Rudy Partners Served Some Sketchy Clients

Rudy Giuliani's presidential bid has focused on his record as mayor of New York, while his highly lucrative run at Giuliani Partners has received little scrutiny. The company declines to reveal all the clients in its far-flung portfolio, but the Chicago Tribune did some digging on one, a proposed $3.5-billion gambling casino in Singapore, and turned up a partner tied to organized crime, Kim Jong Il, and Saddam Hussein.

Giuliani Partners was hired to provide security for the project, led by a Las Vegas developer who also pulled in the likes of Pele, Alain Ducasse, Deepak Chopra, and Vera Wang. But it was backed by a complex partnership involving Stanley Ho, an 85-year-old gambling magnate in Macau who the US links to organized crime. And in 2003, Ho was the person who conveyed Kim's offer of asylum in North Korea to the embattled Saddam. A spokesperson for Giuliani Partners called the connection a “stretch.” (More Rudy Giuliani stories.)