The world’s richest Iraqi, Auchi has been living in the UK since 1980 and is a British citizen, and chairman of the Anglo-Arab Organisation. Nadhmi has had more drama in his life than any playwright could do justice.
Owner and manager of construction and trading companies in Iraq, he was jailed by Saddam Hussein’s regime and left the country in 1980. By then he had founded General Mediterranean Holdings, based in Luxembourg, which has grown into an international powerhouse with at least US$2.4bn in assets and annual profits around US$150m.
Although Auchi has built 120 companies, the construction magnate continues to be dogged by controversy – in 2003 he was convicted in France of receiving illegal commissions, and given a 15-month suspended sentence.
His daughter Luma was among nine drug firm executives to be charged with conspiracy to defraud Britain’s National Health Service after a four-year Serious Fraud Office investigation.
An alleged price-fixing ring is said to have defrauded the service out of many millions of pounds by inflating the price of some of Britain’s most commonly prescribed medicines.
Auchi is involved with a number of charities in the UK and in the Arab world. In September, he established the Nadhmi Auchi Young Arab Leaders Fellowships at the American University in Cairo (AUC). The programme is open to qualified Egyptian and other Arab college graduates to attend a graduate programme at AUC on a full tuition-free basis.
The fellowships will be provided to individuals of intellectual distinction, excellence in qualities of mind and person, as well as exhibiting promise of effective service to the world. It is designed to develop a new cadre of public and community leaders who can fill leadership positions in Egypt and the Arab world.
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