Above photos courtesy of the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
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The Last Amigo
Karlheinz Schreiber and the Anatomy of a Scandal
Stevie Cameron and Harvey Cashore
A political story, a business exposé, and the unmasking of a brilliantly disguised web of power, money, and connections. Described sometimes as a "German-Canadian businessman," sometimes as an "international arms dealer," Karlheinz Schreiber has been making headlines since his arrest in August 1999. Charged with bribery, accessory to fraud, and tax evasion, he is at the centre of the most sensational political crisis to erupt in Germany since the war, a scandal that has brought down the former chancellor Helmut Kohl. But Schreiber's most daring exploits were executed in Canada.
A deal-maker who cultivated the powerful wherever he went, Schreiber emigrated to Canada in the seventies. His tight connections with members of the Mulroney cabinet opened doors in Ottawa. Soon he was serving as a low-profile intermediary for such European conglomerates as Airbus Industrie, a company desperate to crack the North American market by selling its passenger planes to Air Canada. It was the secret commissions attached to the Airbus sale – a $1.8-billion contract for 34 aircraft, the largest civilian aircraft purchase in Canadian history – that became the subject of an RCMP investigation, the same investigation that prompted a lawsuit by Brian Mulroney. More than $20 million in hidden commissions was paid to a shell company controlled by Schreiber. As was his practice with other business contracts for which he received extraordinary fees, those proceeds were shared – with his German amigos and with his Canadian friends.
Based on documents and interviews never before made public, The Last Amigo is an international story with Canadian roots. It reveals how major corporations win government contracts; how money is successfully hidden in foreign banks, then distributed through coded accounts; how connections are made to pay. It is a tale of media spinners and PR wizards, of covert political influence and undeniable personal gain. And it is the portrait of the consummate middleman who knew precisely how to satisfy the grandiose ambitions of a famous cast of characters.