Word: pharaonically
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...intrigue began when Tannoury, 37, a Paris-based entrepreneur, told Saudi Sheik Mezan Pharaon that Gaddafi had offered $1 billion to anyone who could supply certain "strategic materials," presumably parts for an atomic reactor. Tannoury said he could obtain the materials through Venezuelan associates, but that he first needed to come up with a $33 million down payment. For approximately $14 million in cash, Tannoury said, Pharaon could share in the profits of the operation. A short while later, the sheik gave Tannoury the $14 million...
...weeks later, Tannoury approached Pharaon again, explaining that the Venezuelans had demanded more money. At that point, Philippe Espitalier, a French adviser to Pharaon, became suspicious and cautioned him to pay no more money and to obtain collateral for the $14 million. It was too late. Tannoury returned with news that the Venezuelans had pulled out of the deal, and that he and Pharaon had lost their $33 million down payment...
...Pharaon persuaded Swiss authorities to file a criminal indictment for fraud against Tannoury. Pharaon's advisers suspect that the Gaddafi "offer" and the Venezuelan connection were a hoax. Moreover, they believe Tannoury probably never matched Pharaon's investment and may have simply pocketed the sheik's $14 million...
Tannoury insisted to TIME last week that the Libyan offer was genuine. He admitted that he "has made an arrangement" to pay Pharaon at least $14 million, which would seem to cover the sheik's investment. The dispute, Tannoury claimed, had resulted only from a misunderstanding between his and Pharaon's subordinates. Pharaon was not talking, and last week his lawyers said that he would not press legal charges against Tannoury. The victim seemed as worried about his reputation as his money, and with good reason. His brother Ghaith is a prominent Middle Eastern financier, and their father...
...most glaring case was Saudi Industrialist Ghaith Pharaon's ploy to hook up with the Georgia good-ole-boy network. The Saudi financier bought from President Carter's former Budget Director and confidant Bert Lance most of his shares in the National Bank of Georgia for $2.4 million, a price far above the market value; other Arab moneymen reportedly arranged a loan for Lance of about $3.5 million. In another case, a group of Arabs, led by a shadowy sheik named Kamal Adham, the former chief of Saudi internal intelligence, touched off a confusing imbroglio in Washington...