Ahsani family

The Ahsani family are a prominent Monaco-based business family of Iranian origin. The family is headed by Ata Ahsani. Ata and his two sons Cyrus and Saman run the energy industry consultancy Unaoil; his third son, Sassan, heads the British property company Lumina Real Estate Capital.

The Aria Trust is the family trust of the Ahsani family. In 2007 the trust held €63 million in bank accounts and private equity with its international property holdings in Monaco, France, the United States and London having an estimated value of €130 million.[1][2] The Ahsani family have a charitable organisation, Unakids. Cyrus Ahsani is the treasurer of Monaco's Ambassador's Club, the club is headed by Prince Albert II of Monaco. The Ahsani family control shell companies in the tax havens of the Channel Islands, the Marshall Islands, and the British Virgin Islands, through which Unaoil's business is conducted. In March 2016 The Age described Unaoil as "the unseen intermediary in massive deals between the world's biggest energy companies and notoriously corrupt governments in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa."[1]

Family members

Ata Ahsani was born in 1940 in Kerman, Iran, and later studied engineering in England and the United States before working for an oil company in Iran. Ata Ahsani left Iran for the United Kingdom in the wake of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and established Unaoil in 1990.[1]

Saman Ahsani was born in December 1973.[3] Ata Ahsani's third son, Sassan Ahsani (born January 1978),[4] is based in London and is the head of Lumina Real Estate Capital, a property investment company. Lumina is funded by Unaoil; a 2007 Property Week article described the Ahsani family as "...pursuing an investment strategy underpinned by cross-border property investment, in a bid to diversify its traditional interests in the energy sector".[5]

Corruption allegations

Hundreds of thousands of emails sent within Unaoil and between members of the Ahsani family from 2001 to 2012 were leaked to investigative journalists and formed the basis for a series of stories in Fairfax Media's The Age newspaper and the Huffington Post in March 2016. The Age described Cyrus as "...in charge of day to day operations, though he often defers to his father for big decisions and important interactions" and described his character as "intelligent and good humoured: a man who inspires loyalty".[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "The Bribe Factory: Who are the Ahsanis?". The Melbourne Age. 30 March 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "The Bribe Factory: Part 1". The Melbourne Age. 30 March 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "Brokerbox Ltd". Companies House. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  4. ↑ "Lumina Real Estate Capital Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  5. ↑ Sinead Cruise (20 April 2007). "Oil and gas group fires up expansion into property". Property Week. Retrieved 30 March 2016.

External links

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