BUSINESSMAN WHO ASSERTED CIA TIES INDICTED BY U.S. IN $22 MILLION FRAUD

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000605480076-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 30, 2011
• Sequence Number: 76
• Publication Date: September 1, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/06/30 :CIA-RDP90-005528000605480076-7
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WASHINGTON POST
1 September 1984
Businessman Who Asserted CIA Ties
Indicted- by U.S. in X22 Million Fraud
By Howard Kurtz
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A federal grand jury in Hawaii
has charged businessman Ronald R.
Rewald with defrauding'investors of
$22 million in an elaborate pyramid
scheme and lying when he said the
CIA had helped direct his now-
bankrupt business.
Ina 100-count indictment issued
late Thursday, the grand jury
charged Rewald, 41, with mail
fraud, securities fraud, tax evasion
and perjury. The indictment said he
diverted $5.5 million from more
than 400 investors to his personal
use, including $520,000 spent on
polo and horses, $467,000 on lux-
ury cars, $784,000 on ranches,
$719,000 on various residences and
$270,000 on entertainment.
Theodore Greenberg, an assist-
ant U.S. attorney in Alexandria who
is handling the case, said in a tele-
phone interview from Hawaii that
Rewald could receive nearly 500
years in prison and $653,000 in
fines if convicted.
Rewald, who was being held on
$50,000 bond in California, was or-
dered to appear in federal court in
Honolulu by Sept. 14.
Rewald received national atten-
tion last spring when he sued the
Central Intelligence Agency in con-
nection with the bankruptcy of his
investment firm, Bishop, Baldwin,
Rewald, I}illingham & Wong.
In his suit, Rewald charged that
he was "a covert agent of the CIA,"
that he established the firm at the
CIA's direction and that some of its
subsidiaries were "used completely
and exclusively for CIA covert op-
erations."
A CIA spokesman denied at the
time that the agency had any role in
running Rewald's company, saying
the agency had only "a slight in-
volvement" with the firm.
The indictment charged Rewald
with perjury for saying in sworn
statements that the CIA had direc-
ted the firm's creation and supplied
him with phony degrees from Mar-
quette University. According to the
indictment, Rewald also lied when
he said the CIA bad directed him to
tell prospective investors that they
would receive a 20 percent return
on their money and that the depos-
its would be federally insured.
While Rewald used new invest-
ors' money to pay some old ones,
the indictment said, many investors
lost their money in the firm's bank-
ruptcy last summer.
Bishop, Baldwin invested orily
$623,000, according to the indict-
ment, and sources said little money
remains to be recovered by invest-
ors who have filed civil suits in the
matter.
Rewald, who also has been
charged with securities fraud by the
Securities and Exchange Commis-
sion, contended in his -suit that the
CIA should be forced to share lia-
bility for the bankruptc}?.
The Rewald indictment could af-
fect aseparate case involving ac-
cused spy Richard Craig Smith, who
has been charged with revealing the
identities of six U.S. double agents
to the Soviet KGB for $11,OOG.
Smith, a former Army counter-
intelligence officer, has contended
that he was working for the CIA
and that he was given Bishop, Bald-
azn's phone number in Hawaii to
reach his two CIA contacts. Smith
has sought to introduce documents
relating to Bishop, Baldwin as part
of his defense.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/06/30 :CIA-RDP90-005528000605480076-7