GATA's Financier Assassinated
Tonight is deeply troubling. GATA's benefactor and the
only reason we exist today as an influential organization
is because Brett Kebble stepped up to the plate in 1999
and donated $50,000 for us to hire a prominent legal firm
to take on The Gold Cartel. Neither Chris Powell nor I had
ever met Brett before, who was completing an executive
business course at the Wharton Business School. GATA
supporter John Brimelow made this long distance connection
for us to someone who might be sympathetic to what GATA
had discovered way back then in early 1999.
To say that that Chris Powell and I are deeply disturbed
and offer our deepest sympathies to Brett's family is as understated as can be.
As any long time Café members or GATA supporters know, Brett
was our quiet hero behind the scenes. When we needed an
extra $20,000 to make ends meet at our GATA African Gold
Summit in Durban, SA in May of 2001, Brett came through
again. GATA is finally making great strides all over the
world and we owe it all to Brett believing in GATA WHEN NO
ONE else was there!
I am too upset to deal with this much more tonight. However,
I thought I would put out some previous MIDAS commentary
which might shed some light on how important Brett was
to GATA.
Kebble, Gold Magnate, May Lose Fortune After Ouster
Sept. 5, 2005 (Bloomberg)
.....Clever Financier
Kebble was born in the gold mining town of Springs, east
of Johannesburg, and schooled in the Free State province
before graduating in law from the University of Cape Town
in 1988. He entered business after his mining engineer father, who once worked for Anglo American Plc, sold his Cape wine
farm and came out of retirement in 1991. Teaming up with
Adam Fleming, a relative of the James Bond spy-novel
author Ian Fleming, Kebble joined Randgold, working
initially under Executive Chairman Peter Flack..
-END-
While it is tough to see Brett Kebble, without whom GATA
would never have been, going through such a tough time,
what fun to see this ink over GATA's good friend Adam
Fleming, who spoke at Gold Rush 21.
-END-
2/21/01
GOLD ANTI-TRUST ACTION COMMITTEE
GATA's Journey to South Africa
Later that evening Reg Howe, Peter George, his son Quentin
and I had dinner with Brett Kebble at the "Nellie", the
Lord Nelson. Brett, CEO of Western Areas, and his father
Roger, Chairman of Western Areas, are legends of the South African gold industry and not afraid to stand up for their beliefs. Brett will go down as a hero one day - which will
be revealed in time.
***
February 21, 2005 - Gold $427 up 20 cents - Silver $7.39 unchanged (how strange the same date four years later)
Another blast from the past; insightful commentary a long
time ago from Chris Powell, pre-GATA:
Chris Powell
Manchester, Connecticut USA
January 22, 1999
For months now Midas has written more and more convincingly
of evidence that certain major brokerages are conspiring
with financial authorities in the federal government and possibly a mining company or two to suppress the price
of gold.
Some of these brokerages recently announced creation of
what they call the Counterparty Risk Management Group,
whose purpose seems frankly to manipulate the price of
certain securities, particularly derivatives, some of
which likely involve gold, in the name of preventing
disruption of the market (and, of course, preventing,
most of all, damage to the brokerages themselves). I don't
get it. For if Midas is right about what is happening,
the brokerages and their accessories are part of a vast
criminal conspiracy that is breaking antitrust law. We
of the Gold Party should be suing to stop them. If Midas' interpretation is correct, we'd win.
Antitrust laws protect economic competition. To quote
the World Book Encyclopedia, "These laws prohibit price
fixing, an agreement among business firms to control the
price or supply of a product or service." The major
federal antitrust laws are the Sherman and Clayton acts,
but there are others, and all states have their own such
laws. Whenever two or more parties cooperate in limiting
prices or supplies of a product or service, the free market
is defeated and antitrust law is broken. (There is an
exemption for labor unions.)
The federal government, through the Justice Department
and the Federal Trade Commission, can enforce antitrust
laws. But private parties can seek enforcement as well
by filing federal and state lawsuits.
It doesn't take much to start such a lawsuit -- a sworn affidavit based on sincere belief. And once a lawsuit
is started, the plaintiffs have the power to compel
the production of testimony and evidence from the
defendants.
My guess is that the announcement of the Counterparty
Risk Management Group would be in itself more than
sufficient for the basis of a price-fixing complaint. And
just imagine what might be uncovered by a lawsuit whose discovery process could compel the production of such a
group's minutes and the testimony of the brokerage
officials believed to be involved in suppressing the
price of gold.
Such a lawsuit could be internationally explosive. And
because violations of antitrust law are liable to triple damages, it also could be profitable to the plaintiffs and expensive to the defendants.
But the great thing about such a lawsuit is that the
Gold Party would not have to win financial damages to
win financially. If there indeed is a conspiracy to
suppress the price of gold, its exposure alone probably
would bust it up and liberate the market. The mere filing
of the suit would warn the perpetrators that they were in jeopardy. Busting up the conspiracy alone would prove very profitable to the plaintiffs.
The practical question is the financing of such a lawsuit.
But it shouldn't require much -- a law firm with a little familiarity with antitrust law and a retainer of, say,
$50,000 or so. Surely there are a few mining companies
that have been injured by this conspiracy that should
consider contributing, as well as many ordinary mining
company stockholders and people with a philosophical
interest in gold. It could be filed as a class-action
lawsuit and thereby qualify gold interests everywhere for damages. If the suit discovered evidence of a price-fixing conspiracy, the plaintiffs would be likely to recover at
least their legal costs as part of a settlement.
Of course we'd be up against what have been called the
Masters of the Universe, including the federal government.
But so have been a lot of people of no special influence,
most lately the woman who was derided as Arkansas trailer
trash, Paula Jones. She was wrong on sexual harassment
law -- what Bill Clinton did to her was disgraceful but
not illegal -- but she stood up for her right to her
day in court, and because her legal representation was
financed by a foundation pursuing a political aim, she
not only won a substantial settlement but also changed
American politics.
If Midas is even close to being right, the Masters of
the Universe are flagrantly breaking the law, and
catching them up in a lawsuit might be easy, thanks to
the power of discovery and deposition.
I'm a nobody but I pledge $500 to underwrite such a
lawsuit. To start we probably need a lawyer and mining
company or two and a few dedicated precious metals
shareholders of means who would like to shake things up
and even change the world. Any volunteers? If so, contact
Midas. We can change the world. Anybody can. This is still America if we'll act like it is.
Chris Powell
Manchester, CT
***
Chris was prophetic. GATA obtained that retainer within
weeks from one of our heroes, Brett Kebble of South Africa,
who is a man of his word. GATA hired Berger & Montague,
one of the premiere anti-trust firms in the US, and we
were born. |
