Word: kassar
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...rogue bag may have been placed on board the plane by Jibril's group with the help of Monzer al-Kassar, a Syrian drug dealer who was cooperating with the U.S.'s Drug Enforcement Administration in a drug sting operation. Al- Kassar thus may have been playing both sides of the fence...
...central figure emerging from the Interfor investigation is a 44-year-old Syrian arms and drug trafficker, Monzer al-Kassar. His brother-in-law is Syria's intelligence chief, Ali Issa Duba, and his wife Raghda is related to Syrian President Hafez Assad...
...Kassar lavishes cash on behind-the-scenes talent as well. He paid a record $3 million last June for writer Joe Eszterhas' thriller Basic Instinct. "It's not just the money," says Michael Douglas, whom Kassar is reportedly paying more than $10 million to star in and produce Instinct. "When you visit the head of a major studio, it feels like you're going to the principal's office. With Mario, you're with one of the guys." Kassar says his motto is simple: "I try and gain their trust...
Beirut-born Kassar and his partner Andrew Vajna were successful foreign distributors when they launched Carolco in 1976. They hit pay dirt with Rambo's debut in 1982 and eventually took the studio public at $9 a share. In 1989 Vajna sold most of his 36% stake to Kassar in a complex deal involving shell companies in Panama and the Netherlands Antilles. Last October Kassar resold some of his shares to Carolco for $13 each, or 60% higher than the market price. That brought him $11 million, or 80% of the studio's 1989 net income, which prompted angry shareholders...
Shareholders also attack Kassar for taking interest-free loans from Carolco to supplement his $1.25 million salary. In 1988 he and Vajna borrowed $8 million. The terms: if the stock topped $11 by August 1989, the loan would be forgiven. Presto! The stock nipped $11 in June before tubing again (it now trades at $8). "The stock was manipulated," charges shareholder lawyer William Lerach. Carolco disputes the allegation...