Tradition, which specializes in matching buyers and sellers of financial products, has zeroed in on Mohamoud Zewam, an Arab Banking Corp. portfolio manager and a member of the Libyan Investment Authority. He has been the target of the alleged bribes.
The firm recently recruited Robert Baily, an American who worked at the Knight Capital Group, a U.S. global financial service firm, as head of its equity-brokerage department. He rented a large villa in Marakeesh and invited Zewam and other Arab Banking officials as guests.
American and British investigators have collected transcripts of e-mails and electronic-chats, which The Wall Street Journal reviewed. In them, the group Bailey dubs “Team Morocco” banter crudely, with Zewam, for example referring to an upcoming trip to Marrakesh as a week of joy in the NSL “no sperm left” zone.
Though Tradition claims it has perused its potential investors in accordance with the firm’s policies, gifts and getaways can be considered bribes if there is corrupt intent.
To date, investigators have found that US$108,000 was used on a few London and Dubai trips, which Zewam attended. Libya has proved a major investor in Tradition, which has collected up to 20 times more from Libyan clients than from any others, totaling about US$15 million in 2008 and 2009.
Bailey’s wife, Maria, says that her husband’s alleged actions have been blown up and that this is just “a big stink.”
