Who is Spymaster Meir Dagan’s New Employer?

Meir Dagan on 60 minutes. Photo: Screenshot via CBS.

Meir Dagan headed the Israeli intelligence service Mossad for eight years before retiring in January 2011. Since then he has joined Arcanum Global as a part-time consultant. According to company spokesman Thomas Landgraf, “Meir Dagan will be consulted in specific areas such as the defense sector, where his experience as a general is extremely valuable”.

RJI is a group of companies whose expertise range from merchant banking, private equity, strategic consulting and intelligence and Arcanum is RJI’s strategic intelligence subsidiary. Arcanum describes itself as “… a global intelligence firm that provides a host of bespoke and tailored strategic intelligence products to governmental entities and the private sector across a range of industries.” It has offices in Washington D.C., London, Tel Aviv, Dubai, Zurich, New York and Hong Kong.

M. Ron Wahid is president and CEO of RJI Capital Corp. In late 2005 he wrote an article “The Other Gas Crisis”. This article criticized Ukraine’s behavior in the Ukraine-Russia gas crisis.

Barton W. Marcois, the former principal deputy assistant US secretary of energy for policy and international affairs, is now senior vice-president of RJI Capital Corp and in 2006 he wrote a joint article with Ron Wahid, arguing that western Europe may again face gas shortages if a dispute between Russia and Ukraine was not resolved. They also co-wrote an article “Kicking the Gas Habit” on September 21, 2006 and Russia has reportedly hired RJI companies “to improve its international media posture including in the Arab media.”

RJI Government Strategies has given at least $46,000 in campaign finance in 2011 and reported lobbying income of $2,261,000 up to Q3 in 2011. Ron Wahid and Bart Marcois were both listed as co-chairs for a Romney fundraiser in 2007.

Wahid has donated money to various Republican and Democrat organizations in the past decade including The Commonwealth Pac, Hall For Congress Committee (Ralph Hall – Rockwall Texas) – Republican, Republican National Committee, Allen Victory Committee – Republican, Congressman Joe Barton Committee, – Republican, National Republican Senatorial Committee, Longhorn Pac and Friends of Sherrod Brown – Democrat. Congressman Ralph Hall, Senator George Allen, Congressman Joe Barton and Senator Sherrod Brown are considered to be pro-Israel as are most of the other politicians supported by the organizations mentioned above.

RJI is involved in helping Sheikh Khalid bin Saqr al-Qasimi from the emirate of Ras al-Khaimah (RAK) regain power after a coup, as Khalid wants to discredit his brother, Sheikh Saud, who had replaced him as de facto ruler. RJI publicized details on the arrest of Saud in the United States, although he was later released without charges.

RJI has also been involved in a dispute between Kazakhstan’s president Nursultan Nazarbayev and his son-in-law, Rakhat Aliyev. Mr Aliyev hired RJI Government Strategies in 2008 as RJI consultant Tanya Rahall, lobbied members of Congress against the Kazakh government. She is the sister of Representative Nick J. Rahall II, a West Virginia Democrat.

In 2009, RJI Government Strategies filed a lawsuit against Tanya Rahall and Hilliard Zola for conspiring “to steal at least one of its clients” and inappropriately taking “’confidential information’ from RJI’s computer files for their own use.”

RJI claims that Tanya Rahall “made threats that her brother, Congressman Nick Rahall of West Virginia, would exercise his power and influence on Capitol Hill to harm the businesses and reputations of RJI and its personnel”. RJI is seeking more than $1 million in damages from Tanya Rahall and Zola; while they are countersuing RJI for damages, including failure to pay Tanya’s full salary.

In an email dated December 18, 2008, Ron Wahid announced cuts in staff salaries and layoffs. A court document contained the following statement: “…Mr. Wahid lives an extravagant lifestyle with extravagant business expenses. Mr. Wahid has chartered private jets for cross-country flights at $60,000 rather than fly first class on a domestic airline. He spends extravagantly at five star hotels and casinos and maintains numerous mistresses.”