Cayman Net News: Current News about the Cayman Islands in the Foreign Press

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator faces charges over ties to Halliburton’s Cayman subsidiary

TEHRAN, Iran: Iran Focus, 29 July 2005 – Iran’s judiciary has arrested several executives of a privately-owned oil drilling company over their dealings with the U.S.-based oil giant Halliburton and one of the country’s top nuclear negotiators is facing charges of involvement in an oil scam, a semi-official news agency reported.

Fars News Agency said the chairman of the Board of Directors of Oriental Oil Kish, and several of his colleagues are being interrogated over the company’s trading. A senior member of Iran’s nuclear negotiations team, Sirus Nasseri, is the vice-chairman of the oil company.

Oriental Oil Kish first blipped on the international media’s radar screen in January, when it was announced that the company had subcontracted parts of the South Pars drilling project to Halliburton Products and Services registered in the Cayman Islands.

German executive arrested for tax evasion involving fictitious
Cayman transaction

NEW YORK, USA: Bloomberg News, 31 July 2005 – Ben Bartel, chief executive of AvCraft Aviation LLC, was arrested last week at the Frankfurt airport, Focus magazine reported. Munich's chief public prosecutor Ruediger Hoedl said his office is investigating whether Bartel evaded $8.49 million in taxes in Germany through a fictitious transaction in the Cayman Islands, the magazine said.

Veteran Israeli politician founded Cayman Islands venture capital entity

TEL AVIV, Israel: Israel Insider, 31 July 2005 – An Israeli official who may have a financial interest in the Disengagement is veteran Israeli politician Shimon Peres, who is currently Israel's deputy prime minister. Peres is the founder of something called the Peace Technology Fund, a venture capital entity chartered in the Cayman Islands, which had as its stated goal bringing together investors from around the world to promote development in the Palestinian “territories,” including Gaza.