Moka: Executives

Executives

Our organization is exclusively composed of experts in their own fields, ranging from high finance to mergers and acquisitions, from industry and engineering to real estate. Their business experience provide the necessary connections and invaluable knowledge to both our organization and our clients.

Kamel Mukharesh
CEO

/Arabic Bio >

English Bio >

Mr. Mukharesh started his career as a student-trainee in 1977 at Bechtel Corporation in San Francisco. In 1980 he started 4 (four) highly successful years as an engineer at the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco). Since 1984 he has worked at major financial institutions such as Citicorp, Saudi American Bank (SAMBA), Gulf Investment Corporation (Kuwait) and State Street Global Advisors (founded and headed State Street Bank's Middle East & Islamic countries regional office and raised several hundred million US$ of assets under management and maintained several billions of custody assets). In 2000 he began advising Deutsche Bank (Suisse) and later became Managing Director, Private Wealth Management. In 2004 he was founder, Chairman & GM of Clariden Middle East (Clariden-Leu is a Swiss private bank - a subsidiary of Credit Suisse Group).

Mr. Mukharesh has, for years, successfully advised major US and international corporations, e.g. Raytheon Corp., KeyBank, Aurado Energy (Canada & Kazakhstan) as board member, and others on business strategy and expansion in the Middle East and Arab and Islamic countries' region. Concluded a deal to set up a Saudi JV with one of the top 5 US investment banks. He currently sits on the Boards of Directors of Helios Petroleum (Russia & Switzerland), Lemley International (leading US construction & engineering management co.), and others. He is on the Advisory Board of Bright Capital - a leading Russian venture capital and private equity firm associated with Kleiner Perkins (KPCB), Sequoia Capital and other leaders.

Mr. Mukharesh is a founder of MOKA (s.a.l.). MOKA and its partners and affiliates have offices in Beirut, Riyadh, Dubai, Zurich, Chicago and Washington D.C.

MOKA privately manages substantial assets of UHNW individuals from the Arab world and elsewhere. MOKA also establishes specialized international JV's in Saudi Arabia, the GCC and the Arab world in banking & finance, manufacturing, real estate development, hotel development, oil & gas, power sector, high-tech, and environmental sectors. MOKA arranges highly selective international investments, acquisitions and JVs.

Personal background & Education

Kamel, born in Aleppo, Syria, completed his elementary and secondary education in Syria and Lebanon at the "College des Frères Maristes - Champville" earning the "Math-Elem" and ranked among the top in the country. He earned his BS in Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and MS in Construction Engineering & Management from Stanford University. Attended a number of top-rated engineering, corporate banking, investment banking, asset-based finance, aircraft finance, asset management, insurance, Islamic banking and executive management courses and seminars and is due to get his Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree in 2014 from the International School of Management (NY & Paris).

Kamel lived and worked in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE, Lebanon, Syria as well as several European and US cities, creating a unique personal, cultural and professional background. He has strong and unique personal and business contacts in these countries and currently expanding the horizons to Russia, ex-CIS, China, Turkey, Turkic states, and select African countries.

Kamel is fluent in Arabic, French, and English, with a working knowledge of Danish, Spanish, Italian and German; currently studying Russian.

Oliver M. Stahel
Associate

Vice-Chairman, Balmac International Inc., Switzerland.
International trading company, headquartered in New York. Commodity trading operations consist of physical coffee and cocoa, metal ores and concentrates, and raw cotton. Operates cold storage warehouses and refrigeration equipment. Group companies include: Otto Stadtlander GmbH, Bremen; Combaro SA, Lausanne.

Personal: Career in commodity trading (cotton) and finance. Member of the Board: Balmac International Inc., New York; Bogner Sport AG, Zurich; Willy Bogner GmbH & Co., Munich; Combaro SA, Lausanne; Liverpool Cotton Research Corp., Liverpool; Helios Petroleum Holding AG, Zug; Viafina AG, Davos; Swiss Renewables AG, Zug; BS Altena AG, Baar/Zug; Gabelli Global Partners Ltd., Rye/ New York; Province Line Asset Management, New Jersey; Percept Fund Management, Sydney/Australia; Member of the Advisory Board: FINEX Europe (Division of New York Cotton Exchange), Dublin; Turksoy Organisation, Ankara/Turkey; FIO-Partners AG, Pfäffikon; Former Vice-Chairman and Founder Member of the Arab- Swiss Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Geneva.

Jack K. Lemley
Associate

Jack Lemley is the founder and CEO of Lemley & Associates, a construction & engineering management-consulting firm. Jack is a chartered civil engineer in the UK and has a degree in architecture. Jack has an illustrious career in the international construction industry. He was chairman and CEO of American Ecology Corp, chief executive officer of the Channel Tunnel project, president of Blount Construction Group, senior vice president of Morrison-Knudsen Company and general manager of Guy F. Atkinson Company.

Leslie M. Boring
Associate

Leslie M. Boring is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and, prior to joining Citicorp Real Estate in 1986, pursued a career as practicing engineer, MIT university administrator, and international corporate banker. At Citibank, he spent seven years in the Middle East, in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, and ten years in Europe, based in France. Beginning in 1986, he has been fully involved in real estate finance and investment advisory services, initially with Citicorp Real Estate in France and later as head of the real estate services department of the French subsidiary of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
Since 1994, Mr. Boring has worked as a private consultant and advisor to Middle Eastern investors and real estate developers on large area urban land development and specialized product programs in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Tunisia and Morocco. Mr. Boring brings to his work a wealth of regional knowledge, an ease of foreign culture and language capabilities and a personal history of professional working relationships with innovators in the international real estate industry. Mr. Boring's work has included detailed zoning definitions and land use analyses, product planning, conceptual plans and financial structuring for large area residential and regional shopping center programs in Cairo, Jeddah and Bahrain, Islamic tourism and hotel projects in Makkah and Madinah, sea-side residential resorts and new town development planning at sites near Jeddah and Abu Dhabi and development programming for a large sea- front, mixed-use development program in Casablanca.
His corporate real estate evaluation and planning work utilizes comparative cash flow forecasting and analytical techniques to originate and qualify solutions that reduce occupancy costs of large corporations in Europe. This has included projects to consolidate multiple locations with complex management organizations to reduce occupancy costs for General Electric in the u.K., France, Spain and Italy.

Joseph G. Homsy, JD
Associate

Joseph G. Homsy, JD, is Chairman of Deming Capital, based in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Dr. Homsy is a founding partner of the international law firm Guibord Homsy LLP where part of his activities include providing legal and business counsel to US companies in the Arabian Gulf. Dr. Homsy was previously a founding partner of Zevnik, Horton, Guibord, McGovern, Palmer & Fognani and a capital partner and department chairman at Winston & Strawn. Representative clients include Whitman Corporation, Shell Canada, Waste Management and Wise Alloys. Dr. Homsy also was employed by Bankers Trust as a loan analyst. Dr. Homsy is currently a principal in Environmental Management Company International, which is an environmental management and consulting firm, respectively with contracts in the Arabian Gulf, Lebanon, Turkey and Pakistan. As a principal with Globex International, Dr. Homsy was instrumental in drafting the environmental regulations for Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He is currently an advisor to the Lieutenant Governor of Illinois on legislative matters related to the environment. He was also an assistant attorney general for the State of New York. He is currently involved in large and important ventures and investments with Qatari, Saudi and other prominent Gulf groups and individuals.
Dr. Homsy was a captain in the United States Air Force from 1967 until 1971. Dr. Homsy graduated with a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and also holds a Doctorate of Law (J.D.) from the New England School of Law. He has served on the Board of Advisors of the Harvard University Institute for Social and Economic Policy in the Middle East, John F. Kennedy School of Government, and he is a founder of the Arab American Bar Association, the first such association in the US, and the Arab American Business and Professional Association. Dr. Homsy is admitted to practice law in the States of New York and Illinois, and in the federal courts of the Southern, Eastern, and Northern Districts of New York and the Northern and Southern Districts of Illinois. He is also admitted to the US Court of Appeals for the Second, Fourth, and Seventh Circuits and to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Dr. Fozi Selo
Deputy CEO & Head of UAE Operations

Dr. Selo was born on October, 26th 1975, in Damascus, Syria. He is a pioneering and highly innovative practitioner in traditional Chinese and alternative medicine, naturopathic, hydrothermal Therapies as well as other holistic non-physical therapies. His efforts in these fields helped him heal a lot of persons from different sickness and diseases. My unique approach in healing therapies combined with the remarkable compassion I bring to all that I do, has made me a highly respected researcher and practitioner.
My professional journey began at an early age when I started reading the book of Aristotle (the secret of secrets) and it took me to the wonderland of alchemy.
I spent more than 18 years studying and focusing on Alchemy Science. It became my goal and aspiration in my life.
Earned his Law Degree in 1995 from Damascus University then went to China for advanced studies in traditional Chinese medicine and Naturopathic medicine (included internal medicine, neurology, rheumatology, oncology and counseling). Also earned certifications in medical acupuncture, healing herbs, therapeutic massage, hydrothermal therapies, and various energy healing therapies e.g. music, colors, magnets, rocks and others. Dr. Fozi also studied the sciences of Chemistry, Physics, Astronomy and Math. In 2010 - 2011 he was the Chairman of the Supreme Commission for Arab-Chinese cultural exchange; he was the driver towards lots of accomplishments and achievements. During that year, he arranged for a visit to the U.A.E. with a high-level delegation and the president of NINGXIA (an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China) to strengthen trade relations between the two countries. Accomplished:
1. Meetings with the Ministry of Foreign Trade. Meetings with the Ministry of Environment and Water to cooperate in the development of the water sector.
2. Meetings with Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce to build a strong bridge between the two countries.
3. Meetings with Standards and Metrology Organization to understand the rules and regulations for trading.
4. Created a partnership with (TAWASOL) - a UAE company with all the required elements of success in terms of financial capabilities, expertise, qualified and trained teams in a wide network of contacts with all the key players in the market.
Since 1999, Dr. has been traveling the world: Middle East, Europe, Russia, Asia and Africa where he worked as Private Naturopathic Physician for many well-known country leaders and VIPs (Saudi, UAE, Qatar and other Royal Families); he also worked as private practitioner in Acupuncture, Therapeutic Massage and in different meditation therapies (Yoga, Ti Chi, Qi Gog and other ancient forms of exercise and healing which focuse on breathing, concentration and energy flow.
In addition to my practice as a physician, I did a lot of research on ancient sciences, the origin of civilizations, mythologies, science of the icons and symbols, the dynamics between humans and nature. He is an expert in decoding symbols of ancient civilizations.
Dr. Selo lived and worked in different countries for research: Spain, Germany, Italy, Russia, Holland, Belgium, China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Lebanon, Egypt, Sudan and Algeria). Until recently, he was resident in Paphos, Cyprus and owner & CEO of Perle Resources ltd.
His life and career are strongly rooted in the tenets and practice of the concept of finding balance in all things. He spends extended time meditating and offering blessings to his patients, a practice that helps his approach and work as a physician in the spirit of love and compassion.

Hans D. Linhardt, P.E.
Associate

Dr. Linhardt is known as the “man with the right idea at the right time” throughout his sixty five years of business, technology and global project development career in the Aerospace, Industrial Gases, including LNG, Gasification, Petrochemical, and Power Industries. Dr Linhardt holds fifteen US patents and received a Presidential Business Commission, also presented to Congress energy solutions. Life Member of ASME, CALTECH Alumni and Associates, RNC and Hon. Rotary.
For almost 40 years, Mr. Linhardt has been the President of Linhardt Technology Development International, Inc. (LTDI. Inc.) and the Principal Consultant for the Global Energy Business and Technology Link with leading industrial and commercial projects in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific with Singapore and Japan. Projects with values up to $300 Million and FEED for a major coke gasification project of $1.6 Billion were achieved based on Dr. Linhardt's ideas and leadership.

Other career highlights
Linde (Airco/BOC) (1967 - 1978)
Sr. VP. Business & Technology Development; VP with P&L Responsibility of Cryogenic Process & Machinery - Helium Liquefiers, Turbo Expanders, LNG and Gas Processing; Large Modular Process Expanders -Compressors with Steam Assist Turbine on One Shaft (LMTC); Hot Gas Particle Clean-up for new Gasification Processes; Long Range Global Business and Project Development. Completion of Management and Financial Skill Courses.
Ford Aerospace (1961 -1967)
Manager Space Power, responsible for developing the space power department for defense, aerospace and nuclear demands.
Hamilton Sundstrand (1959 - 1961)
Manager, responsible for research and project development and execution of advanced open and closed cycle defense and space auxiliary power plants, including also combined power and environmental control systems

Education
RWTH Aachen, Germany, ENG.D. (Dr.- Ing.) Supersonic Two Phase Flow, Advanced Turbo Machinery (1968 - 1970)
CALTECH, ENG, Advanced Engineering and Science Courses (1957 - 1960)
TUM Munich, MS, (Dipl.-Ing.) Mechanical Engineering (1951 - 1955)
Maximilians Gymnasium, Munich, Abitur (1942 - 1951)