George Soros Goes on Trial

The trial involves high-ranking French politicians, bankers and currency stags

American billionaire George Soros and three other men will have to face a trial in France on the allegation of financial intrigues in connection with a failed takeover of French bank Societe Generale in 1998. Besides Soros, there are other statesmen involved in the litigation: Jean-Charles Naouri, former head of the office of then-Finance Minister Pierre Beregovoy, and Lebanese businessman Samir Traboulsi.

All four defendants are accused of obtaining about eleven million dollars by means of selling the bank’s stocks prior to the news about the coming takeover of the bank. It took the police 14 years to set all the necessary documents ready for filing a case. According to the BBC, the main problem of the investigation is basically about the fact that the countries, which are implicated in the scandal, were not really willing to cooperate with the French police.

The probe regarding Societe Generale bank was launched in 1990 after the publication of an unsuccessful takeover of the bank, which had been privatized back in 1987. A year after the privatization, the bank was about to be taken over by the company Marceau Investissements. This company managed to acquire ten percent of Societe Generale’s stocks. However, the management of the bank did not agree upon a takeover.

The attorneys, who cooperated with the Netherlands, British, Swiss and Luxembourg authorities, tried to collect all financial documents of the case. They acknowledge that there are still a lot of blank spots in the whole issue.

Defendant George Pebero was amnestied in 1995. Seven people more (they were convicted within the scope of the process) were also amnestied, two years later. Reuters informed that the trial would last until November 20th. For the time being, it is not known, when the verdict is going to be brought down.

The biography of a well-known philanthropist and global stag is rich with various events. However, it seems that it is the first time, when George Soros finds himself in this kind of situation.

In 1947 George Soros left Hungary, seeking for fortune in the West. He used to work as a train conductor in order to earn some money for studying at a London economic school. His studies brought him a lot of good, as we all know.

Soros moved over to the USA after working in one of the banks of London’s City. In the United States Soros became one of the best Wall Street analysts in the field of European markets. At the age of 39 he founded the offshore fund Quantum. In 1998 he was on the list of USA’s richest people, taking the 27 position.

Great Britain remembers Soros as the man, who ruined the Bank of England. In September of 1992 he bade on DeutschMark instead of English pound sterling. Soros did not make a mistake on the currency market at that time. The deal allegedly brought him about one billion dollars of profit. As a result of that catastrophe (London City bankers still call that day “black Wednesday”), an English pound sterling was withdrawn from the single European currency exchange. Soros has been dealing a lot with charity lately, especially in the countries of East Europe and of the former Soviet Union. This seems to be true.

Russia still can’t forgive Soros for the financial crisis in 1998, when he ignored the international attack on a Russian ruble. All Russian people still remember the default of August 1998. This is, maybe, the reason to explain the sad fate of George Soros’ Russian division of the Open Society Foundation. This organization has actually stopped its activity in the summer of the current year. The head of the Russian division, Ekaterina Geniyeva, blamed the wild temper of the Russian capitalism for that. Yet, it deems that the reasons are much more sufficient.

George Soros declared that his wish was to make Russia a full member of the new “open” society. However, he enjoys the respect of only those Russian people, who get paid from him. All the rest are either indifferent to his ideas, or think he is a foreign spy. In comparison with George Soros, one may say that Anatoly Chubais is rather a popular figure in the Russian society. Maybe, this is because he is “our son of a bitch?”

One thing is known for sure. Philanthropist and stag George Soros is on trial on the allegations of financial intrigues. This shows only one thing: there is nothing holy in the world. You can take all people to the open society, stealing their wallets at that. Thanks for teaching us that, George. One can not live even a day in Russia without some cynicism. Let us just hope that the justice will be fair.

Dmitry Slobodanuk PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov