The King of the Kinan Cartel: Google Reviews Reveal Travel Partners - Bellingcat

Last week, Bellingcat and the Sunday Times reported that the cartel boss Christopher Keenan Sr. is wanted, having revealed his movements and location by posting reviews on Google for various restaurants, hotels, and other upscale establishments under the alias "Christopher Vincent." The "Chic Don" detailed trips to Zimbabwe, South Africa, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, the Netherlands, and Egypt. However, there have been no reviews of trips outside his base in the United Arab Emirates since the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced a $15 million reward for information leading to the disruption of financial operations or the arrest of Keenan Sr. and his two sons (Daniel and Christopher Jr.) in April 2022. Keenan Sr. inadvertently captured his reflection in mirrors and windows in some images published alongside the reviews, which helped Bellingcat and the Sunday Times prove that the account belonged to him. But this was not the only detail he seemed to have accidentally depicted in his posts. Further analysis reveals new details about those with whom Keenan Sr. traveled, dined, and interacted in recent years. Adam Wood Keenan Sr. indicated in his Google reviews that he visited Zimbabwe and South Africa several times. This was not new information. Several media outlets highlighted Keenan Sr.'s attempts to establish an aviation business and consider Zimbabwe as a new base. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and the Malawi Investigative Journalism Platform (PIJ) previously reported that Keenan Sr. met a man named Adam Wood during one of his trips to Zimbabwe. According to reports from both organizations, Wood was linked to several companies used by Keenan and was a key player in attempts to acquire Egyptian military aircraft. ICIJ also reported that the pair traveled together to a humanitarian aviation conference in Egypt in 2019. Keenan Sr.'s Google reviews contained more detailed information about these trips. "I was here for the 11th Global Humanitarian Aviation Conference, supported by the UN and the World Food Program," wrote Keenan Sr. "The service and food were good, as were the conference rooms." Among the photos published by Keenan Sr. from this trip were images of speakers at the conference, as well as another of a belly dancer in what appears to be a bar or restaurant. Although Wood is not directly visible in any of the images published by Keenan Sr., photos released by ICIJ showed that the pair were seen together at the conference. However, Keenan's review page contained some other interesting information that matched previous data about his connections with Wood. In 2022, ICIJ and PIJ Malawi reported that Keenan met with Wood and several others, including Iranian businessmen, at one location in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 2019. Photos showed Wood at a table with a group of people, including one person in a baseball cap who was reportedly mistaken for Keenan. Images published by Keenan Sr. in his Google review led to the discovery of new details about this event.

They appear to have taken place at the Tetford estate, a reserve about an hour north of Harare. Bellingcat was able to pinpoint the location of this meeting by comparing a 2019 YouTube video showing drone footage from "Private Estate in Tetford" with images published by Keenan Sr., ICIJ, and PIJ in Malawi. It is possible that the group stayed at another house during this trip, as PIJ Malawi reported that they had bookings at the Amanzi Lodge hotel, about an hour's drive from the Tetford estate, and booked several rooms for four nights at the hotel. Keenan Sr. also left a review for the Amanzi Lodge hotel. "I stayed there for 4 nights for a business networking conference," wrote Keenan Sr. Keenan Sr. did not respond to requests for comment, and Wood could not be reached. There is also another person visible in the images from the Tetford estate obtained by ICIJ and PIJ Malawi who could be identified. To the left of Adam Wood (in this image) is a man in a purple shirt. Entering this person's photo into the FaceCheck ID facial recognition search engine leads to a LinkedIn page for a person named Richard Reynolds. This detail alone is clearly insufficient for definitive identification. But this search provided an important clue that allowed for further confirmation. Search queries showed that Richard Reynolds was reportedly convicted in a UK VAT fraud case in 2008 and sentenced to four years in prison. He was also linked to one of the companies established by Keenan Sr. A document from an ongoing court case in the U.S. related to MTK Global Sports Management LLC reveals his full name as "Quentin Richard Reynolds" with the aforementioned position. MTK Global previously stated that it had no connection to Daniel Keenan since 2017. However, ICIJ investigations showed that MTK Global's offices in Dubai were in the same building as other companies linked to Daniel Keenan. Analysis of images from the Tetford estate and MTK, as well as other online images of Reynolds, appears to show that the people in the photographs are indeed the same person. The features of the chin, nose, mouth corners, and eyebrows in the images below are similar. Interestingly, Richard Reynolds' Instagram account, which looks remarkably like the person in these images, follows only a few other accounts. Among them is the same company (which itself has only 12 followers) that hosted the networking event that Christopher Keenan Sr. claimed to have attended in Zimbabwe, according to his online review of Amanzi Lodge. Reynolds' Instagram account is also one of 27 accounts that follow the humanitarian aviation firm Crescents and Crosses, which ICIJ and PIJ Malawi reported in their emails. However, there is no evidence of further involvement by Reynolds in this company beyond following it on Instagram. ICIJ previously reported that the World Food Program informed them that a man by the name of...