Anwar Wissa

Passions

Vocation

Family

American-Egyptian who allegedly abducted his two children on August 23, 2001. Wissa reportedly took them to Cuba and ultimately to Egypt to escape an American arrest warrant. Wissa, once a venture capitalist, was sued by his ex-wife, well-to-do Cornelia Streeter for $1 million in damages. According to the initial lawsuit, Wissa’s mother Enid delivered the children to a private airstrip in Connecticut and his then-current girlfriend Hope Amanda Smith paid $158,000 to finance the jet to Egypt. Streeter, the children’s mother, reported to authorities that her ex-husband called her from Egypt, demanding an $8 million ransom to return the children. Streeter and Wissa divorced early in 2001, with custody going to Streeter and child support payments handed to Wissa. Streeter enlisted the assistance of US Senators Kennedy and Kerry who lobbied the Egyptian government, and the Egyptian courts upheld Streeter’s custody fight. But Wissa escaped to Spain and from there to Cuba. On June 25, 2003, Streeter and the children were re-united after Cuban authorities arrested her ex-husband on his yacht in Havana’s upscale marina. Upon his return to the U.S., Wissa faces criminal charges for international parental kidnapping and extortion. According to court documents, he allegedly offered to return the children in exchange for $20 million.