American couple in BIFF scandal

Gerald, 75, and Patricia, 52, were arrested on Tuesday after a criminal complaint filed in Los Angeles on December 7 was unsealed.

He secured projects from TAT through bribing a TAT official, alias "the Governor", a statement from the US Justice Department said.

His company, Film Festival Management (FFM), won the right to run the Bangkok International Film Festival (BIFF) from 2004-2006.

According to the affidavit filed by Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent Elizabeth Rivas, Gerald also operated several companies - SASO Entertainment, Festival for Festivals, Creative Ignition, and Ignition -that were supposedly used to hide funds from the BIFF.

Many more companies appeared in the affidavit and some are linked to either Gerald or Patricia, such as Viridien Entertainment, Artist Design, Flying Pen, and International Fashion Consultant.

The South Africa-born businessman was said to have set up FFM in 2002 to bid for the BIFF 2004 contract in the following year. Then, he hired an outside company to organise the film festival.

"Defendant Gerald Green had a close relationship with the Governor. All meetings were handled behind closed doors, solely between the Governor and defendant Gerald Green," the affidavit said based on information from a witness.

Gerald and Patricia opened companies and separate bank accounts for them to make the firms appear as separate entities in their dealings with the BIFF, the FBI said.

The Governor approved the disbursement of TAT funds to these companies - Creative Ignition, SASO and FFM - which operated out of offices on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. Patricia signed all the cheques for these companies.

International Festival Consultants was used for the 2006 BIFF while the Greens prepared a company named Strategic Programming for the 2007 BIFF.

The witness also said that at the beginning of each festival year, the witness prepared a budget of anticipated costs and then Gerald would inflate the figures to include the alleged bribes.

In his interview, witness No 2 said Gerald told the witness that he met the Governor years ago while on an around-the-world trip. By 2000, Gerald had landed a job for web design services with TAT.

Gerald also told witness No 2 that he obtained the BIFF assignment by speaking to the Governor and telling her that he could make the next BIFF a better film festival.

"For each of the BIFF contracts, defendant Gerald Green told defendant Patricia Green and CW-2 how much commission was to be paid to the Governor. The commissions ranged between 10 per cent and 20 per cent per contract," the affidavit said.

The witness also said Gerald was building a house in Thailand and was planning to move here.

The Greens face up to 10 years in prison if convicted on all charges, the Justice Department statement said.

The Nation