REWALD OPERATION SIMILAR TO NUGAN HAND LTD. CASE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000605480154-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 30, 2011
• Sequence Number: 154
• Publication Date: September 23, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/06/30: CIA-RDP90-00552R000605480154-0
HONOLULU STAR BULLETI
23 September 1983
Rid.Operatior,
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1w ACCORD
ING TO news reports
Star-Bulletin writer als who were involved with both
in tNatWaN,lireet Journal and
s; Frank Nugan and Ronald Rewald, e
Officials involved in'the invest; i police and other officials said in Australia, tHan a ndwNugan
gation of Ronald Rewald's bank- they know of no direct connec had laly and Nugan
rupt company were struck by the tion between the two operations. 'h:,,prnrevpe cl run an
similarities between Rewald's ; izing ieel testate speculation
operation and that of Australian tided with the ut withu thhighly Rh
- rise coin publicized and g tax, ? eltet-:?`rsestat speculation
financial :entrepreneur Frank x shel
Nugan. fall of Nugan Hand in 1980, some
observers believe Rewald's Rewald -chose = to start his
Like Rewald's, Nugan's -empire, company might have been a ?Wmg, with partner Sestat
built around Nugan Hand InC.. o yWong, an island: real estate
evolved rapidly and established pcat" of Nugan's operation.. promoter.-RewaK ,too, started his
evolve around tea world. s an A though Bishop, Baldwin. Re- company undee,g$different name,
offered inventors high
Nugn Wald. Dillingham & Wong . was CMI Investmen`ts, and later
returns .
their..invPstments and used for- g~ weafter 1978, it really began to changed it to Bishop. ng.dwin,
mer military and CIA officials as Rewald, Diningam & Wong.
corpora officers and consult- Anthony Granito, head of the After opening the. bank in the
ants. police department's white-collar Cayman Islands,;Nugan Hand Inc.
After the news media began re crime unit, said police are aware expanded --dramatically, opening
porting a e nt s media troubled of the similarities between the 'Offices in Argentina. Chile, Tai-
company, o attempted ricide. , two operations, but also have wan, Malavsia,' Europe, 'Hong
When Nugan's operation came -found the direct connection be- Kong, Hawati,.San Francisco and
tween
he two
under the
i
scrut
ny of gover
n- But. ment investigators, Nugan killed But, Granfto ere "We are not
himself.. going to say there - is not a con-
lays. ed a possible link between the
The natural question for offi? two enterprises. Special agent
cials in Hawaii investigating Re- Howard Dare said the FBI was
Wald was whether Rewald had "aware'' of Nugan Hand and
any connection with Nugan Hand ,'could find no connection be?
Ltd., whether he used the Austra- ;i ween that and Rewald's' opera
m
an
~
p
as a model for his
operation or whether it was
merely a coincidence that Re-
wald's rise and fall was so similar
to Frank Nugan"s.
'There are so many parallels, it
is difficult to imagine they are
just coincidental,", ~ said Thomas
Haves, trustee of Rewald's bank-
rupt company, Bishop Baldwin,
Rewald, Dillingham & Won
However, Hayes said he has
found no investors or consultants
common to both companies.
other points,!. around the world.
Rewald opened branches in many
of the same locations:
Investors . poured millions into
offices around the world, based
on promised returns of at least 15
percent, much higher than the
prevailing rate at the time. Re.
wald's offer to. investors. locally
was 20 percent.
Hayes said he of an eerie feel Nugan Band collapsed just I
ing reading about Nugan Hand after it had established an office
Bank and the rest of Nugan's in Ha\`aii. t'i'hen .Rthe ps compa?
operations because of the similar. , n`. fell. it era. in the process of
;ties to the Rewald case, e stablishing offices in New Zea-
To understand Hayes'reaction, :land and possihl} Australia.
fi-
one first has to be familiar with Much of '\'U al's success due to the credibility of its ofWas
ffi
Ylttigan's operation and the paral eers and consulants. including
. Iels to Rewald's company, former hi-h ranking military offi
Nugan, described as a frenetic . cers.
young lawyer, formed his bank in
1976 with Michael Jon Hand, a
former Green Beret who had
handled some CIA operations in C01V77NU
Laos after the Vietnam War.
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When Rewald was found near Frank Nu an and Ronald Re
T!IESE INCLUDED: death. in a Waikiki hotel room, g
-Adm. Earl P. Yates, former his suicide note referred to his Wald shared a common personal-
chief war planner and policy alleged service to his country, ity trait other than their desire to
maker for the U.S. Pacific Corn- which led. to speculation that he run international co ioi}s
mand in llawaii. who was presi- might. have been doing some and associate with powerful erful pen-
dent of the Cayman Islands bank. "-intelligence work. '? pie. They also both liked to speed
-Retired Army Gen. Ed Black, " money nn themselves..
Events following Nugan's sui- known to s
a llauaii resident, who was presi- cide and -Rewald's attempted sui- Nugan was pe
dent of Nu;iian Hand Inc.'s Hawaii aide are money "in manic style," accord-
'similar.
l
office. . 'Within hours of the discovery ing to news reports. He pal
-Retired Air Force Gen. Le- of Nugan's body, -company insid- 8500,000 to remodel his laviO
Roy .1. Manor. chief of staff for ers began ransacking the offices waterfront home, hauling in sabd
the U.S.- Pacific Command, who and: hauling off or destroying to make a beach. Shortly befo&
reportedly rata Nugan Hand's company files. A similar scene his death, he had arranged 30
Manila office took place in Rewald's office, but buy a $2.2 million estate. x
-William Colby. formerly head the records later were turned According to, court testimonl..
of the ('IA. who worked for over to the court Rewald spent . up to $250,000'
Nugan Hand in a variety of posi month for his: personal expens?,,'
tions, including running the THE AUSTRALIAN equivalent including the upkeep,of.his man'
Nugan Hand office in Panama. of a, bankruptcy trustee quickly ' polo ponies, his two ranches a$d
Gen. Black when interviewed took over Nugan Hand in an at- 'his ?$1 million Kuliouou home.
recently, said hecknew of no con- ;tempt -to-recover company assets,
investors 'I'iIERI: IS a ,big difference :b
nection betw
d but it a
ared that:ihe
N
ppe
een
.
ugan. Han
and Rewald's company. He said ;bad been.. part of a swindle that twt en i two:: men and '>;t}
nr~arati1% ilnauAVar m,b Yf ..3 Mn
the Nugan off Ice here never real. ! ' """"~' "' ?"?F '-VV a'i"`iV"' ,;'::Authorities do have` .Reveal
.ly opened. Bi hop Baldwin. Rew,Cl;;Diliing- files and key people an Rewal4ss
He said b4. had met Rewald ham & Wring also was forced operation, such as Wong, are
t
t
and
us
ee was a
a
was a ptcJ
pproach to be a consult. pointed. It was discovered that gators. And : unlike ;.Nugan, 14-
ant or asked IF invest in Rewald's $12 million in investors' money Wald still is around to-talk if Ve:
Jack Kindschi, who was head of death, Michael Hand in late i' Rewald's, company did and wt( t
the CIA officf here when 'Nugan donned a disguise and slipped odt.happened to the millions of- d
Hand collapsed, eventually be- of -the country. He has not been lays invested in it.
came a consultant to Rewald and seen since. - Much of Nugan Hand still t`e
ingested in his company. Gen. Ar? In contrast, ,,as investigatoPs. mains a mystery,.
nold Braswell, the recently re- closed in on Rewald's roippany,
tired commander of Pacific Air Sunlin Wong, company president
Forces. was ,considering joining resigned and began. telling whdt
Rewald's company. Retired Gen. he knew to a federal grand jury.
-Hunter Harris -also had close ties Rumors of CIA involvement,
to Rewald and was considering drug smuggling and gun running
becoming a consultant. swirled in the wake 'of Nugan
RESPITE THE Nugan Hand's Hand's collapse. But government
apparent healthy financial ap- officials said any possible espio-
pearance, it was only a year after nage activities had nothing to do
the bank was formed that prob- with the apparent swindle of
lems began to develop. Australian investors. -.
police began investigating the if the CiA or any other intelli
possible involvement by Nugan Bence organization. had intended
and Hand in. heroin trafficking. to use Nugan Hand as a cover for
By 1978. questions about the covert operations, it was a clumsy
company's business dealings and attempt and one would have ejc-
financial stability had surfaced. petted a more professorial effot
That year Nugan and his brother from an intelligence organiz -
were charged with fraud con- tion," a government report, said.,'
cerning the activities of a Nugan- -
owned corporation. U.S. JUDGE - Martin Pence
That spooked investors and by made a somewhat similar remark
1979 Nugan was trying frantically about ?Rewald's CIA connections.
to keep the bank and other relat- - In Issuing a trtrder sealing
ed companies (afloat.- some classified documents found
On Jan. 2. 1980, Nugan was In Rewald's files, Pence wrote:
found shot to! death in his Mer- "Rewald, through his contacts
cedes on a deserted road outside with members and former mem-
of Sydney. Th'e death was official- bers of the CIA, considered. hilfi-
Iy classified a suicide. In his pock- self a more important, undis-
et was found he business card of closed private associate of the
lawyer Williaiit Colby. That card ! CIA organization than he was ih
focused attention on the possibli- fact. This judge saw nothing In
ly that Nugan Hand might have the documents to indicate that
been involved with the CIA. any of Rewald's slight involve-
ments with intelligence activities
explained any of the financial ac-
tions of This company)."
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/06/30: CIA-RDP90-00552R000605480154-0