York honours Canadian named in the Panama Papers
U.S. says he was middleman in complex ‘corruption scheme’
The Canadian middleman in a massive international “corruption scheme,” in which U.S. officials say he “enriched himself” with $400 million (U.S.) in markups and made “at least $110 million in corrupt payments,” was celebrated by York University with an honorary degree Monday.
It’s the second prestigious honour Victor Phillip Dahdaleh has received from York recently. Last year, the university minted a new global health institute in his name following a $20-million donation Dahdaleh made to the university.
A Toronto Star/CBC investigation into the Panama Papers recently found evidence of Dahdaleh’s involvement in a decadeslong kickback scheme involving global aluminum giant Alcoa and government officials in Bahrain.
Dahdaleh has declined several interview requests and would not speak with the Star or CBC at the ceremony. A spokesperson previously said he has not been involved in any wrongdoing nor convicted of any offence “in any court in the world.”
On Monday, at a commencement ceremony featuring a string quartet and a pair of bagpipers, Dahdaleh wore ceremonial robes and received an honorary doctor of laws from York Chancellor Greg Sorbara, a former Ontario finance minister.
Harvey Skinner, the dean of the faculty of health, told graduates and their families of Dahdaleh’s accomplishments as owner and chair of Dadco, a privately owned investment, manufacturing and trading firm, his position as an honorary fellow of the London School of Economics, a trustee of the Clinton Foundation and a board member of the McGill University Trust.
Skinner said Dahdaleh was “exceptionally deserving of this honorary degree.”
Approached after the ceremony, Skinner would not answer questions about Dahdaleh’s suitability for this recognition, or whether the selection committee considered his involvement in the bribery scandal.
When York University president Mamdouh Shoukri was asked if Dahdaleh was a good role model for York graduates, he responded: “Yes. Yes he is.”
A written statement from York University spokeswoman Janice Walls said “careful consideration is given to candidates for honorary degrees who have made a significant contribution to the public good.”
“Mr. Dahdaleh, personally and through the Victor Phillip Dahdaleh Charitable Foundation, supports many organizations around the world,” she wrote. “With the $20million gift from Mr. Dahdaleh, the largest-ever gift by a graduate of the university, the university established the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health.”
Last month, the Star/CBC investigation reported for the first time that Dahdaleh is the mysterious “Consultant A” referenced in U.S. Justice Department court records who is identified as the “middleman” between Bahraini and U.S. alumina companies pocketing huge profits and paying bribes through a British Virgin Island-based shell company called Alumet Limited.
Alumet appears in the Panama Papers database. It was registered by Dahdaleh in 1989 — the same time as U.S. officials say a complex corruption scheme began involving Alcoa, one of the world’s largest aluminum companies, and a Bahraini company.
The BVI-based Alumet, registered through controversial Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca with the assistance of the Royal Bank of Canada, was the key vehicle for moving bribes and markups between the two firms, U.S. court documents say. According to Department of Justice filings, here’s how it worked: Alcoa of Australia would send invoices for shipments of alumina (a fine white powder that is transformed into aluminum metal in the smelting process) through “Consultant A’s shell companies.”
In turn, “Consultant A” would “mark up the price of alumina” sold to a Bahraini aluminum smelter company, “thereby creating a significant margin over the price he paid to Alcoa of Australia.” Dahdaleh pocketed the markups, it says. And to keep business coming, he paid Bahraini officials — including members of the country’s royal family — regular bribes, U.S. officials detail.
Alcoa was hit with one of the largest anti-corruption fines ever by the U.S. Department of Justice and Securities Exchange Commission — $384 million (all figures U.S.). Dahdaleh was not named or charged in this case, but was charged criminally in the U.K. on corruption and money laundering allegations. He was acquitted in 2013 when the prosecution’s case collapsed after two key U.S. witnesses refused to testify and another witness significantly changed his testimony.
Before and after Monday’s ceremony, Dahdaleh ignored questions from the Star and CBC about his involvement in the Bahraini bribery scandal.
In his 10-minute commencement address, Dahdaleh urged each graduate to “try your best to be a good citizen” and told them “when you succeed, give something back . . . We must act in the spirit of generosity.”
Mentioning his “personal experience” in recent years, Dahdaleh offered the following advice: “Tough times do not last, but tough people do. Tough people always find a way to succeed.”
He wrapped up by paraphrasing Winston Churchill: “Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never.”
McGill University and St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia have also honoured Dahdaleh in recent years, the Star/CBC investigation found.
Neither school has responded to requests for comment.
Some York professors were “deeply disappointed” with the university’s decision to name the global health institute after Dahdaleh, said Stephanie Ross, an associate professor in the faculty of social sciences at York. “He was named in the Panama Papers (and) the university made no attempt to rethink its decision to accept a very large donation from him,” Ross said. “Many of us were also very surprised that he was granted an honorary doctorate in light of those revelations.”
“The idea that an honorary doctorate could be bestowed upon someone for providing the university with money, rather than in recognition of the contributions they’ve made to our community and to society, is kind of a perversion of the point of an honorary doctorate,” she said.
Ross lamented the fact that all universities are forced to seek funding from wherever they can get it — leading to inevitable problems with optics and moral.
“Most universities across the country face the contradiction of seeking philanthropic donations from wealthy individuals or corporations — but then also having to live with the association with those individuals or corporations if and when they are revealed to be not the greatest corporate citizens.”
“He was named in the Panama Papers (and) the university made no attempt to rethink its decision to accept a very large donation from him.” STEPHANIE ROSS YORK PROFESSOR