WorldCity Business Magazine

WorldCity People

by WC

Holder ascends at Kroll

FRANK HOLDER is the new president of the Consulting Services Group at Kroll, one of the world’s foremost risk consulting firms. Holder, who was managing director of Kroll’s Latin America and Caribbean region until May 2004, had been vice president and head of operations of the Consulting Services Group since January 2003, based in New York.

In his new position, Holder manages Kroll’s international forensic accounting practice and its investigative, intelligence and security businesses worldwide. He oversees a staff of more than 700 in offices throughout North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia.

Holder joined Kroll in 1998 as Latin America regional director, when the company acquired his Buenos-Aires consulting company. As head of the Latin American and Caribbean operation, Holder built a network of offices in Brazil, Mexico and Argentina that has grown to more than 200 employees. A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Holder also has a master’s in Latin American studies from the University of Texas at Austin, as well as a master’s and PhD in political science from the Universidad de Belgrano of Buenos Aires.

Veteran cargo chief at Amerijet

Fort Lauderdale-based Amerijet International has brought in cargo industry veteran LOU MONTELLA to run the company’s expanding cargo operations at its Miami International Airport hub facility. Amerijet’s new vice president of cargo services spent 26 years with Federal Express and DHL. Before coming to Amerijet, Montella was responsible for DHL’s largest U.S. cargo gateway at JFK International Airport.

The addition of Montella to the roster is part of Amerijet’s recent expansion which has seen the company add ocean cargo services and broaden its route system throughout Latin America, Europe and Asia. The company recently increased its aircraft fleet with two additional Boeing 727s and expects further expansion. At its Miami hub, the company has a 210,000-square-foot air cargo handling facility and a 50,000-square-foot ocean cargo handling facility

Couttolenc to chair CLADEC

RAFAEL COUTTLONEC, senior vice president of DHL Latin America was appointed for a two-year term as chairman of the board of CLADEC, an international express air transportation association that promotes trade facilitation throughout Latin America. He succeeds Juan Cento, president of the Latin America and Caribbean division at Fedex Express. Also appointed for the 2005-2006 term were Vice Chair Ana Guevara of UPS, Treasurer Frank Santeiro of FedEx and Director Pablo Pinson of DHL.

Formed in 1991, CLADEC, the Latin American Association of Express Companies, unites global express companies serving Latin America and the Carribean, such as DHL, FedEx Express, UPS, TNT and World Courier with local express industry associations in these countries. CLADEC provides governments and local associations with support, guidance and technical assistance on matters involving international trade, postal and customs issues.

Couttolenc joined DHL in 1994 as Mexico’s vice president of Services, after a 15-year career at Chrysler. He later became country manager for DHL Mexico. Since 2001, he has headed the Latin America and Caribbean division, overseeing all DHL Express operations in the 48 countries and territories in the region.

Nido heads Diligence Latam

MICHAEL NIDO was named managing director of Diligence Latin America, the Miami regional office of Washington- based Diligence LLC, an international risk consulting firm. The company was founded by former members of the Central Intelligence Agency and Britain’s MI5 Intelligence Services, and also has offices in London and Geneva.

Prior to joining Diligence, Nido was running his own risk management and corporate security company focused on multinationals operating in Latin America. Before that, in 1998-1999, he was the legal and political advisor to a civil-military task force in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. While detailed to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OCSE), Nido conducted numerous investigations into human rights violations and political/ethnic violence. From 1996-to 1998, Nido served as an attorney in the Corporate and International Division of the Miami law firm of Broad and Cassel.

Nido began his career as a military office with the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps., serving on assignments in Panama, Guatemala, Haiti and Washington. In Panama, Nido was the international legal officer for U.S. Army South and a special advisor to U.S. Treaty Affairs and the U.S. Military Support Group-Panama in the period leading up to and following the U.S. military action to oust General Manuel Noriega from power in December 1989.

Nido has a law degree and a Master’s degree in Latin American Affairs, both from George Washington University.

Samway leads Yahoo! International legal efforts

Internet powerhouse Yahoo! Inc. named Miami native MICHAEL SAMWAY as Deputy Chief Counsel responsible for the company’s international division, where he will lead a team of nearly 40 lawyers in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

For the past five years,Samway was Yahoo!’s legal director for the Americas. In his new role, he will maintain his office in Miami, and add a second in Sunnyvale, California, home to the Yahoo! corporate headquarters.

Before joining Yahoo!, Samway, a former Fullbright scholar, practiced law at White & Case. He earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He also has a J.D. and LL.M. in comparative international law from the Duke University Law School.

Blue Capital lures Linares to be VP

Blue Capital, owner of the Bank of America Tower in downtown Miami, appointed DANET LINARES as vice president to handle the leasing and marketing of the 47-story, 600,000- square-foot office tower, one if the city’s landmark buildings. Blue Capital, which manages German real estate investment funds, is part of the Vereinsbank Group, Germany’s second largest private sector bank, purchased the Bank of America Tower in June 2003.

Before joining Blue Capital, Linares was senior leasing associate with CB Richard Ellis in Miami, part of the leasing team at the Wachova Financial Center, Florida’s largest office tower. In 2003, Linares was named to the CB Richard Ellis Global 100, honoring the top 100 leasing agents at the global company. A native of New York, Linares launched her commercial real estate career in n1993 at the Wachovia Center, then known as the First Union Financial Center.

With offices in Hamburg, Munich, Dallas, Atlanta and Miami, Blue Capital has invested nearly $1 billion in high-end office properties and neighborhood shopping centers since 1994, primarily in Washington, Atlanta and, most recently, Miami with the acquisition of the Bank of America Tower, its premier property.

OBM adds Celtic flavor

Coral Gables-based OBM International, a world-class hospitality design firms with six offices in the Caribbean and two in Europe (Bath, England and Marbella, Spain), has added senior architect Neil Paterson to its design team. Paterson previously spent nearly seven years at OBM’s Turks & Caicos branch, where he works included the Cacique Royale Villa Hotel.

Born in Scotland, Paterson spent nine years at an architectural firm ikn Glasgow relocating to the Caribbean. He is a graduate of the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Morrison directs 1800 Club sales

Miami-based developer BCOM named Fortune International’s PATRICIA MORRISON as director of sales for the 1800 Club, a 41-storey luxurycondominium rising along Biscayne Bay. When completed next year,the building, which will overlook the Venetian Causeway and newly-renovatedMargaret Pace Park, will have 469 one-, two- and three-bedroomresidences, ranging in price from $200,000 to $2 million.

Prior to joining Fortune International, Morrison was vice president of sales at Vista International realty, where she developed a broker and customer network throughout Latin America. She launched her career in residential real estate in Caracas, Venezuela, working with major Miami-based developments, including The Ocean Club, Grand Bay Towers and The Millenium.