Kamel Nacif Borge
Kamel Nacif Borge (born 1946) is a Puebla-based Mexican businessman of Lebanese[1] descent, born in Mexico City, known in Mexico as "El Rey de la Mezclilla" (the Denim King). He is one of the richest men in Mexico and one of the biggest and most famous gamblers in the world.
He started out as a small merchant by importing fabrics from overseas until he eventually built a textile empire that employed over 20,000 people. In 1999, he partnered with an apparel company known as the Tarrant Apparel Group, who manufactured denim jeans for brands such as Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Chaps, Gap, Abercrombie and Fitch, and American Eagle.[2]
In 2002 Vicente Fox and Pablo Salazar Mendiguchía celebrate with him a new export textile factory in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas and also give him a soft loan for about 2 million dollars. He has also been related with the Puebla Governor Mario Marin in the illegal acquisition of real estate.
During 2004 he acquired for 44 million dollars the whole property (100% of the common stock) of the company "Tarrant Appareal Group", an organization with subsidiaries in Chile, China, Thailand, Korea and in the United States (Los Angeles and New York city). The "Sun Herald" refers an investigation of the Game Commission of Nevada about the involvement of Nacif Borge in drug trafficking and weapons smuggling. The relationship between the Mexican government and the entrepreneur was confirmed when he was the beneficiary of a soft loan of 5 million dollars during the Fobaproa program.
In 2005–06, he became embroiled in scandals of political nature. During this time he was accused of negotiating the non-approval of gambling laws in Mexico with Emilio Gamboa Patrón. He was also named in Demons of Eden, the expose by journalist Lydia Cacho, as having pulled strings to protect child abuser Jean Succar Kuri. Subsequently he had her charged with defamation and was heard on tape negotiating with Puebla governor Mario Marín for Cacho to be captured by police in jail.[3]
References
- New York Times, 2006-02-20, "Defamation Case Raises Issues of Fairness in Mexico"
- Proceso, February, 2006, [1]
- Noticieros Televisa, esmas, 2006-02-17, [2]
- Cimac Noticias,2007-04-24, [3]
