Alfa Group
Over 10 years, Alfa Group has found itself in legal battle with business partners from Canada (NoreX), Great Britain (BP), Sweden (TeliaSonera), Norway (Telenor), Turkey and Indonesia. Federal Reserve executive Paul Volcker has accused Alfa Group of violation of the UN sanctions against Iraq during Saddam Hussein's regime, and for pressure exercised against KPMG during their spring 2005 investigation of a Bermuda registered, Russian telecom company, Ipoc International. To counter the Bermuda government supported audit by KPMG of Ipoc International, Alfa Group hired Diligence, founded by Richard Burt and Lord Powell of Bayswater with Diligence Europe headed by Michael Howard. Diligence began its Project Yucca to infiltrate KPMG. The Bermuda government accused Diligence of impersonating secret service personnel to obtain KPMG information about KPMG's audit of IPOC International Growth Fund Ltd. The Bermuda government accused Alfa Group's Ipoc International of money laundering. Alfa Group stated that Diligence was not hired by Alfa Group but by BGR which was founded by Haley Barbour. BGR had worked for Alfa Group's telecom Altimo. Project Yucca ended on October 18, 2005, when KPMG received papers from Project Yucca. During Project Yucca, the shareholders of Diligence were CEO Nick Day who was a former British agent, Chairman of Diligence Richard Burt who was a former United States ambassador to Germany under Reagan, the Exxel Group which is a Buenos Aires private equity firm, and Edward Mathias from Carlyle Group which is a private equity company from Washington, D.C.