The BCCI Affair - Largest Financial Scandal in History

BCCI constituted International financial crime on a massive and global scale . This was the largest financial scandal in history.

BCCI was made up of multiplying layers of entities related to one another through an inpenetrable series of holding companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, banks within banks, insider dealings and nominee relationships. It was able to evade ordinary legal restrictions.

BCCI's criminality included fraud, money laundering in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas; bribery of world leaders and political figures; support of terrorism; arms trafficking; sale of nuclear technologies; management of prostitution; tax evasion; smuggling; illegal immigration; illicit purchases of banks and real estate; and a panoply of financial crimes.

In 1977, it infiltrated the US by secretly purchasing US banks (First American, Bank of America, National Bank of Georgia, etc) then opening BCCI branch offices, merging the two institutions. Due to regulations, it was difficult at first, but then they were successful in acquiring four banks, operating in seven states and D.C. The success was due to a combination of flaws in regulations and well-connected lawyers.

In 1988, BCCI Tampa was indicted for drug money laundering. Interestingly the Justice Department, US Customs Service and the Treasury Departments failed to provide adequate support and assistance to investigators and prosecutors working on the case. Does this sound a little like other investigations being hampered by high up government officials? It seems to be a pattern. It makes me wonder!

New York District Attorney Morgenthau broke the case that indirectly brought about BCCI's global closure on July 5, 1991.

The other scandalous thing about BCCI is that former CIA officials (Richard Helms, William Casey, etc); foreign intelligence officials; and principal foreign agents float in and out of BCCI at critical times in its history. They participate simultaneously in the making of key episodes in US foreign policy ranging from the Camp David peace talks to the arming of Iran as part of the Iran-Contra affair. Yet the CIA denies it had any information of BCCI.

You can read the whole story at the link above. There is quite a tangled web of deceit in this story.

I question whether this network of banks was really totally ever shutdown, or did that happen only in the US? Did this network revive prior to 911?