigative journalist Lorana Sullivan reveals that one of the Sultan of Brunei's closest confidants is also a director of the Liechtenstein shelf company owned by Fayed, Hyde Park SA, into which Fayed had transferred hundreds of millions of dollars from the Sultan's accounts prior to making his bid for House of Fraser.
    The implication of her article is clear -- the discovery substantiates further Tiny Rowland's and The Observer's assertions that Mohamed 'Al' Fayed used the Sultan of Brunei's funds to buy Harrods.

The Observer
Sunday, 4 August 1985

TWO NEW names have come to light in the saga of the Al-Fayed brothers' £615 million take-over of the House of Fraser group earlier this year.
    Texas banker H. Fred Haemisegger of Houston is listed as a director of both Alfayed Investment & Trust SA and Hyde Park Investment Holding SA, according to Liechtenstein company records. 
    Inquiries by The Observer also revealed that another director of Hyde Park is Christopher O.P. Hanbury of Southall, Middlesex.  Hanbury, a former Army major, is known to be responsible for security and certain property interests for the Sultan of Brunei. 
    Alfayed Investment & Trust SA is now the parent company of the House of Fraser group.  As The Observer reported last week, Lonrho's chief executive 'Tiny' Rowland has written to Michael Hawkes, chairman of Kleinwort Benson, the Al-Fayeds' merchant bankers, stating that he believes that Hyde Park 'was used as a vehicle for the transfer of funds from the Sultan's accounts.'  Rowland has contended for months that the Al-Fayeds' take-over of House of Fraser relied on funds provided almost entirely by the Sultan of Brunei.
    Both Hyde Park and Alfayed Investment & Trust have maintained accounts at Compagnie de Gastion et de Banque Gonet (COGEBA) in Geneva.  As previously reported, substantial funds were transferred from COGEBA to Kleinworts last 28 September.  According to Rowland, considerable transfers of funds were made into the Hyde Park account at COGEBA, the largest being $127 million from the Sultan's account at Credit Suisse, Zurich.
    As The Observer reported last week, the Sultan had granted Mohamed Al-Fayed power of attorney last 24 August 'to operate on our behalf with Credit Suisse, Zurich, with immediate effect… in carrying out the work.'
    Last 2 November, Lonrho, which also owns The Observer, sold its 29.9 per cent holding in House of Fraser to Alfayed Investment & Trust (UK), the subsidiary of the Liechtenstein company, for £138.3 million.  Nine days later, Christopher O.P. Hanbury and H. Fred Haemisegger were appointed to Hyde Park's board.  Haemisegger had been a director of the Al-Fayed's Liechtenstein holding company since its incorporation on 25 July 1984.
    Haemisegger was chairman of People's Bank of Houston when the Al-Fayeds purchased a stake several years ago.  In 1982, People's was merged with Bankshares Corporation of Texas and is now part of an even larger group. 
    Other directors of both Alfayed Investment & Trust and Hyde Park Investment Holding are Mohamed Al-Fayed and his brother Ali Fayed, Vaduz lawyer Bruno Gueggi, and Martin Mueller of Geneva.  Third Al-Fayed brother, Salah Fayed, is a director of Alfayed Investment & Trust only.
    Kleinwort Benson director John MacArthur has always contended that Mohamed Al-Fayed has known the Sultan of Brunei for some time, but Kleinworts have denied that the funds for the Al-Fayed House of Fraser bid came from anywhere but the Egyptian family's own resources. 
    On Channel 4's Business Programme on 10 March, MacArthur said the bid was financed via instructions from a major Swiss bank 'which in turn has received funds from another Swiss bank through the instructions of the ultimate holding company of the Al-Fayed brothers.
    Lonrho's Rowland has continuously objected to the Government's failure to refer the Al-Fayed bid to the Monopolies Commission, having held up Lonrho's own intended bid for several years.  He has been pressing Trade Secretary Norman Tebbit to demand evidence of the source of the £570 million used to buy the stores group. 
    The Government has been made aware of Lonrho's discoveries about the movement of funds from the Sultan's Credit Suisse account to COGEBA, a bank owned by Credit Suisse and Société Generale de Banque, Brussels.  In the light of the new information, Lonrho is urging the Government to refer the House of Fraser bid to the Monopolies Commission or to start an investigation under the Companies Act.  Lonrho is also considering what legal remedies it has at its disposal. 
    So far there has been deafening silence from both Kleinworts and the Government in response to Lonrho's allegations, although on Friday the Sultan issued a statement to one Sunday newspaper denying 'any financial interest in House of Fraser Plc. or any of the Al-Fayeds' businesses.'…

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