The players Published Jul 14, 2002
THE PLAYERS
Minneapolis Thomas Brooks, Stockwalk Group Inc.
Brooks managed the stock loan department at MJK Clearing, a subsidiary of the Minneapolis-based brokerage company. The liquidation of MJK Clearing forced Stockwalk into bankruptcy court earlier this year.
New Jersey
Valerie Red-Horse, Native Nations Securities
The first Native American to control a securities firm, Red-Horse answered phones for junk-bond king Michael Milken in the 1980s. She has also been an actress and is best known for serving as the model for Mattel's Pocahontas doll. In 2001, Native Nations bought Freeman Securities in Jersey City, N.J., setting it on a path to become the epicenter of the stock loan collapse that bankrupted Stockwalk.
California
Ramy El-Batrawi
Founded GenesisIntermedia in 1993; he left the firm late last year. A U.S. citizen, El-Batrawi owned more than 9 million shares in the company, which sold self-help and get-rich-quick videotapes. Stock price soared from $2 to $18 during the period when Stockwalk and other brokerages were borrowing its shares. SEC and FBI are now investigating the firm and former executives for possible stock manipulation.
Bermuda
Adnan Khashoggi
Genesis' largest shareholder and creditor. Acquired shares using a line of credit from Deutsche Bank AG, Europe's largest bank. Born and raised in Saudi Arabia. Emerged in the 1970s as a well-paid middleman for defense contractors looking to do business with Saudi Arabia. In the 1970s, the Pentagon, two Senate committees, the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission investigated Khashoggi's arms deals but took no action against him. In the 1980s he helped arrange the sale of U.S. arms to Iran in order to help fund the anti-Sandinista rebels in Nicaragua. Wanted by Thai police on suspicion of embezzling $64 million from the failed Bangkok Bank of Commerce in 1996.
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