Are these coincidences or something more?
Ahmad Al-Khatib, the former director of Emerdata and the head of Auspex International launched with Cambridge Analytica’s Mark Turnbull — has worked with several UAE companies and was working for a Russian-owned company before launching Auspex.
Months ago I found a public listing for Ahmad Ashraf Al-Khatib (below left) which matched the original name on the Emerdata filing — Ahmad Ashraf Hosny Al Khatib — later shortened to Ahmad Al Khatib (below right).
Based on Ahmad Al-Khatib’s press release on the Auspex International website (above), he is 29 and came to London to attend school when he was 18 — around 2007 or 2008 — and he attended Cass Business School and City University London — information that matches with the public bio (below).
As the bio notes — Ahmad Al Khatib worked for both the Mubadala Development Company and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), which are both UAE sovereign wealth funds ultimately overseen by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan — who is the person Erik Prince met with in the Seychelles.
As I wrote in this article, the UAE government and Mubadala have made significant investments with the Russian Direct Investment Fund headed by Kirill Dmitriev — who also met with Erik Prince in the Seychelles.
Additionally, Mubadala and ADIA both make another appearance in the news related to the UK Brexit story. The Russian Direct Investment Fund led by Kirill Dmitriev organized a consortium to invest in diamond company Alrosa in 2016 — which included Mubadala, ADIA, and Charlemagne Capital.
Sources close to the 2016 Alrosa deal said Oppenheimer Funds (part of Lazard Ltd), Mubadala Development Company, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Charlemagne Capital took part in the offering. There were likely many additional investors, but it appears that Mellon’s Charlemagne Capital once again participated with several UAE investors as it had in 2013.
Charlemagne was founded by Jim Mellon, who is business partners with the largest Brexit funder Arron Banks, who was given a referral by the Russian ambassador to the UK about a deal involving Alrosa. Banks denied he pursued the deal, but it turned out his partner Mellon’s company Charlemagne had invested in Alrosa a few weeks after the Brexit referendum.
There is no indication that Ahmad Al-Khatib has any involvement in the Alrosa deal, or that he has ever met with Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan or Erik Prince.
However Al-Khatib was appointed to the board of directors of Emerdata on the same date as Erik Prince’s business partner Johnson Chun Shun Ko, on 23 January 2018.
In addition, Ahmad Al Khatib’s last role listed online was “Development Manager — Middle East, Africa & India @ AMAN.” Aman Resorts is owned by Russian businessman Vladislav Doronin.
Ahmad Al-Khatib and his brother Omar Al-Khatib, who is a director of Ahmad’s new company Auspex International Ltd, are both citizens of Seychelles.
In January 2017 Erik Prince met with the UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and with Kirill Dmitriev the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund in the Seychelles.
And then in January 2018, Erik Prince’s partner in Frontier Services Group became a director of Cambridge Analytica’s new company Emerdata on the same day as Ahmad Al-Khatib, who is a citizen of Seychelles, and who worked for two UAE sovereign wealth funds & for a Russian businessman.
Is this all a big coincidence — or something more?