Amhoud I Family Trust
Waqif aluBayeet aAmhoud muIkhtet (Packilvanian) | |
 Palace of the Duke of Makobar in the Bedonite Ducal Estate in Makobar, Kharyat, Packilvania, is the workplace and office of the Amhoud I Family Trust | |
| Formation | December 21, 1986 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Amhoud I |
| Founded at | Tajneem House, Bingol, Packilvania |
| Type | Non-government organisation |
| Legal status | Family trust (waqif) |
| Purpose | Financial asset management for the Bedonite dynasty |
| Headquarters | Bedonite Ducal Estate, Makobar, Kharyat |
Chairman of the Board of Governors | Thumim V |
Chairman of the Board of Trustees | Khimayon Dohal |
| Endowment | Unknowm |
The Amhoud I Family Trust (Packilvanian: luWaqif aluBayeet aAmhoud muIkhtet) is a trust (waqif) that manages assets for the benefit of the members of the Bedonite dynasty.
The Trust was founded in 1985, by Amhoud I to administer the civil list provided by the government of Packilvania to the Bedonite dynasty as well as manage assets such palaces and castles in Packilvania. The Trust manages an endowment of an unknown amount. An estimate from the Center for International Finance and others approximates the value of the trust's assets at 300 billion to 1 trillion Kirib (36 trillion to 120 trillion Packilvanian dinar or about 7 to 23 million KRB per capita). Chairman of the Board of Trustees is Khimayon Dohal, the second son of Eron Dohal, former head of intelligence in the Carriers of Mercy.
Legal standing
In terms of Packilvanian law of waqifs, a waqif manages assets for the benefit of the beneficiaries. The waqif is not a commercial enterprise and cannot engage in commercial activities. As such, its main purpose is to ensure that assets are effectively managed and that the income raised is distributed in such a way as to meaningfully support the beneficiaries, and preserve the value of the endowment to the greatest extent possible.
The trust is registered with the Department of Workers, Pensions and Social Welfare as is any other waqif. As such, it can be reasonably construed that it is subject to the similar rules. However, it is noteworthy that the Sultan and the members of the Council of Ministers, in the contexts of their various departments, have issued decrees and regulations that despite not naming the trust, have practically given it exemptions that have not been enjoyed by similar entities. As such, legal scholars and political analysts suggest that the body is a quasi-waqif and a de facto chubaal (or for-profit corporation).
Management and Oversight
The waqif is run by the Board of Trustees. The members of the Board of Trustees are not members of the Bedonite dynasty. They are all people who are allied with the family and trained in finance. The Chairman of the Board of Trustees is Khimayon Dohal, the son of Eron Dohal, the former Minister of State Security and Chief of Intelligence of the Carriers of Mercy under Amhoud I. Khimayon Dohal was an independent financial adviser whose client book was worth over 600 million Kiribs. Khimayon was approached by Prince Jibrael on behalf of Sultan Namdun III, to be the Chairman of the Board.
Above the Board of Trustees is the Board of Governors. This body consists of the most senior members of the Bedonite dynasty and two to three times a year, they meet to assess the work of the Board of Trustees. They have the power to appoint, dismiss and discipline the Board of Trustees as they see fit. Their approval is required for major decisions (normally decisions to change the investment mandate of the trust or to invest or divest a large portion of its holdings). The Chairman of the Board of Governors is the Sultan or his appointed representative. Other members are chosen by and consist of the most senior agnates in the Bedonite dynasty in terms of the Packilvanian law of succession. A professional auditing firm carries out an audit once a year of the Trust's assets and finances, but the final statements are not available to the public.
Once a year, the body presents its financial situation to the Committee on State Appropriations and Public Accounts of the Legislative Council of Packilvania (colloquially known as the Budget Committee). Deliberations of the this committee remained closed and its meetings with respect to the trust cannot be shared with the public. The trust's information is protected by the Protection of State Secrets Act and release thereof is punishable by imprisonment. Furthermore, the Packilvanian Central Bank is purported to require access to the approved financial statements of the trust, an unusual situation for trusts, that Governor Uramid Nekhal neither denied nor confirmed when interviewed in 2017.
Finances and Assets
The finances of the trust are unknown however, reasonable guesses can be made. What is known is that the trust manages the enormous civil list given by the government in every annual budget. The specific amount and its composition is lept secret, but it is included in the line item on appropriations in the annual budget to the Imperial Court of Packilvania and the Sultan in his personal capacity, so the exact amount is unclear. However, based on publicly disclosed expenditure of the Imperial Court and the known stipend paid to the Sultan, the trust receives over 2 billion Kirib in funds from the government every year and ordinarily this amount keeps up with inflation. Based on projections since 1986 by the Centre on International Finance, the waqif has been bequeathed approximately 60 billion Kiribs since 1985.
It is reasonably suspected that the Bedonite dynasty owned at least 1,000 hectares of land during the reign of the Demirite dynasty that were valued at 7 million dinars at the time. When the land was returned to the Bedonite dynasty, the land was worth 2.8 billion KRB in 1985. This included agricultural land and Urban real estate. Based on the growth of asset prices since then, the properties are most likely worth a nominal value of 100 billion KRB. Moreover, many of the palaces, castles and mansions, jewels, gold reserves and armouries that were owned by the Demirite dynasty were given to the Bedonite dynasty. Historically significant properties such as the Bingol Royal Palace and the Sultana's Palace are vested in the Crown and held in trust by the Sultan in perpetuity. A leaked memo from the Department of Finance in 2006 suggested that the assets were worth 108 billion KRB. With the rise in asset prices, estimates suggest that the assets are worth 200 billion KRB in 2023 money.
During the Second Packilvanian Civil War, there was an unofficial audit report that was leaked from the Imperial Treasury that the senior leaders of the Carriers of Mercy had forcibly seized and taken control of financial assets, real estate and farmland valued at over 1.5 trillion KRB in 2023 terms. It is thus, estimated based on the extent of the asset redistribution that the Bedonite dynasty may have received up to 400 billion KRB in looted or "expropriated" properties. These include state owned assets as well as assets owned by enemies of the Carriers of Mercy such as members of the Packilvanian Communist Party.
Based on a raid by the law firm U'xa'mil & Partners, a law firm based in Tilden, Free Pax States, the Bedonite dynasty had laundered at least 1 billion KRB during the Communist years in 1985 terms that it stored in the bank accounts of foreign countries of which 400 million was suspected to be in FPS and Great Morstaybishlian banks. Assuming the assets were subsumed by the trust, based on 2023 terms, over 20 billion KRB in value could have been pilfered from the Packilvanian Communist Party. During the privatisation of state owned companies, a disproportionate number of highly valuable state owned companies were sold at a pittance to people linked to or affiliated with the Bedonite dynasty. Based on asset price increases in that period, analysts such as Ita Marama, estimate the value at around 300 billion KRB.
Based on estimates, the Trust could be worth over 1 trillion KRB, rivaling even the largest banks in the world. Analysts have called these numbers into question, citing the bursting of the asset price bubble in 1998, the financial capital controls imposed in the late 2000s by the Packilvanian Central Bank, the devaluing of the Packilvanian dinar to keep export prices low, and the volatility of Packilvanian asset prices that perhaps left the trust with half or less of the estimated amount which would put the trust at 400 to 600 billion KRB. Nevertheless, given the economic implications of such a vast concentration of wealth, the oversight of public functionaries over and above requirements by the Department of Women, Children and Social Welfare points to the fact that the Trust is enormous, whatever the amount.
Distributions and Benefits
Many members of the Bedonite dynasty are entitled to stipends and pensions from the trust. Thumim V passed a Decree amending the distribution to exclude far flung and tangentially related persons from claiming funds from the trust. Apparently (based on leaked Chatter group chat messages published by South East Yasteria News), the family's most senior members were deeply troubled by unsettling rumors of corruption and fraudsters receiving money from the fund. The amount of the stipends is unknown but it is known that the Sultan, Sultana, Crown Prince and other members close to the family core get hundreds of millions of Kiribs from the trust.
Members of the family can access medical cover, reimbursements for expenses incurred due to activities affiliated with the family or funds when doing work for the family. Princes have access to all the apartments, mansions, houses and penthouses owned by the Trust in addition to the palaces, and castles it oversees for Imperial purposes. Some foreign political commentators suggest that the dispute between Prince Abuyin and Thumim V prior to the latter's coronation and wedding could have been precipitated in part by disputes over money given the enormous financial windfall that a position as Crown Prince could afford. These claims are questioned, by analysts such Nodeyd Aljameed of the Subakil Insitute of Finance.
Controversies
Speaking about the finances of the Imperial Family including the Trust is stigmatized socially and even illegal in many cases. People who have leaked documents about the trust's finances have often gone missing or died under mysterious circumstances. In 2007, journalist, Tubeyd Najmaktoun of the Meker Moon, was found dead in his apartment from an apparent gas leak just one day after he is believed to have met with journalist Rui'xal Kinga from FPS claiming to have evidence of "massive corruption" by the Bedonite dynasty. Whistle-blower, Jumayma Khanoud, who is believed to have been a Trustee vanished in 2012, with her last words being on a recording machine to her husband in which she stated, "they know that I know, it's only a matter of time...". An online account on the Packilvanian version of Pigeon known as Pyrox127 was shut down 72 seconds after posting "Got big news about the Bedons. Big big news!" in 2016 and the account has remained deactivated ever since. When asked by foreign journalists, Hudeyna Nakhmoud, who had recently been appointed as the Director General of the Imperial Treasury, quipped that people who besmirch the reputation of thr Bedonite dynasty should be hanged.Some analysts such as Hubraan Qalimadeen of the Institute for Public Governance have called these accusations ridiculous and baseless, citing the circumstantial and coincidental nature of these incidents.