Icarus
Regular price
€25.99
In 2017, Arif Naqvi and The Abraaj Group were on the brink of changing the world of private equity. Abraaj was a pioneer of a new model of impact investing built on the idea that making money and doing good are not mutually exclusive. It had helped transform communities and companies across the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America by investing in healthcare, education and clean energy, and in 2017 it was on the threshold of closing a new fund that would provide $6 billion worth of investment to these emerging markets. But then it all came crashing down.
On 10 April 2019, after landing at London Heathrow, Naqvi was arrested on fraud charges. He is facing extradition to the United States and a potential prison sentence of up to 291 years if he is found guilty.
The dominant media narrative has painted Naqvi as a thief and fraudster, the so-called key man in an organised criminal conspiracy. But in this explosive new book, which is based on extensive research and interviews with key players, Brian Brivati discovers that things are not quite what they seem and finds that in this case of alleged fraud there is actually no money missing. Icarus explores how Abraaj found itself caught in the middle of a geopolitical war between the United States and China and when it would not bow to the whims of these global behemoths, economic hitmen tried to wipe it out.
Dr Brian Brivati was professor of contemporary history, human rights and life writing at Kingston University until 2009, when he left
to become director of the John Smith Memorial Trust and implement capacity building programmes for the UN and for the UK government globally. He combines projects in international development with writing. His most recent book was The Last Optimist in Baghdad and his previous publications include biographies of Hugh Gaitskell and Lord Goodman. He has written extensively on international politics, conflict and post-conflict recovery. He blogs at the Charlwood Review: charlwood-review.com.