Ron Bakir (Arabic: رون باكر) (also known as Rani Muhuddine Hassan) is a Lebanese-Australian entrepreneur and discharged ex-bankrupt from Queensland, Australia. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language An entrepreneur is a person who has possession over a company enterprise, or Venture, and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern corner of the mainland continent For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Bakir is the founder of Mad Ron's, a mobile phone retail chain. He gained nationwide media attention as a supporter of Schapelle Corby in 2005. Schapelle Leigh Corby (born 10 July 1977) is an Australian convicted and imprisoned in Indonesia for Drug smuggling.
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Early history
Originally named Rani Muhuddine Hassan, he was born in Lebanon in 1977. He emigrated to Australia and since then has usually been known as Ron Bakir.
Later history
Ron Bakir was declared bankrupt in June 2002. The bankruptcy was discharged in October 2003. Officially, he is only an employee of the Mad Ron group of companies and has no management role. [1]
He started several companies in Australia, with complex intertwining ownership arrangements. The most prominent of these were the Crazy Ron’s and Mad Ron’s group of companies. "Crazy Ron's" was forced to change its name to "Mad Ron's" after a legal challenge from a rival mobile phone retailer, Crazy John's. Crazy John's is a Mobile phone retail chain in Australia started by late Turkish/Australian businessman John Ilhan. Crazy Ron’s Communications (CRC), went into liquidation as of May 3 2005. Its assets had been "sold" to a related party in September 2004, leaving little for the creditors. Brendan Fleiter, the managing director of a creditor company, said “Every time creditors start asking to be paid, there seems to be the ‘sale’ of a business, or some other transaction, to a related party. ” and “I’d like him to pay us before he pays the Indonesian lawyers. ” [2] . The liquidator Paul Brake, of Australian Corporate and Personal Insolvency said “it seems likely there may be no readily collectible assets of any significance”. In Law, a liquidator is the officer appointed when a company goes into winding-up or Liquidation who has responsibility for collecting in all of the assets [3]
Corby's "White Knight"
In 2005, Bakir gained attention again as Schapelle Corby's "white knight". Schapelle Leigh Corby (born 10 July 1977) is an Australian convicted and imprisoned in Indonesia for Drug smuggling. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Schapelle Leigh Corby (born 10 July 1977) is an Australian convicted and imprisoned in Indonesia for Drug smuggling. The amount of financial support he gave Corby and his exact role in her defence of drug charges against her have never been revealed. Corby's mother said she wished Bakir would "butt out" of Corby's life. Corby's QC also told Bakir to "zip his lips", saying that his "limited financial advice" didn't entitle him to comment on her behalf [4].
Ron Bakir retained the services of an Australian law firm (Hoolihans) to investigate where the drugs came from. Given the secrecy surrounding the Australian government's decision to fund the Indonesian lawyers defending Corby at the court, many people assumed that Bakir was also paying their fees. In practice, no one knows whether Bakir actually paid Hoolihans or the Indonesian lawyers, although he offered to publicise documentation.
Bakir claims to have no relationship to Corby other than being from the same city. He reportedly decided to help fund Corby's defence because he believed that a miscarriage of justice could occur if she were not properly represented. Bakir pledged $A100,000 towards the $A1,000,000 reward fund, although it is not clear that this money will ever have to be paid (the full reward was never raised).
Before the prosecution announced their sentencing recommendation, Bakir accused the prosecution team (chief prosecutor Ida Bagus Wiswantanu) of seeking a bribe to reduce the requested sentence. Ida Bagus Wiswantanu was Chief Government Prosecutor in Bali, Indonesia from 2002 until 2005 Bribery, a form of pecuniary corruption is an act usually implying money or gift given that alters the behaviour of the recipient in ways not consistent with the duties of that person The prosecution team and the Indonesian government vehemently denied that this had occurred. Corby's legal team openly admitted their anger at Bakir making these statements before the sentencing recommendation, fearing that it might have encouraged the prosecution to seek a more severe penalty. Corby sacked her main defence lawyer, Lily Lubis, and case coordinator Vasu in July 2005, after Australian lawyer Trowell informed the media that the defence team asked him to request $A500,000 from the Australian government, money meant to bribe the judges of the appeal court. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
Bakir registered a company titled Schapelle Corby Pty Ltd [5], causing others to raise doubts as to his motives. He subsequently deregistered[6] the company. Corby's father also expressed his concerns about the true intentions of Bakir, and Corby's mother was quoted as saying: "We didn't ask him to come on board, we didn't know him from a bar of soap, and now it seems like he's trying to profit from Schapelle's misery" and "I do think he's got ulterior motives" [7].
Many creditors of Mr Bakir's previous businesses questioned his ability to fund Corby's defence. [8] Corby's mother maintained that Bakir asked her to pay him back eventually. [9] Bakir was bankrupted in 2002 and discharged from bankruptcy in 2003. Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their Creditors Creditors may file a bankruptcy petition against Corby's legal team requested Bakir to keep quiet during her appeal.
Bakir cut ties with the Schapelle Corby case on 24 June 2005 after Corby wrote a letter sacking her lawyers as well as Ron Bakir and Robin Tampoe. Events 972 - Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces takes place Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. [10]. By 22 July 2005 Bakir deregistered both Schapelle Corby Pty Ltd and www. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Godfrey of Bouillon is elected the first Defender of the Holy Sepulchre of The Kingdom of Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. schapellecorby. com. au [11].
Jodi Power
Mercedes Corby, sister of the convicted drug smuggler, has stated that Jodi Power, a family friend , boasted of having sex with Bakir. [1]
References
Other references
- Corby verdict 'not surprising'
- Entrepreneur Ron Bakir says money is no object. His creditors disagree
- Bakir company enters administration
- Schapelle Corby: White Knight under siege
- Ron Bakir's involvement in Schapelle Corby trial media coverage
External links
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