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Statement Of Wilfried Schnieders Formerly
Finance Director of IMS Dubai
I was employed by International Marine Services
(IMS) Dubai between 7 July 1981 and 9 July 1991, firstly as a
controller and progressing to Finance Director. I was, in fact,
on secondment from DST Lingen. My salary was paid by DST and
the overseas allowance by IMS. During that whole period my boss
was Christoph Betterman, and I carried out his instructions.
I have been asked by Mr John Macnamara about
a particular salvage operation involving the vessel "York
Minster". I have been shown a copy of an agreement dated
10 January 1989, between IMS, Smit Tak (co-salvors) and Crescent
Petroleum. The agreed salvage price was $1.8 million. This was
to be divided equally between Smit Tak and IMS, i.e., $900,000
each.
I have been shown an information from Ambro
Bank Rotterdam, dated 12 January 1989, confirming that US $1,799,934.20
had been credited to the account of IMS, the value date being
17 January 1989. This was in respect of the above mentioned salvage
agreement.
I have been shown a copy of a banker's draft
for US $900,000 drawn on the account of IMS in favour of Cornish
Investments SA Panama. That banker's draft was drawn on the account
of IMS on the authority of Christoph Betterman. It was dated
10 January 1989. This was done to coincide with the payment of
$1.8 million from Crescent Petroleum.
This was a fraudulent transaction. IMS, according
to the agreement should have received $900,000 and Smit Tak should
have received $900,000 also. Infact, both IMS and Smit Tak received
$450,000 each and $900,000 was repaid to Crescent Petroleum through
the account of Cornish Investments SA Panama, which was an account
operated by them. Both Christoph Betterman and a senior person
of Smit Tak, possibly Mr Norszyk were aware of this kick-back
arrangement. I am not sure of whether or not the insurers were
defrauded of $900,000, but the salvage files were kept in the
marine department of IMS and should show this information.
As a result of this deal, IMS were defrauded
of $450,000 and Crescent Petroleum benefited by the amount of
$900,000. I am not aware that Christoph Betterman received any
money from this deal. There must have been kick-backs, but I
have no first hand knowledge of this. I am willing to give evidence
of these facts in any court.
2 August 1991
Witnessed by John Macnamara
Summary of a meeting between Christoph
Bettermann and John Macnamara between 4.30 pm - 5.30pm on Wednesday
7 August 1991, in Malaga, Spain, which was covertly tape recorded.
JM Showed CB an agreement for $1.8 million
- "that went through loss adjusters in London - Holman,
Fenwick and Willan".
CB "Yes" - He then explained the
background of IMS and the build-up of the salvage business.
JM Some of the files are missing. (Showed
CB an authority letter from Schneiders to draw a bankers draft
for $900,000 in favour of Cornish Investments SA). We had to
get this copy from the bank because it is missing from the files.
CB Have you ever checked Suleiman's house?
You should go to Dubai. There was an agreement with Smit Tak
to share the salvage and MAF knew about it.
JM There was nothing wrong with that - the
agreement was quite open. You were co-salvors.
CB There is something wrong with it. We would
get less if the arbitrators in London knew we were working together.
This was on the instruction of MAF. We would get 50 per cent of
the salvage Smit Tak would do and they would get 50 per cent
of any salvage we would do. Smit were the main salvors in the
York Marine case. I called Hamid Jaffer and he placed $2 million
in November-December of 1988 - may be it was April-May. The security
was discussed with Crescent because they wanted to have a share
out of it.
JM A share out of what? What the insurers
were going to pay out? CB Yes.
JM So they were going to defraud their own
insurers? CB I suppose. Yes. That is a very common thing,
John, in the salvage business.
JM The only case I know is the "York
Marine". You have an agreement for $1.8 million to be split
between IMS and Smit Tak.
CB If you talk to Klaas Reinegart (MD of
Smit Tak). I was in close contact with him and the basics were
agreed with Mohamed. In this case IMS must have gained about
$150,000.
JM On paper it doesn't look like that. On
paper it looks as though IMS and Smit Tak lost $450,000 each.
CB Bullshit, because Smit Tak had to agree
on it, number one.
JM (Showed CB a bankers draft for $1.8 million
dated 17 January, 1989). IMS paid out $900,000 to Cornish Investments,
Panama, a week before that.
CB Hassan Rauf, Vice President of Crescent
came to my office and exchanged the cheque at the same time.
JM But you had $900,000 going back to Crescent.
CB Yeah.
JM So they were the beneficiaries of $900,000.
CB But if we had gone to arbitration we would
have got $600,000-$700,000 maximum.
JM This means the insurers have lost $900,000.
CB In salvage you discuss things with the
owners. The owners agree to pay you or not to pay you. What the
owner does on the other side is none of my business.
JM But it is, because $900,000 goes out to
an account in Panama. It is disguised.
CB The "York Marine" is owned by
this company, Cornish Marine. You can check in the Register, I
haven't checked.
JM Cornish Investments, according to Schneiders
is Crescent Petroleum.
CB Cornish Investments are the owners of
the "York Marine". That is what we were told at the
time.
JM The insurers paid out $1.8 million.
CB Yes.
JM Had the insurers known that there was
to be a kick-back of $900,000, they are not going to pay out.
CB Yes.
JM So they have been defrauded.
CB Yes.
JM You say that is common? CB It
is done, yes.
JM But why, Christoph? This is fraud.
CB I would be very careful with that word.
You agree on a certain value what to pay on negotiations. You
see, I acted on instructions of Mohamed Fayed.
JM Mr Mohamed says he doesn't know anything
about this.
CB Then he is not saying the truth.
JM Why would Mr Mohamed agree to that? CB
Because he wanted the money.
JM Simply, if Mr Mohamed has agreed to what
you say, he is worse off by $450,000. So is Smit Tak.
CB No.
JM Yes they are.
CB The security that was placed, we were
over secured. Read the file.
JM You were oversecured by only $0.2 million.
CB No, $1.4m.
JM The amount paid out by the insurers was
$1.8 million. $1.8 million comes in to IMS. $900,000 goes back
to Crescent via Cornish Investments, to disguise the payment.
Smit Tak got $450,000.
CB Smit Tak were informed about this.
JM Smit Tak get $450,000, IMS get $450,000.
$900,000 goes back to Crescent.
CB Yes.
JM Why would Mr Mohamed agree to that? He
is worse off.
CB Otherwise he would have got $300,000,
but he got $450,000.
JM The only reason I'm here is because Mr
Mohamed knows nothing about it.
CB Mohamed knows about it. He even asked
me half a year later again. He said $900,000 for Crescent was
far too much, and I said, yes, they were too greedy. He and I
discussed it with Klaas Reinegert at that time. The value of
the salvage was only $600,000. I got $900,000. I tried to get
$1 million, $1.1 million. We did not get it.
JM Who authorised $900,000 going back to
Crescent through Cornish Investments? CB Before I got the
$1.8 million I had to give him a cheque for $900,000. I talked
about it with Klaas Reinegert because he was the other partner.
He said go ahead.
JM Who from Crescent benefitted by $900,000?
CB I don't know. Theoretically Mohamed Fayed could have benefitted
if he is a shareholder in Cornish Investments.
JM But he is not.
CB I don't know. I don't know who the shareholders
are. I have been asked by Hassan Rauf to issue a cheque for this
account. Schneiders should have the letter. You should call Crescent
and ask them who is this company who got the money.
JM Schneiders told me that Crescent operated
Cornish Investments SA.
CB That's what they said, I don't know it.
JM Who said? CB Hassan Rauf said that.
He came to the office and said we have to do it through this Cornish
Investments, because they are the investors of the York Marine,
or something.
JM Crescent Petroleum gained $900,000 from
the insurers? CB I assume. Yeah, that's correct.
JM What did you get? CB Nothing.
JM What did Schneiders get? CB Nothing.
JM Then why did you do it? CB To get
$150,000 more for IMS.
JM You had an agreement for £1.8m. Why
didn't you enforce that? Why did you have to make a kick-back?
CB Because we would only have got $600,000 - we would have
had to have gone to arbitration.
JM You are a lawyer. You don't want to enter
into these fraudulent transactions - that's defrauding the insurers.
CB If my boss instructs it.
JM If your boss instructs it you go ahead
and do it? CB But you do a lot of things.
JM I do nothing wrong.
CB There are a lot of things I have seen
in Harrods, and I could talk.
JM Talk all you like. I have never done anything
illegal, nor would I do anything illegal for Mohamed Al-Fayed.
CB What was listening to my telephones then?
JM I did not listen to your telephones.
CB I think this case is perfectly right.
JM No, it is not right. What you are saying,
it is fraudulent but Mr Mohamed tells you to . . ..
CB Mohamed Fayed knows about it all. If there
are problems I shall contact my lawyers.
JM I have a written statement from Schneiders.
The insurers were defrauded of $900,000.
CB I'm not so sure the underwriters were
involved. Crescent said at the time that the "York Marine"
was not insured.
JM Are Holman, Fenwick and Willan loss adjusters?
CB They're the lawyers for Smit Tak.
JM Who were the insurers? CB I don't
know.
JM If it wasn't insured, why go through this
sham? CB They would have only given us $300,000. You asked
me what I got, I got a certain percentage based on my yearly
bonus.
JM I don't see how Crescent can defraud themselves.
CB Why don't you ask Hamid Jaffer? JM
Is Hamid Jaffer defrauding his principles? CB It is all speculation.
JM Have you spoken to Schneiders? CB
I have spoken to him from time to time.
JM You mean, yes.
CB Yes.
JM Did he read you his statement? CB
He said he didn't sign anything.
JM He signed it in front of me. (W. Schneiders'
statement of 2 August 1991, was then read to Christoph Bettermann
in full).
CB That is libel.
JM IMS have lost $450,000.
CB It's wrong and Mohamed Fayed knows this.
JM You are saying you entered into a fraud
because Mr Mohamed told you to.
CB So, what have I gained? Nothing.
JM You gained the percentage on your commission.
CB There are some other cases.
JM Tell me about them.
CB I'm not authorised to talk about them
unless I get his instructions.
JM I'll call him now and get his instructions.
Do you want to call him? CB I don't see any reason why I
should. I will talk to my lawyers. Mohamed Al-Fayed told me if
I stayed with him he would make me rich. If I left him he would
destroy me.
JM (The fraud was summed up). Who are the
owners of Crescent Petroleum? CB Hamid Jaffer.
JM If he is the owner, why does he want to
defraud himself? CB There might be a perfect explanation
why they have done it.
JM This is fraud. Someone has lost $900,000,
either the insurers or the owners of Crescent Petroleum, whoever
they are.
CB You have to ask Hamid Jaffer.
JM Why defraud himself? CB IMS has gained
$150,000.
JM How can you gain $150,000? CB Because
salvage services were only evaluated by our own people and Smit
in area of $500,000 to $600,000.
JM That's not what it says on paper.
CB We have been sitting there negotiating
with them.
JM According to these papers you should have
gained $450,000 more than you did.
CB We would have had to go to arbitration.
The arbitrator in London would have given us in the area of $600,000.
JM In that case, why didn't Crescent say
to you - I'm sorry, we are only going to pay $900,000, or whatever
and if you want more you are going to have to go to arbitration
and you settle with it quite openly. Why do you go through all
this subterfuge with an account in Panama and kicking the money
back? CB Once we agreed on the amount they would pay, then
Hassan Rauf came and said OK we want to have the money transferred
here.
JM Why? Because you have an agreement for
$1.8 million. Did you ever know who the insurers were? CB
If I recall, Hamid Jaffer said the vessel was insured but I'm
not sure.
JM Then he doesn't need to defraud himself
of $900,000.
CB You have to ask all these questions of
Hamid Jaffer.
JM I need to find out firstly who the insurers
were, and who has lost the money. What you are saying is it was
done on the instructions of Mr Al-Fayed which he says is totally
untrue.
CB This is the problem with Mohamed Al-Fayed
is that instructions were never given in writing. It is very
difficult.
JM I wouldn't put myself into a fraudulent
transaction because Mohamed Al-Fayed told me to.
CB I don't consider it fraudulent because
you don't know who against the fraudulent action was.
JM It has got to be somebody because somebody
paid $900,000. So it must be fraudulent.
CB Not necessarily. It could be other forms
of evasion - tax evasion for example.
JM Tax evasion is fraud.
CB In another word.
JM We can't take it any further. What you
suggest is I have to go to Hamid Jaffer.
CB I would suggest you talk to Hamid Jaffer.
JM And I have to go to Smit Tak. Mohamed
is very upset because he says he has lost $450,000 and if you
say he agreed to it and told you to do it, why am I wasting my
time in Malaga in the middle of August? CB That's the reason
I said I don't want to go to Paris and waste my time there.
JM It's not a waste of time Christoph because
if it's fraud he wants it prosecuted and reported to the Police.
It's not a waste of time to explore it beforehand, which is what
he wants to do.
CB Then we must be very careful because he
might also be involved.
JM So you say, but he says he is not.
CB I definitely know that I talked with him
and I talked with him a second time some time later and when
he asked me again and I don't know if he ever talked to Hamid
Jaffer. I always assumed until recently that he and Hamid Jaffer
were quite good friends, and knew each other very well, but it
seems that is not the case.
JM I don't know.
CB There should be a file.
JM I'm told the files are missing.
CB I could not say that someone has taken
them because a lot of files were packed because IMS moved from
one location to another. Ask Suleiman.
JM If the York Marine was insured, who were
the insurers? CB I have no idea. I never bothered who the
underwriters were.
JM Why did Schneiders find it necessary to
call you after I had seen him if it is all so innocent? CB
But Schneiders and I permanently talk. We are from time to time
talking.
JM But Schneiders said he wasn't going to
discuss this with you.
CB I called Schneiders on Saturday and said
I am going to Spain and that John Macnamara has talked to you.
JM Did Schneiders tell you he didn't sign
anything.
CB He said that he has not signed anything.
JM Then he is telling you lies.
CB I said there are no problems. He said,
that's what I told John Macnamara.
JM He signed a statement.
Further general conversation and reiteration of
points already discussed.
CB You
must be able to find the shareholders of that company (Cornish
Investments).
JM I know in hindsight you try to discover all
these things, but the reason it was done through Panama was so
that people won't be able to discover where the money went. $900,000
has gone astray. Someone has lost $900,000, and Mohamed, I believe
has said that a share of that is his and he has been defrauded
and you were a party to it.
CB I would not have done anything where Mohamed
would have lost and, therefore, would have been defrauded. He
gained $150,000.
JM So someone has gained £900,000 you must
agree with that.
CB Yes, Crescent or those Cornish people.
JM They can't gain their own money. They paid
the money out. So if they paid out $1.8 million and they got
$900,000 coming back, they have gained nothing.
CB Maybe they didn't want to show too much profits.
Maybe they had profit sharing schemes so they wanted to reduce
their profits, I don't know.
JM Christoph, we are talking round in circles.
CB You have to talk to Hamid Jaffer and Klaas
Reinegert.
JM I will. Mohamed's instructions to me are
that if this can be prosecuted criminally, he will prosecute.
CB Yeah, fine.
JM That's why I'm trying to find out where the
money has gone.
CB Well, I haven't got it. You should also look
for the file. You will find all sorts of notes and things on
there.
JM You think Suleiman has this file? CB
There should be a file in my office.
Interview terminated at 5.30 pm.
1994 B No 2583
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEENS BENCH DIVISION
BETWEEN
JOHANN
CHRISTOPH BETTERMANN Plaintiff
and
MOHAMED AL-FAYED
Defendant
WITNESS STATEMENT OF ADNAN KARIM
I Adnan Abdul Karim Assad Abdulla, Company
Director of PO Box 1246, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, will
say as follows:
1. I am Vice Chairman of International
Marine Services and have been since 1991. I have been employed
by IMS and its associated companies for 19 years. Between 1986
and 1991 I was assistant to the President of IMS, Christoph Bettermann.
2. Although I worked fairly closely with Mr
Bettermann until his dismissal from IMS, he chose what matters
he wished to involve me in. I was involved in sitting through
the meetings to buy the Grey Mackenzie fleet. I knew generally
of the work of the salvage division. It was a profitable part
of the business. I cannot remember the salvage of the York Marine
in any great detail although I have a vague recollection about
the dangers involved. I do not recall and was not involved in
the negotiations with Crescent Petroleum about the guarantee
or the salvage fee. Mr Bettermann never asked me to be involved
in them or told me anything about them.
3. In the late spring of 1991, in April or May,
I began to hear rumours in Dubai that Mr Bettermann wanted to
work for another oil company, and that he was actively talking
to someone about a new job. This was at a time when Mr Bettermann
was not only heading IMS but also in a senior position in Harrods
in London as well, and I was sceptical about these rumours because
Mr Bettermann was in such a senior position and was so well paid.
Nevertheless, I heard them from about three or four different
sources; friends, and business acquaintances. I cannot now remember
who exactly told me of these rumours. IMS was undertaking quite
a lot of work for oil companies at the time and my recollection
is that, in part, I heard this information from contacts at other
oil companies. I telephoned Mr Al-Fayed to tell him of these
rumours and I also indicated that I was sceptical of them.
4. I cannot now recall precisely when I heard
that it was Crescent that Bettermann was talking to. It was, I
think, at about the same time and again, from one of the oil
companies that IMS was doing business with. The oil industry
in and about Dubai is quite close knit and rumours spread quickly.
Again, when I heard of these further rumours that Bettermann
was thinking of working for Crescent Petroleum, I again telephoned
Mr Al-Fayed to tell him of this.
5. One evening in June 1991, I was called by
Mr Bettermann from London. It was in the night at about 10.00
pm. He said to me "Adnan, I have been fired". He did
not tell me why. A few minutes later I got a call from Mohamed
Al-Fayed who told me he had fired Mr Bettermann. He also did not
tell me why. Mr Al-Fayed told me that the employment of Mr Schnieders
and Mr Bettermann's secretary - Judith Stafford - should be terminated
as soon as possible. I told Mr Al-Fayed it was too late by then
to call them that night so I telephoned the radio room at IMS's
offices to tell them not to allow Schnieders and Stafford to enter
the office the following morning until I arrived. The radio room
told me that Schnieders and Stafford were already there. I telephoned
Mr Zuhair Dabousi, IMS's public relations officer (who died about
two years ago) and asked him to meet me at the office, and I
then went straight to the office.
6. When I arrived at the office, where I met
Mr Dabousi, we found Schnieders and Stafford in Stafford's office.
I should explain that these offices are located at the far end
of IMS's administrative office building. Mrs Stafford's office
is located off the main corridor, and Mr Bettermann's office was
situated off Mrs Stafford's office. Mr Bettermann's office was
reached through Mrs Stafford's office and all Mr Bettermann's
papers and files were kept by Mrs Stafford in her office. Opposite
Mrs Stafford's office on the other side of the corridor were
the accounts offices including Mr Schnieders' office. When Mr
Dabousi and I found Schnieders and Stafford, I told them to leave
the offices immediately. They asked if they could take their personal
papers with him; I said no, and told them they could return for
these the following day. They offered no explanation, as far
as I can recall, of what they were doing. It seemed to me very
odd indeed that they should be in the office at what must have
been about midnight. I had never known an occasion when individuals,
particularly a secretary would work so late. IMS's normal office
hours were 7.30 am to 4.30 pm.
7. They left the offices and got into Mrs
Stafford's car to drive away. Once they had left, I and Mr. Dabousi
had a quick look round the offices. In the main accounting office
immediately opposite Mrs Stafford's office, there was a large
shredding machine. It was about three feet high and was the main
one used in the offices. There was no separate shredding machine
in Mr Bettermann's or Mrs Stafford's offices. This machine worked
when paper was fed through it, and switched off automatically
once the paper had been shredded. It was therefore not on. However,
the black plastic bag beneath it, used to catch shredded paper
was full and overflowing with shredded material. I was very surprised
by this since, firstly, I had not seen the shredding bag as full
as this before (we did not do a lot of shredding in the offices),
and secondly, the office boy usually cleaned the offices immediately
after they closed at about 5.00 pm and it was one of his tasks
to empty the shredding bag. I had not noticed the bag being full
earlier in the day.
8. I was then called from the office by the
security guard to the front gate, where they had stopped Mr Schnieders
and Mrs Stafford from leaving, because a large box files and documents
was visible on the back seat of the car. I went to the security
gate with Mr Dabousi and asked what these files were. Mrs Stafford
told me that they were Mr Bettermann's private papers. I said
that these could not be taken away. Mrs. Stafford started behaving
a little strangely, and became a little aggressive and mildly
hysterical. She seemed a little drunk to me and there was a smell
of alcohol on her breath. I asked them to give me the papers and
leave quietly otherwise I told them I would call the police.
Mr. Schnieders then agreed that the papers would be handed over
and I took them back. They agreed to leave immediately. I did
not allow them to take anything away.
9. I assumed that Bettermann had called them
and asked them to go to the office, as I had never known them
to be at the office at such an hour and because they were trying
to take away his papers.
10. I telephoned Mr Al-Fayed that night
from the office once Schnieders and Stafford had left to tell
him what had happened. He suggested I call the police; but by
then Schnieders and Stafford had left so I told him there was
no need. I did not report the matter to the police.
11. Subsequently, a day or so later, a search
of Mrs Stafford's office revealed an empty bottle of whisky.
When this was found, it confirmed my suspicions that Mrs Stafford
had been drunk the night she and Mr Schnieders had come to the
office.
12. Within a day or so, Bettermann came back
out to Dubai to deal with the final arrangements for his departure.
John Hadjiouannou (who worked for Mr Al-Fayed) also came out to
negotiate Bettermann's termination package. There was a meeting
at Bettermann's house with Bettermann, Hadjiouannou, Schnieders
and myself to discuss how much Bettermann was to be paid and
how long he would be allowed to remain in his villa. I do not
recall the detail of the negotiations but I do recall that Mr
Bettermann agreed at the meeting after some negotiation that
he would be paid $160,000. There was then a subsequent meeting
at which Mr Bettermann's lawyer, his wife and IMS's lawyers -
Allen and Overy - also attended to negotiate the detailed settlement
agreement. I was given a power of attorney from Mr Al-Fayed and
signed the agreement on his behalf from IMS, once the drafting
of it had been completed.
13. Mr Bettermann said nothing further during
these negotiations about his dismissal to me; he never said to
me that he had resigned of his own will.
14. I then ran IMS for a short period until
Ali Dahbashi became President of IMS towards the end of July
1991. At about this time, shortly after Mr Bettermann's departure,
Mr Al-Fayed asked me to have someone look through all the papers
to review everything Mr Bettermann had been involved in. I and
Ali Dahbashi asked Sheikh Suleiman to carry out a general review
of a number of matters including the salvage accounting files
and he told us, as a result of carrying out this review, that
he had discovered a very strange transaction involving the salvage
fee for the York Marine. He told us that $900,000, half of the
fee appeared to have been paid to an unconnected Panamanian company
called Cornish Investments.
15. I telephoned Mr Al-Fayed to tell of this,
explaining what Suleiman had told me. Mr Al-Fayed was concerned
about the transaction and asked me to look into it further. Mr
Al-Fayed certainly did not tell me or give me the impression
he knew about this transaction; on the contrary, he clearly knew
nothing about it and wanted it investigated. I then arranged,
as far as I can recall, for Suleiman and Omar Faris to put together
a file of papers drawing together all the information IMS had
on the transaction.
16. I sent this file of papers to Mr Al-Fayed
and I recall shortly afterwards speaking to John MacNamara in
London who had been asked to carry out further investigations
by Mr Al-Fayed. John subsequently sent me the statement of Schnieders
which he had made when John saw him. I believe that at about this
time I also sent copies of the papers to David Sherwin at Ernst
& Young in London.
17. We decided to obtain an opinion from Dubai
lawyers about the transaction and Ali Dahbashi and I went to
see Samir Jafar of Jafar Alwan and Associates to give him the
papers and discuss the matter with him. He wrote us a letter
of advice (which I passed on to Mohamed and Ali Fayed), but, in
short, his view as that Mr Bettermann's conduct was clearly criminal.
I and Ali Dahbashi discussed this advice with Mr Al-Fayed and
he decided that we should proceed with a criminal complaint and
I instructed Samir Jafar accordingly.
18. A week or two later, Mr Al-Fayed decided
to write to the ruler of Sharjah about the transaction. As he
had no arabic typewriter in London, Mr Al-Fayed dictated the
letter he wanted sent to me and it was typed in our offices in
Dubai. The letter was then sent to London by courier and was signed
by Mr Al-Fayed and returned to us. Ali Dahbashi then took the
letter to the Ruler's office personally. The further letter to
the Crown Prince written a week or so later came into existence
in the same way.
19. In the course of the next few years, during
the criminal proceedings against Mr Bettermann, articles appeared
in Gulf newspapers in english and arabic about the charges Mr
Bettermann was facing and the trial. None of these articles were
ever inspired by me. I recall that on one or two occasions I received
telephone calls from journalists asking for information about
Mr Bettermann and the case against him. I tried as best I could
to give a factual explanation of IMS's case and referred the
journalists to the Court or IMS's lawyer. I received no instructions
from Mohamed Al-Fayed to talk to journalists nor did I discuss
any of these press inquiries I received with Mr Al-Fayed.
20. I confirm that the contents of this statement
are true to the best of my knowledge, information and belief.
Adnan Karim
24 June 1995
1994 B No 2583
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
BETWEEN
JOHANN
CHRISTOPH BETTERMANN
Plaintiff
and
MOHAMED AL-FAYED
Defendant
| 
