FBI Questions Money Management Firm

by Carla Johnson, Investors Offshore.com, London

22 November 2001

London-based hedge-fund money management company EIM Group has been questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of an attempt to trace the finances of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorist network.

EIM Group, which has offices in London, New York and Geneva, is one of several companies in the hedge fund industry that has been contacted by American federal agents. A spokeswoman for EIM yesterday confirmed that the firm had been contacted by the FBI. “They made an inquiry and we responded to it and that was it,” she said. “That’s not to say that they might not come back.” She added that the FBI had told EIM that it was not the focus of an investigation.

The FBI is concerned that terrorists involved in the September 11 attacks made investments through hedge funds, which have a global reach and sometimes accept money through intermediaries whose clients can remain anonymous.

The company has allocated about $7 billion (£4.9 billion) on behalf of clients. It is thought that EIM used to manage money on behalf of the bin Laden family, which has disowned Osama bin Laden for his terrorist activities. Founder and chairman of EIM, 39-year old Frenchman Arpad Busson, leapt onto the front pages (well ok, of Hello magazine) as the father of supermodel Elle McPherson’s son.

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