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1994-05-02
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6KB
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<text>
<title>
Panama: Government Sues BCCI For Noriega Money
</title>
<article>
<hdr>
Foreign Broadcast Information Service, July 17, 1991
Panama: Government Sues BCCI for Noriega Money
</hdr>
<body>
<p>[Report by Aneldo Arosemena. Panama City EL SIGLO in Spanish 15
Jul 91 pp 1,14]
</p>
<p> [Text] The Panamanian Government has instituted a civil suit
in a South Florida District Federal Court against the
International Credit and Commerce Bank [BCCI], which has had
its offices closed in Panama and other countries within the
framework of what international experts are calling "the
financial scandal of the decade."
</p>
<p> The lawsuit was instituted last year by the government of
President Guillermo Endara through the Holtzman, Kynzman, and
Equel law firm. The suit is based on the fact that the BCCI
gave former dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega facilities to send
abroad millions of dollars that belong to the Republic of
Panama.
</p>
<p> The BCCI initiated operations in Panama in 1980. It was
introduced in the country by Ernesto "Tito" Vegas, former
manager of another bank that has been closed, the Interoceanic
Bank (INTERBANCO). It was dedicated on 22 April 1980 by then
President Aristides Royo, who had been picked for that position
by the military.
</p>
<p> On 5 July of this year, the Panamanian Banking Commission
closed BCCI operations within the framework of an international
measure promoted by state financial investigation
organizations, which involved at least 16 countries of Europe,
the Americas, and Asia, where the bank carried out operations
to, among other things, launder money from drug trafficking.
</p>
<p> At the end of last year, at the request of the Panamanian
Government, the Office of the Florida State Attorney ordered
retention of the $18 million bond that the BCCI had deposited
to guarantee its banking operations in Florida.
</p>
<p> One of the defendants is Amajad Awan, a British banker of
Arab descent. He is believed to have been Noriega's "personal"
banker. The suit that has been instituted is a civil suit. It
is intended to allow Panama to recover at least $1 billion that
were appropriated by Noriega and that he deposited in BCCI
branches throughout the world.
</p>
<p> EL SIGLO has a report prepared by the Office of the
Comptroller General. This report, which was published in March
of this year, indicates that in addition to the BCCI, other
banks were used to make Panamanian state money appropriated by
the narco-dictator "disappear." Here is an excerpt of that
report:
</p>
<p> 7. In February 1988, the balance of two accounts (No.
03001734 and No. 01010571) in the Edgeware Road branch was
transferred to two different accounts in the Luxembourg branch
of the BCCI. The funds in account no. 03001734 were transferred
to account no. 01164492 in the Luxembourg branch. The amount in
these funds totalled $14,877,667.86. The funds in Edgeware Road
branch account no. 01010571 were transferred to the Luxembourg
branch account no. 01164505. The two new accounts were opened
in the name of Antonio Noriega.
</p>
<p> 8. The BCCI group later allowed the transfer of these funds
to two other accounts, one in the Union Bank of Switzerland in
Zurich (account no. 75.922.71L) and another in the Deutsche
Sudamerikanische Bank in Hamburg, FRG (account no. 135-021-
00/400). These accounts were opened in the name of the National
Bank of Panama, but the opening documents were signed by Manuel
Noriega.
</p>
<p> 9. Noriega also made arrangements to open an account at the
National Bank of Panama in the name of "Findlays," "Findlay
International Company," or "Findley's International Ltd.,"
which reflected a false deposit for more than $23 million.
Everything indicates that the funds that were apparently
deposited in Findlay's account in Panama are still in
Switzerland and Germany. The false deposit in Panama was
intended to cover up a loss of money that had, or would, occur
due to a transfer to London--in the name of, or to benefit,
Noriega.
</p>
<p> 10. Following the aforementioned transactions, the funds
maintained in Switzerland and Germany were transferred to
London and the name of the account was changed. In September
1988, funds in the amount of $12,232,621.48 were transferred
from the Deutsche Sudamerikanische Bank to an account in the
Middle East Bank in London, on behalf of "Findlays," the
"Findlay International Company," or "Findley's International,
Ltd." Simultaneously, the amount of $11,053,777.78 was
transferred from the Union Bank of Switzerland to the same
account in the Middle East Bank. Everything seems to indicate
that Findlay or Findley's is a bogus organization and that
Noriega, somehow, still controls those funds.
</p>
<p> 11. As far as the Republic of Panama is concerned, the
transactions appear legitimate, and today they represent
original funds [fondos originales] in the Republic of Panama.
Even though the amount decreased due to withdrawals by the
Noriega family, it has also increased substantially due to
interest and other revenues, which have accumulated since the
original deposit was made in 1982.
</p>
<p> 12. Another method used to channel funds to a Luxembourg
account--and from there to the Middle East Bank in London--was through accounts in the name of Noriega's wife and
daughters (Felicidad, Lorena, Sandra, and Thays).
</p>
<p> 13. Three accounts at the BCCI Group's branch on Sloane
Street were in the name of Felicidad de Noriega. All the funds
were the property of the Republic of Panama. All the money in
those accounts was later transferred to a BCCI Group's branch
in Hyde Park, London, in April 1986.
</p>
<p> To conclude, EL SIGLO has consulted with lawyers about the
possibility that the lawsuit filed by the Panamanian Government
against the BCCI will be rendered null because the Directorate
for the Recovery of State Property has played a leading role in
the case, and it is currently involved in a public controversy--Attorney General Rogelio Cruz has said that several of the
articles that called for its creation violate the Constitution.
</p>
</body>
</article>
</text>