Authorities arrested a man suspected of killing UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson in a shooting outside a Manhattan hotel last week, New York City officials said on Monday, ending a five-day manhunt.
The suspect, identified as Luigi Mangione, 26, was detained in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after he was reported to be eating at a McDonald's restaurant by an employee who believed he resembled the gunman, officials said at a news conference.
Mr Mangione was found with a “ghost gun” – a firearm assembled from parts, making it untraceable – and a silencer. The gun was consistent with the weapon used to shoot Mr Thompson, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. He also had clothing and a mask similar to those worn by the killer. The ghost gun may have been produced by a 3D printer, said Joseph Kenny, the NYPD's chief of detectives.
Mr Mangione was charged with weapons, forgery and other offences in Pennsylvania on Monday. He was arraigned and ordered to be held without bail.
Mr Mangione had fraudulent identification, including a fake New Jersey ID that matched the one used by the gunman to check into a Manhattan hostel days before the shooting, officials said.
Police also found a handwritten document that speaks to “both his motivation and his mindset”, Ms Tisch said. While the document did not mention targets, Mr Mangione harboured “ill will towards corporate America”, Mr Kenny said.
Mr Mangione was born and raised in Maryland, attended college in Pennsylvania, had ties to San Francisco and last lived in Honolulu, officials said.
He was arrested on firearms charges by Altoona police, and New York detectives were on their way to Pennsylvania to question him, Ms Tisch said.
“And at some point we’ll work out through extradition to bring him back to New York to face charges here, working with the Manhattan district attorney’s office,” Mr Kenny said.
Mr Thompson was gunned down outside a Manhattan hotel early on Wednesday morning by a masked man who appeared to wait for his arrival before shooting the executive from behind.
The suspect ran from the scene and then rode a bike into Central Park. Surveillance video captured him leaving the park and taking a taxi to a bus station in northern Manhattan, where police believe he used a bus to flee the city.
Police said Mr Thompson appeared to have been a deliberate target.
The words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” were carved into shell casings found at the scene, news outlets have reported. The words evoke the title of a book critical of the insurance industry published in 2010 titled Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.
Mr Thompson's murder unleashed a wave of frustration from Americans whose health insurance claims or care were denied, or who have faced unexpected costs or paid more for premiums and medical care – all trends that are rising, according to recent data.
Mr Thompson, who had two children, had been chief executive of UnitedHealth Group's insurance unit since April 2021, as part of a 20-year career with the company. He had been in New York to attend the company's annual investors' conference.
The six points:
1. Ministers should be in the field, instead of always at conferences
2. Foreign diplomacy must be left to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation
3. Emiratisation is a top priority that will have a renewed push behind it
4. The UAE's economy must continue to thrive and grow
5. Complaints from the public must be addressed, not avoided
6. Have hope for the future, what is yet to come is bigger and better than before
The biog
Favourite film: Motorcycle Dairies, Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday, Kagemusha
Favourite book: One Hundred Years of Solitude
Holiday destination: Sri Lanka
First car: VW Golf
Proudest achievement: Building Robotics Labs at Khalifa University and King’s College London, Daughters
Driverless cars or drones: Driverless Cars
How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed
Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.
Opinion has been divided as to whether organ donations from a deceased person is permissible in Islam.
The body is viewed as sacred, during and after death, thus prohibiting cremation and tattoos.
One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.
That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
World record transfers
1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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