Difference between revisions of "Control Risks Group"

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Herman & O'Sullivan's 'The Terrorism Industry' describe Control Risks as having evolved out of " the corporate vestiges of the A1 Insurance Agency, and was originally intended by its founder, [[Julian Radcliffe]], to provide kidnap and ransom insurance."  They add that Radcliffe was joined by several associates with ties to British Intelligence, police and SAS and the far right.  They cite Jonathan Bloch and Patrick Fitzgerald's "British Intelligence & Covert Action" (Dingle, County Kerry: Brandon, 1983).
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[[Control Risks Group]] is a British private security company.  
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In its early days it included [[Peter Janke]] also of the Heritage Foundation, [[Ford Foundation]], [[Shell]], [[BP]] & CIA-funded [[Institute for the Study of Conflict]] (ISC)).  Janke (head of their Information Services) had connections to the South African security services.  
 
  
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Control Risks also seems to have gathered up former researchers at [[Brian Crozier]]'s ISC and had offices just across the road from Scotland Yard.  Directors then included General Sir [[Frank King]] former commander of the British Army in Northern Ireland (NI); former police Commissioner Sir [[Robert Mark]]; [[Arish Turle]] an ex-SAS major.  The US offices had [[Peter Goss]] former head of British military intelligence in Northern Ireland, and [[Karl Ackerman]] of the State Department. Herman & O'Sullivan say Ackerman "was busy peddling daily intelligence reports on potential terrorists prowling LA streets to Los Angeles-based multinationals during the summer Olympics at $1,800 per package."
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==History==
 +
===Foundation===
 +
Author Tony Geraghty describes the genesis of Control Risks as follows:
 +
::In 1974, [[David Walker (SAS)|David Walker]], a former [[SAS]] officer, was commissioned to examine how an insurance company, [[Hogg Robinson]], might exploit the security market. He collaborated with [[Julian Radcliffe]], managing director of a political-risk insurance company in the same group.<ref>Tony Geraghty, Guns For Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008, p.355.</ref>
  
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==Control Risks Diversify==
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Authors Jonathan Bloch and Patrick Fitzgerald state that the company was the brainchild of Radcliffe, "A London insurance broker, who became a director after the wholesale resignation of the board of Control Risks' previous incarnation, the [[A1 Insurance Agency]].<ref>Jonathan Bloch and Patrick Fitzgerald, British Intelligence and Covert Action, Brandon, 1983, p.208.</ref>
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Control Risks gradually diversified its activities becoming a risk analysis and security consultancy. They hired Major General [[Richard Clutterbuck]] (also ISC and a "media staple") to be its counter-terrorism specialist.  Clutterbuck pushed [[Frank Kitson]]'s infamous
 
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counterinsurgency doctrines extending them into industrial disputes, political demonstrations etc. conflating political dissent with political violence (now the work of people such as [[John Lloyd]] at the [[Foreign Policy Centre]] (below).  Clutterbuck spied on British animal rights groups (claiming to be writing a book thus also confounding legitimate journalism's enquiries) for the chemical industry which together with food manufacturers commissioned a Control Risks 'study'.  The Observer reported on Control Risks' 'study' dealing with the anti-apartheid movement, funded by a syndicate of companies doing business in S. Africa (£1,500 a head) briefing on potential violence by the campaign then led by [[Peter Hain]] (BOSS later tried to frame Hain for a bank robbery (see Hain's book 'A Putney Plot'). In this case they tied all anti-apartheid groups in with terrorist groups.
 
  
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Risks' 'security consultant' was [[David Walker]] also with [[KMS Ltd]] (full of ex-SAS members and known as 24 SAS, the name is an acronym of a south Arabian slang for under the counter and their motto is a pun of the old SAS motto; 'who pays wins'). KMS is said to be one of the world's largest recruitment agencies for mercenaries. [[Oliver North]] used Walker as part of the contra operation, [[Richard Secord]] hired him to fly missions into Nicaragua and sabotage Soviet helicopters.  KMS also helped [[Ian Smith]] in Rhodesia, Sri Lanka and assassination operations in the Lebanon.  Herman & O'Sullivan say this is all done with close co-operation with the FO and MI6: "all the work Walker gets from the Saudis comes through the British Foreign Office".  In the US Walker's people receive diplomatic immunity and carry State Dept. ID.
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According to Geraghty, the new Control Risks subsidiary started out as a shelf company acquired by [[Tim Royle]]. Walker was the firm's managing director and sole employee. During this time he travelled to Rome and Milan to advise on kidnap cases, established negotiations procedures and recruited two fellow SAS veterans, [[Arish Turle]] and [[Simon Adams-Dale]]. Walker left to join [[KMS]] in 1975, by which time Radcliffe had approached Lloyd's underwriters, offering kidnap and ransom ('K&R') insurance cover alongside a service to mitigate the risk.<ref>Tony Geraghty, Guns For Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008, p.355.</ref>
  
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[http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Control_Risks_Group Sourcewatch]] draws from the companies web site saying that:
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===Early Operations===
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:"This London based company, which describes itself as an 'international business risk consultancy', was founded in 1975 by former SAS officers. It is one of the one of the largest British mercenary firms operating in Iraq with a staff of more than 750, mainly drawn from former members of British Special Forces , with some earning as much as £1,000 a day. The firm also employs Fijian and Nepalese mercenaries.
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Increasing custom from Lloyds and other international companies saw Control Risks hiring more ex-SAS personnel in the late 1970s.<ref>Tony Geraghty, Guns For Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008, pp.355-356.</ref>
  
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Control Risks was one of the three mercenary firms that received a total of ?30.5m in the year 2004 from the British Foreign Office.  Along with [[ArmorGroup]] the firm is being paid a combined total of £50,000 a day to protect bureaucrats stationed in Iraq.
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In 1977, Turle and Adams-Dale were arrested in Colombia while arranging the release of US businessman [[George Curtis]] for a ransom of $400,000. They used their 10 weeks' imprisonment to rewrite Control Risks' Standard Operational Procedures.<ref>Tony Geraghty, Guns For Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008, p.355.</ref>
  
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==Overview==
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In 1979, Control Risks negotiated the release of two British officials from [[Lloyds Bank International]] after they had been kidnapped by guerrillas in El Salvador.<ref>Tony Geraghty, Guns For Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008, p.355.</ref>
  
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Formed in 1973.<ref>The SAS: Savage Wars of Peace: 1947 to the Present, by Anthony Kemp, John Murray, 1994, p88.</ref>Based out of London the '''Control Risks Group''', was founded as a subsidiary of the [[Hogg Robinson]] insurance and travel group, becoming the first company to provide advice to clients involved in kidnap situations. The company began with the hiring of three SAS officers: Maj. [[David Walker]], [[Arish Turle]], and [[Simon Adams-Dale]]. Walker would go on to co-found [[Saladin Security]] and [[Keenie Meenie Services]] of Iran/Contra notoriety. Turle would go on to co-found the [[Risk Advisory Group]] after a stint at [[Kroll, Inc.]]'s office in London.[http://www.public-i.org/bow/report.aspx?aid=158] [http://www.intelligenceonline.com/p_default_list_art.asp?rub=chan_rub_ioa_consultant]
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===Management buy-out===
 +
According to an early version of the company's website, "five members of the management team negotiated a management buy out of the company" in 1980-81, "establishing Control Risks as an independent, employee majority-owned private company, able to give impartial and objective advice to the advantage of our clients."<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20050309073151/http://www.crg.com/html/service_level2.php?id=146 History of Control Risks Group], Control Risks, archived at the Internet Archive, 9 March 2005.</ref>
  
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According to their website, in 1980-81, five members of the management team negotiated a buyout of the company and became an independent employee majority-owned company. Currently, the company is 82% owned by its employees. In 1995, CRG added an investigative division, and by 2003 they had become an international company with close to 400 employees and offices in seventeen countries including Iraq and China [http://www.crg.com/html/service_level2.php?id=146].
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Bloch and Fitzgerald's ''British Intelligence Covert Action'' stated that at the time of publication (1983), Control Risks operated from offices in Victoria, with a staff of 60 and a turnover of £1 million. Managing director [[Arish Turle]] was joined on the board by two other ex-SAS officers as well as former [[Metropolitan Police]] Commissioner Sir [[Robert Mark]], General Sir [[Frank King]], [[Peter Goss]] and Major-General [[Richard Clutterbuck]]. Staff members included [[Peter Janke]] and [[Richard Sims]], both of whom, like Clutterbuck, had links to the [[Institute for the Study of Conflict]].<ref>Jonathan Bloch and Patrick Fitzgerald, British Intelligence and Covert Action, Brandon, 1983, pp.208-209.</ref>
  
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CRG's four main operating areas are: Political and security risk analysis, confidential investigations, security consultancy, and crisis response. The majority of their clients are large multi-nationals; they state 83% of the ''FTSE'' 100 use one or more of their services [http://www.crg.com/html/service_level2.php?id=150#q1].
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===Continued expansion===
 +
Control Risks established an investigative division in 1995. By 2003 the company has 375 employees, with offices in 17 countries. In July 2003 a project office was opened in Iraq and October 2003 an office opened in China.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20050309073151/http://www.crg.com/html/service_level2.php?id=146 History of Control Risks Group], Control Risks, archived at the Internet Archive, 9 March 2005.</ref>
  
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CRG has a long history of working with the energy sector, covering ground in Algeria, Angola, Congo, Nigeria, Russia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Dubai, Sudan and Yemen. The main services they provide include political and security risk assessments, supplying site security managers for dangerous projects and kidnap and evacuation consultancy [http://www.crg.com/static/eic_partnership.htm]. They do not employ armed guards, acting only on an advisory, consultive and investigatory level, although it seems they have guards in Iraq made up of ex-SAS, Nepalese and Fijian soldiers [http://www.iraq.net/News-article-sid-2676-mode-thread.html]
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==Services==
 +
Control Risks divides its operations into ten service areas: political & security risk analysis, business intelligence & investigation, business ethics and anti-corruption, forensics, information security, screening, security management and consultancy, crisis management, business continuity services, travel security, incident response, governance & development, and training services.<ref>[http://www.control-risks.com/Default.aspx?page=15 Service Areas], Control Risks, accessed 27 September 2009.</ref>
  
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==Iraq connections==
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==Iraq==
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CRG are seen as an 'Iraq supplier': it "assess the level and nature of security and political risks to personnel, assets and operations, and to offer advice on appropriate risk mitigation strategies", the use of the term assets there would suggest involvement in the covert side of things.  They are also said to provide "protection for personnel, facilities and operations. Control Risk security consultants plan and implement security procedures and tasks, including security audits; collecting essential local information; co-coordinating with the coalition administration; managing VIP close protection; and providing secure travel, communications, local guard force supervision and "meet-and-greet services."  Given recent revelations of drive-by murders for fun and how feral security consultants have got in Iraq this is likely to be a lot more murky than the brochure-speak would imply.
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Control Risks Group opened a project office in Iraq in July 2003.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20050309073151/http://www.crg.com/html/service_level2.php?id=146 History of Control Risks Group], Control Risks, archived at the Internet Archive, 9 March 2005.</ref>
  
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[http://www.sibgonline.com/public/userlisting/pdfupload/13107_383__pr.pdf sigbonline.com]
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The ''Intelligence Online'' newletter reported that the office was headed by [[James Blount]], with five executives and a planned staff of 80 people:
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Has them branching out with the gizmo market with their AUTOMATED  'CRTRAVELTRACKER' PRODUCT - lets you know when employees stray out of the compound and have been kidnapped.
 
  
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The interface with New Labour came through (where else) [[Demos]] and the [[Foreign Policy Centre]] (FPC) : The FPC organised a conference before Bush's election: "The USA in the International Community: Creating Effective Strategies for Multilateralism with the British American Security Information Council". In the immediate aftermath of the US elections, this stated the conference:
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::The company said it would install a communications center designed to see that all staff are accounted for at all times, provide close protection for for people traveling in the country, liase with local forces to ensure customers are aware of the security situation and proffer advice and conduct audits for companies wishing to set up house in the country.<ref>Control Risks Gets In Early in Iraq, Intelligence Online, 5 September 2003.</ref>
  
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:"will assess and debate how the new political landscape will affect America's participation in international governance. Bringing together key figures from government, politics, the media, NGOs and business from both Europe and the US, the conference will focus on how proponents of multilateral frameworks can seek to foster strategies for maintaining and enhancing multilateral co-operation."
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In 2004, a joint venture of Control Risks, [[Erinys International|Erinys]] and [[Olive Security]] bid for the contract to assist the US [[Department of Defense]] [[Project Management Office]] that was eventually awarded to [[Aegis Defence Services]]. The consortium's bid was disqualified because one of the partners was under investigation for undisclosed reasons at the time.<ref>Pratap Chatterjee, [http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=11350 Controversial Commando Wins Iraq Contract], Corpwatch, 9 June 2004.</ref>
  
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The Conference was by invitation only. The Guardian blythly stated that: "The [FPC] will make foreign policy feel less like the preserve of an elite and more the topic of national conversation". It was funded from the following sources: BBC World
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In 2006, ''Intelligence Online'' reported that over half of Control Risks' employees in Iraq had threatened to resign following pay cuts after the British and Japanese foreign ministries renewed contracts at lower rates:
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Service, BP Amoco, [[Bruce Naughton Wade]], [[Clifford Chance]], [[Cluff Mining]], [[Commonwealth Institute]], Control Risks Group, Lord Gavron CBE, [[Paul Hamlyn]], [[Institute of Commonwealth Studies]], [[Interbrand Newell and Sorrell]], [[Rio Tinto]] and [[Royal Commonwealth Society]]. All of whom fund the FPC. Control Risks also work with [[Demos]]; http://www.fpc.org.uk/topics/risk/ and have a very close relationship (out-sourced merger) to the government and army in Iraq:
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::The resignation letters of Control Risks Group men, particularly those of [[Joe Dzioba]] and Bob Shepherds, who supervised protection of the Japanese embassy in Baghdad, were made public in Internet forums that specialize in private security.<ref>Control Risks Men in Iraq Resign, Intelligence Online, 23 June 2006.</ref>
  
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:"The Government is taking all steps possible to ensure the safety of our personnel in Iraq. We have provided secure compounds for our missions in Baghdad and Basrah, which are located in the "International Zones" in both cities. The missions are guarded by trained [[Armor Group]] personnel. Outside the international zones, our staff travels in armoured vehicles under the protection of trained personnel from Control Risks Group. There is a dedicated security manager at each post. The FCO Overseas Security Adviser visits both posts regularly and his recommendations have been put into effect. Our one-man mission in Kirkuk is located in a well-guarded US compound." [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmfaff/36/36.pdf]
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An email that appears to be [[Joe Dzioba]]'s resignation letter appears on the internet at collegeslackers.com.<ref>[http://www.collegeslackers.com/forum/index.php?s=e61b96a64d08d894286e75f1a6e49b6a&showtopic=12143 British Mercs Resign Enmasse], collegeslackers.com, 18 June 2006.</ref>
  
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There is very little good critical analysis of Risks apart from:
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[[Bob Shepherd]]'s account in ''The Circuit '' suggests that the Japanese embassy contract he worked on was in Afghanistan rather than Iraq.<ref>Bob Shepherd with M.P. Sagba,, The Circuit, MacMillan, 2008, p.244.</ref>
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[http://www.publicintegrity.org/bow/report.aspx?aid=149]
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By Duncan Campbell mostly on Spicer/Sandline/'Ethical Foreign policy' (note Rose's mention) etc.  And
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In 2007, Control Risks' revenues from Iraq dropped by £14.9 million or 24 per cent as western businesses avoided the country:
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[http://www.publicintegrity.org/bow/report.aspx?aid=158]
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::Chief executive [[Richard Fenning]] said: 'It sounds counter-intuitive, but Iraq has got too dangerous for security companies to boom there.'<ref>[http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/markets/article.html?in_article_id=424211&in_page_id=3 Control Risks hit by Iraq problems], Evening Standard, 11 September 2007.</ref>
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Which has further history of Risks and touches on how if a job is too sensitive, the private army network can be given the job and nothing will be written down in government records.
 
  
 
==Marine Terminals dispute==
 
==Marine Terminals dispute==
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::“It has only been in the last few days that we have been able to confirm the identity of the organisation and it is now incumbent on the [[Private Security Authority]] to prosecute Peel Ports and its Irish subsidiary Marine Terminals for flouting Irish law. These people are guarding and patrolling company premises, observing and reporting on SIPTU pickets, challenging people entering the Marine Terminals facilities, escorting people off the premises and providing protection to management personnel and strike breakers passing the pickets.
 
::“It has only been in the last few days that we have been able to confirm the identity of the organisation and it is now incumbent on the [[Private Security Authority]] to prosecute Peel Ports and its Irish subsidiary Marine Terminals for flouting Irish law. These people are guarding and patrolling company premises, observing and reporting on SIPTU pickets, challenging people entering the Marine Terminals facilities, escorting people off the premises and providing protection to management personnel and strike breakers passing the pickets.
 
::“All of these are licensable activities yet Control Risks people refuse to identify themselves or even confirm on whose behalf they are acting. Last May management had the gall to bring Control Risks personnel with them into conciliation talks at the [[Labour Relations Commission]] and refused to engage in talks without them being present, despite a request by an officer of the state that they leave.<ref>[http://www.siptu.ie/PressRoom/NewsReleases/2009/Name,11028,en.html SIPTU calls for prosecution of Peel Ports over use of unlicensed private security operators at Marine Terminals], SIPTU News Release, 27 August 2009.</ref>
 
::“All of these are licensable activities yet Control Risks people refuse to identify themselves or even confirm on whose behalf they are acting. Last May management had the gall to bring Control Risks personnel with them into conciliation talks at the [[Labour Relations Commission]] and refused to engage in talks without them being present, despite a request by an officer of the state that they leave.<ref>[http://www.siptu.ie/PressRoom/NewsReleases/2009/Name,11028,en.html SIPTU calls for prosecution of Peel Ports over use of unlicensed private security operators at Marine Terminals], SIPTU News Release, 27 August 2009.</ref>
 +
 +
==Think-tank links==
 +
Control Risks is a partner of the [[Foreign Policy Centre]].<ref>[http://fpc.org.uk/membership/ Membership], Foreign Policy Centre, accessed 27 September 2009.</ref> It has sponsored a number of the Centre's publications, including ''Keeping Your People Safe: The Legal and Policy Framework for Duty of Care''; ''Doing Business in a Dangerous World'', and ''Healthy Travel'', the latter of which was also published in conjunction with the [[Nuffield Trust]] and [[Demos]].<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20040402121321/http://fpc.org.uk/topics/risk/ Risk and Security Programme], Foreign Policy Centre, via the Internet Archive, archived on 2 April 2004.</ref>
  
 
==Clients & Advice==
 
==Clients & Advice==
  
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*CRG is currently providing services for [[Bechtel]] and [[Halliburton]] in Iraq [http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2004/040610-iraq-contract.htm]
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*CRG is currently providing services for [[Bechtel]] and [[Halliburton]] in Iraq<ref>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2004/040610-iraq-contract.htm]</ref>
  
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*CRG has joined with the [[Energy Industry Council]], the largest Trade Association for British companies that service the world's energy industries [http://www.the-eic.com/memberslist/memberlist.pdf]
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*CRG has joined with the [[Energy Industry Council]], the largest Trade Association for British companies that service the world's energy industries<ref>[http://www.the-eic.com/memberslist/memberlist.pdf]</ref>
  
 
*CRG prepared a [http://www.hiscox.com/_HTML_Emails/_docs/wtpv/wtpv_1004.pdf War, Terrorism and Political Violence briefing] released by [[Hiscox Syndicates]] in October of 2004. The briefing examines the trouble regions around the world, recent acts of violence, and assessments for the near future.
 
*CRG prepared a [http://www.hiscox.com/_HTML_Emails/_docs/wtpv/wtpv_1004.pdf War, Terrorism and Political Violence briefing] released by [[Hiscox Syndicates]] in October of 2004. The briefing examines the trouble regions around the world, recent acts of violence, and assessments for the near future.
  
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*In 1992, CRG warned their client [[Unocal]] regarding their project in Burma that the government "habitually makes use of forced labor to construct roads" and concluded that Unocal and its partners would have "little freedom of manoeuvre." [http://www.thailawforum.com/database1/unocal2.html]
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*In 1992, CRG warned their client [[Unocal]] regarding their project in Burma that the government "habitually makes use of forced labor to construct roads" and concluded that Unocal and its partners would have "little freedom of manoeuvre." <ref>[http://www.thailawforum.com/database1/unocal2.html]</ref>
  
 
*CRG was hired by the parents of Madeleine McCann, a British child who went missing in Portugal, to 'check reported sightings and build up profiles of likely abductors.'<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7010224.stm Madeleine sighting 'encouraging'], ''BBC'', 24 September 2007</ref>
 
*CRG was hired by the parents of Madeleine McCann, a British child who went missing in Portugal, to 'check reported sightings and build up profiles of likely abductors.'<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7010224.stm Madeleine sighting 'encouraging'], ''BBC'', 24 September 2007</ref>
  
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==Directors and Officers==
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==People==
 +
===Directors and Officers===
 
*[[Jonathan Fry]]: Chairman
 
*[[Jonathan Fry]]: Chairman
 
*[[Nigel Churton]]: Chief Executive Officer
 
*[[Nigel Churton]]: Chief Executive Officer
Line 85: Line 90:
 
<ref>Michael Rose, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1682807,00.html Enough of his excuses: Blair must be impeached over Iraq], Guardian, 10 January 2006 (Accessed: 4 November 2007)</ref>
 
<ref>Michael Rose, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1682807,00.html Enough of his excuses: Blair must be impeached over Iraq], Guardian, 10 January 2006 (Accessed: 4 November 2007)</ref>
  
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==Other employees==
+
===Other employees===
  
 
*[[Kevin Rosser]] - terrorism analyst as at January 2004 <ref>[http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2004-01/04/content_295526.htm]</ref>
 
*[[Kevin Rosser]] - terrorism analyst as at January 2004 <ref>[http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2004-01/04/content_295526.htm]</ref>
Line 97: Line 102:
  
 
==References, Resources and Contact==
 
==References, Resources and Contact==
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===Resources===
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===See Also===
 +
[[Control Risks Information Services]]
 +
===External resources===
 +
*Control Risks [http://www.controlrisks.com/Oversized%20assets/shale_gas_whitepaper.pdf The Global Anti-Fracking Movement: What it wants, how it operates and what next], Control Risks Group paper, 2012
 +
 
 +
*Sourcewatch [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Control_Risks_Group Control Risks Group]
 +
*Duncan Campbell, [http://projects.publicintegrity.org/bow/report.aspx?aid=149 Marketing the new 'Dogs of War'], Center for Public Integrity, 30 October 2002.
 +
*Duncan Campbell, [http://projects.publicintegrity.org/bow/report.aspx?aid=158 Cozy, Clubby and Covert], Center for Public Integrity, 30 October 2002.
 
*[http://www.securitymanagement.com/library/000883.html "Cracking Crime in Brazil"] by [[James Wygand]], GM of Southern Cone, CRG in Sao Paulo, Brazil, July 2000.
 
*[http://www.securitymanagement.com/library/000883.html "Cracking Crime in Brazil"] by [[James Wygand]], GM of Southern Cone, CRG in Sao Paulo, Brazil, July 2000.
 
*[[Philip Alcock]], Senior Consultant, Crisis Management at CRG, [http://www.eca-international.com/asp/ViewArticle.asp?ArticleID=208 "How to Handle A Crisis"]
 
*[[Philip Alcock]], Senior Consultant, Crisis Management at CRG, [http://www.eca-international.com/asp/ViewArticle.asp?ArticleID=208 "How to Handle A Crisis"]
Line 114: Line 126:
 
[[Category: Private Military Corporations]]
 
[[Category: Private Military Corporations]]
 
[[Category:Security Industry]]
 
[[Category:Security Industry]]
 +
[[Category:Fracking:Fracking studies]]

Latest revision as of 05:00, 28 March 2014

Control Risks Group is a British private security company.

History

Foundation

Author Tony Geraghty describes the genesis of Control Risks as follows:

In 1974, David Walker, a former SAS officer, was commissioned to examine how an insurance company, Hogg Robinson, might exploit the security market. He collaborated with Julian Radcliffe, managing director of a political-risk insurance company in the same group.[1]

Authors Jonathan Bloch and Patrick Fitzgerald state that the company was the brainchild of Radcliffe, "A London insurance broker, who became a director after the wholesale resignation of the board of Control Risks' previous incarnation, the A1 Insurance Agency.[2]

According to Geraghty, the new Control Risks subsidiary started out as a shelf company acquired by Tim Royle. Walker was the firm's managing director and sole employee. During this time he travelled to Rome and Milan to advise on kidnap cases, established negotiations procedures and recruited two fellow SAS veterans, Arish Turle and Simon Adams-Dale. Walker left to join KMS in 1975, by which time Radcliffe had approached Lloyd's underwriters, offering kidnap and ransom ('K&R') insurance cover alongside a service to mitigate the risk.[3]

Early Operations

Increasing custom from Lloyds and other international companies saw Control Risks hiring more ex-SAS personnel in the late 1970s.[4]

In 1977, Turle and Adams-Dale were arrested in Colombia while arranging the release of US businessman George Curtis for a ransom of $400,000. They used their 10 weeks' imprisonment to rewrite Control Risks' Standard Operational Procedures.[5]

In 1979, Control Risks negotiated the release of two British officials from Lloyds Bank International after they had been kidnapped by guerrillas in El Salvador.[6]

Management buy-out

According to an early version of the company's website, "five members of the management team negotiated a management buy out of the company" in 1980-81, "establishing Control Risks as an independent, employee majority-owned private company, able to give impartial and objective advice to the advantage of our clients."[7]

Bloch and Fitzgerald's British Intelligence Covert Action stated that at the time of publication (1983), Control Risks operated from offices in Victoria, with a staff of 60 and a turnover of £1 million. Managing director Arish Turle was joined on the board by two other ex-SAS officers as well as former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Robert Mark, General Sir Frank King, Peter Goss and Major-General Richard Clutterbuck. Staff members included Peter Janke and Richard Sims, both of whom, like Clutterbuck, had links to the Institute for the Study of Conflict.[8]

Continued expansion

Control Risks established an investigative division in 1995. By 2003 the company has 375 employees, with offices in 17 countries. In July 2003 a project office was opened in Iraq and October 2003 an office opened in China.[9]

Services

Control Risks divides its operations into ten service areas: political & security risk analysis, business intelligence & investigation, business ethics and anti-corruption, forensics, information security, screening, security management and consultancy, crisis management, business continuity services, travel security, incident response, governance & development, and training services.[10]

Iraq

Control Risks Group opened a project office in Iraq in July 2003.[11]

The Intelligence Online newletter reported that the office was headed by James Blount, with five executives and a planned staff of 80 people:

The company said it would install a communications center designed to see that all staff are accounted for at all times, provide close protection for for people traveling in the country, liase with local forces to ensure customers are aware of the security situation and proffer advice and conduct audits for companies wishing to set up house in the country.[12]

In 2004, a joint venture of Control Risks, Erinys and Olive Security bid for the contract to assist the US Department of Defense Project Management Office that was eventually awarded to Aegis Defence Services. The consortium's bid was disqualified because one of the partners was under investigation for undisclosed reasons at the time.[13]

In 2006, Intelligence Online reported that over half of Control Risks' employees in Iraq had threatened to resign following pay cuts after the British and Japanese foreign ministries renewed contracts at lower rates:

The resignation letters of Control Risks Group men, particularly those of Joe Dzioba and Bob Shepherds, who supervised protection of the Japanese embassy in Baghdad, were made public in Internet forums that specialize in private security.[14]

An email that appears to be Joe Dzioba's resignation letter appears on the internet at collegeslackers.com.[15]

Bob Shepherd's account in The Circuit suggests that the Japanese embassy contract he worked on was in Afghanistan rather than Iraq.[16]

In 2007, Control Risks' revenues from Iraq dropped by £14.9 million or 24 per cent as western businesses avoided the country:

Chief executive Richard Fenning said: 'It sounds counter-intuitive, but Iraq has got too dangerous for security companies to boom there.'[17]

Marine Terminals dispute

Frank Connolly of Irish trade union SIPTU said in September 2009 that British property company Peel Ports had hired Control Risks "to monitor striking staff using sophisticated visual and audio surveillance equipment" during the Marine Terminals dispute at Dublin Port.[18]

Earlier, in August 2009 SIPTU regional organiser Christy McQuillan claimed that Control Risks had been operating at Marine Terminals since at least May and that it's presence was an abuse of Irish law:

“It has only been in the last few days that we have been able to confirm the identity of the organisation and it is now incumbent on the Private Security Authority to prosecute Peel Ports and its Irish subsidiary Marine Terminals for flouting Irish law. These people are guarding and patrolling company premises, observing and reporting on SIPTU pickets, challenging people entering the Marine Terminals facilities, escorting people off the premises and providing protection to management personnel and strike breakers passing the pickets.
“All of these are licensable activities yet Control Risks people refuse to identify themselves or even confirm on whose behalf they are acting. Last May management had the gall to bring Control Risks personnel with them into conciliation talks at the Labour Relations Commission and refused to engage in talks without them being present, despite a request by an officer of the state that they leave.[19]

Think-tank links

Control Risks is a partner of the Foreign Policy Centre.[20] It has sponsored a number of the Centre's publications, including Keeping Your People Safe: The Legal and Policy Framework for Duty of Care; Doing Business in a Dangerous World, and Healthy Travel, the latter of which was also published in conjunction with the Nuffield Trust and Demos.[21]

Clients & Advice

  • CRG has joined with the Energy Industry Council, the largest Trade Association for British companies that service the world's energy industries[23]
  • In 1992, CRG warned their client Unocal regarding their project in Burma that the government "habitually makes use of forced labor to construct roads" and concluded that Unocal and its partners would have "little freedom of manoeuvre." [24]
  • CRG was hired by the parents of Madeleine McCann, a British child who went missing in Portugal, to 'check reported sightings and build up profiles of likely abductors.'[25]

People

Directors and Officers

Of note here is that Michael Rose, who, although making money out of the chaos and carnage of US/UK policy in Iraq, has publically spoken about impeaching Tony Blair. [29]

Other employees

  • Kevin Rosser - terrorism analyst as at January 2004 [30]
  • Victor Ferreira - Dir. Info. Prods.
  • Gary Noesner
  • Jim Brooks - SVP Crisis & Security Mgt.
  • Elaine Carey
  • William Daly
  • Douglas Olin - Senior Vice President and General Counsel
  • Andreas Carleton-Smith - President and CEO, North America: he spent 10 years in the British Army, the last three of which were spent on active duty with the SAS, his responsibilities included commanding elements of the UKs counter-terrorist team. He was also awarded the Military Cross for gallantry in the former Republic of Yugoslavia.

References, Resources and Contact

See Also

Control Risks Information Services

External resources

References

  1. ↑ Tony Geraghty, Guns For Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008, p.355.
  2. ↑ Jonathan Bloch and Patrick Fitzgerald, British Intelligence and Covert Action, Brandon, 1983, p.208.
  3. ↑ Tony Geraghty, Guns For Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008, p.355.
  4. ↑ Tony Geraghty, Guns For Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008, pp.355-356.
  5. ↑ Tony Geraghty, Guns For Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008, p.355.
  6. ↑ Tony Geraghty, Guns For Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering, Piatkus, 2008, p.355.
  7. ↑ History of Control Risks Group, Control Risks, archived at the Internet Archive, 9 March 2005.
  8. ↑ Jonathan Bloch and Patrick Fitzgerald, British Intelligence and Covert Action, Brandon, 1983, pp.208-209.
  9. ↑ History of Control Risks Group, Control Risks, archived at the Internet Archive, 9 March 2005.
  10. ↑ Service Areas, Control Risks, accessed 27 September 2009.
  11. ↑ History of Control Risks Group, Control Risks, archived at the Internet Archive, 9 March 2005.
  12. ↑ Control Risks Gets In Early in Iraq, Intelligence Online, 5 September 2003.
  13. ↑ Pratap Chatterjee, Controversial Commando Wins Iraq Contract, Corpwatch, 9 June 2004.
  14. ↑ Control Risks Men in Iraq Resign, Intelligence Online, 23 June 2006.
  15. ↑ British Mercs Resign Enmasse, collegeslackers.com, 18 June 2006.
  16. ↑ Bob Shepherd with M.P. Sagba,, The Circuit, MacMillan, 2008, p.244.
  17. ↑ Control Risks hit by Iraq problems, Evening Standard, 11 September 2007.
  18. ↑ Frank Connolly, The View from Siptu, The Village, September 2009.
  19. ↑ SIPTU calls for prosecution of Peel Ports over use of unlicensed private security operators at Marine Terminals, SIPTU News Release, 27 August 2009.
  20. ↑ Membership, Foreign Policy Centre, accessed 27 September 2009.
  21. ↑ Risk and Security Programme, Foreign Policy Centre, via the Internet Archive, archived on 2 April 2004.
  22. ↑ [1]
  23. ↑ [2]
  24. ↑ [3]
  25. ↑ Madeleine sighting 'encouraging', BBC, 24 September 2007
  26. ↑ [4]
  27. ↑ From List of Attendees -- Canning House, London, 2 November 2007, for the launch of Michael Reid's book
  28. ↑ Canning House, ibid.
  29. ↑ Michael Rose, Enough of his excuses: Blair must be impeached over Iraq, Guardian, 10 January 2006 (Accessed: 4 November 2007)
  30. ↑ [5]
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