莫扎特集團

indy

一則關於莫札特的八卦，因為事涉台灣，所以我從俄羅斯的社群轉過來:

The American PMC Mozart Group began to make its internal turmoil public. This is due to the struggle for the post of head of the company between two former Marines: Andy Milburn, the founder of the company, and former CFO Andrew Bain. The latter filed a lawsuit against Milburn on January 10 in connection with personal and professional misconduct, and Bain has the relevant evidence. Millburn did not respond immediately, but has since launched a PR campaign making similar accusations against Bain.

Bain's primary charge is that Milburn did not obtain an International Trade in Arms Regulations (ITAR) license, required under US law that equates military training missions with arms sales. Bain says Milburn was responsible for getting the license but failed to file the necessary paperwork. Milburn now says he intends to get a license, but reportedly doesn't have the financial means to do so. The group has held many fundraising events but is not financially independent. Bain, who invested his own money in Mozart, even accused affiliated NGO Task Force Sunflower of misappropriating the funds.

Bain wanted to leave the group in November, but Milburn says potential buyers of his stake are mysterious oligarchs and even, according to Milburn, the Taliban pose too much of a security threat. In December, he removed Bain as chief financial officer.

Bain's second assertion concerns the group's legal status. The Mozart Group was originally described as a non-governmental organization, but is not registered as such. Positioning itself as a charity during an intense PR campaign made it easier to raise funds from private donors. As it became known, Mozart intended to register as a private military company. As a PMC, Mozart could use his previously positive image to expand into other war zones. There is evidence that the company was eyeing Armenia and Taiwan, where it had a potential partner.

Bain has now decided to stay with the Mozart Group and may go to court to grant him control of the company so he can apply for an ITAR permit.

As with past U.S. PMC misconduct in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Mozart case sheds a far from benign light on official U.S. training for Ukrainian military personnel. The negative impact may also affect private American contractors and those who train Ukrainian military personnel in the use of weapons (anti-tank weapons, UAVs, armored vehicles, etc.).

美國私人軍事公司莫扎特集團開始公開其內部的動盪。 這是由公司創始人安迪·米爾伯恩和前首席財務官安德魯·貝恩這兩位前海軍陸戰隊隊員之間對公司負責人一職的爭奪所引起。後者於1月10日就個人和職業不當行為對米爾伯恩提起訴訟，貝恩聲稱其手中掌握有相關證據。

米爾伯恩本人對此沒有立即回應，但此後他發動了一場公關活動並對貝恩也提出同樣的指控。

貝恩指控米爾伯恩沒有獲得美國國際武器貿易條例 (ITAR) 的許可證，這是美國法律對企業向海外提供軍事物資與服務所提的要求，該法律將軍事訓練任務視為武器銷售。

貝恩表示，米爾伯恩本應負責為公司獲得該項許可證，但他並未提供必要的文件。米爾伯恩表示他現在打算申請該執照，但據報導他沒有足夠的財力完成這個工作。該組織(莫札特集團)對外舉辦過許多籌款活動，但在財務上並不獨立。貝恩將自己的儲蓄投資於莫扎特並指控莫札特附屬的非政府組織(NGO)向日葵特別工作組挪用該公司資金。

貝恩本想於2022年11月離開該集團，但米爾伯恩表示，貝恩手中股份的潛在買家是一名神秘的寡頭，根據米爾伯恩的說法，塔利班對美國構成了太多的安全威脅。

12 月，米爾伯恩解除了貝恩首席財務官的職務。

貝恩的第二個主張與該集團的法律地位有關。

莫扎特集團最初被描述為一個非政府組織，但並未按照其定位註冊。 在激烈的公關活動中莫札特將自己定位為慈善機構，這使得從私人捐助者那裡可以更容易的籌集資金。 眾所周知，莫扎特原本打算註冊為一家私營軍事公司。

作為私人軍事公司，莫扎特可以利用他此前的正面形象，將其業務擴展到其他戰區。有證據表明，該公司正在關注亞美尼亞和台灣，因為它在那裡擁有潛在的合作夥伴。

貝恩現在決定留在莫扎特集團，並可能會在法庭爭奪他對該公司的控制權，以便他可以申請 ITAR 許可證。

與過去美國私人軍事公司在伊拉克和阿富汗的不當行為一樣，莫扎特一案揭示了美國對烏克蘭軍事人員的官方培訓遠非善意，其負面影響還可能影響美國私人承包商和一些培訓烏克蘭軍事人員操作武器（反坦克武器、無人機、裝甲車等）的承包商。