fortress investment group's senior manager

Access and motivation.

Finally got back my copy of Lenore Taylor & David Uren's '$hitstorm'.

The reference to Fortress is on page 28:

"After the initial dizzying falls in the wake of the Bear Sterns collapse, equity markets had rallied, with some commentators even arguing that the worst of the crisis was past.
Then Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan went overseas, the prime minister on a 3-week grand tour ...

Swan and his party had lunch at the Australia Embassy in Washington with a group of Wall Street bankers, including a former Treasury official, XXXXXXXX, who was a senior manager with the Fortress Investment Group, who was a favoured Wall Street source for Australian economic officials. Brilliant and physically imposing (he was nicknamed 'Tiny'), XXXXXX's assessments, from his viewpoint inside the US financial system, made a big impression.
"I asked XXXXX, "Is Bear Stearns the end of it?", Swan recalls. 'And he siad it was only the beginning, that it had a long, long way to go. That stuck very much in my mind.'
Ken Henry, who was travelling with the treasurer, was also somewhat taken aback by Stewart's pessimistic views."

So a senior manager of Fortress International Group was (is?) a goto man for, amongst other Australian economic officials, our Swan and Henry?

Is this the same Fortress that gazumped all other MFS/Octaviar creditors and is masterfully weaving its way through Australian corporate laws against little opposition from OUR Federal institutions?

It was a big play by Fortress? Did they do all their own research? Or have 'Australian economic officials' helped (Directly or indirectly? Knowingly or by being baby seals, muppets and bunnies in headlights.) assisted Fortress with a road map through Australian mediocre efforts at investor protection laws?

It's a frightening question to ask? Perhaps it's just business men doing business. But to me, it smells bad. And perception is all important.

The US has severe laws against Americans engaging in corruption with foreign officials doesn't it? Where's the line is between corruption and 'smart business practice'?

Didn't even Deloitte allow itself to get into a compromising position by handing cash to Fortress? For which McMurdo sacked Deloitte? Did Deloitte drop their guard against Fortress? If so, why?

In any case against this senior manager of Fortress, this reference in $hitstorm, if correct and connected to our Fortress, could provide the element of 'access' to an already established element of 'motivation'. About AU$55 million of motivation for the Fortress that invested in MFS/Octaviar.