„Mario Brero“ – Versionsunterschied

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Controversies: rmv unnecessary sections - first two sections are about Alps not Brero, and the third is little more than celebrity gossip
re-add Gunvor bit in the positive light it should be written
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In 1986, Brero exported computers and [[semiconductor manufacturing]] equipment from the United States to the [[Eastern Bloc]] through Switzerland. In 1988, The US government investigated Brero and his company Samata SA and concluded that Brero had participated in the scheme to [[Re-exportation|re-export]] computers and [[semiconductor]] manufacturing equipment.<ref name="Kirkpatrick"/> According to the Federal register, these were national security goods under a privileged export ban by the US Bureau of Export Administration.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Archives of US Federal Register|date=1988-06-20 |publisher=Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration |language=en |url=https://archives.federalregister.gov/issue_slice/1988/5/2/15581-15587.pdf}}</ref> Brero denied the charges, but agreed to stop the business following revocation of his distribution licenses.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Federal Register, Volume 60 Issue 127 (Monday, July 3, 1995) |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-1995-07-03/html/95-16220.htm |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=www.govinfo.gov}}</ref>
In 1986, Brero exported computers and [[semiconductor manufacturing]] equipment from the United States to the [[Eastern Bloc]] through Switzerland. In 1988, The US government investigated Brero and his company Samata SA and concluded that Brero had participated in the scheme to [[Re-exportation|re-export]] computers and [[semiconductor]] manufacturing equipment.<ref name="Kirkpatrick"/> According to the Federal register, these were national security goods under a privileged export ban by the US Bureau of Export Administration.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Archives of US Federal Register|date=1988-06-20 |publisher=Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration |language=en |url=https://archives.federalregister.gov/issue_slice/1988/5/2/15581-15587.pdf}}</ref> Brero denied the charges, but agreed to stop the business following revocation of his distribution licenses.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Federal Register, Volume 60 Issue 127 (Monday, July 3, 1995) |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-1995-07-03/html/95-16220.htm |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=www.govinfo.gov}}</ref>


===Alp Services===
In 1989, influenced by [[Jules Kroll]]'s international corporate-investigation business, he founded ''Alp Services'' in Geneva, according to ''Le Monde'' initially as a subcontractor for Kroll, focusing on banks, law firms and wealthy clients.<ref name="lemonde">{{Cite news |last=Agathe Duparc |date=2012-01-21 |title=Mario Brero, profession : "intelligence économique" |language=fr |work=Le Monde.fr |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2012/01/21/mario-brero-profession-intelligence-economique_1632745_3234.html |access-date=2023-07-19}}</ref>
In 1989, influenced by [[Jules Kroll]]'s international corporate-investigation business, he founded Alp Services in Geneva, according to ''Le Monde'' initially as a subcontractor for Kroll, focusing on banks, law firms and wealthy clients.<ref name="lemonde">{{Cite news |last=Agathe Duparc |date=2012-01-21 |title=Mario Brero, profession : "intelligence économique" |language=fr |work=Le Monde.fr |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2012/01/21/mario-brero-profession-intelligence-economique_1632745_3234.html |access-date=2023-07-19}}</ref>


In 2011, [[Anne Lauvergeon]], the former head of the mining division at the French nuclear group [[Areva]], received an anonymous report containing information on Uramin, a company acquired by Areva,<ref name="lefigaro.fr">{{Cite web |date=2013-10-01 |title=Areva : pourquoi le mari d'Anne Lauvergeon aurait été espionné |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2013/10/01/01016-20131001ARTFIG00330-areva-pourquoi-le-mari-d-anne-lauvergeon-aurait-ete-espionne.php |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=LEFIGARO |language=fr}}</ref> information about Lauvergeon's husband Oliver Fric, their banking details, information about their travel in [[Geneva]] and a list of telephone numbers they had called. This document came from Alp Services.<ref name="lefigaro.fr"/>" In December 2011, Lauvergon filed a complaint against Brero for illegal [[wiretapping]].<ref name="à 17h42">{{Cite web |last=à 17h42 |first=Par Le 21 mai 2012 |date=2012-05-21 |title=Plainte d'Anne Lauvergeon pour atteinte à la vie privée : l'enquête s'accélère |url=https://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/plainte-d-anne-lauvergeon-pour-atteinte-a-la-vie-privee-l-enquete-s-accelere-21-05-2012-2009798.php |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=leparisien.fr |language=fr-FR}}</ref> After investigation, the public prosecutor's office decided to bring Brero before the [[Criminal justice|criminal court]] of Paris for "complicity of violation of professional secrecy" and "concealment of violation of professional secrecy" to the detriment of Olivier Fric.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-11-20 |title=L'enquête pour espionnage chez Areva touche à sa fin |url=https://www.nouvelobs.com/justice/20121120.OBS9966/l-enquete-pour-espionnage-chez-areva-touche-a-sa-fin.html |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=L'Obs |language=fr}}</ref> The trial was held in 2014. During his hearing Brero revealed he had paid phone-company employees to disclose her and her husbands call information.<ref name="à 17h42"/>" Brero was [[Conviction|convicted]] but only received a suspended sentence.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2013-06-18 |title=Espionnage chez Areva : l'ex-bras droit d'Anne Lauvergeon sera jugé |language=fr |work=Le Monde.fr |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2013/06/18/espionnage-chez-areva-l-ex-bras-droit-d-anne-lauvergeon-sera-juge_3432403_3224.html |access-date=2023-07-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-05-16 |title=Carrure de montagne et souplesse de félin : le curieux détective d'Areva |url=https://www.nouvelobs.com/rue89/rue89-police-justice/20140517.RUE3887/carrure-de-montagne-et-souplesse-de-felin-le-curieux-detective-d-areva.html |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=L'Obs |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2016-03-30 |title=Areva : qui est Olivier Fric, le mari gênant d'Anne Lauvergeon ? |url=https://www.vanityfair.fr/pouvoir/politique/articles/areva-anne-lauvergeon-olivier-fric-un-mari-genant/27208 |access-date=2023-07-27 |magazine=Vanity Fair |language=fr-FR}}</ref>
In 2011, [[Anne Lauvergeon]], the former head of the mining division at the French nuclear group [[Areva]], received an anonymous report containing information on Uramin, a company acquired by Areva,<ref name="lefigaro.fr">{{Cite web |date=2013-10-01 |title=Areva : pourquoi le mari d'Anne Lauvergeon aurait été espionné |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2013/10/01/01016-20131001ARTFIG00330-areva-pourquoi-le-mari-d-anne-lauvergeon-aurait-ete-espionne.php |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=LEFIGARO |language=fr}}</ref> information about Lauvergeon's husband Oliver Fric, their banking details, information about their travel in [[Geneva]] and a list of telephone numbers they had called. This document came from Alp Services.<ref name="lefigaro.fr"/>" In December 2011, Lauvergon filed a complaint against Brero for illegal [[wiretapping]].<ref name="à 17h42">{{Cite web |last=à 17h42 |first=Par Le 21 mai 2012 |date=2012-05-21 |title=Plainte d'Anne Lauvergeon pour atteinte à la vie privée : l'enquête s'accélère |url=https://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/plainte-d-anne-lauvergeon-pour-atteinte-a-la-vie-privee-l-enquete-s-accelere-21-05-2012-2009798.php |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=leparisien.fr |language=fr-FR}}</ref> After investigation, the public prosecutor's office decided to bring Brero before the [[Criminal justice|criminal court]] of Paris for "complicity of violation of professional secrecy" and "concealment of violation of professional secrecy" to the detriment of Olivier Fric.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-11-20 |title=L'enquête pour espionnage chez Areva touche à sa fin |url=https://www.nouvelobs.com/justice/20121120.OBS9966/l-enquete-pour-espionnage-chez-areva-touche-a-sa-fin.html |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=L'Obs |language=fr}}</ref> The trial was held in 2014. During his hearing Brero revealed he had paid phone-company employees to disclose her and her husbands call information.<ref name="à 17h42"/>" Brero was [[Conviction|convicted]] but only received a suspended sentence.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2013-06-18 |title=Espionnage chez Areva : l'ex-bras droit d'Anne Lauvergeon sera jugé |language=fr |work=Le Monde.fr |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2013/06/18/espionnage-chez-areva-l-ex-bras-droit-d-anne-lauvergeon-sera-juge_3432403_3224.html |access-date=2023-07-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-05-16 |title=Carrure de montagne et souplesse de félin : le curieux détective d'Areva |url=https://www.nouvelobs.com/rue89/rue89-police-justice/20140517.RUE3887/carrure-de-montagne-et-souplesse-de-felin-le-curieux-detective-d-areva.html |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=L'Obs |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2016-03-30 |title=Areva : qui est Olivier Fric, le mari gênant d'Anne Lauvergeon ? |url=https://www.vanityfair.fr/pouvoir/politique/articles/areva-anne-lauvergeon-olivier-fric-un-mari-genant/27208 |access-date=2023-07-27 |magazine=Vanity Fair |language=fr-FR}}</ref>
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Despite not receiving a substantial judgement, Brero's actions drove away many above-board firms and increasing the number of less-scrupulous clients: [[Russian oligarchs|oligarchs from the former Soviet Union]], other billionaires from Eastern Europe, VIPs from small African states like Gabon, and the Middle East. Alp Services under Brero started focusing on spreading negative information, which he called "offensive viral communication campaigns". For example, in 2012 Brero worked for [[Prince Albert of Monaco]] to smear [[Robert Eringer]], former head of Monegasque intelligence services. This was accomplished by having false information about Eringer added to his Wikipedia entry sourced to a blog from a fake individual claiming to be an expert in psychology.<ref name=heidi/> Brero also hired hackers to get confidential banking information, and used [[Honey trapping|honey trap]]s, during his operations. From 2015 to 2017, Alp Services's fees were nearly 6 million Swiss francs.<ref name=Kirkpatrick /><ref name="Heidi2020">{{Cite web |last=Antoine Harari |date=2020-12-15 |title=A war of detectives - Heidi.news |url=https://www.heidi.news/explorations/the-fox-and-the-oligarch-the-incredible-bouvier-vs-rybolovlev-case/a-war-of-detectives |access-date=2023-07-19 |website=www.heidi.news |language=fr}}</ref>
Despite not receiving a substantial judgement, Brero's actions drove away many above-board firms and increasing the number of less-scrupulous clients: [[Russian oligarchs|oligarchs from the former Soviet Union]], other billionaires from Eastern Europe, VIPs from small African states like Gabon, and the Middle East. Alp Services under Brero started focusing on spreading negative information, which he called "offensive viral communication campaigns". For example, in 2012 Brero worked for [[Prince Albert of Monaco]] to smear [[Robert Eringer]], former head of Monegasque intelligence services. This was accomplished by having false information about Eringer added to his Wikipedia entry sourced to a blog from a fake individual claiming to be an expert in psychology.<ref name=heidi/> Brero also hired hackers to get confidential banking information, and used [[Honey trapping|honey trap]]s, during his operations. From 2015 to 2017, Alp Services's fees were nearly 6 million Swiss francs.<ref name=Kirkpatrick /><ref name="Heidi2020">{{Cite web |last=Antoine Harari |date=2020-12-15 |title=A war of detectives - Heidi.news |url=https://www.heidi.news/explorations/the-fox-and-the-oligarch-the-incredible-bouvier-vs-rybolovlev-case/a-war-of-detectives |access-date=2023-07-19 |website=www.heidi.news |language=fr}}</ref>


In 2014, following a meeting between Brero and [[Gennady Timchenko]], the Russian businessman and billionaire behind the trading company [[Gunvor]], Alp Services wrote a "strictly confidential" report on the signing of contracts between Gunvor and Congo, leading to the prosecution of several Gunvor employees for corruption.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gunvor in Congo |url=https://www.publiceye.ch/fileadmin/doc/Rohstoffe/2017_PublicEye_Gunvor_in_Congo_Report.pdf}}</ref>-->


Former journalist [[Roland Jacquard]], a self-professed expert on extremism of European Muslims passed himself off in his communications with the Emirati secret services as an adviser to [[Emmanuel Macron]]<ref name="mediapart">{{Cite web|url=https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/010323/une-fuite-de-donnees-revele-l-ingerence-des-emirats-en-france|title=Une fuite de données révèle l'ingérence des Émirats en France|first=Yann Philippin, Antton|last=Rouget|website=Mediapart}}</ref> recommended the secret service of the [[U.A.E.]] to hire Brero in their competition with Qatar and the [[Muslim Brotherhood]]. When in August, 2017, Brero persuaded the Emiratis to hire him to deliver the "power of dark PR" with "an initial four-to-six-month budget of a million and a half euros", Jacquard received his commission. Brero offered to attack [[Tariq Ramadan]] , to smear [[Youssef Nada]]s son Hazim Nada, as well as the [[FEMYSO|Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organization]]. Alp employees created damning Wikipedia entries and lobbied [[World-Check]] about Nada´s alleged "ties to terrorism" eventually ruining his business. Brero recruited mainstream journalists Ian Hamel, Louis de Raguenel, and scholars like [[Lorenzo Vidino]], paying the latter 13,000 €. In 2019, Brero attacked [[Islamic Relief Worldwide]] by feeding information to [[Andrew Norfolk]], of the London ''Times'', accusing one member Heshmat Khalifa to be a terrorist, so eventually the German government stopped working with Islamic Relief. Targets also included Sihem Souid, a public-relations consultant for Qatar and [[Kamel Jendoubi]], a human-rights advocate.<ref name=Kirkpatrick /> Between 2017 and 2021, Alp Services collected personal data on more than one thousand people in Switzerland and Europe, charging the Emirati secret services nearly six million euros for the information.<ref name="heidi2">{{Cite web |last=Antoine Harari Clément Fayol |date=2023-07-10 |title=Comment une agence à Genève a fiché un millier de personnes pour les services secrets émiratis - Heidi.news |url=https://www.heidi.news/explorations/abu-dhabi-secrets-un-detective-genevois-au-service-des-emirats/comment-une-agence-a-geneve-a-fiche-un-millier-de-personnes-pour-les-services-secrets-emiratis |access-date=2023-07-19 |website=www.heidi.news |language=fr}}</ref> In 2021, Brero was convicted of coercion of an employee; a former employee said that Brero "wanted to have files on everyone".<ref name=heidi/>
Former journalist [[Roland Jacquard]], a self-professed expert on extremism of European Muslims passed himself off in his communications with the Emirati secret services as an adviser to [[Emmanuel Macron]]<ref name="mediapart">{{Cite web|url=https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/010323/une-fuite-de-donnees-revele-l-ingerence-des-emirats-en-france|title=Une fuite de données révèle l'ingérence des Émirats en France|first=Yann Philippin, Antton|last=Rouget|website=Mediapart}}</ref> recommended the secret service of the [[U.A.E.]] to hire Brero in their competition with Qatar and the [[Muslim Brotherhood]]. When in August, 2017, Brero persuaded the Emiratis to hire him to deliver the "power of dark PR" with "an initial four-to-six-month budget of a million and a half euros", Jacquard received his commission. Brero offered to attack [[Tariq Ramadan]] , to smear [[Youssef Nada]]s son Hazim Nada, as well as the [[FEMYSO|Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organization]]. Alp employees created damning Wikipedia entries and lobbied [[World-Check]] about Nada´s alleged "ties to terrorism" eventually ruining his business. Brero recruited mainstream journalists Ian Hamel, Louis de Raguenel, and scholars like [[Lorenzo Vidino]], paying the latter 13,000 €. In 2019, Brero attacked [[Islamic Relief Worldwide]] by feeding information to [[Andrew Norfolk]], of the London ''Times'', accusing one member Heshmat Khalifa to be a terrorist, so eventually the German government stopped working with Islamic Relief. Targets also included Sihem Souid, a public-relations consultant for Qatar and [[Kamel Jendoubi]], a human-rights advocate.<ref name=Kirkpatrick /> Between 2017 and 2021, Alp Services collected personal data on more than one thousand people in Switzerland and Europe, charging the Emirati secret services nearly six million euros for the information.<ref name="heidi2">{{Cite web |last=Antoine Harari Clément Fayol |date=2023-07-10 |title=Comment une agence à Genève a fiché un millier de personnes pour les services secrets émiratis - Heidi.news |url=https://www.heidi.news/explorations/abu-dhabi-secrets-un-detective-genevois-au-service-des-emirats/comment-une-agence-a-geneve-a-fiche-un-millier-de-personnes-pour-les-services-secrets-emiratis |access-date=2023-07-19 |website=www.heidi.news |language=fr}}</ref> In 2021, Brero was convicted of coercion of an employee; a former employee said that Brero "wanted to have files on everyone".<ref name=heidi/>
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In 2021, Alp Services was hacked, and an investigation of the leaked data was published in early 2023 by the [[European Investigative Collaborations]] under the name [[Abu Dhabi Secrets]].<ref>{{Cite news |last= Rémi Dupré |date=2023-03-31 |title=Une lobbyiste engagée par le Qatar en France dépose plainte contre les Emirats arabes unis pour espionnage |language=fr |work=Le Monde.fr |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2023/03/31/la-lobbyiste-en-chef-du-qatar-en-france-depose-plainte-pour-espionnage-contre-les-emirats-arabes-unis_6167779_3210.html |access-date=2023-07-20}}</ref>
In 2021, Alp Services was hacked, and an investigation of the leaked data was published in early 2023 by the [[European Investigative Collaborations]] under the name [[Abu Dhabi Secrets]].<ref>{{Cite news |last= Rémi Dupré |date=2023-03-31 |title=Une lobbyiste engagée par le Qatar en France dépose plainte contre les Emirats arabes unis pour espionnage |language=fr |work=Le Monde.fr |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2023/03/31/la-lobbyiste-en-chef-du-qatar-en-france-depose-plainte-pour-espionnage-contre-les-emirats-arabes-unis_6167779_3210.html |access-date=2023-07-20}}</ref>


== Controversies ==
<!-- This is a problematic paragraphy, because it's written in a negative manner implying wrongdoing, when as far as I can tell the source is saying that Alp was part of an operation *against* Timchenko. Commenting out for now until it can be sorted

In 2014, Brero was in contact with [[Gennady Timchenko]], the Russian businessman and billionaire behind the trading company [[Gunvor]] because, Alp Services wrote a "strictly confidential" report on the signing of contracts between Gunvor and Congo, which the Swiss association [[Public Eye (organization)|Public Eye]] was able to consult.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gunvor in Congo |url=https://www.publiceye.ch/fileadmin/doc/Rohstoffe/2017_PublicEye_Gunvor_in_Congo_Report.pdf}}</ref>-->


=== Abu Dhabi Secrets ===
=== Abu Dhabi Secrets ===

Version vom 9. September 2023, 15:41 Uhr

Vorlage:Short description

Datei:Mario Brero picture.jpg
Mario Brero

Vorlage:Use dmy dates Vorlage:Infobox person Mario Brero (born March 29, 1946) is an Italian private detective heading five companies registered in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1989 he founded Alp Services SA, a private investigation business, focusing on banks, law firms and wealthy clients with "advice, support, strategic guidance, diplomatic intermediation and organisation in crisis management and image reputation" and with "national and international investigations and inquiries, notably commercial and financial, in combating money laundering, counterfeiting, parallel markets, economic and/or computer crime; surveillance and protection of individuals and companies, crisis and risk management, asset searches, due diligence, auditing.

Presented by the press as "detective[1]" or even "spy[2]", he became notorious through revelations about the cases his companies had handled and his controversial or even illegal methods. After his methods became public and he was sentenced by a French court in 2014, Alp services focused on reputation management by spreading negative information for his clients from the former Soviet Union, VIPs from small African states, and most notably the UAE, such that Le Monde called it a "destabilization and surveillance company".

In 2021, his firm was hacked and the results published in 2023 as Abu Dhabi Secrets, how Alp Services was contracted by the UAE government to spy on citizens of 18 countries in Europe and beyond. Alp Services sent the names of more than 1000 individuals and 400 organizations in 18 European countries to the UAE intelligence services, labelling them as part of the Muslim Brotherhood network. In 2021, Brero was also convicted of coercion.

Early life and education

Mario Brero was born on March 29, 1946. He has represented himself as a graduate of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.[3] EPFL archives solely mention his enrollment to a specialized mathematics class between 1967 and 1968, where he only studied for one semester.[4]

Career

In 1986, Brero exported computers and semiconductor manufacturing equipment from the United States to the Eastern Bloc through Switzerland. In 1988, The US government investigated Brero and his company Samata SA and concluded that Brero had participated in the scheme to re-export computers and semiconductor manufacturing equipment.[4] According to the Federal register, these were national security goods under a privileged export ban by the US Bureau of Export Administration.[5] Brero denied the charges, but agreed to stop the business following revocation of his distribution licenses.[6]

Alp Services

In 1989, influenced by Jules Kroll's international corporate-investigation business, he founded Alp Services in Geneva, according to Le Monde initially as a subcontractor for Kroll, focusing on banks, law firms and wealthy clients.[7]

In 2011, Anne Lauvergeon, the former head of the mining division at the French nuclear group Areva, received an anonymous report containing information on Uramin, a company acquired by Areva,[8] information about Lauvergeon's husband Oliver Fric, their banking details, information about their travel in Geneva and a list of telephone numbers they had called. This document came from Alp Services.[8]" In December 2011, Lauvergon filed a complaint against Brero for illegal wiretapping.[9] After investigation, the public prosecutor's office decided to bring Brero before the criminal court of Paris for "complicity of violation of professional secrecy" and "concealment of violation of professional secrecy" to the detriment of Olivier Fric.[10] The trial was held in 2014. During his hearing Brero revealed he had paid phone-company employees to disclose her and her husbands call information.[9]" Brero was convicted but only received a suspended sentence.[11][12][13]

Despite not receiving a substantial judgement, Brero's actions drove away many above-board firms and increasing the number of less-scrupulous clients: oligarchs from the former Soviet Union, other billionaires from Eastern Europe, VIPs from small African states like Gabon, and the Middle East. Alp Services under Brero started focusing on spreading negative information, which he called "offensive viral communication campaigns". For example, in 2012 Brero worked for Prince Albert of Monaco to smear Robert Eringer, former head of Monegasque intelligence services. This was accomplished by having false information about Eringer added to his Wikipedia entry sourced to a blog from a fake individual claiming to be an expert in psychology.[3] Brero also hired hackers to get confidential banking information, and used honey traps, during his operations. From 2015 to 2017, Alp Services's fees were nearly 6 million Swiss francs.[4][14]

In 2014, following a meeting between Brero and Gennady Timchenko, the Russian businessman and billionaire behind the trading company Gunvor, Alp Services wrote a "strictly confidential" report on the signing of contracts between Gunvor and Congo, leading to the prosecution of several Gunvor employees for corruption.[15]-->

Former journalist Roland Jacquard, a self-professed expert on extremism of European Muslims passed himself off in his communications with the Emirati secret services as an adviser to Emmanuel Macron[16] recommended the secret service of the U.A.E. to hire Brero in their competition with Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood. When in August, 2017, Brero persuaded the Emiratis to hire him to deliver the "power of dark PR" with "an initial four-to-six-month budget of a million and a half euros", Jacquard received his commission. Brero offered to attack Tariq Ramadan , to smear Youssef Nadas son Hazim Nada, as well as the Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organization. Alp employees created damning Wikipedia entries and lobbied World-Check about Nada´s alleged "ties to terrorism" eventually ruining his business. Brero recruited mainstream journalists Ian Hamel, Louis de Raguenel, and scholars like Lorenzo Vidino, paying the latter 13,000 €. In 2019, Brero attacked Islamic Relief Worldwide by feeding information to Andrew Norfolk, of the London Times, accusing one member Heshmat Khalifa to be a terrorist, so eventually the German government stopped working with Islamic Relief. Targets also included Sihem Souid, a public-relations consultant for Qatar and Kamel Jendoubi, a human-rights advocate.[4] Between 2017 and 2021, Alp Services collected personal data on more than one thousand people in Switzerland and Europe, charging the Emirati secret services nearly six million euros for the information.[17] In 2021, Brero was convicted of coercion of an employee; a former employee said that Brero "wanted to have files on everyone".[3]

In 2021, Alp Services was hacked, and an investigation of the leaked data was published in early 2023 by the European Investigative Collaborations under the name Abu Dhabi Secrets.[18]


Abu Dhabi Secrets

In March 2023, the Abu Dhabi Secrets, two major investigations into the missions conducted by Alp Services SA, were published in the French and American press. According to Médiapart, Brero's companies have "notably carried out private intelligence missions on behalf of the Emirati intelligence services" and have also "disseminated information - under false identities on the Internet - with the aim of harming adversaries of the Emirates, mainly Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood ."[19]

Brero provided documents and photos in the context of a trivial labor dispute that revealed information about Alp Services' business providers and clients, including a secret Emirati agent. In March 2023, his name was made public by the American journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner David D. Kirkpatrick for The New Yorker - as Matar Humaid al-Neyadi and his superior Ali Saeed al-Neyadi.[20] It was possible to identify the two Emirati secret service agents because of the photos taken discreetly by Brero during meetings with his clients.[4]

Among Brero's targets, journalists mention Sihem Souid[19] - former policewoman and socialist ministerial advisor, now a communicator and lobbyist for Qatar in France - whose Paris house was photographed by Brero's agents, just before it was broken into; the reputation and business intelligence consultancy Avisa Partners;[19] Hazim Nada and his oil trading company Lord Energy SA; the association Islamic Relief Worldwide; the Tunisian politician Kamel Jendoubi.

People who worked alongside Brero in the context of this case against Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood, include Roland Jacquard, who passed himself off in his communications with the Emirati secret services as an adviser to Emmanuel Macron;[19] the former head of security at the Elysée Palace, Alexandre Benalla, who was photographed at a meal organised by Brero and who began working with the Swiss detective in 2018; Lorenzo G. Vidino an Italian-American researcher specializing in the Muslim Brotherhood; journalist Louis de Raguenel,[21] who worked for Valeurs Actuelles and as of 2022 worked for Europe 1;[22] Le Point's Swiss correspondent Ian Hamel;[23] investigative journalist Sylvain Besson of the Swiss media group Tamedia[24]  .

Brero´s methods within the framework of his mandate included infiltration, honey trapping, access to the bank and telephone records of his targets by impersonating them, reconnaissance and surveillance, publication of false press articles on anonymous blogs and the use of false identities to relay the content of these publications to the traditional press. The revelations of The New Yorker and Médiapart also concern the way Brero treats his own clients: recordings of sensitive telephone conversations, photos taken secretly and presented to the courts spontaneously, provision of email accounts with the possibility to consult them without the clients' consent.[4][19]

Corporate culture at Alp Services

According to The New Yorker, Mario Brero has been cultivating a family atmosphere in his office. However, when an associate leaves, he has screamed treason and threatened legal action. In 2021, Mario Brero was convicted by the Switzerland’s Criminal Court of coercing a departing employee into signing a document. The victim stated that spyware existed on all the employees' workstations.[19]

References

Vorlage:Reflist

  • ALP Services. In: www.alpservices.com. Abgerufen am 19. Juli 2023.
  1. EXCLUSIF - A Genève, le roi des détectives piégé par un hackeur - Heidi.news. In: www.heidi.news. Abgerufen am 27. Juli 2023 (französisch).
  2. Un "espion" suisse jugé à Paris - Le Temps, 16. Mai 2014. Abgerufen am 27. Juli 2023 (französisch). 
  3. a b c Antoine Harari Clément Fayol: A Genève, les méthodes du "roi des détectives" mises à nu [Exclusif] - Heidi.news. In: www.heidi.news. 7. Juli 2023, abgerufen am 19. Juli 2023 (französisch).
  4. a b c d e f Vorlage:Cite magazine
  5. Archives of US Federal Register. Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 20. Juni 1988; (englisch).
  6. Federal Register, Volume 60 Issue 127 (Monday, July 3, 1995). In: www.govinfo.gov. Abgerufen am 27. Juli 2023.
  7. Agathe Duparc: Mario Brero, profession : "intelligence économique" In: Le Monde.fr, 21. Januar 2012. Abgerufen am 19. Juli 2023 (französisch). 
  8. a b Areva : pourquoi le mari d'Anne Lauvergeon aurait été espionné. In: LEFIGARO. 1. Oktober 2013, abgerufen am 27. Juli 2023 (französisch).
  9. a b Par Le 21 mai 2012 à 17h42: Plainte d'Anne Lauvergeon pour atteinte à la vie privée : l'enquête s'accélère. In: leparisien.fr. 21. Mai 2012, abgerufen am 27. Juli 2023 (fr-fr).
  10. L'enquête pour espionnage chez Areva touche à sa fin. In: L'Obs. 20. November 2012, abgerufen am 27. Juli 2023 (französisch).
  11. Espionnage chez Areva : l'ex-bras droit d'Anne Lauvergeon sera jugé In: Le Monde.fr, 18. Juni 2013. Abgerufen am 27. Juli 2023 (französisch). 
  12. Carrure de montagne et souplesse de félin : le curieux détective d'Areva. In: L'Obs. 16. Mai 2014, abgerufen am 27. Juli 2023 (französisch).
  13. Vorlage:Cite magazine
  14. Antoine Harari: A war of detectives - Heidi.news. In: www.heidi.news. 15. Dezember 2020, abgerufen am 19. Juli 2023 (französisch).
  15. Gunvor in Congo.
  16. Yann Philippin, Antton Rouget: Une fuite de données révèle l'ingérence des Émirats en France. In: Mediapart.
  17. Antoine Harari Clément Fayol: Comment une agence à Genève a fiché un millier de personnes pour les services secrets émiratis - Heidi.news. In: www.heidi.news. 10. Juli 2023, abgerufen am 19. Juli 2023 (französisch).
  18. Rémi Dupré: Une lobbyiste engagée par le Qatar en France dépose plainte contre les Emirats arabes unis pour espionnage In: Le Monde.fr, 31. März 2023. Abgerufen am 20. Juli 2023 (französisch). 
  19. a b c d e f Yann Philippin, Antton Rouget: Une fuite de données révèle l'ingérence des Émirats en France. In: Mediapart. Abgerufen am 27. Juli 2023 (französisch).
  20. Executive bios of prominent people and decision makers in Arabia. In: Dhow Net. Abgerufen am 27. Juli 2023 (amerikanisches Englisch).
  21. Louis de Raguenel : Tous ses articles. In: Valeurs actuelles. Abgerufen am 27. Juli 2023 (fr-fr).
  22. Second tour des législatives : Louis de Raguenel, Ghislaine Ottenheimer et Charlotte d'Ornellas. In: Europe 1. 20. Juni 2022, abgerufen am 27. Juli 2023 (französisch).
  23. Le Point magazine: Ian Hamel - Journaliste du Point. In: Le Point.fr. 5. März 2023, abgerufen am 27. Juli 2023 (französisch).
  24. Sylvain Besson. In: 24 heures. 2. Juli 2023, abgerufen am 27. Juli 2023 (französisch).