Vulture Funds plundering Thrid World Countries : IMC-SA

Last week the newspapers and the BBC reported about a court case at the High Court in London, involving the Republic of Zambia and a fund, Donegal International, based in the tax heaven of the Virgin Islands.
The court decided, that Zambia has to pay 15 Million
US Dollar to Donegal International, money, that Zambia desperately needs to buy anti AIDS drugs.

The money was originally owed to Romania, whose
government in 1979 lent Zambia money to buy Romanian tractors worth 15 million US Dollars.
Zambia failed to repay the money, after the copper price, copper is Zambia's main export, plunged on the World markets in the 80s.
Romania sold this debt for three Million US Dollars to
Donegal International in 1999, during negotiations between the Governments of Zambia and Romania,
to cancel the debt.

Who is Donegal International? Donegal International
belongs to the group of vulture funds.
Vulture funds buy debts of poor countries at a largely
discounted price, often for next to nothing.

They then mobilise a barrage of lawyers to take these countries to court, preferably in the US or, like in this case, in the UK, thus forcing poor third world countries to hire expensive teams of lawyers.

Vulture funds sue for the full repayment plus interests plus costs, in the case of Zambia for 55 million US Dollars.

The vulture funds were originally started by US billionaire Paul Singer in 1996.
Singer started off with buying a Peruvian debt for 11 million US Dollars and then suing Peru in the US courts for 55 Million US Dollars, as US top investigative journalist Greg Palast reports. Singer won, making an exorbitant profit, Peru, one of the poor South American countries lost.

At present he is suing Congo-Brazzaville for 400 million
US Dollars, after buying a debt for 11 million.

According to Greg Palast, Donegal International belongs to a Michael Sheehan, who calls himself a Goldfinger.
His holding company is "Debt Advisory International",
one may call that name cynical.

Sheehan has hired a lobbyist in Washington DC for 240.000 US Dollars to make sure, that these favourable legal conditions are not being changed.

Paul Singer does not need to hire somebody. Having been the biggest New York donor to US president G.W. Bush's presidential campaign he can just pick up the phone and call the White House.

Presidential hopeful and former New York mayor
Rudy Guiliani can also count on Singer.
Singer has already pledged 15 million US Dollars in case Guiliani is running..

Bribing of politicians is also part of this dirty game.
Former Zambian president Frederick Chiluba got
1 million US dollar from Donegal International for agreeing to the sale of the debt by Romania.

Despite this obvious criminal act of corruption, the court in London ruled in favour of Donegal .

Dr. Alexander von Paleske
Head, Department of Oncology
Princess Marina Hospital
Gborone/Botswana
Ex-Barrister-at-Law, High Court Frankfurt (M) Germany

Link: http://www.gregpalast.com
http://www.Jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk