Icarus

In 2017, Arif Naqvi and The Abraaj Group were on the brink of changing the world of private equity. Abraaj was a pioneer of impact investing, it had helped transform communities and companies across the world by financing healthcare, education and clean energy projects, and it was about to close a new fund worth $6 billion. 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 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 key man in an organised criminal conspiracy. But in this explosive book, which is based on extensive research and interviews, Brian Brivati investigates how things are not quite what they seem. 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 back down economic hitmen tried to wipe it out.

Brian Brivati had a twenty-year academic career at the Institute of Contemporary British History and then Kingston University as professor of contemporary history, human rights and life writing. In 2009 he left academia to run the John Smith Trust and went on to become a special adviser and mentor to emerging leaders. Icarus is his sixth book. His most recent was a profile and memoir of his colleague in Iraq for the past ten years, Dr Ghassan Jawad, called The Last Optimist in Baghdad. He is currently working with former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on his account of the Iraq war of liberation against Daesh, How We Defeated Daesh.