ASPEN, COLORADO--What does the little town of Harper Woods, Michigan, unremarkable in so many ways, have to do with the Prince Bandar bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia, Aspen's own monarch with the $135 million manse in the beyond posh Starwood section of this mountain town?
Here in Aspen, in fact, the Prince is known as generous to local charities, kind to animals, and generous to a fault when his multiple wives hit the downtown mall with plastic unlimited. He is also known to ski within a circle of bodyguards, and to rent out the downtown Isis theatre in toto so as to enjoy a movie of his choice in privacy.
In Harper Woods, in contrast, said Sultan is prince non grata, accused by the town's employee pension fund of embezzling some $2 billion over 20 years as the go-between betwixt the Saudi government and BAE Systems of the United Kingdom.
A lawyer for the employees told NPR News: "In the mid-'80s, the Brits were negotiating a large defense contract with Saudi Arabia, nearly $100 billion. Obviously a huge, huge contract and very important to the U.K. and to BAE certainly. As part of the contract there was a side agreement that basically allowed for payments to be funneled to Prince Bandar. Bank examiners and people looking at this have estimated it was nearly $100 million a year or a total of $2 billion that was funneled through various U.S. banks."
Bandar, of course is the former Saudi ambassador to Washington who became great and good friends with everyone from Democrat Jimmy Carter to Republican George W. Bush: Carter's family, including his grandchildren, routinely takes ski vacations to Bandar's palatial spread in Aspen; President Bush is so close to the Bandar family he is called "Bandar Bush."
One of his wives has a political side as well: she has been linked to cash payments that may have found their way into the hands of two of the 9/11 hijackers from Saudi Arabia. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudis, as is Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader behind the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
BAE chief executive officer Mike Turner and a non-executive director of the company, based in England, were issued subpoenas by the U.S. Justice Department in the case when they entered the United States in May, so don't expect Prince Bandar to be coming back to Aspen -- or anywhere in the United States -- any time soon. Better to be a princely billionaire than just an ordinary jailbird.