David Rose organised Shahzad’s meeting with CEO of Broadsheet

LONDON: The Broadsheet LLC CEO, Kaveh Moussavi’s, first meeting in London with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s accountability adviser Shahzad Akbar was organised by Daily Mail journalist David Rose, who wanted Broadsheet to pay him a commission of £250,000 to settle his outstanding mortgage on his Oxford home in exchange for getting nearly $30 million paid to Broadsheet by the Government of Pakistan, according to Kaveh Moussavi.

In an interview, Kaveh Moussavi said that not only did David Rose organise his meeting with Shahzad Akbar in London but also participated in their meeting at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington on October 19, 2019 and attempted to find ways of Pakistan and Kaveh Moussavi working together in future. Kaveh Moussavi and David Rose are neighbours in Oxford and both have known each other for many years.

David Rose has never spoken about the fact that he played a key role in organising the meeting but confirmed on Monday through a series of tweets that he had organised it.

Kaveh Moussavi said: “David Rose told me he knew Shahzad Akbar. We met in my house in Oxford and we had a chat. David Rose said he would organise the meeting (with Shahzad Akbar) and he did. What was in it for him? He said that he had a big mortgage. I said if I am paid (by Pakistan), then I can settle it (the £250,000 mortgage). We shook hands and said that I will settle his mortgage and I said I will be happy to do that and that was it.”

“I said to him (David Rose), frankly, that I have to spend that kind of money on lawyers and enforcement anyway, then so if you settle [the payment] then your mortgage will be settled. That’s how we left it,” said Kaveh.

Kaveh said David Rose asked for £250,000 specifically and “I wouldn’t know what his mortgage was unless he told me that”.

Kaveh said he asked David Rose why Shahzad Akbar had sent him. “Why do they have to send you? They can just write to me. David Rose said they just want to establish trust. I said you don’t need trust; you need to send a cheque. David Rose said ‘I will set up, organise a meeting for you with Shahzad Akbar’. I said fine. Then he said what’s in it for me? I said, 'What do you want?'.”

Kaveh Moussavi claims that David Rose replied that he “has got a big mortgage” of approximately “£250,000”.

Kaveh claimed he told David Rose that Pakistan owed him around US$30 million “so I am happy to give you a commission. I will clear that with the lawyers and if they don’t approve, then I will pay that out of my share which is not a significant amount."

After the initial alleged agreement between Kaveh Moussavi and David Rose, they met Shahzad Akbar and another lawyer accompanying Akbar. Kaveh didn’t know his name. “There were four of us and we had lunch together. That was in October 2019.”

Shahzad Akbar confirmed that David Rose participated in the meeting but said he only sought ‘discount’ for Pakistan and nothing more. The prime minister's adviser said he was simply not aware of any discussions between David Rose and Kaveh Moussavi.

At the meeting, Kaveh Moussavi claims David Rose “gave some formulas” about how “we could work together in future and all that”. Kaveh said he replied that he was first interested in getting his money before discussing a future deal.

“He tried to be creative and when it didn’t work, afterwards he became very offensive in his text and all kinds of things”.

Kaveh said: “Shahzad Akbar wanted a discount and asked for a discount and said I will settle for you. I said it’s not a settlement. We have got a judgment. Settlement comes before a judgment. What are you talking about?”

Kaveh said he called his Washington lawyers and was advised by his lawyers to “impress upon him that we will enforce if we have to seize aircrafts, we will seize assets, we will do it, we will seize the proceeds of bonds that Pakistan had floated on the market. I said to Shahzad Akbar after 19 years of pursuit you should have no illusions that I will press this home and I suggest that you come and pay the court order.”

Kaveh Moussavi and Shahzad Akbar met again a few days later in London in the presence of a mutual human rights lawyer friend but David Rose didn’t take part in the second meeting.

Kaveh said: “Shahzad again asked me for a discount and our lawyer friend tried to convince me to simply take our costs and go. I said no.”

Kaveh says he left the meeting and texted Shahzad Akbar that “you have just shown the contempt you have for the rule of law. You summoned me to come from Oxford on a rainy day and I come and sit with you and you waste my time.”

Shahzad Akbar and Kaveh communicated last through text message on 26th October 2019. However, Kaveh says his communication with David Rose has continued and they have clashed. Kaveh claims he has text messages and emails to prove that David Rose became 'hostile' to him after he refused to do the deal the way Shahzad Akbar wanted him to do.

He claimed: “David Rose became very offensive in his texts and his emails to me. I found it quite incredible that this was a man I trusted because of the Guantanamo Bay connections and then I found that no I certainly don’t trust him today. The issue was a 180-degree change in position. He’s a man who is trying to settle this thing and I said yes I will help him settle his mortgage and the reality was that he started becoming a hostile person to me. You should see his text messages. It’s quite extraordinary.”

Kaveh Moussavi said that he didn’t believe that David Rose did anything wrong by asking for a £250,000 commission from him. “Asking for commission is a legitimate thing if it’s a business deal. You are entitled to a commission. That’s just fine.”

The Broadsheet CEO claimed: “The fact that David Rose started going hostile towards me after that (meeting) was quite shocking to me. Up to that point I clearly considered him a friend and trusted him.” According to Kaveh Moussavi’s claim, David Rose is still in touch with him and “tries to bait me”.

Kaveh claimed that David Rose asked him in a recent text message if he had lost his marbles and why Kaveh communicated with him only through emojis, and not words. Kaveh replied: “I simply wrote back and said how depressing it is to see how much you have fallen from the days when you were a serious journalist doing Guantanamo Bay work. It’s what Daily Mail does to people.”

Kaveh Moussavi confirmed he texted David Rose on 23rd June 2018 when the Mail on Sunday published an article on Nawaz Sharif and his sons titled, “How the mega-rich former prime minister of Pakistan and his sons have ploughed millions into London's swankiest addresses to amass a vast property empire”.

Kaveh Moussavi said: “I told David Rose it’s a great article on Avenfield apartments. I sent a note to him that it’s a great article but there is more evidence of this we certainly dug into and that’s how the conversation got going.”

“How come you're involved in Broadsheet?” asked David Rose, according to Kaveh. Kaveh replied: “I am Broadsheet for God’s sake, what are you talking about? He checked me out and said ‘Oh my God, you really are Broadsheet’.”

David Rose confirmed that he arranged Kaveh Moussavi’s meeting with Shahzad Akbar. David Rose said: “I’ve known Kaveh since 2003.

“It all started when he asked me to his house (very near mine) and told me about the litigation. He asked me to arrange a meeting with Shahzad. I’ve known Shahzad for a long time too, so I agreed to do this."

David Rose said: “At first I thought he was joking, but when he repeated the offer by text, I told him (verbally) I couldn’t accept this. I never asked for and never received any payment in relation to this meeting.

For the avoidance of doubt: Yes, I arranged the meeting with Shahzad at Kaveh’s request, but I made it clear I didn’t want to be paid for this. There was no settlement at the meeting.”