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By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive Patreon
BBC - The Times UK - Honduras - The Source 

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Dec 31 – A major proposed merger in the brokerage and banking fields was announced on the morning of November 25: Charles Schwab proposes to buy TD Ameritrade in an approximately $26-billion US all-stock deal. The deal would see Toronto-Dominion Bank, which holds approximately 43 per cent of TD Ameritrade's stock, own a roughly 13 per cent stake in the combined company.

   Inner City Press has reported that fraud scheme OneCoin publicly represented that it had a banking relationship with TD Bank. When action was belatedly (and begrudgingly) taken, questions arise and will be raised as to what TD Bank knew, and when.

  And now in late December Schwab has been sued about the deal, on antitrust grounds under Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act and Section 7 of the Clayton Act.

  Reports on the suit to date have omitted a key element: the plaintiff, BlackCrown Inc., describes itself in the amendment complaint filed on December 30 as "an independent minority (Asian American) owned and operated SEC registered independent wealth management firm (CRD #298140 / SEC # 801-113929)."

 Antitrust meets fair lending, or fair dealing. The amendment should have been seen to be coming, as the complaint said the proposed merger would “disenfranchise a great segment of the industry by effectively establishing a caste system.”    Ordering TD Ameritrade’s custodial business sold to BlackCrown would “dissipate the anti-competitive effects” of the planned merger, the suit says. Alongside following the states' suit against the proposed T-Mobile / Sprint merger, Inner City Press will be following this (even) longer-shot private antitrust case - watch this site.

   As Inner City Press covered the OneCoin trial last month, a number of names of indicted co-conspirators emerged on which we are now following up.

  One of them was Amer Abdulaziz Salman. From his Phoenix Thoroughbred's, Inner City Press is informed that Dermot Farrington has left.

    As Inner City Press exclusively reported on November 6, surprise cooperating witness Konstantin Ignatov brought up Amer Abdulaziz during his testimony, live-tweeted @InnerCityPress, and see here.

  On November 24 those tweets were used without any credit in a derivative article by the Racing Post's Peter Scargill - apparently dodginess pervades this part of the industry.

  Inner City Press has been contacted from Dubai of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, from Amer Abdulaziz's native Bahrain and elsewhere by whistleblowers in the horse racing industry, with extensive information about Amer Abdulaziz's previous schemes and sudden windfall with OneCoin money.

  Abdulaziz for example was outed as not paying for three horses, with it being for uncredited reported that Fasig-Tipton had not received payment for grade I winner Crisp and the broodmares Little Bonnet and Sky Mom, who were sold for more than $1.9 million combined... Dubai-based agent Ajay Anne purchased the three horses for a group of Dubai-based investors headed by Amer Abdul Aziz. Crisp (by El Corredor ) brought $900,000 while the stakes-placed winner Little Bonnet (by Coronado's Quest), who is the dam of grade I winner Boys At Tosconova , and grade III winner Sky Mom (by Maria's Mon) brought $725,000 and $320,000, respectively.  Little Bonnet was sold in foal to Bluegrass Cat , and Sky Mom was sold in foal to Tiznow .  Bluewater Sales, agent, consigned Crisp while Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent, consigned Little Bonnet and Sky Mom.  Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning, reached by telephone March 7, declined to comment. But Abdul Aziz, in a March 3 interview [that he apparently later claimed was off the record and reportedly paid to get removed from the Internet], indicated the transactions were close to being finalized.  “We purchased the horses because they are very exciting horses, top quality,” he told the Post. “There have been some delays because of the formation of the investment company and that is being finalized. We are just liquidating the funds into the company’s account. As we speak the payment is being made.  “Everything was finalized two days ago so we are looking at closing the deal in the next couple of days. There was some delay with the licensing, there was some delay with the investors."

   After some delay, and not insubstantial humiliation for Ajay Anne with his connections to Dubai Sheikh Mohammed's Darley and the repeat promise that an Abu Dhabi sheikh was coming in, investment in Abdulaziz by OneCoin and Ruja Ignatova occurred.

    As we've previously noted, through his Phoenix fund, Amer Abdulaziz has been buying up thoroughbred horses. Among those he's worked with, and with whom authorities may wish to speak and even play lets-make-a-deal are not only Ajay Anne but also (why not?) Sheikh Mohammed, Tom Ludt and, having broken with Phoenix Thoroughbreds as with her husband who trained all the horses, Kerri Radcliffe.

  As to Dubai and the UAE and Inner City Press' ongoing focus on the regulatory failures that allowed all this, including OneCoin, after the disgrace of Abraaj with its SDNY connections and the real failings of DIFC/DFSA (Dubai's offshore center and regulator), the fact that Amer Abdulaziz managed to open up companies under their jurisdiction should be something that Dubai should be ashamed of - and should be noted and acted on by supra-national regulatory bodies. More on Patreon here.

  Phoenix Thoroughbred's horses have included "Advertise," the son of Showcasing, set to begin a stallion career projected to be lucrative at the National Stud in New Market in 2020.

  But is it all based on money laundering for OneCoin? And what of the royals who have been linked in, not only Queen Elizabeth through the Jockey Club but also the al Thani family of Qatar, the Saudi royals and the the Maktoum family of Dubai, whom some sources tell Inner City Press have harbored Ruja Ignatova herself . We'll have more on this. More on Patreon here.

 "It's the perfect front for money laundering," one horse-breeding industry participant told Inner City Press on condition of anonymity.

     During the trial, Inner City Press tweeted its surprise the Amer Abdulaziz was, unlike Ruja Ignatova, living in plain sight. It has continued: he has re-tweeted as recently as November 20.

   While some say he is going into hiding, it would seem that the US FBI or its overseas partners could easily bring him in.   So why haven't they? This is the fourth in an Inner City Press series. More on Patreon here.

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