Multivision's Nazerali denies links to Mafia, Madoff
2015-04-14 20:53 ET - Street Wire
by Mike Caswell
Aly Nazerali, testifying Tuesday afternoon in his defamation lawsuit against the Deep Capture website and others, denied having anything to do with several Mafia figures, market manipulators and others. The names that came up ranged from an Al-Qaeda financier to notorious swindler Bernie Madoff. Also mentioned was Mark Valentine, the former chairman of brokerage Thomson Kernaghan & Co Ltd. who pleaded guilty to market manipulation charges in the United States.
Mr. Nazerali is testifying as part of a lawsuit he filed against the website Deep Capture. He complains that the site wrongly associated him with several individuals in 21 chapters that it published in 2011. The defendants include short-selling conspiracy theorist Patrick Byrne and journalist Mark Mitchell. Mr. Nazerali claims that the statements on the site wrongfully accused him of being a drug dealer, terrorist, fraud artist and gangster, among other things.
| | ALYNAZERALI.COM | | Aly Nazerali |
His testimony on Tuesday afternoon mostly consisted of his lawyer, Dan Burnett, reading passages from the Deep Capture chapters, with the passages typically associating Mr. Nazerali with Mafia figures, market manipulators or other nefarious individuals. Mr. Nazerali then denied having anything to do with the activity or people. In some instances he did acknowledge having met the people involved (he said he met Mr. Valentine twice) but with others he said he did not even know they existed prior to reading the chapters.
Some passages that Mr. Burnett read elicited stronger responses from Mr. Nazerali than others. These included one that stated, "Nazerali's key business relationships ... nearly all of which pertained to the business of market manipulation." Mr. Nazerali emphatically told the court that he had never been involved in market manipulation. "This is a particularly disturbing paragraph," he said. Another passage that received a strong reaction from Mr. Nazerali stated, "In 2001 Nazerali perpetrated a stock fraud, Even Resources." Mr. Nazerali called the passage "utterly false," adding, "Even Resources was not a stock fraud."
Mr. Nazerali's denials continued as Mr. Burnett read a passage that linked him with JB Oxford & Co., a controversial brokerage affiliated with notorious Canadian Irving Kott. The passage stated that Mr. Nazerali was a key financier of the firm, which he denied. "No, I would have had to file an ownership interest [and] there is no such file," he said.
Yet another passage had Mr. Nazerali meeting with a financier for Osama bin Laden at the offices of a Bermudian brokerage, Lines Overseas Management Inc. "It's a disgusting twisting of lies," Mr. Nazerali responded. "I don't know the firm."
The many names that Mr. Nazerali apparently had connections to even included the infamous Mr. Madoff. Mr. Burnett read a passage that somehow had Mr. Nazerali as a feeder to Mr. Madoff's operation. As with the others, Mr. Nazerali denied having any affiliation.
Other passages had an espionage tone. One had Mr. Nazerali associating with the Iranian government, while another had him plotting to damage the U.S. economy. "Never have I undertaken any activities" on behalf of the Iranian government, Mr. Nazerali said. He also denied having done anything to harm the U.S. economy, or having the means to do so.
Another theme, repeated many times, was links to Mafia figures from the chapters. Among the names that Mr. Burnett asked about was Felix Sater, identified as a Russian Mafia boss, and Antonio Comiso, another Mafia leader. Mr. Burnett also asked about Phil Abramo (better known as "The King of Wall Street") who has been charged with fraud and murder (and is in jail awaiting the outcome of an appeal on the murder charges). Mr. Nazerali repeatedly many times phrases such as "I have no connection" and "I have no knowledge" of the particular person.
The formula of Mr. Burnett reading a passage and Mr. Nazerali denying the truth of its contents continued repeatedly throughout the afternoon. The other names that arose included short-seller Anthony Elgindy, Canadian businessman Yank Barry (who was convicted of extortion), junk bond king Michael Milken, Saudi businessman Adnan Khashoggi, and alleged al-Qaeda associate Yasin al-Qadi.
A portion of Mr. Nazerali's testimony also included him accusing Deep Capture of extortion. He said he contacted the author of the material, Mr. Mitchell, about the chapters in late 2011. Mr. Mitchell said that he could have Mr. Nazerali's name removed if he acted as a source, providing information on others. "I construed it as an attempted extortion," Mr. Nazerali said. He then "made the tough decision" to begin his lawsuit.
The remainder of the afternoon had Mr. Burnett introducing documentary evidence by asking Mr. Nazerali to confirm its contents. This included letters pertaining to legal events in the Netherlands and news releases of Imagis Technologies Ltd. |
