The Daily Mail reports that Princess Beatrice, along with other prominent staff members at Afiniti will miss out on a huge pay day due to the company’s decision not to list its stock in the stock exchange.
Although the company had hoped to flot in New York this year, Zia Chishti was accused by Tatiana Spottiswoode of grooming and beating Spottiswoode during sex.
The scandal saw David Cameron resign from the company’s advisory board in further embarrassment for the former prime minister who was caught up in the Greensill scandal last year.
Embarrassment: Ex-Prime Minister David Cameron (pictured) resigned from Afiniti’s advisory board
Afiniti, which was founded in 2005 and provides technology to call centres, was valued at £1.1billion and hired upmarket merchant bank Liontree to look into a Spac deal.
Spacs are shell companies that list on the stock exchange and raise millions of investors to buy an existing business.
The float would have given Beatrice, Prince Harry’s old friend Tom ‘Skippy’ Inskip, former England rugby world cup winner Will Greenwood and Archie Soames, nephew to Nicholas and Rupert Soames, a considerable payday as all are understood to own minority stakes in the business.
Inskip, an Eton graduate is the chief commercial officer. Greenwood is the chief customer officer for the UK. Soames serves as the managing director. A source close to the company said: ‘They’ve snookered themselves. The IPO is toast for now.’
Cameron may have retained his share in the firm even though he quit. Cameron, who wanted to end Greensill’s reign and rebuild his reputation was hit hard by the scandal.
Royal hanger on: Princess Beatrice has defied calls from women’s rights groups to step down
It only served to prolong his post-political career, which was shambolic and questioned his judgement.
He had joined Afiniti in 2019 as chairman of the board of advisers, saying he would help ‘support work to transform the future of customer service and interpersonal communications’.
Beatrice stayed on after the scandal broke, despite a string of resignations and calls for her to step down by women’s rights groups.
In 2016, the princess was hired by the firm and quickly rose up to vice president. Although she has been away on maternity since September, it is believed that she sought answers to questions about the recent events.
Even before the allegations of sexual assault were made, however, there was still a shadow over Chishti’s and Afiniti’s heads.
The Bermuda-headquartered firm drew much attention to itself by hiring world famous politicians, royals and aristocrats.
Those who know Chishti – who was born in the US to an American father and Pakistani mother – say he was always drawn in by the glamorous life and wanted the contacts books of these men and women to give Afiniti access to any boardroom in the world.
Invisalign is a clear brace manufacturer that Chishti founded before he was even named Afiniti.
Spottiswoode’s evidence against Chishti, 50, referenced a work trip to Brazil, where the alleged assaults took place, and an invitation to a ski trip in 2014.
According to insiders, the company is well-known for hosting raucous parties at its headquarters and taking high-profile skiing trips. One of these was held weeks before 2020’s coronavirus outbreak.
It saw Beatrice lead a ‘high-level delegation’ to Pakistan, where Chishti lived between 1974 and 1988. These trips were designed to make Pakistan more attractive for foreign investors. There are offices of Afiniti in Karachi as well as Lahore.
Penalty: Will Greenwood, a former England rugby world cup champion (pictured), was one of those who were in line to receive a huge payday
The junket, hosted by the country’s President Arif Alvi, brought together ‘tech professionals, entrepreneurs and multinational CEOs’ from around the world for the ‘unique expedition’. Photos of Beatrice speaking with Imran Khan (former Italian PM) and Matteo Renzi, the photos caused quite a stir.
‘It was all a bit odd. To have some of the world’s most rich and powerful men and women up a mountain together in Pakistan. But Zia has always wanted to be part of this set,’ the source continued.
Chishti’s reputation in Pakistan is mixed. His investment company TRG Pakistan – which owns a majority stake in Afiniti and is listed in Karachi – was probed in 2020 over alleged insider trading.
It wrote to Pakistan’s Securities and Exchange Commission in December 2020 stating: ‘We have no formal means of knowing what speculations are circulating in the market and are unable to directly address these.’
The lack of information in the letter did little to enhance TRG’s reputation or stop the rumour mill.
In November, Chishti resigned from TRG.
It has also been dishonest in dealings with Bermuda. It pledged to hire 1,000 people on Bermuda over the next five years in January 2013. The island was home to 60 workers last year.
While Afiniti’s unravelling has been swift, questions remain over how so many high-profile politicians and members of the British establishment managed to be enticed to the firm.
One former Tory MP said: ‘I was approached in London for a role at the company when I left office. They headhunt a certain type.’
It is clear that Chishti has damaged both his reputation and the public list of people who are personally related to him.
To make matters worse they won’t be getting the pay day they perhaps were hoping for.