I think you might enjoy reading this excellent piece about how an unsuspecting charity was exploited by a major business
Published:
July 6, 2013 at 11:20am
It’s in The Guardian, and it’s about the complicated trail behind the failed bank, Northern Rock. Thanks to the reader who flagged it up.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/nov/28/northernrock.subprimecrisis
Ara vera trid tkun missier ZIBEL biex tkaxkar liz-zewgt ibniet tieghek gol-hama mieghek.
Trid tkun vera HANZIR, korrot u bla skrupli biex tahx** l-hajja tat-tfal tieghek ghal gwadan personali tieghek.
Haven’t read the above piece as yet, but MaltaToday is telling readers that “The company in whose name former EU Commissioner John Dalli’s daughter rented out a Bahamas villa, belongs to financier Martin Zuch, the founder of a Christian evangelical children’s’ charity Give Hope International.”
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/Charity-founder-s-connection-to-Dalli-is-through-commodities-trading-20130706
But as Daphne explained, Mr. Zuch was not the owner of that company at the time of Dalli’s travels to the Bahamas, and he only became owner of Tyre Limited in May this year retrospectively from December 2012 (is this an afterthought or is it hindsight?).
Therefore, MaltaToday’s explanation does not hold water.
Any statement by the Prime Minister to journalists – with the cannons pointed at them in the Castille doorway – that he now has an acceptable explanation is not acceptable.
This is even more so when we now know that the Police Commissioner knew about the Bahamas trips – and possibly the details involving Tyre Limited – already before May.
At this point, considering how Malta Today seems to be covering up the previous shareholders and directors of Tyre Limited, the media should investigate more about those shareholders and directors and the connections with Mr. Zuch and why he would buy a Maltese registered gold trading company with a note filed on 30 May 2013 but retrospective to 31 December 2012.
There seem to be many similarities between Northern Rock and the Southern Rock of Malta
It would not be the first time that charities are used (or rather abused of) to act as a cover for the true business venture that is behind the structure in question.
There are literally hundreds of discretionary trusts set up where the potential beneficiaries are typically the Red Cross, Unicef and WWF. Typically these would never even know that they have been named as beneficiaries and never receive a cent as they are just a facade for the real beneficiaries – the trustees’ powers being so wide that they can make distributions to whosever they declare a beneficiary.
These trusts are nothing but a sham and make a mockery of those real legitimate structures which are set up for purely legitimate reasons.
What would Pope Francis (the Pope you seem to like) think of businesses giving money to charities who help children in Africa?
I also hope you enlighten your mind by reading the latest encyclical letter. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20130629_enciclica-lumen-fidei_en.html
[Daphne – David, you are the one in need of enlightenment, and judging by your first line – which I take to be in reference to the current controversy, you really should try to be less gullible and to stop taking things at face value.]
Just a bit more info on this issue. The crash of Northern Rock was a major scandal when it came to light what risks the bank was taking. There was a huge run on the bank and the British government had to step in to save it before depositors lost everything.
However, the Granite aspect of the story only came to light due to an investigation by the magazine Private Eye which was later picked up by the major press.
Check the link below:
http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=62187
In short, it was only the persistent efforts of a few journalists (or journalist) that brought the full facts into the public domain