1994 Gategate

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New York Newsday, 18 July 1994

GATEGATE: A ROYAL SCANDAL?
Prince won't pay craftsman charges.

By Joseph W. Queen, Staff Writer.

The oil-rich crown prince of Abu Dhabi is one of the wealthiest men in the world, but a Queens artisan says he's acting like a deadbeat.

Setrak Agonian says his small business, International Creative Metal, Inc., spent more than $3.3 million crafting mammoth bronze gates and grilles for crown prince Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa al Nahyan's palace in the Persian Gulf country called the United Arab Emirates.

But he says the crown prince refuses to pay his bills. "It's not as if he doesn't have the money," Agonian said.

[Snip, snip]

Two Queens Democratic congressmen--Thomas Manton and Gary Ackerman, who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee--are attempting to help Agonian by intervening with diplomats.

[Snip, snip] The congressmen said that the crown prince sent a U.S. representative--Daniel Morgan of Orlando, Fla.--to negotiate in September. But Agonian says the proposed $2.8 million deal, which called for International Creative Metals to take a $500,000 loss, was vetoed by the crown prince. Morgan declined to discuss the case.

"You have a guy here with no real bargaining power," Manton said. "This is a desperate man . . . negotiating with someone with very deep pockets."