(let the reader judge te credibility of the following information...)
George Speight's business career was going well until the
Chaudhry Government was elected, reports Marian Wilkinson.
Three days before he launched his coup, George Speight placed an
extraordinary statement in The Fiji Sun, denying he had been "on
the take" over a lucrative, highly controversial timber deal that was
seriously destabilising the Government of Mahendra Chaudhry.
Speight's lengthy explanation for thousands of dollars of
"consultancy fees" paid to him by a United States businessman
climaxed a long and bitter fight between an American resource
group and a high-profile British Government timber corporation
jostling to win a share of Fiji's rich mahogany plantations.
Few outside Fiji have followed the saga of the multimillion-dollar
mahogany bid, but had it gone another way, Speight might never
have contemplated his desperate actions that have killed Fiji's
democracy. As one lawyer familiar with the saga put it, "George
would had been made in the shade" had the deal unfolded
differently. Speight had been a critical player in the battle for the
mahogany plantations which pitted US and British interests against each other
in Fiji, embroiling the US embassy, the British High Commission,
indigenous Fijian landowners and some powerful local businessmen.
Just weeks before the coup, the Chaudhry Government made it
clear it was going to reject the US bid by Timber Resource
Management (TRM) and publicly attacked its integrity. The company sued for
libel and tempers were frayed.
As the accusations flew, Speight's key role came under intense public
scrutiny after payments from TRM's chairman to Speight's
Brisbane bank account were leaked. The leak prompted Speight to write his
lengthy public explanation at the time he set his plans in motion for the armed
takeover of the
Parliament.
How much the bitter fight over the mahogany deal
influenced Speight's anger towards Chaudhry can only be
speculated on.
What is clear is that before Chaudhry's election a
year ago, Speight was rapidly becoming Fiji's most influential
official in the forestry industry.
Given the importance of the forests to the indigenous landowners
and the Government, this position delivered to Speight immense
political and economic power.
Chaudhry's election changed all that.
Speight's role in the dispute goes back to late 1997 after he
became the local agent for a global insurance company called
Heath. An investor in Heath's local business was the family
company of Fiji's then finance minister, Jim Ah Koy, a powerful
figure in the then government of Sitiveni Rambuka.
Ah Koy had long been a patron of Speight's and in turn Speight
was sought out by foreign businessmen doing business in Fiji. In
November 1997, a US businessman from Seattle, Marshall Pettit,
make contact with Speight.
According to a lengthy memo written by Pettit, and obtained by the
Herald, Pettit was then running a group of companies called
Anglo-Pacific. The group was attempting to launch a joint venture
involving Fiji's indigenous land owners on a huge softwood timber pine
project. After giving Heath and Speight Anglo's insurance business, Pettit
then hired Speight as a "consultant" on the pine deal.
According to Pettit's memo, Speight was "a godsend" because he was
familiar
with "US capital markets" and operations. As such, said Pettit, "he
was able to explain various concepts and financial mechanisms to
the landowner representatives in their native language". Speight was
also, said Pettit, "able to assist us in explanations" to the Ministry
of
Forests and the Ministry of Finance. Speight's consultancy with Pettit
formally began in March 1998.
A few months later, however, the Rambuka Government, with the
imprimatur of Ah Koy, appointed Speight as chairman of the Fiji
Hardwood Corporation - a body that would be critical in the
harvesting of one of the country's most valuable hardwood assets,
its large mahogany plantation coming on stream for the first time.
After Speight's appointment, the Rabuka Government hired
PricewaterhouseCoopers to organise a tender for the lucrative
mahogany deal. It was a difficult job because the deal had to be
sensitive to landowners' needs, give a good return to the
Government and develop a local processing industry.
Gary Butler, from the Brisbane office of PricewaterhouseCoopers,
organised the global hunt for a suitable partner.
But just as that hunt was getting underway, Speight, as the new
chairman of the Hardwood Corporation, wrote to Anglo's Marshall
Pettit in Seattle advising him of PricewaterhouseCoopers role and
telling him he had put Pettit's man in touch with them. Pettit was
interested in expanding from pine into mahogany.
In the letter obtained by the Herald Speight also noted that he had
attached an invoice for consultancy fees "owed to me" for office
support and fees. The invoice put the figure at $US26,000 for fees and
office support up until November that year, when he was appointed to the
Hardwood Corporation. Speight had also just been appointed
chairman of Fiji Pine Ltd, a body handling the Government's pine
interests.
At this time, according to Pettit and Speight, the latter's consultancy
with Pettit's company was ended. At this stage, Pettit put together a new
company to bid for the mahogany deal. Called Timber Resource Management (TRM),
it
included a group of New Zealand players. Although Pettit was a
key player in TRM, the management claimed it was independent
from Anglo-Pacific. According to TRM, it had no role in any fees
paid to Speight.
In February last year, the PricewaterhouseCoopers accountants
arrived in Suva to make their final recommendation to the Rabuka
Government. At the meeting with officials, including Ah Koy, and
Speight, PricewaterhouseCoopers made its recommendation. The
best bid was from the British Government-owned Commonwealth
Development Corporation (CDC), which had a long history in the
Asia-Pacific. According to several accounts of that meeting, the
PricewaterhouseCoopers recommendation was met with
objections by both the Finance Minister, Ah Koy, and
Speight. PricewaterhouseCoopers' Butler told the Herald that following its
presentation, his company was effectively sacked.
"The day we delivered that report we were terminated."
In essence, the Government took over the tender process.
Not long after, on March 25 last year, Pettit paid $US5,000 into
Speight's National Australia account in Brisbane, according to
documents obtained by the Herald. Pettit's explanation of this payment was
for the outstanding consultancy fees owed to Speight for the consultancy with
Anglo-Pacific. TRM's Suva boss, Todd Cambpell, said that "they were
nothing to o with TRM's bid".
He added: "Suggestion of a link between TRM and Mr Speight is totally
untruthful." Renewed lobbying on the mahogany bid began again in earnest
in March last year. But before any decision was made, the Rabuka Government
faced a new election.
To the surprise of many, the ruling party lost the election last May and a
new coalition headed by an Indian-Fijian, Mahendra Chaudhry, took office.
Chaudhry's Government was not sympathetic to Speight. It sacked him from both
the
Hardwood Corporation and the Fiji Pine Board. The controversial mahogany deal
was
reopened. By March this year, the Government made it clear that the British
CDC was its preferred bidder for the deal. That decision plunged the
Government into a crisis.
Chaudhry's abrasive style was already antagonising the native land trust board
that was an important player in accepting any deal over
the mahogany plantations. Several players in the deal claim at this
stage Speight was helping to stir up the trust board against the
CDC bid. The mahogany deal quickly became a political football,
with claims that indigenous landowners would receive a much
better deal from the American TRM group. Under sustained attack on the
deal, the Government put an astonishing full-page ad in the
Fiji Sun on April 4, headed "The real facts about the Mahogany Deal".
The
ad savaged the TRM proposal. It also claimed that landowners were being misled.
A furious row broke out between TRM and Chaudhry. On April 17, Fiji's television
station
broke the first story of Pettit's consultancy fees to Speight. It was a
sensational twist in the tale but TRM felt it was misleading. Two weeks
later, on May 1, TRM counterattacked with a tough ad in The Fiji Times
saying:
"TRM subscribes to the highest standard of ethical behaviour." It
announced it was suing the Chaudhry Government for libel.
On May 16, Speight himself went into print to explain the consultancy fees.
Saying he never acted with any conflict of interest, and insisting the fees
were
nothing to do with the mahogany deal, he said he had always acted, "in
a responsible
manner and with absolute integrity".
Three days later, however, the mahogany controversy was
forgotten. Speight and his armed gunman took the Government
hostage. Sitting in his lawyer's office in Suva the morning of the coup,
TRM's Todd Campbell said he was in shocked. "I couldn't believe
it, I was absolutely stunned." He told his lawyer George was far
too intelligent for that.
"But it turned out to be the truth."
Business Wire - May 09, 2000 18:38 TORONTO--(BUSINESS
WIRE)--May 9, 2000--Castello Casino Corp. ("Castello")
(OTCBB:CCCZ) is pleased to announce that the Company has entered into a
Share Exchange Agreement with Bioforest Investments Inc. (Bioforest).
Under the terms of the agreement, Castello will purchase 100% of the Bioforest
outstanding
shares for U.S.$123,850,710 with the issuance of 41,283,570 post
consolidated shares of Castello. A special meeting of shareholders has been
called for July 5,
2000 to ratify this agreement to change the name of Castello and to approve
a share
consolidation on the basis of one (1) new share for each 14 old shares held.
Bioforest Investments Inc.
has the right to earn 70% of Bioforest Holdings (Fiji) Limited and
Bioforest Products (Fiji) Limited ("H&P") upon providing U.S.$11,000,000
to fund the project. H&P are 30% owned by the Taukei Unit Trust, which represents
the
interests of certain indigenous resources owners of forest plantation lands.
The
funding will be used to acquire several indigenous timber concessions in the
Republic of Fiji
containing approximately 3,000,000 cubic metres of production timber and to
purchase and upgrade an
operating sawmill and dry mill.
In a separate agreement, Castello has engaged
Thomson Kernaghan & Co. Ltd. Of Toronto, an investment firm, to privately
place a U.S.$560,000 Convertible
Debenture. The proceeds from this financing will be used to acquire options
on certain mahogany
concessions in Fiji and for working capital.
CASTELLO CASINO CORP.
150 York Street, Suite 302,
Toronto, Ontario M5H 3S5
ph.(416)594-0528 fax(416)360-4034
Statements in this news release that are
not historical facts, including statements about plans and
expectations regarding products and opportunities, demand and acceptance
of new or existing products, capital resources and future financial results
are
forward-looking. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties
which may cause the company's
actual results in future periods to differ materially from those expressed.
These uncertainties and
risk include changing consumer preferences, lack of success of new products,
loss of the
company's customers, competition and other factors discussed from time to time
in the company's
filings with the Securities & Exchange Commission. No securities regulatory
authority has
approved or disapproved of the content s of this news
release.
SHARES ISSUED: 13,950,645 SEC FILE NO: 0-30194
CONTACT:
Castello Casino Corp.
Ross McGroarty, Chairman
or
David Hynes, President
416/594-0528
Here are the latest News: apparently, in spite of shareholders' opposition,
Ross the GREEDY SNAKE
and CEO of CCCZ, is PROCCEEDING with the MAHOGANY DEAL... Please,
spread the word around to see if it can be killed and re-post as often as you
wish...
(BUSINESS WIRE) -- Castello Casino Corp. ("Castello")
(OTCBB:CCCZ) is pleased to announce that the Company has completed
a US$560,000, 8% convertible debenture financing through Thomson Kernaghan &
Co.
Ltd. The proceeds from this financing will be used to acquire
options on certain timber concessions in the Republic of Fiji and for working
capital. The Debentures will be convertible commencing June 9,
2000. The conversion price of the Debentures shall be the lower of
(i) 75% of the average closing bid price
of the stock for the five (5) trading days preceding the conversion
date, and
(ii) 110% of the closing bid price (US$0.84) on May 9, 2000.
Castello shall have the right to redeem the Debentures at any time prior to
conversion
or redemption at a 125% of the principal amount of the outstanding Debentures
plus accrued interest by giving ten (10) days notice. Pursuant to the agreement,
Castello must file a registration statement under the Securities Act for the
purpose of registering the issuance of not less than 200% of the common stock
underlying the Debentures and the Warrants based upon the closing date as the
conversion date of the Debentures and the Warrants.
On the Closing Date, Castello issued to the Agent a warrant to purchase US$112,000
of common shares
exercisable under the same terms as the Debenture. The Warrant expires on April
30,
2003. The special meeting of sharedholders announced on May 8th,
2000, has been re-scheduled to Monday, August 21st, 2000, from July 5th,
2000.
As previously announced, Castello under agreement will
purchase 100% of BioForest Investments, Inc. ("BioForest"). BioForest
was formed to
participate in the development of an integrated and sustainable forestry
enterprise in partnership with the native landowners in Fiji. BioForest has
the
right to earn 70% of BioForest Products (Fiji) Limited and BioForest Holdings
(Fiji) Limited ("H & P") upon providing US$11,000,000 to fund
the establishment of
the project. H & P are 30% owned by native landowners.
Discussions are currently in progress with corporate and institutional funders.
The project is
based on the sustainable exploitation of indigenous forest,
acquisition of mature mahogany plantations (not native) and the
development and planting of fast growing eucalyptus (hardwood) plantations as
a
source of short fiber wood chip. The initial US$11,000,000 investment will be
used
to acquire existing timber processing operations, securing the land for the
pulpwood plantations, the mahogany plantations and acquiring further forest
resources. In year one the project is expected to have annualized
earnings of US$4,000,000, and estimated annual earnings of US$60,000,000 by
year five. The
project will use its asset base to construct new processing facilities, acquire
the mahogany plantations and develop the eucalyptus pulpwood plantations. As
90%
of the product will be exported, the company would qualify for a 13-year
tax holiday.
The project involves the co-ordinated and orderly development of
the forestry industry in Fiji with projected annual earnings of US$150,000,000
by year ten. The group development plans are:
1) An integrated sustainable hardwood business based on 500,000m3/year log harvest by year four;
2) develop a modern centralized processing facility with its own power supply
to
produce sawn timber, veneers, plywood and blockboards as well as the
manufacturing of doors and parquet for the export market;
3) establish up to 100,000 hectares of fast growing eucalyptus pulpwood plantations
with 7-year
rotation. The group has been in discussions with senior North
American industry entities and will enter into a management or joint venture/partnership
arrangement after the initial 12-month establishment period.
Currently, an independent senior Canadian forestry consultant is advising the
group The Fiji
Islands by virtue of its ex-colonial status is a member of the
African-Caribbean Pacific ("ACP") group of countries. The ACP was
formed by the EEC to provide aid and assistance to a select group of small
countries in the three regions. The EEC particularly encourages the development
of
private enterprise projects with a minimum of 25% indigenous landowner
participation.
Assistance is considered on a project by project basis, key elements being
the
beneficial impact of the project on the country and the region and
whether the EEC is a consumer of the product as well as suppliers and
constructors of the project. Initial discussions indicate that the BioForest
Group
qualifies for assistance with both financing and marketing. The company will
request the Fiji Government to arrange a meeting with the EEC to establish the
framework for the assistance program. BioForest will be the controlling
partner in a medium sized forestry project, which will double the Fiji GNP and
be the largest money earner in
the country within 10 years. Other unique features of the project include the
group's corporate structure through native landowners participation and its
commitment to the disciplined development of natural resources. The
partnership and the group's philosophy represents the best possible combination
for
responsible forestry resource development.
The unique characteristics of the project enable the company to obtain grants,
subsidies and other forms of
assistance where other companies or similar projects do not qualify.
Statements in this news release that are not historical facts, including
statements about plans and expectations regarding products and
opportunities, demand and acceptance of new or existing products, capital
resources and future financial results are forward-looking. Forward-looking
statements
involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause the company's actual results
in
future periods to differ materially from those expressed. These
uncertainties and risk include changing consumer preferences, lack of success
of new
products, loss of the company's customers, competition and other factors discussed
from time to time in the company's filings with the Securities & Exchange
Commission.
No securities regulatory authority has approved or disapproved of the contents
of this news release.
CONTACT: Castello Casino Corp.
Ross McGroarty, Chairman
or
David Hynes, President
Tel: 416/594-0528
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