Seriously on what planet does anyone think 'INVESTING' in Charlton at whatever price Roland sells at will yield any sort of return of note , how about never
I thought that was obvious, if / when the club gets to the Premier League, no?
But I tell yo what, why don't you come up with reasons why you poopoo everyting that anyone ever says to try and make positive sense of all this, instead of wading asking what planet they're on
Well how they getting on raising the money for this 'investment' i'm saying no one seems to want to take a bite at the Charlton football cherry because it's clearly overpriced and the risk reward is not worth it I'm saying anyone wanting to invest in Charlton would be nuts and would be on a different planet to reality
I'm saying it as i see it , it takes a lot of money to get to the Prem these days and a shedload more to stay there and people don't appear to be rushing forward to have a punt .
I only say it as i see it and just because my pessimistic cautious suspicious approach to the current set up has proved right doesn't mean I'll always be right but it looked a bit obvious to me and I'm surprised more didn't see it , sorry for being right
I disagree. It's difficult but can be done.
It's not unrealistic to think our best XI this season could have been - Phillips, Matthews, Lockyer, Bauer, Purrington, Pratley, Cullen, Gallagher, Aribo, Taylor, Bonne
Ok two of those players wouldn't have been ours, but another 2/3 decent freebies, couple of loans and then say 5mil invested and we could easily have finished top 6/8.
I agree with a following wind and a lot of luck it can be achieved cheaper than your Wolves but more often than not it isn't , Sheffield Utd must have done it reasonably but they're the exception
Then what you do when you get there is anyones guess , I know the americans who bought in to palace were looking to sell due to the extortionate wages, transfer fees that take place once in the prem Best bet is to try and get up cheap pocket the money oyston style and run , to get a decent profit .... which is beyond horrendous
It's definitely difficult, especially with the money in the Championship now. Our start got some attention because we were achieving so much on so little.
We still have a few decent players but investment is desperately needed.
It's certainly becoming more and more a hobby for the rich then an investment that's for sure.
Again though, he's there on behalf of other investors. If any money ever comes into Charlton via Nimer, I doubt it's his own.
Like I said before, doesn't he manage their finances though? Not sure what the rules are out there, but doesn't he just invest thier money to make a return? Meaning, he's basically worth whatever they're willing to trust him with.
I just think that sometimes, the internet doesn't hold the answers
Er, no. I invest money for my clients to make a return but I'm not worth what they invest. Currently around £15m I'd say that I have "under management". In your terms I could rock up & ask for 25% of CAFC.
Another thought - I you were pending someone else's money, would you really act in such an unprofessional way? if I saw someone acting like that with my cash I would go Bat S Crazy. i would expect him to be angry if funds were being misspent, but i would want it dealt with in a legal professional manner.
You mean like instructing your lawyers to deal with the subject.
You mean the lawyer that was associated with MS 5 years ago & who MS didnt pay.
"In all the gin joints in all the bars in all the world & you had to choose my lawyer..."
Again though, he's there on behalf of other investors. If any money ever comes into Charlton via Nimer, I doubt it's his own.
Like I said before, doesn't he manage their finances though? Not sure what the rules are out there, but doesn't he just invest thier money to make a return? Meaning, he's basically worth whatever they're willing to trust him with.
I just think that sometimes, the internet doesn't hold the answers
Er, no. I invest money for my clients to make a return but I'm not worth what they invest. Currently around £15m I'd say that I have "under management". In your terms I could rock up & ask for 25% of CAFC.
Like I said, the way things are done in the Mid East could be completley different to those done here and Nimer may have a longer leash than you have. I'm not saying this is correct, just posing a question mate and looking outside the box.
Again though, he's there on behalf of other investors. If any money ever comes into Charlton via Nimer, I doubt it's his own.
Like I said before, doesn't he manage their finances though? Not sure what the rules are out there, but doesn't he just invest thier money to make a return? Meaning, he's basically worth whatever they're willing to trust him with.
I just think that sometimes, the internet doesn't hold the answers
Er, no. I invest money for my clients to make a return but I'm not worth what they invest. Currently around £15m I'd say that I have "under management". In your terms I could rock up & ask for 25% of CAFC.
I appreciate the effort 77redarmy but no amount of internet digging is going to uncover and prove the potential wealth of TN. The finances of Middle East royal families and their high level associates are notoriously opaque. Even the numbers that are published for UAE royalty are pure guesses by journalists. The only thing we have to go on is that these high level associates clearly spend money, are long rumored to be multi millionaires themselves and are used by the royals to front certain investments. That is not much to go on. We as fans will never know If TN is wealthy or an intermediary. The proof will only come when he does or doesn’t invest in the club in future years. So the question becomes are we as fans ready to take that leap of faith and place some trust in him or be miserable and worry.
Another thought - I you were pending someone else's money, would you really act in such an unprofessional way? if I saw someone acting like that with my cash I would go Bat S Crazy. i would expect him to be angry if funds were being misspent, but i would want it dealt with in a legal professional manner.
You mean like instructing your lawyers to deal with the subject.
You mean the lawyer that was associated with MS 5 years ago & who MS didnt pay.
"In all the gin joints in all the bars in all the world & you had to choose my lawyer..."
I expect Nimer has several lawyers, each with a specific skillset. One for EFL stuff, one for ADBD stuff, one for when he picks up bitches (just kidding)
EXCLUSIVE "They are fraudsters. Their investment fund is a sham ”. Serious accusations in England: who are the "sheikhs" who want to take Dinamo together with the controversial Claudiu Florică
Last
Friday, the controversial Romanian businessman Claudiu Florică was
named, surprisingly, along with another Romanian, Marian Mihail, in the
management of the company that controls the English club Charlton.The conditions under which they were appointed are extremely controversial.
Put there by a Syrian friend, Tahnoon Nimer, presumed administrator of a
royal investment fund in the Emirate, Claudiu Florică immediately
announced that the next step of the investor group will be to take over
the Dinamo club.
Florică and Mihail, a passionate football and aviation lawyer, have
replaced Matt Southall and Jonathan Heller, two directors appointed by
Tahnoon Nimer to the club since taking over Charlton Athletic in January
2019.
The first of them, Matt Southall - a former football and hockey player
and former player agent - was scandalously removed from the Board of
Directors, but he is still the club's executive director, with a salary
of 300,000 pounds a year.
He is accused by Nimer of spending the club's money unreasonably for the past two months.
Matt Southall and Tahnoon Nimer at the time they took over Charlton, and the tensions between them had not begun
The second director, Jonathan Heller, was the general secretary of the
reputed European Atomic Energy Agency in the 1990s, then the director of
a major UK pension fund.
Last year, he was listed as Chief Executive Office (CEO) on the site of
Abu Dhabi Business Development, the alleged investment fund run by
Tahnoon Nimer. on behalf of Sheikh Saeed Bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan.
Heller - who played the role of independent director in the club - was
not accused of anything, but he was also removed from the club.
In the last two days, Gazeta tried to talk with all the important
people involved in the tense events at the Charlton English club in
order to understand how the investment fund interested in taking over
the Dinamo Bucharest club.
Who is Charlton Athletic?
Founded in 1905, Charlton Athletic lived its glory periods just before
World War II, when it fought for the title in the first league, then
between 2000 and 2004 when it was close to taking a Champions League
place. .
The club in south-east London subsequently reached twice in the third
league, and now ranks 22nd (relegation) out of 24 in the Championship,
second league
The Valley Stadium, target for a real estate project
On November 29, 2019, while in Romania the talks about the interest of
the businessman Claudiu Florică for Dinamo were extinguished, the
English press announced the takeover of the Charlton Athletic club by
Arab investors.
In the last 5 years, the club had been owned by the Belgian Roland
Duchatelet, had collected debts of 7 million pounds, and the fans had
already started protest movements against the employer considered a
"skinny dictator".
“The investor group has given 65 million euros to Charlton and wants to buy Dinamo. They are associated with Claudiu Florică ” - Anamaria Prodan Reghecampf , January 13, 2020, at GSP Live
This is how East Street Investments Limited, a newly established
company in the UK, was featured by Tahnoon Nimer, a 44-year-old Syrian
who is recommended doctor and administrator of the Royal Abu Dhabi
Business Development fund, and by Matt Southall.
According to the agreement between the two, Nimer - through Panorama
Magic General Contracting LCC - had 65 percent of the shares, Southall
35 percent.
1,300,000 pounds are Charlton's monthly expenses, according to Matt Southall
The official takeover of the club from Ronald Duchatelet took place on
January 2, 2020. The British press carried the price of 50 million
pounds, but the people brought by Nimer to Charlton explained for GSP
the more complicated business plans.
The original price paid was only one pound! The rest had to come from a real estate project.
Charlton's new stadium according to the project presented by Tahnoon Nimer in negotiations with Duchatelet
“The plan to pay Duchatelet's money is to relocate the club to a new stadium, located above the Thames, near the O2 Arena. By then, Charlton was going to play at Crystal Palace. The Valley (no - Charlton Stadium)
it was going to be demolished and Nimer was seeking to obtain the
approvals for the erection of a 1,000-apartment complex, and from the
profit generated to pay Duchatelet the price for the club ” , explained Matt Southall for GSP.
Jonathan Heller summed it up: “I can't contradict what Southall said! But I certainly tell you that Duchatelet requested a guarantee from Tahnoon. It was not only based on the success of this real estate project, but accepted a guarantee from Tahnoon. ”
Southall says Nimer's guarantee was 50 million pounds payable over the
next five years, but that the Syrian who wants to buy Dinamo has no
serious cover for that money.
Nimer's $ 50 million guarantee. Southall says the English League considered the document "unconvincing", but Nimer refused to accept the check at the bank
In fact, according to Southall, Nimer did not invest any pounds in
Charlton in the nearly three months after taking over, instead he spent
the money found in the club.
From here, he says, the civil war in Charlton began.
Shopping at Harrods, for club money
"They are fraudsters, and the Abu Dhabi Business Development Investment
Fund is a scam," says Southall about the group led by Tahnoon Nimer,
his associate since taking over Charlton.
The Gazette came into possession of a fragment of a bank statement on a
card linked to Charlton's accounts, apparently used by Nimer for
personal purposes.
According to the document, on February 5, 2020, Charlton's Syrian
financier would have spent £ 290 at London's famous Harrods, and on
February 17 he paid £ 2,797 for a meal at a restaurant in Dubai.
Southall says that, after the expenses were discovered, Nimer's access to the accounts was blocked: "Until I did that, Nimer and his advisers removed 50,000 pounds in a month."
"The takeover of the club took place on January 2. The chief financial
officer told Nimer that he must bring in $ 5 million to start, but he
has not made any money so far. The only money Nimer has made in Charlton
since January has been that lira paid to Duchatelet, which I also paid " - Matt Southall , for GSP
Heller knows about the document and confirms it. The former head of European atomic energy, however, is far more reserved than Southall.
Heller - who says he is no one's ally in the Charlton conflict -
carefully chooses his words: "If you ask me if there was more money left
from Charlton to Tahnoon than from Tahnoon to Charlton, without discussion there was more money left from Charlton's accounts to those of Tahnoon. But the same is true of Southall. However, many stories have been told about Matt Southall's expenses and I have a suspicion that many of them are not true. ”
“Matt Southall is a person with a certain lifestyle, and this lifestyle
is justified only if you have a well-funded club behind. I think he sincerely believed, as I believed, that Tahnoon's promises on financing will be fulfilled. - Jonathan Heller , former director at Charlton, for GSP
The fans jump at Southall's neck
Southall was accused by Nimer of using a Ranger Rover and expensive
apartment after their entry into the club, paid for by the club's money. Nimer also posted on Instagram the address of the apartment so fans can go and ask for it.
From that moment, Charlton's supporters turned against Southall, setting up Nimer's social media networks in the civil war.
"Tahnoon wanted to turn the fans against me. That apartment was for Tahnoon when he came to England.And his advisers used that apartment.Car?Yes, I have a car from the club, but his advisers have cars from the club.The club manager has a service car .
The only money I took was the money recovered for the expenses of
taking over the club, the rest were my salaries ”, defends Southall.
"Boss with friends". Tahnoon Nimer, Claudiu Florică (second from right) and two friends in London
"When Tahnoon did not live up to his promise to raise money, the Syrian
started an offensive and said he must first get rid of Southall in
order to finance the club." - Jonathan Heller , former director at Charlton, for GSP
Among the arguments made by fans on Twitter against Southall was a
story that took place in 2004, when a certain Matthew Southall - then a
19-year-old hockey player at the Blackburn Hawks - pleaded guilty to the
charge of theft. Southall was part of a group that stole CDs, DVDs and video games from stores.
"Yes I am. I was young, I got into an inappropriate environment and got a slap in the life. My life changed completely, I graduated from college and got a master's degree ” , admits Charlton's executive director in discussion with GSP.
On Friday, he was removed from the Board of Directors. Like Heller, the man brought by Nimer from his investment fund.
Sources: Tahnoon, the illegitimate child of a sheik
Southall and Heller did not know each other until last year when,
through the same common knowledge, they were presented separately to
Tahnoon Nimer, a Syrian citizen born in 1976 in Al Ain, United Arab
Emirates.
Gazette sources claim that Tahnoon
Nimer - Tahnoon Al Nasirat, on the name of the Syrian passport used to
enter the United Kingdom, or Tahnoun Al Nsiriat, according to the
Emirates Driving License - is the illegitimate son of one of the sheikhs
of the Al Nahyan family, the influential ruling family. from the United
Arab Emirates.
On his Instagram page, Nimer frequently posts shocked photos and videos
around the three most important sheikhs of the Al Nahyan family, and in
particular pictures with the state leader, Mohammed Bin Zayed Al
Nahyan, known by the planet's leaders under the nickname "MbZ". However, Nimer appears in a close posture just next to Sheik Saaed Bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan.
Tahnoon Nimer, caught up with Sheikh Saaed Bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, a member of the Emirate royal family. Source: Instagram
“I also heard the story that he is the son of a sheik, made with a
housekeeper, and that he is married to one of the daughters of Mohammed
Bin Zayed, the ruler of the Emirates. But after a visit to Dubai, this variant does not stand up ” says Southall, the chief executive officer and also the minority shareholder in the company that controls Charlton.
Earlier in the year, Southall went to the Emirate to talk to his Syrian business partner. "When
we arrived, I was expecting to go to a palace, but we arrived at an
office on a side street, somewhere on the 1st floor. Nimer drove us in a
six-year-old Mercedes.We did not meet anyone from the royal family . ”
The newspaper showed Southall a picture posted by Nimer in 2015 (photo, above) , on his Instagram account, with a panorama of a skyscraper, along with the comment "view from my office". The Englishman laughed: "It's not his office. Everything that makes this guy smells from a scam post. "
On the same Instagram account of Nimer, there is a photo with a
diplomatic passport from the Emirate that suggests that the Syrian would
be the holder of the document. The information upset Southall and Heller. “If he really had that diplomatic passport, he would no longer go through the difficult formalities of entering the UK. He came in with a Syrian passport, a country at war, imagine it was difficult to get a visa, ”says Southall.
Heller adds: “At one point, Nimer told me I would owe him if I could get him a South African passport. If he had a diplomatic passport from the Emirate, why did he need all the complication with the Syrian passport? ”.
Tahnoon entered the United Kingdom using the citizenship of a state, Syria, considered a terrorist in the West.
The same passport would also have been used to enter Romania where he
was caught last week by the Cancan paparazzi at a table in the Mandaloun
restaurant with businessman Alex Sadagorschi and Cristi Gîrleanu, a
nephew of Nicolae Ceausescu.
Tahnoon Nimer is actually Tahnoon Al Nasirat. In his driving license, his name appears as Tahnoun Al Nsiriat
Romanian journalists called him a sheik and announced that Tahnoon had
come to negotiate with Negoiță to take over Dinamo through his
investment fund.
But, says Jonathan Heller, who was the CEO of Abu Dhabi Business
Development (ADBD), that fund is not, in fact, an investment fund.
“It is impossible to call ADBD a fund. It's a platform. Initially, ADBD was presented to me as a private equity investment fund, but I can say with certainty that ADBD is not that. A private equity fund has money. When I asked what funds they could use and what strategy they had, I received vague answers. I realized that this is a company that deals with the piece, ”says Heller.
The Gazette will publish tomorrow the second part of the investigation
into the takeover of Charlton and Dinamo Bucharest, where you can read:
what the former director of Abu Dhabi Business Development says about Tahnoon's business
why Syrian Tahnoon has refused to submit to the English League the proof of the source of the promised investment money
reports from the tense session in which Claudiu Florică and Marian Mihail were named "illegally" directors in Charlton
disclosures from discussions on the plans of Tahnoon Nimer and Claudiu Florică about the investment in Dinamo
Claudiu Florică, Tahnoon Nimer and Marian Mihail could not be contacted for comment on the Charlton situation.
Image published by Cancan and ProSport with Tahnoon Nimer in a restaurant in Bucharest. Source: Cancan
It's a hatchet job which you are quick to give credence to @77redarmy77
I hate them both equally, let's be clear. but Matt isn't relevant as he isn't the money man. the only person I care about is Tahnoon and his fund. Neither seems to be legit. When someone releases information and it correlates to extensive research then that proves they aren't lying. We have been fed crumbs for months now and they are all starting to look like a slice of bread.
I honestly hope that it is all BS and Tahnoon is indeed extremely wealthy. But all the evidence suggests he is a fraud.
It's a hatchet job which you are quick to give credence to @77redarmy77
I hate them both equally, let's be clear. but Matt isn't relevant as he isn't the money man. the only person I care about is Tahnoon and his fund. Neither seems to be legit. When someone releases information and it correlates to extensive research then that proves they aren't lying. We have been fed crumbs for months now and they are all starting to look like a slice of bread.
I honestly hope that it is all BS and Tahnoon is indeed extremely wealthy. But all the evidence suggests he is a fraud.
Sadly I think I have come round to this same view.
Looks like we have all been taken for complete mugs and our money spent on their lifestyles. How depressing. And we thought it couldn't get any worse. Things are going to unwind very quickly from here.
I would say on the balance of probabilities this is one big fraud. Nimer could be dragging it out to remove any remaining funds from Charlton's accounts.
Whatever anyone else says I still come back to the point I've made numerous times.
If Nimer is an upstanding businessman, why would he travel from Abu Dhabi to Romania to set up business with the mastermind of a $667M money laundering and bribery scheme ?
Whether Flaurico got off on a technicality and or because he gave evidence against all the others he roped into the scheme is neither here nor there to me.
I lot of the ‘evidence’ has been supplied by Southall. I’m not saying it’s not true, but god help me if I ever believe a word that scumbag says.
The thing I was thinking throughout that entire article was that if Nimer is such a laughable fraud, why was Southall in business with him in the first place? I don't trust anyone involved in this but Southall painting Nimer as some hilarious clown doesn't tally well with him going into a venture with him
I lot of the ‘evidence’ has been supplied by Southall. I’m not saying it’s not true, but god help me if I ever believe a word that scumbag says.
The thing I was thinking throughout that entire article was that if Nimer is such a laughable fraud, why was Southall in business with him in the first place? I don't trust anyone involved in this but Southall painting Nimer as some hilarious clown doesn't tally well with him going into a venture with him
Exactly. It's just more point scoring in their bicker.
It's a hatchet job which you are quick to give credence to @77redarmy77
I hate them both equally, let's be clear. but Matt isn't relevant as he isn't the money man. the only person I care about is Tahnoon and his fund. Neither seems to be legit. When someone releases information and it correlates to extensive research then that proves they aren't lying. We have been fed crumbs for months now and they are all starting to look like a slice of bread.
I honestly hope that it is all BS and Tahnoon is indeed extremely wealthy. But all the evidence suggests he is a fraud.
This 'research' of yours? Sure you re-activated a discussion earlier in this thread and got some people going, but this Romanian story doesn't amount to evidence that validates your efforts. It's still just noise. Until the English courts make decisions on the basis of evidence in front of them, and until Nimer satisfies the EFL and spends some money where we can see it (on the club), we are no further forward. And that is a position i think you would agree with - as you seem to have earlier in this thread.
It's a hatchet job which you are quick to give credence to @77redarmy77
I hate them both equally, let's be clear. but Matt isn't relevant as he isn't the money man. the only person I care about is Tahnoon and his fund. Neither seems to be legit. When someone releases information and it correlates to extensive research then that proves they aren't lying. We have been fed crumbs for months now and they are all starting to look like a slice of bread.
I honestly hope that it is all BS and Tahnoon is indeed extremely wealthy. But all the evidence suggests he is a fraud.
This 'research' of yours? Sure you re-activated a discussion earlier in this thread and got some people going, but this Romanian story doesn't amount to evidence that validates your efforts. It's still just noise. Until the English courts make decisions on the basis of evidence in front of them, and until Nimer satisfies the EFL and spends some money where we can see it (on the club), we are no further forward. And that is a position i think you would agree with - as you seem to have earlier in this thread.
How is Tahnoon going to build on the Valley when he doesn't own it.
If he's a fraud how is he going to get ownership of the Valley?
A 1,000 apartments. That's some high density building even for London. And there is no planning permission.
Nimer has a lot of explaining to do and more importantly a lot of money to prove he has but Southall was bleeding the club dry. He's not even denying that so I don't believe all this. All the illegitimate child stuff WTF.
And why is Southall giving all this to the Romanian, rather than the British, press.
I have been hesitating to put in my two-penneth on this simply because what I have heard isn't good news and is also a bit vague. However, there might be a few small jigsaw pieces that are useful when put with other pieces.
Since the revelation about the ground not being part of the deal I went out to my network: an investment banker in Abu Dhabi, a friend who has extensive football connections in this country, and a Romanian friend who has extensive football and business connections back in his home country.
Here's what I've had back:
1. Investment banker - didn't know much about ABDB, except that he thought they were purely a property development outfit. Was sure that any interest here would be purely property related. 2. Youth coach mate from his network - Matt Southall and his friends are conmen and on the make - steer clear. 3. Romanian friend - a close friend of his used to report to Florica. He is not to be trusted and will drain the club of money - steer clear.
No massive surprises there but all new sources from this forum's perspective. None of these sources have an axe to grind with anyone in question - they did their digging at my request. I really hope that Nimer actually is a front for the sheikh and there is money, but it's looking less and less likely, given his business acquaintances.
I should mention a personal issue that is affecting my optimism. I recently got legged over by a couple of people that would describe themselves as property developers, one of whom was reportedly worth hundreds of millions. Offices in Mayfair, directorships in dozens of companies, etc., etc. Turns out 'neither of them have any money', though they manage to drink champagne in Harrods and holiday in five star hotels on a regular basis. These guys are starting to sound like the same type of characters.
What's the chances Nimer hired Southall as a knowledgeable but honest stooge to front the business and that Southall believed he was really a loaded Sheik who was going to splash the cash? The reality being both were thieving conmen who expected to profit from the other....
Comments
We still have a few decent players but investment is desperately needed.
It's certainly becoming more and more a hobby for the rich then an investment that's for sure.
"In all the gin joints in all the bars in all the world & you had to choose my lawyer..."
But would you get a Range Rover?
EXCLUSIVE "They are fraudsters. Their investment fund is a sham ”. Serious accusations in England: who are the "sheikhs" who want to take Dinamo together with the controversial Claudiu Florică
Article by - Costin Ștucan Monday, March 23 ,, 11:39 am
Last Friday, the controversial Romanian businessman Claudiu Florică was named, surprisingly, along with another Romanian, Marian Mihail, in the management of the company that controls the English club Charlton. The conditions under which they were appointed are extremely controversial.
Put there by a Syrian friend, Tahnoon Nimer, presumed administrator of a royal investment fund in the Emirate, Claudiu Florică immediately announced that the next step of the investor group will be to take over the Dinamo club.
Florică and Mihail, a passionate football and aviation lawyer, have replaced Matt Southall and Jonathan Heller, two directors appointed by Tahnoon Nimer to the club since taking over Charlton Athletic in January 2019.
The first of them, Matt Southall - a former football and hockey player and former player agent - was scandalously removed from the Board of Directors, but he is still the club's executive director, with a salary of 300,000 pounds a year.
He is accused by Nimer of spending the club's money unreasonably for the past two months.
Matt Southall and Tahnoon Nimer at the time they took over Charlton, and the tensions between them had not begun
The second director, Jonathan Heller, was the general secretary of the reputed European Atomic Energy Agency in the 1990s, then the director of a major UK pension fund. Last year, he was listed as Chief Executive Office (CEO) on the site of Abu Dhabi Business Development, the alleged investment fund run by Tahnoon Nimer. on behalf of Sheikh Saeed Bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan.
Heller - who played the role of independent director in the club - was not accused of anything, but he was also removed from the club.
In the last two days, Gazeta tried to talk with all the important people involved in the tense events at the Charlton English club in order to understand how the investment fund interested in taking over the Dinamo Bucharest club.
Who is Charlton Athletic?
Founded in 1905, Charlton Athletic lived its glory periods just before World War II, when it fought for the title in the first league, then between 2000 and 2004 when it was close to taking a Champions League place. . The club in south-east London subsequently reached twice in the third league, and now ranks 22nd (relegation) out of 24 in the Championship, second league
The Valley Stadium, target for a real estate project
On November 29, 2019, while in Romania the talks about the interest of the businessman Claudiu Florică for Dinamo were extinguished, the English press announced the takeover of the Charlton Athletic club by Arab investors.
In the last 5 years, the club had been owned by the Belgian Roland Duchatelet, had collected debts of 7 million pounds, and the fans had already started protest movements against the employer considered a "skinny dictator".
This is how East Street Investments Limited, a newly established company in the UK, was featured by Tahnoon Nimer, a 44-year-old Syrian who is recommended doctor and administrator of the Royal Abu Dhabi Business Development fund, and by Matt Southall.
According to the agreement between the two, Nimer - through Panorama Magic General Contracting LCC - had 65 percent of the shares, Southall 35 percent.
1,300,000 pounds are Charlton's monthly expenses, according to Matt Southall
The official takeover of the club from Ronald Duchatelet took place on January 2, 2020. The British press carried the price of 50 million pounds, but the people brought by Nimer to Charlton explained for GSP the more complicated business plans.
The original price paid was only one pound! The rest had to come from a real estate project.
Charlton's new stadium according to the project presented by Tahnoon Nimer in negotiations with Duchatelet
“The plan to pay Duchatelet's money is to relocate the club to a new stadium, located above the Thames, near the O2 Arena. By then, Charlton was going to play at Crystal Palace. The Valley (no - Charlton Stadium) it was going to be demolished and Nimer was seeking to obtain the approvals for the erection of a 1,000-apartment complex, and from the profit generated to pay Duchatelet the price for the club ” , explained Matt Southall for GSP.
Jonathan Heller summed it up: “I can't contradict what Southall said! But I certainly tell you that Duchatelet requested a guarantee from Tahnoon. It was not only based on the success of this real estate project, but accepted a guarantee from Tahnoon. ”
Southall says Nimer's guarantee was 50 million pounds payable over the next five years, but that the Syrian who wants to buy Dinamo has no serious cover for that money.
Nimer's $ 50 million guarantee. Southall says the English League considered the document "unconvincing", but Nimer refused to accept the check at the bank
In fact, according to Southall, Nimer did not invest any pounds in Charlton in the nearly three months after taking over, instead he spent the money found in the club.
From here, he says, the civil war in Charlton began.
Shopping at Harrods, for club money
"They are fraudsters, and the Abu Dhabi Business Development Investment Fund is a scam," says Southall about the group led by Tahnoon Nimer, his associate since taking over Charlton.
The Gazette came into possession of a fragment of a bank statement on a card linked to Charlton's accounts, apparently used by Nimer for personal purposes. According to the document, on February 5, 2020, Charlton's Syrian financier would have spent £ 290 at London's famous Harrods, and on February 17 he paid £ 2,797 for a meal at a restaurant in Dubai.
Southall says that, after the expenses were discovered, Nimer's access to the accounts was blocked: "Until I did that, Nimer and his advisers removed 50,000 pounds in a month."
Heller knows about the document and confirms it. The former head of European atomic energy, however, is far more reserved than Southall.
Heller - who says he is no one's ally in the Charlton conflict - carefully chooses his words: "If you ask me if there was more money left from Charlton to Tahnoon than from Tahnoon to Charlton, without discussion there was more money left from Charlton's accounts to those of Tahnoon. But the same is true of Southall. However, many stories have been told about Matt Southall's expenses and I have a suspicion that many of them are not true. ”
The fans jump at Southall's neck
Southall was accused by Nimer of using a Ranger Rover and expensive apartment after their entry into the club, paid for by the club's money. Nimer also posted on Instagram the address of the apartment so fans can go and ask for it.
From that moment, Charlton's supporters turned against Southall, setting up Nimer's social media networks in the civil war.
"Tahnoon wanted to turn the fans against me. That apartment was for Tahnoon when he came to England. And his advisers used that apartment. Car? Yes, I have a car from the club, but his advisers have cars from the club. The club manager has a service car . The only money I took was the money recovered for the expenses of taking over the club, the rest were my salaries ”, defends Southall.
"Boss with friends". Tahnoon Nimer, Claudiu Florică (second from right) and two friends in London
Among the arguments made by fans on Twitter against Southall was a story that took place in 2004, when a certain Matthew Southall - then a 19-year-old hockey player at the Blackburn Hawks - pleaded guilty to the charge of theft. Southall was part of a group that stole CDs, DVDs and video games from stores.
"Yes I am. I was young, I got into an inappropriate environment and got a slap in the life. My life changed completely, I graduated from college and got a master's degree ” , admits Charlton's executive director in discussion with GSP.
On Friday, he was removed from the Board of Directors. Like Heller, the man brought by Nimer from his investment fund.
Sources: Tahnoon, the illegitimate child of a sheik
Southall and Heller did not know each other until last year when, through the same common knowledge, they were presented separately to Tahnoon Nimer, a Syrian citizen born in 1976 in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.
Gazette sources claim that Tahnoon Nimer - Tahnoon Al Nasirat, on the name of the Syrian passport used to enter the United Kingdom, or Tahnoun Al Nsiriat, according to the Emirates Driving License - is the illegitimate son of one of the sheikhs of the Al Nahyan family, the influential ruling family. from the United Arab Emirates.
On his Instagram page, Nimer frequently posts shocked photos and videos around the three most important sheikhs of the Al Nahyan family, and in particular pictures with the state leader, Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, known by the planet's leaders under the nickname "MbZ". However, Nimer appears in a close posture just next to Sheik Saaed Bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan.
Tahnoon Nimer, caught up with Sheikh Saaed Bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, a member of the Emirate royal family. Source: Instagram
“I also heard the story that he is the son of a sheik, made with a housekeeper, and that he is married to one of the daughters of Mohammed Bin Zayed, the ruler of the Emirates. But after a visit to Dubai, this variant does not stand up ” says Southall, the chief executive officer and also the minority shareholder in the company that controls Charlton.
Earlier in the year, Southall went to the Emirate to talk to his Syrian business partner. "When we arrived, I was expecting to go to a palace, but we arrived at an office on a side street, somewhere on the 1st floor. Nimer drove us in a six-year-old Mercedes. We did not meet anyone from the royal family . ”
The newspaper showed Southall a picture posted by Nimer in 2015 (photo, above) , on his Instagram account, with a panorama of a skyscraper, along with the comment "view from my office". The Englishman laughed: "It's not his office. Everything that makes this guy smells from a scam post. "
On the same Instagram account of Nimer, there is a photo with a diplomatic passport from the Emirate that suggests that the Syrian would be the holder of the document. The information upset Southall and Heller. “If he really had that diplomatic passport, he would no longer go through the difficult formalities of entering the UK. He came in with a Syrian passport, a country at war, imagine it was difficult to get a visa, ”says Southall.
Heller adds: “At one point, Nimer told me I would owe him if I could get him a South African passport. If he had a diplomatic passport from the Emirate, why did he need all the complication with the Syrian passport? ”.
Tahnoon entered the United Kingdom using the citizenship of a state, Syria, considered a terrorist in the West. The same passport would also have been used to enter Romania where he was caught last week by the Cancan paparazzi at a table in the Mandaloun restaurant with businessman Alex Sadagorschi and Cristi Gîrleanu, a nephew of Nicolae Ceausescu.
Tahnoon Nimer is actually Tahnoon Al Nasirat. In his driving license, his name appears as Tahnoun Al Nsiriat
Romanian journalists called him a sheik and announced that Tahnoon had come to negotiate with Negoiță to take over Dinamo through his investment fund. But, says Jonathan Heller, who was the CEO of Abu Dhabi Business Development (ADBD), that fund is not, in fact, an investment fund.
“It is impossible to call ADBD a fund. It's a platform. Initially, ADBD was presented to me as a private equity investment fund, but I can say with certainty that ADBD is not that. A private equity fund has money. When I asked what funds they could use and what strategy they had, I received vague answers. I realized that this is a company that deals with the piece, ”says Heller.
The Gazette will publish tomorrow the second part of the investigation into the takeover of Charlton and Dinamo Bucharest, where you can read:
Claudiu Florică, Tahnoon Nimer and Marian Mihail could not be contacted for comment on the Charlton situation.
Image published by Cancan and ProSport with Tahnoon Nimer in a restaurant in Bucharest. Source: Cancan
Nimer could be dragging it out to remove any remaining funds from Charlton's accounts.
Whatever anyone else says I still come back to the point I've made numerous times.
If Nimer is an upstanding businessman, why would he travel from Abu Dhabi to Romania to set up business with the mastermind of a $667M money laundering and bribery scheme ?
Whether Flaurico got off on a technicality and or because he gave evidence against all the others he roped into the scheme is neither here nor there to me.
Nimer may well be dodgy but that doesn't make what Southall did right at all.
How is Tahnoon going to build on the Valley when he doesn't own it.
If he's a fraud how is he going to get ownership of the Valley?
A 1,000 apartments. That's some high density building even for London. And there is no planning permission.
Nimer has a lot of explaining to do and more importantly a lot of money to prove he has but Southall was bleeding the club dry. He's not even denying that so I don't believe all this. All the illegitimate child stuff WTF.
And why is Southall giving all this to the Romanian, rather than the British, press.
Since the revelation about the ground not being part of the deal I went out to my network: an investment banker in Abu Dhabi, a friend who has extensive football connections in this country, and a Romanian friend who has extensive football and business connections back in his home country.
Here's what I've had back:
1. Investment banker - didn't know much about ABDB, except that he thought they were purely a property development outfit. Was sure that any interest here would be purely property related.
2. Youth coach mate from his network - Matt Southall and his friends are conmen and on the make - steer clear.
3. Romanian friend - a close friend of his used to report to Florica. He is not to be trusted and will drain the club of money - steer clear.
No massive surprises there but all new sources from this forum's perspective. None of these sources have an axe to grind with anyone in question - they did their digging at my request. I really hope that Nimer actually is a front for the sheikh and there is money, but it's looking less and less likely, given his business acquaintances.
I should mention a personal issue that is affecting my optimism. I recently got legged over by a couple of people that would describe themselves as property developers, one of whom was reportedly worth hundreds of millions. Offices in Mayfair, directorships in dozens of companies, etc., etc. Turns out 'neither of them have any money', though they manage to drink champagne in Harrods and holiday in five star hotels on a regular basis. These guys are starting to sound like the same type of characters.