NICHOLAS DEAK: SCHOLAR, FINANCIER, INTELLIGENCE AGENT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-01208R000100100046-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 2, 2011
• Sequence Number: 46
• Publication Date: November 18, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Deak, 80, had spent his later years trying to save his company !-
the nation's
largest non-bank dealer in currency and precious metals from bankruptcy after
two subsidiaries fell:in to'economic and legal difficulties.
His career was packed with. enough activity to fill several life stories
"Nick, Deak is a man of many facets," said his longtime colleague, William J.
Casey in a 1975 speech while the latter was head of the ExportImport Bank.
Casey, now director of the Central Intelligence Agency; described Deak
as a "scholar who has distinguished himself as a soldier .... an activist, an
entrepreneur, organizer and executive, and a thinker who speaks and writes with
force and depth on matters of international economic policy."
Nicholas Louis Deak was born in Hateg, Hungary, on Oct. 8, 1,905. He graduated
from the Academy of World Trade in Vienna in 1925 and receivedja Ph.D. from the
University of Neuchatel in Switzerland in 1929.
He worked five years for.the Royal Hungarian Trade. Institute, left to become
a manager for the British Overseas Bank, and later went to work for the economic
department of the League of Nations in Geneva.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/03/02 : CIA-RDP90-01208R000100100046-2
ASSOCIATED PRESS
18 November 1985
NICHOLAS DEAK: SCHOLAR, FINANCIER, INTELLIGENCE AGENT F11
NEW YORK
Nicholas Deak, a foreign currency trader who was slain Monday in a shooting
at his office, was a former U.S. intelligence agent, official in.the League of
Nations, and received the ceremonial sword of surrender from ai Japanese general
in Burma in 1945.
In 1939, Deak came to New York and opened his own foreign-exchange business.
After the United States entered World War II in 1941, Deak joined the Army.
Recognized for his linguistic talents and knowledge of Europe, he was
.assigned to the.Office of Strategic Services, the fledgling intelligence agency,
where ho met Case
o
was chairman and his son, R. Leslie Deak, was vice chairman.
y
.
Deak initially was assigned to the agency's Middle East headquarters in
Cairo, and later to Burma, Thailand and Malaya. In 1945, he accepted the sword
of surrender from the commanding general of Japanese forces in!Burma.
He later commanded an 05S unit in Indochina and was discharged in Shanghai at
the.end of the war with the rank of major. For another year, he continued
intelligence and political work for the State Department in Asia and Washington.
Returning to New York in 1946, Deak resumed his foreign exctiange business
Deak & Co. _ later acquiring Perera U.S. Inc. In 1957, the Deak' organization
established its own bank in Switzerland _ the Foreign CommerceliIBank.
Deak & Co. filed under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy laws las t
December, listing assets of $62.2 million and liabilities
f $95 million. Deak
The company was purchased in August for $58 million by an anonymous group of
investors. represented by Chan Cher Boon, a Singapore attorney who became
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president of Deak-Perera U.S. Cher Boon's bid was accepted contingent upon his
reaching a settlement with creditors by Jan. 3.
The company's troubles have been blamed on over-expansion, a weak market for
gold, and allegations by the President's Commission on Organized Crime that two
subsidiaries Deak-Perera Wall Street and Deak-Perera International Banking
Corp. _ had laundered millions for organized crime and served as a conduit for
Lockheed Corp. bribes to Japanese officials.
Deak denied the allegations.
Deak, who lived in Scarsdale, was a vegetarian and ran five miles a day. In
addition to his son, he is survived by his wife of 46 years, the former
Liselotte Maria Potter. No funeral plans were announced.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/03/02 : CIA-RDP90-01208R000100100046-2