José Kamel Nacif Borge (born 1946 in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

) is a

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

businessman of Lebanese descent known in his country as "El Rey de la Mezclilla" (the Denim King). Once considered one of the richest men in Mexico,. He started out as a small merchant by importing fabrics from overseas until he eventually built a textile empire that employed over 20,000 people. In 1999, he partnered with an apparel company known as the Tarrant Apparel Group, who manufactured denim jeans for brands such as

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and ...

Tommy Hilfiger Thomas Jacob Hilfiger ( /hɪlˈfɪgər/; born March 24, 1951) is an American fashion designer and the founder of Tommy Hilfiger Corporation. After starting his career by co-founding a chain of jeans/fashion stores called People's Place in upst ...

, Chaps, Gap,

Abercrombie & Fitch Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) is an American lifestyle retailer that focuses on casual wear. Its headquarters are in New Albany, Ohio. The company operates three other offshoot brands: Abercrombie Kids, Hollister Co., and Gilly Hicks. As of Februar ...

, and

American Eagle Outfitters American Eagle Outfitters, Inc., also known as American Eagle, is an American lifestyle, clothing, and accessories retailer headquartered at SouthSide Works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1977 by brothers Jerry and Mark Silverma ...

. In 2002 Vicente Fox and Pablo Salazar Mendiguchía celebrated with him a new export textile factory in San Cristobal de las Casas. In 2004 he acquired 100% of the company "Tarrant Apparel Group", an organization with subsidiaries in Chile, China, Thailand, Korea and in the United States for $44 million. The ''Sun Herald'' referred to an investigation of the Game Commission of Nevada about the involvement of Nacif Borge in drug trafficking and weapons smuggling. His close relationship with the Mexican government was confirmed when he became the beneficiary of a soft loan of 5 million dollars during the Fobaproa program.

Legal issues

In 2005–06, he became embroiled in scandals of political nature. During this time he was accused of negotiating the non-approval of gambling laws in Mexico with

Emilio Gamboa Patrón Emilio Antonio Gamboa Patrón (born 23 August 1950) is a Mexican politician affiliated with the PRI. He was Senator during the 2000–2003 and 2003–2006 Legislatures and deputy during the LX Legislature and the LXII Legislature of the Mexica ...

and more importantly, being involved in a pedophilia and child-trafficking network. He was named in '' Los Demonios del Edén'' (Demons of Eden), the exposé by journalist

Lydia Cacho Lydia María Cacho Ribeiro (born 12 April 1963) is a Mexican journalist, feminist, and human rights activist. Described by Amnesty International as "perhaps Mexico's most famous investigative journalist and women's rights advocate", Cacho's repor ...

, as having pulled strings to protect child abuser

Jean Succar Kuri Jean Thouma Hannah Succar Kuri (born September 19, 1944, in Bsharri, Lebanon) is a Lebanese-born Mexican businessman convicted of child pornography and child sexual abuse in Cancún, Quintana Roo. He was sentenced to 112 years in prison on August ...

. Subsequently, he had her arrested on the charge of defamation and was captured on tape assuring the

Governor of Puebla The governor of Puebla is the chief executive of the Mexican state of Puebla. References {{DEFAULTSORT:Governor Of Puebla * Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre ...

Mario Marín that she would be raped in jail. In 2019, attorney general

Alejandro Gertz Manero Alejandro Gertz Manero (born 31 October 1939) is a Mexican lawyer and current Attorney General of Mexico. He served as Secretary of Public Security during part of Vicente Fox's government. From 2009 to 2012 he served as Deputy of the LXI Legisl ...

announced an arrest warrant against both Nacif and Marín, as well as the issuance of a

Red notice An Interpol notice is an international alert circulated by Interpol to communicate information about crimes, criminals, and threats by police in a member state (or an authorised international entity) to their counterparts around the world. The in ...

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...

, for the kidnapping and torture of Cacho. He then fled to

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

, where he was apprehended in July 2020.

References

External links

* New York Times, 2006-02-20
"Defamation Case Raises Issues of Fairness in Mexico"
* Proceso, February, 2006

* Noticieros Televisa, esmas, 2006-02-17

* Cimac Noticias,2007-04-24

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nacif Borge, Kamel Living people 1946 births Businesspeople from Mexico City Mexican people of Lebanese descent Businesspeople in textiles