An Australian court heard how the men sent their brother on the flight, unaware he was carrying an explosive device in a meat grinder. Courtesy: Etihad Airways 
An Australian court heard how the men sent their brother on the flight, unaware he was carrying an explosive device in a meat grinder. Courtesy: Etihad Airways 

Lebanese brothers jailed for 76 years over Etihad bomb plot



Two brothers have been handed lengthy jail terms for plotting to bring down an Etihad Airways flight to Abu Dhabi from Sydney with a bomb hidden in a meat grinder on a third brother they said had brought disgrace on their family.

The Australian-Lebanese brothers, Khaled and Mahmoud Khayat, 51 and 34, were convicted in Australia of terrorism offences for trying to bomb a passenger jet in July 2017 under instructions from ISIS.

Khaled was sentenced to 40 years with a minimum of 30 years without parole, while Mahmoud received 36 years' jail time and ordered to serve at least 27.

The improvised device was to be smuggled inside the luggage of a third, unwitting brother, who prosecutors said was not aware of the plot.

A fourth brother, who is said to have fought with ISIS in Syria, is accused of directing the plot from overseas.

The plotters disapproved of their brother "because he drank, went clubbing, gambled and was gay, which they regarded as bringing shame on the family", judge Christine Adamson noted.

The plan was aborted at the airport when the plotters decided it was too risky to get through customs after airline staff said their bags were overweight.

After a baggage attendant told them to rearrange Amer's luggage, Khaled removed the bomb due to fears of it being detected.

Police said the explosives used to make the bomb had been sent by air from Turkey as part of a plot "inspired and directed" by ISIS.

In handing down her sentence, Ms Adamson said despite no one being killed, the offenders had succeeded in "creating terror" because the public was made aware of the plot.

"The conspiracy to which both offenders were parties plainly envisaged that a large number of people would be killed," she said.

After it failed, the brothers also planned to carry out a chemical gas attack in Sydney, prosecutors said. They were arrested 11 days after the airport incident.

The brothers maintain their innocence. They migrated and settled in Australia and appeared to have integrated into the community.

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
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Uefa Nations League

League A, Group 4
Spain v England, 10.45pm (UAE)

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Company profile

Name: Tharb

Started: December 2016

Founder: Eisa Alsubousi

Based: Abu Dhabi

Sector: Luxury leather goods

Initial investment: Dh150,000 from personal savings

 

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

HOW DO SIM CARD SCAMS WORK?

Sim swap frauds are a form of identity theft.

They involve criminals conning mobile phone operators into issuing them with replacement Sim cards, often by claiming their phone has been lost or stolen 

They use the victim's personal details - obtained through criminal methods - to convince such companies of their identity.

The criminal can then access any online service that requires security codes to be sent to a user's mobile phone, such as banking services.

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