Presented below is a tiny example of the cynical workings of global big finance. One assumes that the scheming seen here usually happens in tight secrecy, behind closed doors, but today these two quoted paragraphs provide us ‘plebs’ some insight.

What follows is an extract from one of the many emails recently released by DOJ in the US. The email was sent by a Greg Brown to Jeffrey Epstein, a notorious operative of global finance, later convicted of sex trafficking. The email outlines a scheme to take a slice from the western loot of Libya.

[A reminder to readers: The destruction and looting of Libya were publicly justified in the name democracy, women’s rights, freedom … and other such glorious virtues of the so-called ‘western civiization’.]

Remember there are already $80 billion in frozen funds/assets internationally, of which $32.4 billion is in the US. And it is estimated that the real number is somewhere between three to four times this number in sovereign, stolen and misappropriated assets, so if we can identify/recover 5% to 10% of these monies and receive 10% to 20% as compensation we are talking about billions of dollars… But the real carrot is if we can become their go to guys because they plan to spend at least $100 billion next year to rebuild their country and jump start the economy. Also, remember Libya is a rich country, as its population is two million less than the city of New York and it has the ninth largest crude oil & natural gas reserves on the planet and a literacy rate of almost 80%.

I have been speaking to the law firm of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky and Walker … to go after the money on a contingency basis and they are considering this … But it would be to our advantage to pay them on a hourly basis and initially go after the low hanging fruit, which would enable us to keep more of the money… I also have friends, formally with MI-6 and Mossad willing to help identify stolen assets and get them recovered.

Some conclusions which may be drawn from this email extract, using only basic common sense and general knowledge:

Greg Brown has good knowledge of the Libyan economy, its official reserves, stolen assets … et cetera. Brown, Epstein and possibly other accomplices are scheming to profit hugely from the destruction and looting of Libya. The phrase ‘financial vultures‘ seems to describe them accurately. But recall that such people, including Blair and Sarkozy, actually killed Libya before feeding on it. In nature, vultures feed on carrion.

Such ‘vultures’ seem to look for several financial bonanzas: one from the looting of Libya, one from its reconstruction, and one from its resumed oil and natural gas production.

The use of international lawfare is clearly mentioned, because of course the loot must be legally whitewashed.

Words ‘formally with MI-6 and Mossad‘ are used to describe friends who may be able to assist with the loot. ‘Formally‘ here implies clearly that, even while holding an office, such people are free agents, with no loyalty. Presumably, for a decent ‘cut’, they are available for any lucrative side gigs. Off-shore accounts ensure that the scams remain safely hidden from governments and the public. Only a little imagination is needed to see that some other friends of such ‘vultures’ may ‘formally‘ be ministers in this or that country’s government.

by Naresh Jotwani

Editorial note: Colonial exploitation, in its modern form, goes back about five centuries; but the history of exploitation is much older. The concept of money originated with money-lenders; later, greedy local warlords and religious leaders began to collaborate with money-lenders.

By way of illustration, we present this brief glimpse of the conditions which prevailed in Imperial Rome [courtesy: Alex Krainer]: Rome’s oligarchic system of governance favoured a steady and inexorable upward transfer of wealth from the disenfranchised multitudes and colonial subjects to the parasitic oligarchy. As a consequence, Roman internal politics were marked by almost perpetual social and political unrest, exacerbated by an overhang of unpayable debts, rolling civil wars, frequent colonial uprisings and periodic slave revolts.

We hope to bring out a series of ‘vignettes’ on the theme of the title of this post. Readers are cordially invited to contribute their personal views – even in the form of ‘mini-posts’ of about a hundred words. The first post in the series, by Naresh Jotwani, is presented below. We hope to see more!

[There have been several earlier posts on this blog on the broad theme of the present one; some of these can be found here, here, here and here.]