BLOOMBERG
9 August 1998
International Business: BRUNEI
BROTHERS GRIM: THE SCANDAL IN BRUNEI
A sibling of the sultan vanishes–and so does $8 billion
It’s a fairy tale from the Asian crisis. Once upon a time, a fabulously wealthy Sultan watched his neighbors fall on hard times. So the rich man gladly offered to help them by dipping into his vast wealth. But when the Sultan reached into his coffers, much of his gold was gone. To his horror, so was his brother, the prince.
That’s the Brothers Grimm version of current events in Brunei, the tiny country nestled on the northern shore of Borneo. Thanks to the oil wealth of his kingdom, the Sultan of Brunei is a multibillionaire. But now one of his brothers, Prince Jefri, is suspected of absconding with billions of dollars from the treasury. The scandal runs the risk of destabilizing the local economy and wreaking more havoc on the already battered economies of Southeast Asia.GUESSWORK. In 1994, Jefri set up Amedeo, a company dedicated to developing Brunei’s infrastructure. Amedeo developed the country with a vengeance, building new hospitals, schools, cellular-phone networks, a polo field, beach bungalows, and more for the country’s 300,000 people. Then, say diplomats, royal accountants found evidence that some Amedeo managers had siphoned off $8 billion. Jefri may also have pledged billions of dollars in bonds held by the Brunei Investment Agency (BIA), which has invested heavily offshore, as collateral to back his personal loans from foreign banks. Senior officials of the government, BIA, and Amedeo decline to comment. But diplomats and bankers say the Sultan now claims it is not Brunei’s responsibility to pay the $10 billion that Amedeo owes to its suppliers and workers. Jefri, meanwhile, has vanished.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
