Blair banker friend falls to his death

[Jeff]

Tragic end for Blairs' chum Nico

Aug 20

A wealthy banking friend of Tony Blair has died following a freak accident at his fabulous French chateau where he entertained the former prime minister and his wife Cherie.

Multi-millionaire Nicholas Lethbridge - known as Nico - fell two weeks ago from a landing at the house in southern France he had lovingly restored. He died eight days later in hospital.

The tragedy has stunned friends of Lethbridge, 58, who worked for the World Bank and investment firm Babcock and Brown before quitting the rat-race to spend time with his wife Rachel, 42, and their children Josephine, 16, and Max, 12.

Much of his time was devoted to renovating the Chateau de Queille near Toulouse which had stood empty for 20 years. He also launched an acclaimed arts festival there.

The magnificent house, which dates back to the 11th century, was his great passion and the scene for many a champagne soiree.

Five years ago, the Blairs, who were holidaying nearby, were guests. Those present at one particular dinner party still recall the comic scene when Mrs Blair removed her trousers after spilling wine down them - and then sat in just her blouse for the meal.

But Labour-supporting Lethbridge, who divided his time between France and a period family house in Greenwich, South London, later became disenchanted with Blair over the war in Iraq.

Friends are today flying to France for his funeral and the family will bury him in the tiny local graveyard in the grounds of the chateau. "Nico loved the house so much he bought a family plot there only this year," says a friend.

It is believed he fell after getting up early to make himself a cup of coffee and tragically crashing through the balustrade and down a stairwell.

His close friend of 20 years Gerry Grimstone, chairman of insurance giant Standard Life, tells me: "The house was full of very difficult staircases to negotiate. He was one of the really good guys in this world and was known as one of the cleverest men in the City.

"But he was also a Renaissance man - he loved the arts and his wife is a singer - and they had their wedding on the Cutty Sark."

link

[ninakat]

It is believed he fell after getting up early to make himself a cup of coffee and tragically crashing through the balustrade and down a stairwell.

WTF?

[pox americanus]

Queille is one of the most ancient sites in Languedoc. The earliest written record of "Oc", the language which gives the region its name, is a parchment of the contract for sale of some land at Queille in 1002 (in the Archives nationales). The house has gone through many incarnations and played a key part in the 13th century Albigensian (or Cathar) Crusade and during the French religious wars. The supply chain which kept the beleaguered mountain refuge of Montségur alive during its infamous nine month siege in 1244 was orchestrated from Queille. It is one of many rumoured repositories of the Cathar Treasure.

[wintler2]

Nicolas Lethbridge is a Director of Partnerships UK plc, of Candover Investments plc, Silverjet plc and other companies.

For thirteen years, until 2003, Nicolas was a Partner in Babcock & Brown where he was in charge of the London based European business and a member of its international management committee. Prior to that Nicolas spent five years with J Henry Schroeder Wagg & Co, where he was director. Previously he had spent three years at Saudi International Bank and nine years with the World Bank in Washington DC.
http://www.partnershipsuk.org.uk/AboutP ... ard.asp#NL

J Henry Schroeder Wagg & Co very old London merchant bank originally with interests in various Latin American companies, now trading as Schroders PLC http://www.schroders.com/ "a global asset management company with £137.6 billion"

deep dark history according to
http://www.barefootsworld.net/docs/fedchart.txt
http://land.netonecom.net/tlp/ref/federal_reserve.shtml
both reproducing parts of 'Federal Reserve Directors: A Study of Corporate and Banking Influence Published 1983', elsewhere as 'Federal Reserve Directors: A Study of Corporate and Banking Influence. Staff Report,Committee on Banking,Currency and Housing, House of Representatives, 94th Congress, 2nd Session, August 1976. '

The J. Henry Schroder Banking Company chart encompasses the entire history
of the twentieth century, embracing as it does the program (Belgium Relief
Commission) which provisioned Germany from 1915-1918 and dissuaded Germany
from seeking peace in 1916; financing Hitler in 1933 so as to make a Second
World War possible; backing the Presidential campaign of Herbert Hoover ;
and even at the present time, having two of its major executives of its
subsidiary firm, Bechtel Corporation serving as Secretary of Defense and
Secretary of State in the Reagan Administration.

The head of the Bank of England since 1973, Sir Gordon Richardson, Governor
of the Bank of England (controlled by the House of Rothschild) was chairman
of J. Henry Schroder Wagg and Company of London from 1963-72, and director
of J. Henry Schroder,New York and Schroder Banking Corporation,New York,as
well as Lloyd's Bank of London, and Rolls Royce. He maintains a residence
on Sutton Place in New York City, and as head of "The London Connection,"
can be said to be the single most influential banker in the world.

[Byrne]

From http://www.partnershipsuk.org.uk/AboutP ... ard.asp#NL

Nicolas Lethbridge - Non-Executive Director

Nicolas Lethbridge is a Director of Partnerships UK plc, of Candover Investments plc, Silverjet plc and other companies.

For thirteen years, until 2003, Nicolas was a Partner in Babcock & Brown where he was in charge of the London based European business and a member of its international management committee. Prior to that Nicolas spent five years with J Henry Schroeder Wagg & Co, where he was director. Previously he had spent three years at Saudi International Bank and nine years with the World Bank in Washington DC.

He was also a non-exec director of Silverjet plc, the exclusively business class airline & of Invicta Capital. A full list of the companys that he was involved with is on Pages 40 & 41 of this document.

[Colonel Mustard]

The house was full of very difficult staircases to negotiate.

Finest accidental metaphor, to date. From an insurance man, to boot!

From Byrne's dig:

Previously he had spent three years at Saudi International Bank and nine years with the World Bank in Washington DC.

Is there a chance he may be related to the Arms Scandal that brought Tony Blair a sacking? I know little, if not nothing, of British politics. Just a sincere question.

[MASONIC PLOT]

It is believed he fell after getting up early to make himself a cup of coffee and tragically crashing through the balustrade and down a stairwell.

Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends...

[pepsified thinker]

Just wondering if that's anything to look at. If he's as 'English' as his last name suggests, how does/did he come to be 'Nico' instead of 'Nick'?

I realize I'm making a molehill out of a grain of sand, but it caught my attention.

[Byrne]

A company that Nicolas Lethbridge was involved with in 2001 was Earthlease Limited.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_q ... _n14423254

Murder will not stop Earthlease negotiating with British Telecom
Independent, The (London), Oct 26, 2001

EARTHLEASE, THE private equity consortium, said yesterday it was ready to re-enter talks with British Telecommunications immediately over its pounds 8bn offer for the local loop exchange network, despite the death on the weekend of the principal architect of the ambitious plan.

The consortium said that Theodore Ammon, 52, had played a pivotal role in constructing the detailed proposal for BT's lines and exchanges, which link homes to the wider telecoms network, but he was not contributing funding personally. Mr Ammon, one of the foremost financiers on Wall Street, was found dead in his Long Island, New York summer residence from a mysterious attack using a blunt object.

Chancery Lane Capital, a boutique investment bank and Mr Ammon's latest venture, and Babcock & Brown, another US finance house, continue to spearhead the deal, Earthlease said. They were seeking to renew negotiations with BT at the earliest opportunity.

"Ted was one of the representatives of Chancery Lane, but he was not the exclusive representative," a spokesman said. "The money is way oversubscribed and we are only too anxious to proceed. The big question is price and we can't settle that until we sit down with BT at the table and hear what the state of the assets is."

The investment banks Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Chase and UBS Warburg have also committed funds to the plan, dubbed Project Alchemy.

BT rejected Earthlease's offer in July following a pitch made to its chairman, Sir Christopher Bland, by Mr Ammon and Nicolas Lethbridge, the head of Babcock's London office. BT yesterday expressed sadness at the death of Mr Ammon, but indicated it had not changed its position regarding the local loop.

Earthlease claims its offer would release BT from a political and regulatory quagmire, allowing the troubled telecoms giant to concentrate on extracting maximum value from a continuing relationship with its customer base.

The consortium faces competition from WestLB, the German investment bank, which is also interested in buying BT's local loop. It is leading a consortium that tabled an pounds 18bn offer for BT's entire landline business in July.

If BT continues to snub Earthlease, the consortium may put its offer direct to shareholders, or threaten to complain to the Government, citing the slow pace at which BT has moved to provide broadband internet services.

Meanwhile, the mystery surrounding Mr Ammon's death continues. Police in East Hampton investigating his death were yesterday still trying to identify suspects and a motive for the attack, which some observers said might have been a contract killing.

Copyright 2001 Independent Newspapers UK Limited
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_q ... _n14437003

Financier behind Earthlease bid for BT is murdered
Independent, The (London), Oct 25, 2001 by Chris Hughes Financial Editor

EARTHLEASE'S pounds 8BN offer for British Telecom's local loop has fallen into disarray after the Wall Street financier masterminding the project was found dead at his luxury Long Island home on the weekend, apparently the victim of a brutal murder.

Theodore Ammon was among the world's most renowned investment bankers, having raised some pounds 35bn to fund acquisitions throughout his career. A former partner of the venture capital firm, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the 52-year-old gathered an elite band of financiers earlier this year to swoop on BT's 5,500 local exchanges. Sir Christopher Bland, BT's new chairman, snubbed his overtures.

Lieutenant John Gierasch, commander of the homicide squad at Suffolk County police said Mr Ammon had been beaten with a blunt object sometime between Saturday night and Monday morning. The alarm was raised after Mr Ammon, who was in the process of divorcing his wife Generosa, failed to arrange for his children to be collected from school.

"The people that routinely tend to these things at his behest had not been contacted by him to do these things," Lt Gierasch said.

A work colleague found Mr Ammon's body at 5pm on Monday in the bedroom of his multimillion-pound summer residence in East Hampton, a desirable suburb of Long Island, New York. The associate had flown in by helicopter from New York City after Mr Ammon missed a business meeting.

There were no obvious signs of forced entry, and nothing appeared to have been stolen from the house. Police said they had no motive or suspects for the murder, and had yet to make any arrests. "We're not discounting any possibilities with regard to motive," Lt Gierasch said.

The news sent shockwaves through the picturesque village, which contains huge houses belonging to showbusiness stars. Violent crime is almost unknown in the area, a longstanding hideaway for old- moneyed New Yorkers, which was immortalised in F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

Mr Ammon achieved fame at KKR, where he worked between 1984 and 1992 and oversaw the world's largest leveraged buyout, the $31bn (pounds 21bn) acquisition of RJR Nabisco in 1989. "We are shocked at the terrible news and wish to express our deep sorrow at the passing of our former partner," KKR said.

His most recent venture, Chancery Lane Capital, a Wall Street investment bank, teamed up with the US finance house, Babcock & Brown, to acquire BT's local loop through an outfit called Earthlease. He had persuaded the investment banks Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Chase and UBS Warburg to provide funding.

"He loved life, he loved his kids and he loved jazz," said a spokesman for Chancery Lane. "He will be sorely missed. Shocked doesn't begin to capture this. We were astonished by this."

Copyright 2001 Independent Newspapers UK Limited
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

[Stephen Morgan]

From http://www.partnershipsuk.org.uk/AboutP ... ard.asp#NL

Partnerships UK, is it? The branch of the government charged with privatising everything, preferably while still shovelling tacpayers money into it. Has itself been privatised, I believe. Perhaps I'm thinking of Qinetiq.

MASONIC PLOT: Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends...

Oh, I get high with a little help from my friends...

pepsified thinker Just wondering if that's anything to look at. If he's as 'English' as his last name suggests, how does/did he come to be 'Nico' instead of 'Nick'?

He was one of Tony's friends. It's trendy. That's enough.
[/b]

[Jeff]

A company that Nicolas Lethbridge was involved with in 2001 was Earthlease Limited.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_q ... _n14423254

Murder will not stop Earthlease negotiating with British Telecom
Independent, The (London), Oct 26, 2001

Here's a follow-up story on the Ammon murder and conviction.

[antiaristo]

.


Well, I know for a fact that Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is quite happy to recruit known murderers into its higher ranks.

I have personally dealt with one such murderer who is now one of the eight Managing Directors (partners) of that organisation.

His name is Lord Clive Hollick.
He was ennobled by Neil Kinnock.
Such ennoblement made him a legislator in the House of Lords.
And as such de facto untouchable by the law (the Law Lords themselves sit in the same chamber:- they are "peers")-

When Labour won the Election in 1997 Blair put Lord Hollick into the Department of Trade and Industry as "Special Advisor to the Prime Minister". In fact, under the regime of "President Blair" Hollick dominated his ministers. He ran the DTI and personally decided government policy in the trade, industry and business areas.

The idea was to turn Hollick into the Berlusconi of Britain. At the time I kicked him in the balls he controlled ITV, Channel 5, The Daily Express and the Daily Star, along with a host of additional media properties.



This IS a sensitive time for KKR.
They are in the process of floating their business on the Stock Exchange, and things are NOT going well.

Last month they were called in for questioning by the Commons Select Committee looking into Private Equity finance.

This month the bottom has fallen out of their business.

At least two of their projects are in trouble and they cannot sell the debt. Because it's rubbish.

Hollick is known to have issued lies through the Stock Exchange in the past, and got away with it.

Lethbridge would know where the bodies are buried if KKR has also lied to the regulators.

And there is NO DOUBT they would kill him if needs be.

Detailed background here.

http://rigorousintuition.ca/board/viewtopic.php?t=876