Leave Max Brandwain Alone As He Is Unmoved By Misleading Publication
Shamefacedly, a so called blackmailer masking himself as a journalist and social commentator, Michael Massaquoi, who wasted so many years in the West and allegedly was eventually deported for unsavoury activities, in his frustration and desperation to threaten hard working personalities has now turned his trade against one of the serious investors in the country, Maxim Brandwain.
Harbouring the notion that he could easily cast his blackmailing net on this Belgian-Jewish businessman using threats of exposure and demanding Le50 million from the fine gentleman, who on several occasions turned him down, has boomerang big time in his face. What he has resorted to is to launch a barrage of calumny against Max by writing smearing articles against the businessman which the Standard Times, with all the respect it commands, is giving him space to publish.
To see his folly he keeps associating Max with a Russian background, when in actual fact, such is not the case but misleading.
Massaquoi keeps creating the impression that Max is a fraudster who is on the prowl to cheat his partners, saying that he had been fleecing a good number of business people in Kenema and Kono districts, furthering that there have been numerous complaints being filed against him for refusing to pay for diamonds he collected from people, including one Amadu Yusufu Kamanda in Wandor, Bamakonta, Kenema District. This he mentioned in the Thursday 12 July 2018 edition of the Standard Times newspaper and was on the front page.
For those who know Max, will honestly attest that he is a genuine business man who operates within the ambit of the law and there has been no single instance when he has been indicted for any criminal act. But what many have been questioning is how come the so-called Amadu, Massaquoi is holding brief for, could hand over forty pieces of diamonds to Max when he had previously given him ninety-nine pieces of diamonds for which he has not been paid. If again there is any truth in what Massaquoi claimed that Max has refused to pay rent for five years for a house he sometimes reside in, said to belong to Amadu ,why all these years the latter has failed to file a lawsuit against the genuine businessman, if he is so aggrieved.
Alluding that Max is above the law and getting protection from the police, could be considered as an insult to that institution and could be the source of churning out erroneous information of the force, for which institutions like Amnesty International and Transparency International have been damning the Police Force. To say that all police officers are crooks is highly fallacious, as there are indeed a large percentage of them that are sincere and equal to their tasks.
Facing the fact, people like Michael Massaquoi, is a disgrace to the field of journalism, because he has thrown caution to the wind and is slaughtering professionalism on the altar of illegal personal aggrandisement. Such pseudo journalists should not be spared but to be named and shamed and if he was at any point in time granted membership by the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists such should be rescinded.
He has the effrontery to refer to Max as one who is smuggling marijuana to neighbouring Liberia, contrary to exporting it out of the country to be used for medicinal purpose. It is very unconvincing for a man like Max, a man who is a diamond dealer, to condescend so low to smuggling diamba to Liberia. It is on record that the Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone granted him a licence to do so which is indeed legal. But for Massaquoi to judge the Pharmacy Board of condoning criminality is one that is left to that institution to take action against him.
This just shows that Massaquoi is on the path of tarnishing the good image of Max, which has indeed failed to work, as Max is held in high esteem by people from different walks of life.
From what has been gathered so far is that there is no part in this country where Max is restricted from going, contrary to Massaquoi’s wrong postulation that he is afraid of travelling to Kono.
The blackmailer cum so-called journalist previously stated that Max was a former principal partner of Mercury International Betting Company and ceased to be so after he sold his shares in order to concentrate on his diamond business as a dealer.
What this half-baked irresponsible writer, who falls within the category of those who are giving a bad name to journalism, is failing to realise is that, indisputably Maxim is the real owner of Mercury International, a leading business entity that is paying the highest rate of taxes to Government as well as dishing out financial assistances to deserving entities and individuals. It must be reiterated that Max is the bona fide owner of Mercury, whereas others maybe partners.
The crux of the matter is that Michael Massaquoi has on various occasions solicited financial favours from Max, creating the impression that he has done certain journalistic work for which he should be paid by Max. Because his financial advances have backfired, he is threating exposure of imaginary shady deals, but those moves have not yielded dividends according to his expectations, whims and caprices, as the investor has not been bulging. Massaquoi has made himself very cheap as certain influential people don’t trust him.
From thorough investigations mounted, what clearly came out is that Max, having an Israeli background, is a peaceful gentleman, who in fact had huge capital which he brought into the country and used it to set up Mercury International. He is more focused on his business affairs and at no point in time has he breached legal provisions binding business entities in this country.
Indisputably, Max’s investments are impacting positively on the lives of many Sierra Leoneans. Let us take Mercury International for example. Presently, it is the leading betting company in the country. Its various betting games have been won by individual Sierra Leoneans and some of the winnings are big time, thereby transforming the lives of the winners, cascading on family members and friends.
Mercury International has its charitable wing that offers scholarships to deserving pupils and students without any form of discrimination whatsoever. Such a gesture is contributing greatly towards enhancing the human resource base of the country. Other charitable offers abound.
The company alone has created mainstream and auxiliary job opportunities for many. They have permanent members of staff and auxiliary affiliations such as those who use the red boxes to market the different betting games.
Mercury International had been rendering support largely to sports in the country by giving out huge financial donations thereby complementing Government’s efforts in that area.
When Ebola struck and the twin disaster of flooding alongside mudslide occurred at Regent, Mercury International was one of the foremost institutions that donated huge sums of money to the erstwhile APC Government in a bid to give succour to the victims. The company had been supportive to victims of various major disasters.
With regards mentioning the mining investment of Max within that sector in Kono, it was reliably learnt that it is orderly and he is following the mining laws fully to the letter. There has been no instance when Max has threatened his partners, and one outstanding attribute he has is that he abhors any form of crookedness or dubious activity. He is helping dealers and miners to grow as well as providing jobs for many.
It must be noted that this move to blackmail Max by writing or saying a bunch of untruths against him with the idea that he will part with money to silence so-called blackmailers has failed big time on different occasions. Max is just that type of person who is not bothered but rather more focused. Indeed, his investments are positively transforming lives. The country needs more investors with the personality that Max has.
By Amin Kef Sesay
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