James R. Bath: Difference between revisions

{{RedirectsRedirect|James Bath|the South Australian educationist|James Bath (headmaster)}}

| name = James ReynoldsR. Bath

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| captionbirth_name = James Reynolds = Bath

| birth_namebirth_date = {{birth date and = age|1936|8|18}}

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| nationality occupation = United States of AmericaBusinessman

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| occupation term = Businessman

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Bath was born in 1936 in [[Natchitoches, Louisiana]]. In 1965, he moved to Houston, where he became an aircraft broker.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Unger, |first=Craig |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AyEMV1sd5S4C ''|title=House of Bush, House of Saud''. Scribner.|publisher=[[Simon 2004.& 19.Schuster]] |year=2004 {{ISBN|isbn=978-0-7432-53396623-09 |pages=19 |language=en}}.</ref>

In 1975, Bath met [[Salem bin Laden]] when bin Laden was interested in purchasing a used aircraft.<ref name = "Coll">{{Citecite book| edition = Reprint| publisher last=Coll Penguin Books| isbn first=Steve 978-0-14-311481-9| last url= Coll| first https://books.google.com/books?id=Ff0hDQEACAAJ Steve| title = The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century |date=2008 location |publisher=[[Penguin NewBooks]] York|isbn=978-0-14-311481-9 date |edition= 2009|location=}}</ref> Salem bin Laden was the son of [[Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden|Mohammed bin Laden]], founder of the [[Saudi Binladin Group]], one of the largest construction companies in the world.<ref>Salem was the oldest of Mohammed's 54 children, and a half brother of [[Osama bin Laden]]</ref> Through this acquaintance, Bath eventually became bin Laden's business representative in the United States, representing him in a number of business deals, including real estate, aircraft services, and banking. Through bin Laden, Bath also met Khalid bin Mahfouz, the son of Salem Bin Mahfouz, founder of [[National Commercial Bank (Saudi Arabia)|National Commercial Bank]], now the largest bank in Saudi Arabia, and for a time represented him as well.<ref name = Coll />

Bath was alsois an acquaintance of former president [[George W. Bush]], whom he met when both men were serving in the [[Texas Air National Guard]] in the early 1970s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Unger |first=Craig |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AyEMV1sd5S4C |title=House of Bush, House of Saud |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7432-6623-9 |pages=33 |language=en}}</ref> After Bush started his first business, [[Arbusto Energy]], Bath invested $50,000 in the firm.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Unger |first=Craig |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AyEMV1sd5S4C |title=House of Bush, House of Saud |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7432-6623-9 |pages=116 |language=en}}</ref> A former business partner of Bath, Charles White, who was involved in a number of suits against Bath, claimed in a 2003 interview with [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] that the investment in fact came from bin Mahfouz and bin Laden, and amounted to over a million dollars.,<ref>{{Citecite web|title=Conspiracy Theories: The Saudi Connection |work=CBC News: the fifth estate |accessdate=2015-10-18 |date=2003-10-29 |url=http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/conspiracytheories/saudi.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130710092544/http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/conspiracytheories/saudi.html |archivedate=July 10, 2013}}</ref> reiterating allegations that previously appeared in ''The Outlaw Bank'', a 1993 book regarding the [[Bank of Credit and Commerce International]] (BCCI) authored by ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' journalists [[S.C. Gwynne]] and Jonathan Beaty.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Beaty |first1=Jonathan |last2=Gwynne |first2=Samuel C. |url=https://archive.org/details/outlawbank00jona/mode/2up |title=The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride Into the Secret Heart of BCCI |publisher=[[Random House]] |year=1993 |isbn=0-679-41384-7 |language=en |pages=229}}</ref> Both Bush and Bath have denied this, and according to journalist [[Craig Unger]], who examined the relationship between the Bushes and Saudi financiers in his 2004 book ''[[House of Bush, House of Saud]]'', there is no evidence to support it.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Unger |first=Craig |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AyEMV1sd5S4C |title=House of Bush, House of Saud |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7432-6623-9 |language=en}}</ref> Similar conclusions have been reached by journalist [[Steve Coll]] in his 2008 book ''[[The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Coll |first=Steve |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ff0hDQEACAAJ |title=The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century |date=2009 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=978-0-14-311481-9 |pages=101 |language=en}}</ref>