The Last Amigo: Karlheinz Schreiber and the Anatomy of a Scandal

Ted Thring is a book reviewer for the Queen’s University radio
station.

Following the Airbus/Air Canada controversy and Brian Mulroney’s
lawsuit, Stevie Cameron, author of Blue Trust (1998) and On the Take
(1994), and Harvey Cashore, a producer for the Fifth Estate, decided to
search for the fire beneath the smoke. The resulting saga of bribery and
corruption begins with the different challenges three German companies
faced in developing export sales. Thyssen Industrie AG, manufacturers of
tanks, was up against a ban on exporting armaments. M.B.B. GmbH,
aircraft producers, needed foreign government contacts. Deutsche Airbus
GmbH, jetliner manufacturers, had no acceptance in the North American
market, which was dominated by Boeing. A further concern was that,
although German law permitted payment of bribes to secure sales, this
practice was strictly forbidden in North America.

Coming to their rescue was Karlheinz Schreiber, a German businessman
turned influence peddler who used a number of shell companies in Alberta
to move money about and to conceal his operations. To promote the German
concerns, Schreiber needed influential Canadians, so he recruited Frank
Moores, former premier of Newfoundland and then a lobbyist in Ottawa;
Elmer Mackay, an intimate of Brian Mulroney’s; and Gerry and Fred
Doucet, also Ottawa lobbyists. Essentially, the plan was to transfer to
Schreiber’s companies in Germany money that would be deposited in
anonymous Swiss bank accounts and then passed on to Canadians whom they
wished to influence. The result was the sale of M.B.B. helicopters to
the Canadian Coast Guard and the sale of Airbus aircraft to Air Canada.
(Thyssen failed to establish a plant in Cape Breton only because
officials at the Department of National Defence refused to purchase from
them.) The activities attracted the attention of the tax authorities in
Germany and the RCMP in Canada. The former investigated Schreiber for
tax evasion and money laundering, while the latter searched for evidence
of bribery. In 1999, Schreiber was arrested by the RCMP on a German
warrant; he fought extradition and is currently free on bail in Canada.

The Last Amigo makes fascinating, if sometimes difficult, reading as it
presents a detailed account of the paper trail in Canada and abroad. A
comprehensive index and photographs of the principal characters are
included. Highly recommended.