The facts that led to and continue to hold 35
men in India may never come to light, but it is clear that someone or some
people swapped their integrity for the well-being of those lads.
I don’t know how many others are named on the Q-Branch charge sheet and I’d hope at least the owners of Advanfort are also named, but it is clear that the at the time President is a named party and should face the same fate as any of those unknowing men who accepted their jobs thinking all was on the up and up. (http://m.timesofindia.com/city/madurai/Hearing-on-chargesheet-likely-on-January-3/articleshow/28204921.cms)
Let it be known here and now, the owners of Advanfort are absolutely and ultimately responsible for the Seaman Guard Ohio. They are ones who let issues like felony firearms purchases and fly-by-night operations happen, putting profit over employee safety.
However, they are not the only ones with culpability and responsibility on the matter, and those other parties needs to take responsibility for their actions so the 35 rotting away can be freed.
William Watson came up on my radar during the uncovering of felony weapons charges against Advanfort (you may recall I posted the court docs here from Aug 2013). When guilty of this felony, rather than change operations, Advanfort sought to change how people perceived the operations.
Let me be clear here – upon pleading guilty to felony weapons charges, and being prohibited under US law from possessing firearms until March 2015, Advanfort and its owners sought to maneuver around the felony rather than change from it. You will see in other postings that the owner of Advanfort, Samir Farajallah’s own son Ahmed was named as the criminal culprit of the felony charges. Somehow a deal was made which allowed Ahmed to be removed as the named party and replace it with the business entity Advanfort.
You will also see that the mantra at Advanfort was “don’t worry, we can buy our way out of any situation.” This lure of gold drew many, some sold out and others saw the glitter amongst the chicken feed and resigned.
In the wake of these felony charges, Advanfort sought to change its public image instead of its operation. It never made sense to me at the time, but now framing the intent of Advanfort to focus on its media and public perception instead of fixing the underlying issues, Watson was the perfect fit.
Despite his own proclamation of being a “maritime
security and intelligence professional” he is merely a 30 year career reporter/
media specialist who as you will see below, only had 11 months in a maritime
security role with the Marshal Islands before leaving for Advanfort.
Who is Will Watson?
By his own LinkedIn page, Watson has spent over 30 years in reporting and media relations from 1980-2011. The bulk of those 30 years spent with “News USA” (1994-2004). By News USA’s own admission, they are a media placement firm “What We Do: Guaranteed Media Placement… NewsUSA provides GUARANTEED article placement in newspapers, radio stations and social media channels - putting your name, your product and your message in the news.” (http://www.newsusa.com/corporate/what_we_do.asp)
Military Experience
- US Air Force Reserve, with 149 days of
active duty for training 05/70-12/71
- South Carolina Air National Guard 12/71-
05/76
6 years military reserve – highest rank SSGT
(E-5), no overseas time, one ribbon
However, Watson claims to have been “shot up
landing in Nam” and claims to have been awarded a Purple Heart from this
incident. (See Ric Hedlund noting this on his twitter
account @PortSec on Dec 10, 2014)
Reports attending U of South Carolina (probably between 1976-1980)
Work
Reporter 1980-1984, SC
Reporter 1984-85, CT
Editor 1985-1987, CT
Editor 1987-1991, CT
Editor 1991-1992, CT
Editor 1992-1994, CT/SC
Publisher/ COO 1994-2004, VA
Visiting Fellow 2005-2006, Malta Course “The
Maritime Attorney as Spokesperson – Establishing Media Relationships”
Dep Editor 2004-2009, CT
Marketing & Communication 2009-2011, VA
Total years in reporting/ media – 31 years
Maritime Security Liaison 09/2011- 08/2012
Total years in maritime security prior to
Advanfort 11 months.
President Advanfort 08/2012-12/2013
Total 1.5 years
Watson had 30 years of reporting and media experience, and 11 months of maritime security experience before landing his gig with Advanfort. The bulk of Watson’s time was spent with PR firm News USA, a company by their own accord that “provides GUARANTEED article placement in newspapers, radio stations and social media channels - putting your name, your product and your message in the news.”
Watson had little if any experience in maritime security and certainly none on running a maritime security business. Watson was brought in to Advanfort to “put Advanfort in the news” and boy did he accomplish that mission.
The problem doesn’t stop with the issue of when Watson should have been cleaning house, he was writing press releases, the issue goes much deeper when we look at the integrity of Watson.
As I noted, William Watson came up on my radar during the uncovering of felony weapons charges against Advanfort (you may recall I posted the court docs here from Aug 2013). When guilty of this felony, rather than change operations, Advanfort sought to change how people perceived the operations.
I found it odd that a media specialist would be tasked with changing an international maritime security company, with serious international and domestic operational issues as well as one with some very questionable firearms procurement and export issues.
I came across a video of Watson in Jan of 2013 where he was wearing a Purple Heart.
For those of you who don’t know, the Purple
Heart is authorized for wear by any member of the US armed services who is
verified to have been wounded in foreign combat. It’s a pretty serious medal and in the US it’s
a crime to wear it without having earned it under the US Stolen Valor Act of
2013 (https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/258)
What I couldn’t understand is why a man who took such detail in noting each and every affiliation he has on his Linkedin page (imaged below) from a member of the Knights of Columbus to a member of the Order of Hibernians to an honorary Kentucky Colonel, why wouldn’t he be proud of serving his country in combat and even sustaining an injury in that role?
I’d learned later it is because Watson never made it to Vietnam and never was awarded a Purple Heart.
It seems the once factual reporter's life had taken a turn to fiction.
I am asked why I focus on Will Watson and
Advanfort.
The answer quiet simply is that the lies and deceit by both parties led to and remains the key force keeping 35 good men in India.
Criminal operations by the Farajallah’s led to these men unknowingly operating illegally, and unfortunately Watson was far too happy to accept the role of distributing these lies, rather than changing them. Moreover as you will see, Watson has a history of lying about his own history and military records.
Some have questioned my ties to Advanfort. My feelings for Advanfort are that Advanfort is and always has been a poorly run, poorly managed and outright criminal organization.
I first
blogged about Advanfort pleading guilty to felony weapons charges in Virginia,
USA in August 2013. (https://gruntdave.blogspot.com/b/post-preview?token=G05sAEsBAAA.kHoatiQj7ADLF9mY_jqPUA.d9ivKyndjVHETty8Ul1plg&postId=6148328286605919708&type=POST)
I had hoped this would have led to a review of Advanfort operations, by industry and MSO’s alike. It is important to note that by Aug 2013, SAMI, Panamanian Registry and INMLEA had all certified Advanfort in maritime security, all three either unaware or unfazed by the prior felony weapons charge, which forbid Advanfort to possess firearms until May of 2015. Rest assured, that has had an impact on the India case.
- Panama press release (Feb 12, 2013)
- Advanfort SAMI press release (April 17, 2013) http://www.advanfort.com/PressReleaseSAMIcertFINAL.pdf
- N/IMLEA (Aug 24, 2013)
Unfortunately it merely led to a web of lies and deceit by Watson and his friends in the reporting world.
Some have asked why it matters whether Watson has or hasn’t lied about holding a Purple Heart, awarded for being injured in combat operations.
First and foremost, it is illegal in the US to lie about being awarded a few significant military honors, and a Purple Heart, issued to those injured serving in verified combat engagements, is one of the few medals covered by the Stolen Valor Act of 2013. (https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/258)
Second, and maybe more important, Stolen Valor is an attempt by a person to hide certain deficiencies from themselves and the public - and this is dangerous because more often than not, the deceit leads to the liar being placed in a situation where they clearly shouldn’t be and are far too under qualified to be, occasionally with lives depending on this person.
Would we so quickly dismiss a medical doctor who fakes a degree/ certification and then is required to perform life-saving surgery?
Would we so quickly dismiss a Captain of a ship or an airplane with hundreds of passengers, all unaware of the fraud for which their lives are in jeopardy under?
I think not.
It is this same fraudulent action, which has led to 35 unsuspecting individuals being detained in India for over 15 months.
The Blame
The blame, and there is more than enough to go around, starts at the top, with Advanfort owner Samir Farajallah.
As you can see from my prior posting, there were clearly illegal issues Advanfort firearms purchases. These were done by Samir’s son and #2 at Advanfort, Ahmed “Al” Farajallah and much blame is with him as well.
There is debate as to how deep their pockets were, but there was a very large perception that the owner, Samir Farajallah, had enough money to buy his way out of any issue. This money or perception thereof, is what lured many to Advanfort, only to find there was just enough glitter amongst the chicken feed.
I will show how this was widely known since 2009 and will also show that when Watson was at least perceived to be changing things, he instead promulgated lies.
Those lies were both his and those of Advanfort, and it was those lies which led to 35 men accepting positions on an Advanfort ship, thinking all was well and above board, only to find it was sinking before they even stepped foot onboard.
The truth is Advanfort was a shitty company owned and run by shitty people, using every means to deceive clients:
Tradeshows like New Fields, set up to seem autonomous but to direct clients to Advanfort
Setting up seemingly autonomous entities like Piracy Daily, to run very one-sided reviews of the “stellar” services Advanfort provides
A barrage of press releases tapping into Watsons only verifiable past as a writer
“Fake it until we make it” was very much the doctrine at Advanfort in the years and months leading up to the Seaman Guard incident. This doctrine, known only to those few insiders, is what set the SGO on a path to Indian waters with naivety of the entire team on-board.
Again, as I noted, I was the first person to bring to public light the felony weapons charges Advanfort had against the owners’ son Al. These charges were swept under the rug thanks to Watson and his media contacts.
If only Watson had not sold his soul the reality of how bad and illegal things were at Advanfort would have come to light. Instead, Watson called in favors even asking GCaptain to change stories.
You didn’t you know GCaptain changed its
story many times to try to protect Watson and Advanfort?
It’s been a while now, but you can still see
some of the collusion between these entities.
These public lies swept the real issues at Advanfort under the rug… “Please just give us a little more time, we are faking it until we make it, and that should be soon…”
As you have and will see, Watson had no shame in lying about his lack of a past, as he clearly has lied about his titles (Captain) and is military records (Purple Heart) and had no shame in lying about the Advanfort operation.
The original story which can no longer be found on line was titled “Advanfort Addresses Felony Judgment Stemming from 2011 Firearms Purchase” see here posted by GCaptain on 31 July 2013.
The story was quickly amended to later read “AdvanFort Addresses Judgment Stemming from 2011 Firearms Purchase” which provided a far more favorable review to Advanfort and of Watson and clearly making it more difficult for search engines to “hit” when Advanfort and felony were searched. GCaptain tried to bury the story and minimize the reality of how serious the issues were at Advanfort.
How serious? Per the documents, despite the spin Watson and GCaptain put on it, Advanfort had been found guilty of a felony and were prohibited from possessing firearms under US law until May 2015. That means still as I write, Advanfort is prohibited under US law from possessing firearms. And Watson knew this, yet tried to minimize this issue in the media.
Later after social media smelled something foul between the GCaptain story and the fact that there was clearly felonious weapons issues at Advanfort, GCaptain titles another story “AdvanFort President Will Watson Responds to Bashings on Social Media”
You can see the original title here at Advanforts own Piracy Daily website - http://www.piracydaily.com/advanfort-president-will-watson-responds-to-bashings-on-social-media/
However you will note on the link the story now is titled “AdvanFort President Will Watson Addresses Criticism From the Maritime Security Industry.”
Again GCaptain came to the aid of Watson and Advanfort. When GCaptian should have been researching the validity of the charges and to what extent Advanfort was operating illegally, GCaptain instead chose to believe a self-proclaimed “Captain” who lies about his military medals and awards.
You didn’t know Watson took to calling himself “Captain Will Watson”? Here is just one of the links from Piracy Daily. Martin Edwin Andersen interviews “Captain” Watson, he even calls him this title, giving Watson a chance to note he shouldn’t be called Captain, but Watson embraces the title.
Here are Watsons military records -
His highest rank,
“Staff Sergeant E-5.” That’s it. Never and officer, and never a Captain.
According to his
military records, he rates just one ribbon and ZERO medals listed on his
records.
Here is the video
of Watson wearing 11 military medals including a Purple Heart – (http://www.usvets.tv/Events/aaib_2013.aspx?VID=usvets/130120_InauguralBall/130120_InauguralBall_WillWatson.flv#anchor)
How egregious is this? Well in the US, wearing an unearned Purple Heart is criminal act in the US under the Stolen Valor Act of 2103 (https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/258)
Yes, the Farajallah’s are absolutely to blame for the poorly run, poorly managed and outright criminal organization know as Advanfort.
However they are not the only ones and it is important to hold all those responsible for this mess to task.
The others to blame:
Will Watson for all listed prior
“Certifying” Bodies –
Interesting to note, the three listed bodies
who “certified” Advanfort have since rescinded their certification, WHEN Watson
left. That is to say these
“certifications” were only valid if Watson was there. I wonder if SAMI and N/IMLEA knew Watson to
be a liar, if they would have certified at all.
I think not but would welcome any comments by these “certifying” bodies.
- SAMI for certifying Advanfort after the felony issue – either
SAMI didn’t know or didn’t care, but either way it’s egregious and lends to
culpability for SAMI
- N/IMLEA for issuing some unaccredited certificate for
which they since have rescinded
GCaptain for changing their stories to help cover the reality of how criminally and egregious Advanfort operated
Aon, Travelers and Lodestar for insuring Advanfort
And the group of paid media mouthpieces who were all to happy to compromise integrity for finance
Will Watson
- @WillWatsonDC, @WMWatsonVA, http://www.watsongroup.us ,
https://www.meridian.us/contact
David Matine - @DavidMatine
David Yonkman - @DavidYonkman
John A C Cartner - http://www.piracydaily.com/author/john-a-c-cartner/
Who isn't to blame?
35 men rotting away in India while the "men" who placed them there enjoy freedom. Shame on you all.
Here is a timeline of Advanfort operational issues -
- July 1st, 2009 Unlicensed “New- Fields Exhibitions” Claims To Provide Clients Easy Access in Iraq - http://www.dcbureau.org/20090701645/national-security-news-service/unlicensed-new-fields-exhibitions-claims-to-provide-clients-easy-access-in-iraq.html#sthash.6y2QkfbK.dpuf
“New-Fields’
corporate license has been revoked on multiple occasions”
“Aiding
and Abetting…” Two Years probation, no firearms until March 2015.
- 11/17/2011 - Anti-Piracy Guards Claim Marsec Company Left Them Defenseless in Hazardous Waters http://news.err.ee/v/varia/6082c763-d9b3-4458-abce-5dc727697cb1
“Advanfort
has on some occasions put Estonians aboard ships without arming them at all”
- 12 February 2012, the Advanfort Texas and Advanfort Alaska -- two vessels designed to provide maritime security services, belonging to the U.S.- registered PMSC Advanfort Company – encountered distress and were forced to break off their journey, seeking urgent assistance at Massawa, Eritrea. Arriving in Massawa, both vessels and their crews were impounded and arrested by the Eritrean authorities." (http://www.somaliareport.com/downloads/UN_REPORT_2012.pdf)
- August 30, 2012 — The AdvanFort Company today announced that maritime professional William Hughes (Will) Watson has joined the company as president.
Will Watson is brought into Advanfort
Watson was aware of Advanfort issues prior to joining - “During my time at Marshall Islands
Registry, part of my job was to liaise with the various Private Maritime Security
Companies (PMSC) that were serving aboard Marshall Islands flag vessels –
including, by the way, Advanfort.”
Certifications
“In addition to its certification
from N/IMLEA, AdvanFort has applied to, been vetted and accepted into
executive membership by the Maritime Security Council … and has joined and is
undergoing the accreditation process of the Security Association for the
Maritime Industry (SAMI). AdvanFort has
also begun the process of obtaining ISO 9001 certification on quality management…”
- 01/ 10/ 2013 - Maritime TV's Latest Webcast in 'Piracy Mitigation Strategies' Series Attracting International Attention
“We at AdvanFort are
very pleased to announce that Core Business Solutions,
specialists in business development and change management, has been retained to
guide the company through its ISO 9001:2008…” They were too far outside the scope of ISO certification and CBS never
certified
This
was at a time when certification from Panama was closed, and Watson made a person visit to Panama to push the certification
through.
Interestingly,
NMLEA changed the press release to change “Advanfort” to MORAN”
- 02/ 23/ 2013 - AdvanFort Counter-Piracy Operations Ready For Tougher European Union Standards and Regulations
- 04/ 17/ 2013 - Advanfort is now a certified Stage-1 SAMI member; another demonstration of what drives us to succeed
- 04/23/203 AdvanFort Hails Pick of Former U.S. Congress Lawyer and Litigation Partner as its New In-House Legal Counsel
This may have been the only chance Advanfort
had to right the ship… But within 6 months after accepting her position as
in-house legal counsel, she resigned.
Bound by ethical client-lawyer confidentially agreements, Mrs. Schreiber
hasn’t been able to make any public statement about her time with Advanfort,
however it’s pretty evident that when an in-house counsel leaves within 6
months, there are serious legal issues. I have to tip my hat to Mrs. Schreiber as
she seems to be the only honorable staff member amongst the bunch. She was not content to “fake it until making
it” and understood the legal ramifications with the Advanfort operations and
knew all she could do it leave. I
wish someone at Advanfort would release her of her confidentially agreement, as
I am sure she would be able to provide deep insight as to how bad things really
were. What
Watson should have done, had he had any integrity, was resign like Mrs. Schreiber did, but instead, Watson sold his soul and used his
ability to lie to continue to sell all the lies.
- 05/ 28/ 2013 - AdvanFort Offshore Support Vessel (OSV) network safely floats past growing "floating armory" debate
This
always struck me as funny… but remember, the author has no qualm about wearing
a Purple Heart when never awarded one, so him dancing around the issue of
floating armories should obviously include some creative liberties.
- 06/26/2013 - New on Piracy Daily: A discussion on counter piracy with Donna Hopkins, U.S. State Department maritime security coordinator
Again I
wonder if Mrs. Hopkins knew Watson lied about “Captain” status and lied about
having a Purple Heart, if she would have so willingly endorsed Advanfort.
- 09/ 06/ 2013 - New German Federal Office of Economics and Export Control Security Accreditation Process Praised by AdvanFort Company
The
spin continues… Hoping to sway Germany, Watson praises standards he knows
Advanfort will never meet
This is where the spin that is keeping the
boys in India started… when Watson should have been a professional manager and
said “we are sorry” he reverted to his media skillset and said “let’s spin this.” India is very much a “face” culture and in
not letting India maintain face, Watson and Advanfort spit in the face of
India.
Another
spin. India
all along had been waiting on one piece of paper from Advanfort, the document
showing the weapons were legally purchased and legally exported to the Seaman
Guard Ohio. That document still hasn’t
been provided because it doesn’t exist.
Yet another spin. “we can’t provide the weapons cert, but here
is a copy of us clearing another port in India 3,000 miles away 6 months ago.”
- 10/ 24/ 2013 - President of AdvanFort International sympathetic with families of 2 U.S.
seafarers kidnapped by pirates off Nigeria
All about Watson.
- 11/ 12/ 2013 - AdvanFort President applauds release of 2 U.S. seafarers held by Nigerian pirates; calls for similar liberation of 35 held by India
Samir Farajallah feeling the heat on
Advanfort starts GulfWide Ship Management in Dubia. Notice the same ISO quote from Advanfort - “Our quality management and control are an
integral part our management system. And we have started the process to be an
ISO certified.”
- Jan 24, 2014 - http://jobs.monster.co.id/details/14556325.html?sig=js-4-7386228942eb017255b215fa672e4c23-1&from=
Advanfort
starts to shift operations from USA to Asia and UAE
- 02/14/14 http://jobs.monster.com.hk/details/14693393.html?sig=js-4-a65474635447e85418e7da3bc4830b09-1&from=
Advanfort starts to shift operations from USA
to Asia and UAE
Things go from bad to worse, when Al takes over the media
campaign
I was robbed by his buddy Ric hedlund , he stole 21,000 dollars from me.
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ReplyDeleteIt didn't end there... these men were re-tried and have since been sentenced to 5 years. We are still fighting for their release!! www.chennai6.co.uk
ReplyDeletehow can we get in contact?
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