Icarus : The Life and Death of the Abraaj Group

In this extraordinary investigation based on extensive documentary research and dozens of interviews with the key players, Brian Brivati sets out to provide new answers to the key questions that comprise the story of the rise and fall of the Abraaj Group.

In 2017, Arif Naqvi and The Abraaj Group were on the brink of changing the world of private equity. Abraaj was a pioneer of a new model of impact investing built on the idea that making money and doing good are not mutually exclusive. It had helped transform communities and companies across the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America by investing in healthcare, education and clean energy, and in 2017 it was on the threshold of closing a new fund that would provide $6 billion worth of investment to these emerging markets. But then it all came crashing down. On 10 April 2019, after landing at London Heathrow, Naqvi was arrested on fraud charges. He is facing extradition to the United States and a potential prison sentence of up to 291 years if he is found guilty. The dominant media narrative has painted Naqvi as a thief and fraudster, the so-called key man in an organised criminal conspiracy. But in this explosive new book, which is based on extensive research and interviews with key players, Brian Brivati discovers that things are not quite what they seem and finds that in this case of alleged fraud there is actually no money missing. Icarus explores how Abraaj found itself caught in the middle of a geopolitical war between the United States and China and when it would not bow to the whims of these global behemoths, economic hitmen tried to wipe it out.