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US Embassy officials last night declined to comment or reveal information, following an FBI storming of a Saudi-owned super yacht that had just set sail from Malta. The 90-tonne, 60-metre ‘Le Pharaone’ that flies a Panamanian flag, was intercepted by FBI agents deployed from the US Embassy in Rome, in a bid to arrest the 65-year-old owner, identified as Gaith Rashad Pharaon, a Saudi national wanted in Washington for a series of federal and international crimes ranging from massive fraud to financing terrorism.
The police in Malta knew nothing about the case despite the yacht’s owner having been on the FBI’s wanted list since 2001.
The yacht was intercepted late Thursday evening approximately two miles off the island of Pantelleria, to the West of Sicily, when the 11 crew members were blinded by flash lights beamed by over-head helicopters whilst rapid deployment personnel from the Carabinieri Special Forces boarded the yacht from dinghies.
‘Le Pharaone’, clearly identified by a large sphinx painted on its stern, was immediately escorted to port, however a thorough search for Gaith Rashad Pharaon aboard the super yacht proved negative.
Investigations carried out by MaltaToday reveal that the yacht was intercepted following its departure from Malta. ‘Le Pharaone’ entered Malta at 2.42pm on 1 May and departed at 6.55pm last Wednesday 7 June, after completing maintenance work at the Malta Drydocks.
Steered by a British captain, ‘Le Pharaone’ is a frequent visitor to Malta.
However, the storming of ‘Le Pharaone’ revealed a mystery as to how the yacht was never intercepted in Malta as an international arrest warrant for the owner, together with a request for a board search appears to have been issued since 15 November 2001, soon after the terror attacks in the US. ‘Le Pharaone’ also bunkers its supply of fuel from Malta when on transit through the Mediterranean.
Whilst the Carabinieri in Trapani who coordinated the raid with the FBI went on record yesterday that the yacht was intercepted “after years of searching for it”, Police Commissioner John Rizzo denied having any knowledge of the matter.
Contacted yesterday, a US Embassy spokesman declined to comment or to reveal information regarding the investigations carried out by the FBI.
‘Le Pharaone’ is registered in Panama and responds to ‘Walsh Enterprises’ that operates from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, a finance brokerage company, a subsidiary of Pharaon Investments Group with Head Quarters in Paris.
Gaith Rashad Pharaon, whose power and influence is known to be strong amongst many governments worldwide, is amongst the “most wanted” by the FBI, as a possible auxiliary to international terrorism, through financing terrorist cells and organisations, including Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda.
An international warrant of arrest in his name has also been issued by the IRS in Washington.
An FBI dispatch to all law enforcement agencies across the globe describes Pharaon as the mastermind behind one of the biggest ever commercial frauds in history. The fall of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, or BCCI, took almost USD12 billion in depositors’ money and left some 250,000 unpaid creditors around the world.
Thousands of families lost their life savings in the bank’s collapse. BCCI officials and their agents are charged with bribing bank regulators and central bankers in Pakistan, Nigeria, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Congo, Zambia, Argentina, and Peru. In some cases, BCCI funds were used to defraud lending agencies, including the International Monetary Fund.
In the United States, BCCI illegally purchased American banks and defrauded American investors and the US government. A key figure in the BCCI conspiracy was Gaith Rashad Pharaon.
The FBI has also issued an appeal for information about Gaith Rashad Pharaon, including a witness protection programme with relocation.
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