FAILED BANK LINKED TO CIA? PROBE ASKS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000200820014-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 3, 2010
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: May 8, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/03 :CIA-RDP90-008068000200820014-4
~T1CLE aP~ A
Q~ Per -.--
Special to T+u ffrrol~ - ~-,` .. -
` ` ~ : ; '.matjoti_-has been released io "the a serves of ?iavestmenz accounts~~ .
SYDNE~';''=Austtaiia``-- Why ,: 'appropriate Ausuaiis>; =agency ,? -fit. ~a!ere. thinly veiled frauds -de-~.
?~von'z the'FB1~-release 119-pages of
~iaformation - ?it~ _?tas ~+oompi}ed - -on
'i~lugaa'~i~d"-Ix~;'-Lhe~ailed Aus-=
.iraliaa . ~ ~baak'
`,that-rauthorities ~_~.;~,,~~ ~;ty `:iatelli_ ; up and -~ntrolled a serves of -shell
,daring _ .money eodatry's intelligence.agency; " ~ tamed from illegal herein and mari-
and _ trafficking .~'he ._ circumstances surrounding Juana :_ irade_.?between ;Southeast
`: collapsed three telligence,~:persoanel~L~.employ+ed'~:,-A~doffic-ais;aow suspectNugan~
'drugs 'when it ~ ~ber of ~#ormer U.S..militar3+:~and in-~ States - _ _ - I
'-That "" ques- {bizarre than 'the most ~coaiplicated ;~?pnients ~and? setting -up ,contacts
:lion and allege- ' "yohn~e Carre plot ~ - sn 2be~er~ia trade in Soulh;Afric~.
CIA maintained , 3V~gan =suicide ~ - - - - American-conne:ctiea
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'Hand ': _.__~ 3he ?bank are '. T3esv ..South Wales police found The American connection begins
~ezpected #o:, dominate ~ $ current ~ Tiugan ~sbot to death in his Merce- with fiand,~ a= 3~lew York >viry-born
'Royal 'Commission 'investigation des-Benz about 100 miles from Svd- Green Beret who Australian police
into Nugan Hand's activities. - nay -on Jan. '27, 1980. A coronor ~1' $~ ~ undercover opera-
In the'fiftti major inquiry into the. ruled that the ~37-year-old Austral- ''five. ~.~ie --and Nugan founded the
sans s. operanons. >:ae xoyal tom- . iaa shot himself an xhe head?with a
mission-is.:invescigatingaU~gations~ -rifle he .was clutching :when police
shat 'Nugan `Hand violated. Austral- found his.body.
:.fan narcotics; aweapons sand foreign Ia ,his- pocket.-~lugan ~uas carry--I
~~exchaage?laws`" ~ ~ , _ . ang former CIA--director William'
i-lowev~er, ~euestions:?about possi- - -Lolby's business ,card and a Bible..
ble links-between-the-defunct beak :The..names.of Colbyind lJS--Rep.
.and the FBI, CIA and the U.S. State Bob Wilson of California, then the ~
and Justice departments are never ~ ranking Republican on the House
.far from the surface. Armed Services- Committee, were
-~ The bank was'founded in 1974 by `written on a piece of cellophane
Australian Charles Nugan and ]Vii' .found in the. Bible, police testified.
chael Hand, an ex-Green Beret who After Nugan's death, Nugan
Australian police say was a Z:IA op- Hand employes testified, senior '
erative. - - bank officials immediately began
:The '[Jailed States consistently' destroying thousands-of pages of
has .denied any connection-with :or ~ +company retords. '
special knowledge of 'Nugan Hand,- T~ Other: bank employes testified
which went banl~ttpt in-- 1980. , ;.that ,-Nugan - bad -''.been -acting
'However, when an Australian re- : ,strangely" after learning-that Baba- -
porter requested information about ~ -mien banking authorities were pre'
the bank in 1979 under the Freedom ~ Ong -to -suspend the ? bank's li-
of Information Act, the FBI allowed ~' .ceases in January of that year be-
him to see only 70 heavily censored caused irregularitiesin the compa-
pages of Nugan Hand's 189-page ~ay's 1'979 financial statements.
,file because it fell in the category of '' : ,Sittgapore. .banking .authorities
~'aaiioaal defense or 'foreign -poll- - also, tivere asking questions about
. ty " .. _ ... __' ~:Nugan: Hand .transactions just be-
*fore,;~Nugan's -death, .? authorities
'learned. -
Former iJ.S. Army sergeant Rob-
ert Gehring testified in. a previous
investigation that .in? .3une _a980,~
after the bask fai5ed. he helped I
C~.3~t1~hT ;.
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/03 :CIA-RDP90-008068000200820014-4
MIA1/T IiFR,ALD
a~Y1Qa3
Claims against the -bank in Aus-
tralia :and :Singapore alone total al-
l most $50 million, suthoa-iRies say- in
'~ the Philippines, more than S3.mil-.
lion in claims is currently outstand-
'~ ing, according to investigators. .
ill be lu
k
t
`r
~
i
'
w
c
y
o
e-
Depos
tors
coup~ " 20 lean vn the dollar;" in-
vestigators say. , - -
Some depositors, however, prob-
,
_
?~r;,in.~r - _ ~;, ` ~, -ably will -not~file claims?in?view of
- - - ---- ~~-- "----- t*--~ - - -~
~ab%ch~9t will not ide~ify_.:- signed to help depositors .hide ille?
-=~lnvestigators -in -the =case, `-who 8a1 income, avoid taxes-and circum-
say?they._.~ave never seen~the :FJ3I Vent sti~ct cu~i*eacy lam`--
rs>~+siespett-thatst-was~rned~over ~ police say Nugan Head also set
STAT