LOS ANGELES // A newly surfaced police report related to a 2003 raid on Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch shows the late pop star’s penchant for pornography and attraction to children.
Jackson was acquitted in 2005 of child molestation following a 14-week trial, and the report published on Tuesday by the celebrity and gossip website Radar Online was related to evidence submitted in that case.
The report contains details about various books, magazines and documents seized at Jackson’s secluded California home in November 2003.
The police report states that though the documents were not considered illegal, “this type of material can be used as part of a ‘grooming’ process by which people [those seeking to molest children] are able to lower the inhibitions of their intended victims and facilitate the molestation of said victims.”
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department said it had not publicly released the documents, which had been submitted to the prosecution and the defence during the 2005 trial.
“Some of the documents appear to be copies of reports that were wrote by sheriff’s office personnel as well as evidentiary photographs taken by sheriff’s office personnel, interspersed with content that appears to be obtained off the internet or through unknown sources,” it said in a statement.
“The sheriff’s office did not release any of the documents and/or photographs to the media.”
Some of the material seized during the raid shows pictures of nude young adults, children’s faces on adult bodies, as well as images of animal and child torture, Radar Online said, citing an investigator in the case.
“The documents collected by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department paint a dark and frightening picture of Jackson,” the unidentified investigator is quoted as saying.
“The documents exposed Jackson as a manipulative, drug-and-sex-crazed predator who used blood, gore, sexually explicit images of animal sacrifice and perverse adult sex acts to bend children to his will.”
The King of Pop was acquitted in 2005 following a 14-week child molesting trial during which a jury heard lurid testimony about his life and relationships with young boys.
He was charged after Gavin Arvizo, a 13-year-old boy Jackson had befriended, came forward.
Jackson’s Estate lashed out at the celebrity website’s article, saying it was clearly timed to coincide with the upcoming seventh anniversary of his death on June 25.
“Michael remains just as innocent of these smears in death as he was in life, even though he isn’t here to defend himself. Enough is enough,” a statement said.
Jackson’s nephew Taj Jackson also denounced the report.
“Not only is there absolutely no truth to this story whatsoever, but I’m truly sick of this crap. #getalife and stop living off ours,” he said in a tweet.
* Agence France-Presse
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Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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Source: US Department of State
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.”
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