By: Candia Dames

22 December 2005


Fredric Bourke, who was indicted in the United States along with Bahamas permanent resident, Viktor Kozeny, filed an “unusual motion” in a U.S. district court in New York alleging that he has lost “every penny of his investment” as a result of Kozeny’s criminal conduct.

In the court document, Bourke, who owns the handbag brand Dooney & Bourke, alleges that in the late 1990s, he was lured by Kozeny into investing millions of dollars of his own money into an investment opportunity relating to the privatization of state-owned businesses in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Bourke steadfastly maintains his innocence and states that he intends to mount a compelling defense at his trial.

The document also says that evidence will show that Bourke went to great lengths to document and expose Kozeny’s wrongdoing and that Bourke’s actions are entirely inconsistent with those of a person engaged in the crimes charged, who would seek to conceal, rather than publicize, allegedly illicit activities.

In October, U.S. officials indicted Kozeny, Bourke and David Pinkerton, an executive at insurance firm AIG, charging them with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which makes it a crime to offer to pay, or to pay, foreign government officials in order to obtain or retain business.

They were also charged with violating the Travel Act and money laundering.

U.S. officials alleged that they sought to ensure that the officials in Azerbaijan would privatize the state oil company (SOCAR) and allow them to share in the anticipated profits arising from the privatization.

Kozeny is being held at Her Majesty’s Prison in Fox Hill awaiting a court to set a date for his extradition proceedings. On Tuesday, Magistrate Carolita denied him bail when he appeared in her court.

An extradition hearing is set for January 30.

The US government alleges that Kozeny – a Czech born Lyford Cay resident – hatched a plan in the late 1990s to make a fortune when the state oil company was privatized.

According to the government, Kozeny intended to acquire for himself and co-conspirators sufficient vouchers and options to purchase at auction a controlling interest in Azerbaijan’s lucrative oil and gas industry.

It is alleged that Kozeny established two investment entities, Oily Rock Group, Inc., and Minaret Group Ltd. to achieve this plan.

Bourke’s attorneys say they will show through "compelling, corroborated evidence" that while Bourke was told in early 1998 that Azeri officials had numerous vouchers and might participate in Oily Rock, he reasonably believed that this participation would be through "legitimate investment, not any corrupt payments."

The court document also says that Bourke will also present irrefutable evidence that at the very time when he was allegedly conspiring with Kozeny in an unlawful scheme, he had begun to suspect that Kozeny was using Oily Rock and Minaret to engage in a criminal enterprise, which involved defrauding the Azeri people and the investors.

Kozeny’s co-defendant also alleges that he went to great lengths to collect evidence proving the fraud that Kozeny was perpetrating on the investors.

That evidence, according to Bourke’s attorneys, was compiled in a document called the "Book", the central purpose of which was to persuade law enforcement to investigate and prosecute Kozeny.

According to the attorneys, the Book – a centerpiece of Bourke’s defense – is comprised of a memorandum and hundreds of pages of detailed supporting documents, which provide a step-by-step account of Kozeny’s alleged criminal conduct.

The court document further alleges that Bourke even went to Azerbaijan and presented the Book to the president of Azerbaijan in an effort to thwart Kozeny’s criminal actions.

"It is simply not credible that if, as set forth in the indictment, Mr. Bourke was involved in criminal activity with Aliyev (the president) he would have gone to Azerbaijan – where President Aliyev had unfettered authority – to confront Aliyev with clear documentary evidence that, under the government’s theory, Mr. Bourke allegedly believed implicated Aliyev," the document states.

"To so threaten the Azeri leader, a de facto dictator and a former general in the KGB, would have put Mr. Bourke at considerable risk."

The document says Bourke’s defense will be presented through numerous witnesses, many of whom are or were leaders in the legal, business and diplomatic communities.

It said there is also "extensive exculpatory documentary evidence" including the Book, detailed financial records, corporate records and spreadsheets.

"Together this evidence will show that Mr. Bourke was among the many victimized innocent investors who lost their entire investment totaling more than $100 million to the duplicity of Kozeny and [his cohorts]," the document states.

The purpose of Bourke’s motion, which was field November 15 in the U.S. District Court in New York was an attempt to consolidated all the charges the men face before one judge. But The Aspen Times, in Colorado, where Bourke is a part-time resident, reported that the motion was denied earlier this month.