O fi tinut cineva
cont cate baliverne a turnat nea Vasile 'Frank' Timis la viata lui? Ia sa
vedem: i-a tapat pe investitori de 45 milioane � si dupa o luna le-a zis ca s-a
inselat, campul petrolier din Grecia de care le zisese nu face nici doua
parale. A anuntat public ca guvernul britanic este actionar strategic
intr-o alta companie a sa evaluata (conform spuselor lui) la peste $750
milioane, companie despre care purtatorul de cuvant al guvernului spune ca nici
maca nu a auzit! Basca nenumaratele actiuni caritabile pe care le-a
desfasurat in tzarisoara lui draga...
Vali
June 05, 2005
Regal boss named in Romanian organised-crime
inquiry
Paul Durman and Louise Armitstead
REGAL PETROLEUM, the AIM-listed oil company reeling after a run of bad news about the quality of its assets, is facing a fresh crisis. It has emerged that chairman Frank Timis is under investigation by prosecutors attached to Romania�s supreme court, the High Court of Cassation and Justice, as part of the country�s crackdown on organised crime and drugs.
Paul Durman and Louise Armitstead
REGAL PETROLEUM, the AIM-listed oil company reeling after a run of bad news about the quality of its assets, is facing a fresh crisis. It has emerged that chairman Frank Timis is under investigation by prosecutors attached to Romania�s supreme court, the High Court of Cassation and Justice, as part of the country�s crackdown on organised crime and drugs.
Last week Regal�s share price closed at 70�p, down
from a high of 510p just a few weeks ago. The company was forced to slash
estimates of its recoverable oil reserves in Greece by 70% while announcing a
large increase in losses to $13.7m (�7.5m).
A month ago, Timis, who has two heroin convictions,
was forced to admit that the Greek field he had said could be holding up to a
billion barrels of oil was probably worthless. That came just weeks after Regal
had tapped investors for �45m.
Documents seen by The Sunday Times show there is a
continuing investigation into Timis�s business activities in Romania, where
Regal has its main gas interests. Romania is cracking down on corruption ahead
of its bid to join the European Union in 2007. Romania�s Ministry for Public
Affairs confirmed the investigation.
Timis is the subject of further inquiries under way
in the Military Court of Appeal in Bucharest and in the regional Court of Appeal
in Alba-Iulia.
The existence of the investigations into Timis�s
activities was acknowledged in response to a freedom-of-information request
submitted by Alburnus Maior, the Romanian lobby group campaigning to stop a mine
development at Rosia Montana. This project, owned by a Canadian company called
Gabriel Resources, was responsible for establishing Timis�s reputation as a
successful mining entrepreneur.
Separately, in a confidential CV from 2004 seen by
The Sunday Times, Timis names the British government as a �strategic
shareholder� in another of his companies called the Africa Diamond Corporation.
Timis said the company, which has extensive assets in Sierra Leone, �may
currently sustain a valuation of over $750m�. Africa Diamond Corporation is
understood to be the forerunner of the recently listed Sierra Leone Diamond
Company in which Timis owns a large stake.
A spokesman for the Department for International
Development told The Sunday Times on Friday that it had not heard of the
company.
Sierra Leone Diamond Company is preparing to move
out of the London offices it shares with Regal and European Goldfields. Mike
Jones of Canaccord Capital Europe, the company�s adviser said: �The company is
making all the appropriate steps to limit the fall-out of any comparisons with
Regal. The company is moving offices and restructuring the board.�
The unusual CV gives a colourful account of Timis�s
life and career. �The early beginnings were not easy for Frank, and his story of
a desperate flight into the unknown and triumphant return takes some beating,�
it says � a reference to his escape from Ceaucescu�s Romania at the age of
16.
�These days Frank is happy to wave the flag for the
country in which he was born,� the CV continues, citing a large number of
charitable activities, including providing balls and transport to the Rosia
Montana football team, paying for the fireworks display on Romanian National
Day, and financing the building of the St Vasile monastery in Baia Borsa, �the
land of his ancestors�. Timis�s first name is Vasile.
The CV also boasts Timis is �one of the most
successful entrepreneurial dealings (sic) with governments in Australia, Canada,
West Africa and South East Europe� and that �his business contacts (in Romania)
provide a valuable entr�e to securing additional gas sales contracts and gaining
further development opportunities for Regal Petroleum�.
Timis also claims to have helped the Romanian
Democratic party write new mining laws in the late 1990s � laws of which he is
one of the principal beneficiaries.
He claims to be �an important and active supporter
of Romanian integration into Nato and the European community. He was one of the
main financial sponsors of the Nato reunion in Bucharest in 2002�.
Timis did not respond to a request for
comment.
Copyright 2005 Times Newspapers Ltd.
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