Ziad Takieddine ( ar, زياد تقي الدين ; born 14 June 1950) is a Lebanese-French businessman, described by ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' as an "arms broker".Ziad Takieddine: The ski-resort owner with a taste for the high life
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', January 2, 2013John Lichfield
If Sarko took Gaddafi cash, why oust him?
''The Independent'', January 6, 2013Henry Samuel

''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', August 30, 2011
''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'', 01/03/2013

Early life

Ziad Takieddine was born on 14 June 1950 in Baakline,

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 Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

into a Druze family. His uncle Saiid Takieddine was Lebanese Ambassador in London, and his father was Ambassador in various countries. He was educated at the American University in Beirut and the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

in England.

Career

In the 1990s, he was the manager of the

Isola 2000 Isola 2000 is a ski resort in the southern French Alps. It is located on the territory of the commune of Isola, Alpes-Maritimes. It is one of the ''Stations du Mercantour'', along with Auron and St. Dalmas, and is operated by the council of the ...

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nort ...

Isola, Alpes-Maritimes Isola (; oc, Lieusola) is a commune of the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. The Alpine ski resort of Isola 2000 is located on the territory of the commune. Geography Climate Isola has a subarctic climate (Köppen climat ...

, France. He later facilitated arms dealing between France and Middle East countries, including

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

, Syria and

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

. He was condemned to a five-year prison sentence by the French Court of Justice of the Republic in June 2020 for using some of those funds to finance the unsuccessful presidential campaign of former French Prime Minister Edouard Balladur in the context of the Karachi affair.Affaire Karachi, prison ferme pour les six prévenus du volet financier
'' Le Dauphine'', June 15, 2020 He facilitated the release of Bulgarian nurses from Libya and organized Libya President Muammar Gaddafi's 2007 visit to France. He has since accused former French President Nicolas Sarkozy of taking 5 million euros from Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi from 2006 to 2007Interview of Ziad Takieddine on Mediapart
/ref> to finance his presidential campaign, a claim echoed by

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi Saif al-Islam Muammar al-Gaddafi ( ar, سيف الإسلام معمر القذافي; born 25 June 1972) is a Libyan political figure. He is the second son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his second wife Safia Farkash. He was a p ...

. On 4 December 2020, he was detained in Lebanon due to allegations of covert financing to Sarkozy's presidential campaign. On 8 December, Lebanon ordered his release, but also imposed a travel ban on him.

Personal life

His ex-wife, Nicola Johnson, is British-born. She has accused him of

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the tax ...

in France. Takieddine owned Warwick House in London's Holland Park district via a company in the

tax haven A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

of the

British Virgin Islands ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = Territorial song , song = " Oh, Beautiful Virgin Islands" , image_map = File:British Virgin Islands on the globe (Americas centered).svg , map_caption = , mapsize = 290px , image_map2 = Bri ...

. It was sold to neighbour Brian May for £12 million following the divorce settlement. In 2013 Takieddine was denied entry to the United Kingdom following an "allegation of fraud" and was forced by British police to return to France. Takieddine is an uncle of

Amal Alamuddin Amal Clooney (; ar, أمل علم الدين; born 3 February 1978) is a Lebanese and British barrister. Her clients include Filipino and American journalist Maria Ressa; former President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed; Julian Assange, the ...

, who is married to the actor George Clooney.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Takieddine, Ziad 1950 births French people of Lebanese descent Lebanese Druze French businesspeople Lebanese businesspeople Living people People named in the Panama Papers People from Chouf District