Defense Company Paid For Bandar’s Daughter’s HoneymoonIt’s good to have an international rainmaker for a father.
So far, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the former Saudi ambassador to the U.S., has denied all accusations that he received up to $2 billion in kickbacks from British defense giant BAE for a massive British-Saudi arms deal. That’s been a pretty tenable line to maintain, since neither the BBC nor the Guardian, which broke the story, have disclosed the basis for their reports. But that was before anyone learned about the December 1996-January 1997 honeymoon of Bandar’s daughter, Princess Reema.
Reema and her husband, another Saudi royal, celebrated their nuptuals with a six-week trompe through some of the world’s most expensive hotels in Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Bali and Hawaii. Their wedded bliss included a private Gulfstream flight to the Great Barrier Reef. And according to Peter Gardiner, managing director of the travel firm that booked the honeymoon, the nearly half-million-dollar affair was entirely paid for by BAE. Gardiner tells the Sunday Times:
“They were a young, attractive couple in love and on a dream honeymoon. They knew nothing about BAE paying and must have believed it was their parents paying. I was instructed by BAE not to discuss payments with them – or with anyone. I was told by BAE to give them the very best,” Gardiner said.
BAE’s accounting for the trip appears brazen. Documents obtained by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office show that Gardiner’s company, Travellers World, billed BAE with statements reading “HM.Aus,” for “Honeymoon, Australia.” When Reema’s husband needed to find a place in Australia where he could watch the Dallas Cowboys live on cable, Travellers World arranged it, and BAE paid about $12,000 for three hours of gridiron drama.
Last week, the Los Angeles Times reported that BAE is under investigation by the Justice Department for potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a law preventing access to U.S. markets for companies involved in bribery. BAE told the Sunday Times it denies any wrongdoing.