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Post by alefdracon on Dec 6, 2012 4:45:25 GMT 4
www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/esp_sociopol_gold.htmINTRODUCTION My involvement with the following events began on a sunny spring day in May 1996 with a telephone call from an Australian, Peter Johnston. He had read an article I had written sometime earlier, that reviewed the Bank of England’s “whitewash” report into the collapse of Barings Bank. Peter clearly felt that my critical examination of the Barings fiasco demonstrated an independence of mind that he believed was necessary to fairly investigate his own story. Within a week, Peter arrived at my house laden with documents and fears for his future. The prospect of being found guilty in his upcoming trial was a debilitating thought that visibly played on his mind. He set about showing me his papers to demonstrate his innocence of the charge against him. I was quickly impressed by his openness and honesty and his willingness to field any questions I threw at him and found it hard not to warm to him. He left an hour or more later with a promise to mail me copies of the most important papers and documents from his files. These arrived a week later and I began contacting some of those involved in his negotiations to buy the mysterious gold certificates. Unfortunately for Peter, his story of the Secret Treaty gold proved too complex for me to reach any real judgments about the validity of his case in time for his trial. His barrister opted – wrongly in my view – to defend Peter without submitting as evidence any of the thousands of pages of correspondence, contracts and other paperwork that Peter had available in his files. He was convicted and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment in Ford Open Prison. Throughout the Winter of 1996, I continued investigating Peter’s strange story whenever the chance presented itself. I also arranged to visit him in prison to ask additional questions. I hoped to interest a TV production company in making a TV documentary to cover the costs of overseas travel and other necessities that form part of a detailed investigation. This was not to be, and a shoestring research budget has been the order of the day throughout these past four years. Just before Christmas 1996, Peter arranged for me to pick up all his files that were available in the UK. These proved of great interest and enabled me to advance along slightly different avenues of investigation. Then, after serving twelve months in Ford Open Prison, Peter returned to his native Australia and, thereafter, forwarded another large batch of documents for me to examine. These were crucial to a clearer understanding of this complex story. Despite a very large volume of daily correspondence, business contracts and other documents that ran into several thousands of pages, each of which had to be read and assessed, I was able to cull a significant batch of what seemed to me to be absolutely explosive documents. Meanwhile, a friend who was one of the few to know of my ongoing research put me in contact with a British businessman who also had been dealing in gold originating in the Philippines. Gradually, I learned about the intricacies of the international black market for gold and discovered it was habituated by shadowy individuals who had intelligence connections and backgrounds. Others seemed to rub noses with members of organized crime or to be part of an international network of scammers and confidence tricksters. The involvement of the Sicilian Mafia is of considerable importance, also. By and large, honest businessmen don’t stand a chance in this world, as the circling sharks are sensitive to every morsel that isn’t properly anchored and protected and consume it in voracious frenzy. What follows is the result of over four years of often tedious work. It is my belief that the Secret Treaty story you are about to read unveils financial secrets so large that many will find it just too incredible to believe. But true it is. However, for doubting Thomas's everywhere, I have left a research trail of footnotes and other sources and a small but powerful battery of original documents that should enable anyone who wishes to follow in my footsteps to reach his or her own conclusion. The guiding principle that I have adhered to throughout my investigation into the black market world of gold is an old one: "follow the money." I first came across this advice in the revealing book Ratlines by Mark Aarons & John Loftus. With a City [London] background in international finance, this struck me as an impressive piece of advice. It suggests that the underlying --and often concealed -- motive behind almost every major scandal is money. One of the biggest surprises during my research was my incredible discovery that the official gold figures are pure nonsense. Representatives of the gold industry from the Bank of England through to the London Bullion Market Association and the World Gold Council kept making the point that only a tad over 100,000 tonnes of gold had been mined in over six thousand years. In fact, the actual official figure today is closer to 140,000 tonnes - but still a long way short of reality. This disparity soon became a sort of background "hiss" to my investigation. I would phone a source in the "unofficial" gold market and during the conversation I would be told how little gold had been mined historically. This refrain was repeated so often without my asking the question that I was led to investigate the figures touted by official sources. It immediately became evident that the pre-American Gold Rush statistics were badly flawed -- probably designer-flawed. Over the next few years I concluded that the official figures were designed to conceal what I believe is one of the biggest secrets of finance, namely, the sheer abundance of gold. This may not strike some readers as greatly significant, but it should, for reasons that I hope will become clear. The world’s central banks still use gold as a reserve asset and the obvious dilution of this underlying asset is of the very greatest significance. Moreover, very large quantities of this "black" gold have been -- and still are -- controlled and moved around the world by forces that are fascist or so ultra right-wing as to amount to the same thing. There are a thousand important stories "out there" and many of them don't get the depth of coverage by the media that one might hope for. Admittedly, a small group of hard-core journalists, writers and other investigators do expend considerable effort chasing these stories, but their rewards are sparse. The major media just are not interested. Often, what appears to be a lack of interest is, in fact, a case that the financial or monetary interests of the corporate media often deeply conflict with revelation of the truth -- as was the case when media magnate, Rupert Murdoch tried to inhibit critical reports about China in his newspapers that, clearly, would have impacted negatively on his business entanglements in that country. The lack of interest by the media in this subject has led to this story being privately published in the form of an electronic-dossier via the medium of a CD. The reasoning for this form of distribution is simply that publishing the material in hard copy -- and then airmailing it overseas -- is prohibitively expensive. The United Kingdom is one of the most expensive places to live in the developed world and has been, for a great many years, dubbed "Treasure Island" by transnational companies that double, triple or even quadruple their prices when selling through UK outlets. It is appropriate at this point to acknowledge my sincere gratitude to Carolyn A. Betts of Solari.com who graciously agreed to act as editor of this manuscript. Her sharp legal eye and stalwart attention to detail has proved invaluable. Thanks also go to Solari’s webmaster, Ozzie, for his patience and considerable assistance in making the final HTML presentation of a high standard. It would be remiss of me not to mention my son, Ben, and his cousin, Stephen, for doing a huge and quite brilliant job - under extreme time pressure – in designing the HTML layout for this manuscript and for my related website www.deepblacklies.co.uk. Not least, thanks must go to Catherine Austin Fitts, also of Solari, for agreeing to promote and distribute this work and for her encouragement and thoughtful patience during those periods when, under the emotion of frustration, I wanted to rip my hair out. Lastly, I would very much like to hear from anyone who may be able to shed additional light on what has become a perennial “work in progress.”
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Post by alefdracon on Dec 6, 2012 4:48:10 GMT 4
Part 1 PART 1.1 - THE JOHNSTON SAGA UNFOLDS
Peter Johnston was 54 years old when, in August 1996, he was convicted in England of fraud . Sentenced to two years, he served twelve months in Ford Open Prison before returning to his native Australia to live. Prison was a desultory experience for Johnston, and aggravated by his innocence. The City of London Fraud Squad, acting in concert with two large gold banks, brought the charge of fraud against him. The banks were the Union Bank of Switzerland, Zurich, and the London branch of Australia's Westpac Banking Corporation.[ii]
Johnston's crime had been to deposit a gold certificate in the City branch of Westpac for "safe custody" on 15 February 1995. He did not attempt to have Westpac negotiate or otherwise attest whether the certificate -- apparently issued by the Union Bank of Switzerland, Zurich – was genuine and even agreed to allow the bank to append a disclaimer on the safe custody receipt as to the value of the documents. It was a straightforward case of securing documents in the vaults of the bank for a brief spell while travelling abroad. By the official standards of the London Gold Market, the certificate represented quite a large cache of gold at 740 metric tonnes.[iii] At slightly more than $300 an ounce, this translated into a market value of approximately US$8 billion, large enough to make eyes pop. Westpac's Correspondent Banking Manager, David Blenkinsopp, subsequently stated that he felt "uncomfortable" about the deposit of documents and decided he "should record the incident in [the] fraud manual and perhaps alert the authorities to a possible fraud. "His alleged fears did not immediately materialise into action, and would lay dormant for another seven days. However, despite what Blenkinsopp described as his original “discomfort” with the transaction, his later story to the police was that Johnston had been "very cooperative." [iv]
At 2.00 a.m. on the morning following the deposit of the certificate into safe keeping (16 February 1995), Blenkinsopp, unable to sleep due to worry, decided to telephone his head office in Australia. He requested that Bob Hinze, manager of Westpac's Burleigh Heads branch, contact him as soon as possible. The reason for this call was, he said, that Johnston had earlier told Blenkinsopp that both he and his co-director, Alan Bristow, were valued customers of Westpac and that Bristow, in particular, had banked with Westpac/Burleigh Heads for many years.
Hinze returned the call within half an hour and listened as Blenkinsopp outlined his fears, but remained stoic and relaxed. Hinze was able to confirm that he knew Johnston and Bristow personally and that the latter had been "a long-standing customer of the bank." He also said that he had conducted similar lodgments of gold certificates for them in the past and that they were "only trying to earn a brokerage fee." He added that the certificates "had typographical errors in them” and that “this was deliberate because there was a special code that allowed them to be identified as genuine." He continued: "we see little harm in holding the certificates for safe keeping but we recommend that that be the limit of our involvement." [v]
In fact, Johnston and Bristow had kept Bob Hinze fully informed of the progress they were making in negotiating the certificate and had earlier requested his guidance regarding which bank they should deposit the certificate with during Johnston's forthcoming visit to London. Hinze, believing the Westpac's London branch had closed, suggested contacting its London correspondent, Midland Bank Plc. Since Johnston had no account at Midland and was not a UK resident, Midland Bank Plc demurred but suggested that Johnston's London law firm, Linklaters and Paines, could hold the certificates in custody. Linklaters, however, advised Johnston that Westpac did have a London branch. Hence Johnston's arrival at Westpac's office on 15 February 1995.
Satisfied that he was dealing with pre-existing bank customers, Blenkinsopp relaxed, he later said. This remained the case until 21 February 1995, when a message arrived from Bob Hinze advising that Johnston's Australian lawyer, Morris Milder, would soon be contacting Blenkinsopp to issue a standard "script" receipt describing the contents of the envelope and, in particular, detailing the certificate numbers held in custody. In the ordinary course of a transaction such as this, the bank would sign the receipt and deliver it to Johnston, and he would, upon his return, present the receipt to redeem the certificate from safe keeping.
Blenkinsopp, in fact, was already aware what the safe custody envelope contained, because he had insisted on inspecting it when Johnston first brought it in. This was standard procedure to make sure deposit items contained no drugs, explosives etc. The latest request, for the receipt, however, aggravated Blenkinsopp's anxiety. The reason for his concern, he later explained, was that he already had issued a safe custody receipt on Westpac letterhead and believed the newly requested script receipt could be construed "as an endorsement of Westpac as to the value of the documents, despite [his] handwritten disclaimer as to the value of it [my italics]."[vi]
At the back of his mind, Blenkinsopp told police, he was concerned that the certificates, together with Westpac's "endorsement," [i.e., the script receipt] could be used by Johnston to perpetrate an "advance fee" fraud against another bank. Whether this concern was Blenkinsopp's own creation, we do not know, but we do know the implication that Johnston was attempting to perpetrate an advance fee fraud was repeatedly raised by his police inquisitors during questioning [vii]. However, there was not one shred of evidence to support such an allegation.
Blenkinsopp told police that the fax letter from Milder requesting the script receipt additionally requested that he confirm the letter by key tested telex (KTT) to another bank. This is untrue. The instruction merely indicated that he may be asked to do this at a later date. [viii] Blenkinsopp was, he said, at this point thoroughly alarmed, so he decided to telephone a contact at the UBS in Switzerland. When he did so, according to his police statement, he was told the certificates were forgeries. Then, he said, he had faxed copies of the certificate to the Union Bank of Switzerland, Head Office, Zurich. Both actions were strictly speaking unusual in terms of banking protocol -- after all, these were confidential client documents. Thereafter, on the afternoon of 22 February 1995, Blenkinsopp contacted the City of London Fraud Squad.
A return UBS fax, transmitted at 13.54 on 22 February 1995, stated: "We confirm that Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) never issued such documents. It is a forgery, that means complete fantasy. UBS has nothing to do with these [sic] documents." It was unauthenticated (i.e., it did not possess the usual key test signifying it was an authorised statement of UBS) and it was signed by Rene Schicker, a low level member of UBS Security Services. Schicker was not an authorised officer of UBS.
Earlier, at 13.17, Schicker had sent another fax to Blenkinsopp at Westpac. This stated:
"We confirm that the Union bank of Switzerland (UBS) never issued such documents. It is a forgery, that means complete fantasy. UBS has nothing to do with the documents.
We have knowledge about the arrestation [sic] of one person at London Heathrow Airport on 3.11.1994 with similar papers. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me. Are the 17 certificates originals or copies?"
Quite why Schicker, or others in the UBS, decided to truncate the first message with the second remains unexplained, as does the question asking if the certificates were originals or copies. Meanwhile, who was the other person arrested? Was he/she charged by police or later set free?
ENTRAPMENT?
In a telephone conversation with Morris Milder, Johnston's Australian lawyer, Astrid Pankhurst, a barrister for Westpac, told Milder that the police had looked at the certificates and were under no doubt about their fraudulent nature. She then added
"…but the police have advised that they are not interested in this case because there is no attempted fraud on the UK mainland and you know this matter is really outside their jurisdiction."
Pankhurst was being disingenuous, as we shall see. She made this telephone call after consulting with DC Howard of the City of London Police.
She continued the telephone conversation saying that Westpac no longer cared to hold the certificates and that Milder should arrange for them to be collected. Despite Milder's request to speak directly to DC Howard, this did not occur. DC Howard states he was not aware that Milder wished to speak with him. Unusually, Pankhurst refused to confirm any of Westpac's actions or allegations to Milder in writing despite a request to do so. Not least, Milder's phone conversation with Pankhurst was recorded, but Milder was not made privy to this fact. [ix]
In any event, Johnston, unaware of the entrapment in progress, travelled from Australia to London to collect the certificates as requested by Westpac. Arriving at Westpac offices at 3 p.m. on Monday 6 March 1995, he was promptly arrested.
Eighteen months later, during the trial in August 1996, the prosecution presented its expert witness, Claude Mifsud, formerly a senior manager of Lloyds Bank Plc and latterly a consultant in trade finance. Mifsud’s testimony, purportedly supported by his years of experience in international banking transactions, was used by the prosecution to support its contention that the certificate was fraudulent on its face. Mifsud’s testimony did not support this contention, however, because what he told the police was that he was, in fact, unfamiliar with documents of the type in question. In his pre-trial witness statement, he said, "in my experience I have not encountered documentation of this nature and I must admit to finding it difficult to speculate as to the significance of these names and reference number [shown on the certificate]. "His expertise in certificates of deposit did not extend to the specialised world of bullion trading -- an extremely secretive aspect of international finance.
It must be said here that the instruments used in international banking are highly varied, according to the branch of banking a transaction originates in. Asking an expert in one type of banking transaction to give expert testimony on another branch of banking he has no knowledge of is similar to asking a gynecologist to testify as to a diagnosis of a brain tumour. In this regard, Mifsud was no expert at all, a fact he was the first to point out.
Despite having its name associated with a major fraud, the UBS, Zurich, refused to send a member of its Zurich Security or Bullion Division (or for that matter anyone from Zurich) to give testimony at the trial. This was in spite of considerable pressure from the police to do so. However, UBS eventually agreed to have a member of its London staff make a statement to the police. Andrew Furlong, an authorised officer of UBS, London (but not disciplined in bullion trading), in his statement was – surprisingly, considering the gravity of the charges -- unwilling to state the certificates were forgeries. Instead, he merely commented that "UBS did not issue these documents and has nothing to do with them." He added,
"I have consulted our Head Office in Zurich and can categorically confirm that the documents did not emanate from UBS in Zurich."
That was the full extent of his statement. [x] For reasons I explain below, saying a certificate is not “issued by” UBS and does not “emanate from” UBS does not necessarily mean it is a forgery or otherwise fraudulent. Compounding the insufficiency of this testimony is the fact that in law, this type of evidence (that is, a statement of another individual merely repeated by the individual under oath) is known as hearsay and is not generally admitted into evidence. Since it was UBS, Zurichs' allegation that set this ball rolling, it is hard to understand why UBS did not send a gold expert from Zurich to attend the trial. However, it was the only official statement the police were able to obtain from UBS. [xi]
Furlong’s testimony is a far cry from Schicker's earlier charge that the certificate was a "forgery and complete fantasy," -- almost a repudiation, in fact. Johnston and Bristow and their attorney, Morris Milder, believed all along (and did not once conceal the fact) that the certificate was not issued by the UBS but understood it had been issued through the UBS. UBS was not, therefore, the principal, but rather an agent. The difference is a subtle but important one, as we shall see, but goes a long way to explaining UBS' subsequent actions. The fact is that to have stated in writing, under colour of corporate authority, or in open court, that the certificate was a forgery may have opened the UBS to both criminal and civil charges.
Wolfgang Jentsch is the Managing Director of Commerce Capital Limited, located in Dresha, Germany, with sub offices in Nassau and Vancouver. Possessing a banking background, Jentsch worked for Norddeutschelandesbank between 1970 and '73 and again between 1975 and '79, where he was authorized to make loans up to DM 2 million. He is an expert on the less public side of banking and has considerable knowledge of certain specialized types of certificates of deposit. [xii]
Importantly, Jentsch is familiar with the Byzantine world of gold and gold certificates, and this was the major reason he was asked, and agreed, to act as an expert witness for the defense. His witness statement shows his familiarity with some of the less well known aspects of international banking: "I am aware that Governments in most countries from time to time ask their banks to issue certificates of deposit off balance sheet." This, as Jentsch confirms, means the certificates are issued through, not by, the banks, which, consequently, do not need to establish reserves to pay for the certificates if, and when, they are presented for payment. Instead of being bank obligations, such certificates of deposit are in fact secret Government obligations.
Jentsch continues:
"[Certificates] … may take many forms and quite possibly will not be in the banking form. They are by their very nature private banking documents and will not be in the public domain." He then shares an interesting insight:
"One finds that the larger the amount concerned, the closer the circle of those who know becomes. Indeed, in respect of any bank concerned it is rare that the main structure of the bank itself would ever know of their existence and this information is very much the domain of the few."
The former banker also adds an interesting insight to banking in general in this regard. "Another area where such private documents would come into being are in circumstances where, for example, the deposit is made by a controversial depositor." These he explains might be "an unpopular regime," or "a Government involved in a war situation." He expands on this theme in some detail:
"… if it is a private Government transaction, it may not necessarily be recorded. Legally the Government would not be allowed to. As indicated above, this is more likely to happen when one starts dealing with the less disciplined Governments of the world."
"The owner of the funds which are subject to the security of the deposit would be given a number of other documents in order to secure that certificate. He would be given a letter which will provide the details of only those persons who would be able to verify the existence of the certificates and he would be given coded security numbers. It is not common but it is possible that as a further security measure the certificate of deposit may include other forms of coding. This may take the form of what would appear to be severe spelling or grammatical errors…This also has the advantage that anybody unauthorized dealing in that certificate would go back to the bank and it would enable the bank to deny all knowledge of it…"[xiii]
The deniability aspect that Jentsch raises was crucial to Johnston's defence. Other experts in the unofficial bullion market have confirmed it is not an uncommon procedure on sensitive transactions to see spelling and grammatical errors. They, too, understand that governments occasionally issue confidential certificates through banks, which allows the named bank to deny them.
Evert van Vollenhoven of the Dutch firm of Van Vollenhoven & Schultz Associates is a specialist bullion trader. In his letter dated 23 February 1995, he states that,
"The situation with UBS is as follows: if a bank sends copies of certificates, they answer verbally that they are false but do not dare commit themselves by KTT [Key Tested Telex - in other words full corporate responsibility] to these statements. They can not proof [sic] that these documents are false."
Van Vollenhoven then added an intriguing fact that may well have a bearing on the mystery of the disappearing paragraphs from the first of the two UBS faxes:
"This has even gone so far that a bank in London called in the Fraud Squad as to regulations and these investigators, after hearing the bank officials walked out straight away telling them that there was no fraud because UBS had not produced any evidence of such."
He was aware of this situation because it was a transaction he was personally involved with, as he makes clear when he says the "result is that the certificates were not confiscated and again are at our free disposal. "He continued by adding that the "conclusion of all this; these documents are real but the UBS does not want to co-operate in whatever manner with third parties, who, however in their full rights, want the benefit of their own belongings."
Neither does the German Banker, Wolfgang Jentsch, hold back in his statement further on where he explained:
"Simply approaching the bank on whose paper it has been issued will always result in the bank denying all knowledge of it" [my italics]. He then reveals that "the currency that the certificate of deposit is denominated in is the key to knowing who to approach if one is authorised to do so." "If the document is recorded in US Dollars then the US Federal Reserve must have records in respect of this transaction under those security numbers…."
Jentsch was handed the entire set of certificates (17 in all) representing the 740 metric tons in the name of UBS. For the record, he stated, categorically, that they are not "public domain documents." The banker then offered his opinion that the potential prejudice to Westpac by issuing the safe keeping receipt would be immediately negated by adding to the receipt language an appropriate comment to the effect that the receipt is "without involvement of value." Westpac did add a paragraph to this effect on its safe custody receipt, as we know.
Based on this evidence, before trial, the defence felt reasonably confident that Johnston would be found innocent. However, during the trial in August 1996, Jentsch -- who had carefully scrutinized the gold documents during his deposition -- became a de facto prosecution witness by stating the certificates were pure nonsense. With this about-face testimony, Peter Johnston's fate was sealed. What accounts for the turnaround?
Footnotes
The actual charge was "using a false instrument with intent." Johnston's defence was that he believed the instrument to be genuine and that there was no "intent" involved. Having investigated this matter for 2 1/2 years I am satisfied Johnston is telling the truth -- I have read all his papers running into thousands. [ii] The latter owns Mase Westpac, the banking arm that bought the ill-fated Johnson Mathey Bank when it almost crashed in September 1984. One of five houses to have a "seat" at London's twice daily gold fix, JM was reputed to be less than forthright in its bullion dealings. In fact, its management was close to Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos and according to rumours was laundering some of the Japanese and Nazi gold he had recovered in the years following World War II. More on this later in our story. Informed sources tell me JM was advancing funds against these deposits of "tainted" gold and this triggered a cash crisis in the bank. This led to questions in Parliament where speakers from both the Labour and the Liberal party bared their teeth and have the courage to suggest JM were engaged in a VAT scam on gold. The deeper and far more sensitive story remained unuttered by any spokesman of any party. During its final disgrace, JM almost brought down the other four major London gold banks with it, but with the timely intervention of the Bank of England was rescued by Mase Westpac. [iii] Compare this amount to the largest known central bank sale of 500 metric tonnes.
[iv] Blenkinsopp's witness statement to City of London police.
[v] Extracted from Hinze's note to Blenkinsopp.
[vi] Blenkinsopp's witness statement to City of London police.
[vii] Johnston's police interrogators were DC Howard and DC Ash of the City of London police. DC Howard is now with the Serious Fraud Office.
[viii] Placing the certificate in a bank's safe keeping was not even Johnston's idea. In fact, the idea came from the gold trader he was then negotiating with. This individual (Source "A" and Source "B" below) required this be done in order that the certificates could then be securely transferred into safe keeping at his own bank, prior to concluding the transaction.
[ix] I have a copy of the transcription of the conversation provided by City of London police.
[x] A copy of his witness statement to the police is in my files.
[xi] Furlong's statement is dated 6 April 1995. I understand from Johnston's London lawyer that the police were sufficiently worried about the UBS statement that a police officer travelled to UBS Zurich in an attempt to obtain a more robust statement and/or have a Zurich representative agree to attend the trial in London as a witness for the prosecution. I note here that during questioning on 21 March 1995, D.C. Howard refers to a letter from UBS dated 8 March 1995, that he says states the documents "are false." This letter does not appear in the trial exhibits (so far as I can see) and I have not seen it. However, D.C. Howard continues by saying that the UBS is providing an authorised bank officer to make a statement. This was a reference to Andrew Furlong. I have repeatedly tried to contact D.C. Howard (now at the SFO) to clarify this point, but my attempts have been in vain. [xii] His deposition is in my possession.
[xiii] The "holder" of the certificate in question, Indonesian lawyer Dr. Edison Damanik, was in possession of two business cards issued by the UBS. These named Mr. Shaker J. Otwold, UBS Kloten, Switzerland and Mr. A. Stures Honeghen, UBS Basel, Switzerland. Secreted beneath Kloten Airport is Switzerland's largest bullion repository. These cards were mailed to Johnston by Damanik following his arrest -- the implication being that these two individuals were part of the "charmed circle" able to verify the certificates. This location is extremely secretive and most Swiss, UBS employees included, remain unaware of it, as I discovered in my efforts to track down Mr. Otwold. As at this date of writing Otwold and Honeghen remain "ghosts," despite their colourful business cards, which are in my possession. However, for those with a taste for mysteries, it is interesting to observe that the giant UBS transacts all its bullion dealing through a subsidiary, the Anglo-German, American, Warburg, Dillon Read, located at Glattbrugg, close to Kloten.
PART 1.2 - SWISS "GHOSTS"
Nine months after Johnston's arrest, but eight months before the trial, an odd article appeared on the front page of the London Times. It stated that "City of London police have launched an official investigation into the fraudulent use of certificates of deposit and the Bank of England has warned the public not to fall for the latest batch of certificates." The article continued, "The Bank said yesterday that the latest batch of certificates, often supported by 'official looking' documentation and using named deposit holders such as international politicians, presidents and royalty are 'fraudulent and extreme caution should be exercised in dealing with any party seeking to transact business on the strength of them.'"
In the view of Johnston's Australian lawyer, this article was directed at Johnston and could have prejudiced his defence. The 740 MT certificate was in the name of Mr. Patrick Hillery, former President of the Irish Republic. [ii] Moreover, a number of other certificates Johnston was authorised to negotiate on behalf of "The Last Legal Holder" all named well-known "politicians, presidents and royalty."
It is appropriate to ask why the Bank of England was so concerned for “members of the public.” I ask this question because the 740MT certificate had a market value of US$8.5 billion. And this was one of the smallest certificates that Johnston had access to. A larger one bore a price tag close to a whopping US$100 billion. Members of the public do not have pockets that deep.
Had the Bank of England entertained genuine concerns, it could readily have issued a confidential circular to all the licensed banks in the City and, via the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), to all licensed bullion dealers. Issuing a press release was provocative, to say the least. It makes better sense to consider the bank's action as a specific and subtle warning directed at somebody who believed the certificates were genuine and who could afford to pay this sort of money. In other words, a de facto cease and desist notice to any potential buyer of the certificate. But, is this likely?
The fact is that Johnston and his partners were in the process of negotiating this and other certificates, and the Bank of England knew it. I have spoken to a number of gold traders who, at the time of the press release, were keen to buy several of Johnston's certificates, including the disputed 740 MT. All were fully aware of the circumstances of his earlier arrest and his forthcoming trial. [iii] They were also aware of the "extremely sensitive " background of the certificates.
One of these individuals was Bruce Mead, Managing Director of the Millsmead Group. Mead told me quite openly that the reason he pulled out of the deal was due to the negative publicity. Since the Bank of England press release was the only article that had appeared at that time (at least to my knowledge) the potential sources for his fear are sharply narrowed. Mead and his partner, Mary Mills, represent a number of major European banks. Figuratively speaking, they act as fig-leafs to eclipse the banks’ involvement in black market gold transactions. In this instance, Mead was the mandate for Michael J. Summers, an authorised bullion dealer on behalf of the giant French state- owned bank, Credit Lyonnais. In this capacity, Mead -- nine months after Johnston's arrest -- had issued a full corporate offer to purchase the 740 MT certificate after Summers had scrutinised the various documents.
Mead's letter of offer, a binding contract of intent (and financial ability) to purchase the bullion on behalf of his principals (Summers/Credit Lyonnais) was dated 13 December 1995. Intriguingly, this was just two days before publication of the article in the London Times to which reference is made above. [iv] Could this be the real explanation of the extraordinary BoE press briefing?
Mead told me that he had conducted a "soft probe" on the certificate and the results strongly indicated it was genuine. [v] The probe was carried out by the Bank of England, I was told. [vi] Having pulled out of the deal, Mead then made various attempts, on Johnston's behalf, to get related papers back into Johnston's custody. He told me he believed "Peter was innocent" and was subject to a political intrigue and added, "Peter had good paperwork." Moreover, he continued to express interest in purchasing other certificates in Johnston's possession right through to February 1996 but for a variety of unrelated reasons this wasn't possible. [vii]
In an article published in the Irish Times on Monday, 6 May 1996, reporter Denis Staunton states that Dr. Patrick Hillery, the alleged owner of the 740 MT certificate "expressed astonishment" that his name was linked to the certificate. Hillery then added that the signature on the certificate "wasn't anything like my signature." The former Irish president added an unusual afterthought: "It wasn't even an attempt to be my signature."
This statement was further enforced in Dr. Hillery's brief letter to Johnston's solicitor dated 27 November 1995, which says: "I have examined the documents which you enclosed with your letter and wish to state that the signature on them is not my signature." This is entirely correct. None of the signatures on this or other certificates are -- or even contrive to be -- facsimiles of the signature of the stated holder. However, in the mysterious world of government secrets, there may be an explanation for this.
The 740 MT certificate actually constituted numerous documents: the certificate itself plus supporting documents, heritage certificates, supporting documents and government documents. One of these “heritage” certificates refers to another party in the form of the guarantee “holder” – whatever that means. Under the heading “B.L.D. GUARANTEE HOLDER” is the name “Hassan King II,” undoubtedly a reference to King Hassan of Morocco, who became King in 1962 following the death of his father. Hassan died in July 1999.
Johnston's instructions from "The Legal Last Holder" were that all these documents would have to be forensically proven at the time of sale. Just one missing page would void all the other papers. Validating the certificates also meant validating the heritage documents, and it was these that identify the actual holder -- albeit by various codes. This procedure, as Jentsch made clear in his deposition (see Chapter 1.1), is designed to protect the identity of an "unpopular regime" and also avoids embarrassment to the bank and/or government for dealing with unsavoury characters.
In this regard, Johnston had earlier been in contact with another gold trader, Tirath Ram, an Indian citizen resident and trading in the North of England. Gold plays a large part in Indian life and, in fact, the global jewelry fabrication business is centred in that country. Ram had undertaken to "probe" the validity of the 740 MT certificate [for the purpose of exploring a purchase] and on 14 February 1995, sent Johnston a copy of a fax he claimed had been sent to him by a "contact" in the Bullion Department of the Bank of England. I doubt that this fax -- which had the top and bottom removed to avoid identifying the source, did originate with the Bank of England. For one thing, it is customary in England to always date a letter by day, month and year. In this instance, the fax was dated in the American style with the month, day and year, in that order, and, moreover, contains word usage common in America.
Ram was clearly protecting his source, which is understandable, but appears to have made a critical error in his haste to impress Johnston (a flaw common amongst gold brokers). Hoping to buy the gold represented by the certificates and other associated documents, Ram, it seems, had meanwhile offered it for sale through one of the largest US bullion banks -- Citibank -- which evidently originated the fax.
In any event, the author of the fax was clearly in possession of highly confidential and sensitive information that no one else associated with this transaction was aware of -- including Johnston and his partners. The full text of the letter is as follows:
Mr. Tirath Ram February 14 1995 Friends Corporation By fax Dear Mr. Ram, AU BULLION CERTIFICATE Further to our discussion this evening I make the following comments from our experience with UBS certificates which may or may not prove to be relevant in this instance. It is imperative that when the Government requests authentication through Citibank it has all the correct data which may include but may not be limited to: #The original Heritage Document - this is a document declaring non-beneficial ownership between the named party on the certificate and the real owner. #Any "code-words", "code-letters" & key bars that have to be disclosed to demonstrate ownership. #Any other special arrangements made between UBS and the owners. You will understand that these arrangements in the main were designed by UBS not so much to protect the holder from loss, but to ensure that UBS never lost the AU BULLION from its control. Please have the seller provide as much detail on the background of the certificate etc. Yours sincerely
Even a brief examination of Dr. Hillery's statement causes admiration for the ingenuity of political wordplay. At no point (either publicly or privately) did Dr. Hillery state the certificate was fraudulent, only that it did not represent (or even attempt to) his signature.
In fact Hillery's statements to the press and to Johnston's lawyer are brief and possess the air of one entirely disinterested with the affair. A strange reaction for a retired statesman whose name is being bandied about in a fraud case. A measure of Dr. Hillery's unusual disinterest is encapsulated in the following remark. Telling Denis Staunton that he has "never heard of Dr. Damanik," and that the only time he has visited Indonesia "was in 1985” when he “stopped in Jakarta on his way to Australia for a state visit," he added "I'm just retired now playing golf." However, the holder of these certificates, Dr. Damanik, appeared to know Patrick Hillery well enough when he referred to him as "that crazy Irishman." Damanik also told Johnston that he (Hillery) would require US$2 million to clear the transaction. Sadly, this can no longer be confirmed, because Dr. Edison Damanik, the "Last Legal Holder," died in America in 1997. His death was from illness, it is said, and followed his sudden "disappearance" months earlier from his residence in Jakarta. At all times, Damanik appeared to be kept on a short leash. An American, Frederick Robinson, who resided in Dr. Damanik's house, was clearly disliked by both Dr. and Mrs. Damanik -- who referred to him in private as the "Black Sparrow." Another American, Paul V. Morse, lived in a nearby hotel and was Damanik's "signatory." Johnston, who had visited Damanik at home a number of times, understood these two individuals to be CIA or similar, but had no way of knowing this for certain. [viii]
Staunton in his article also mentions that "One British trader came close to buying the gold earlier this year. He withdrew after the UBS questioned the certificate's authenticity." A good and honest reporter, Staunton had either made a critical factual mistake or had been misled[?] [ix] The "trader" he mentions in his article is, in fact, Bruce Mead, who (as I stated earlier) told me he withdrew due to the negative publicity. [x] A former member of British Army Intelligence, Mead was fully aware of Johnston's legal complications with the UBS. Critically, Mead had issued his RWA letter months before Staunton ever spoke with him and nine months after Johnston's arrest. [xi] Moreover, during this telephone conversation, Mead said he did not think well of the UBS. This came as no surprise to me. In my previous incarnation in the City of London, the UBS in Switzerland was often discussed for what some believed to be its unethical conduct and deviousness.
Footnotes
Dated 15 December 1996. [ii] On the certificates, Hillery's name appeared as "Patrick J. Hillery" and was also rendered as "Patric J. Hillery." The typographical "error" is typical of other certificates in Johnston's possession. [iii] I have read (and have copies of) the correspondence between Johnston and these other parties. There is no question that they knew precisely and fully what had and was transpiring. All believed the arrest and trial were politically motivated. All accepted the certificates to be genuine but "extremely sensitive." [iv] I am in possession of a copy of the Ready, Willing and Able to purchase letter (known simply as RWA), dated, signed and sealed. It was valid, curiously enough, until 23.00 hours on 15 December 1995. [v] A soft probe is a mechanism where the certificates identifying numbers and other codes are verified "on screen" by the issuing or controlling government. In this case it was the Federal Reserve Bank of America. The probe was conducted via a third party (the broker's European bank) with the Bank of England. [vi] I directly asked Mead, whom the probe was conducted by. He refused to name the party. I then suggested that it might have been "an authority in Threadneedle Street?" Mead's response was "I wouldn't disagree with that." Telephone conversation with this writer 5 December 1996. [vii] During a telephone conversation almost a year later, Mead said that "Damanik" did not have the authority to sell the gold, but would not elaborate on this. However, see further on the story regarding Sources "A" and "B" and the 1972 meeting. [viii] Morse lived in the nearby Citraland Hotel. His room cost $120.00 a day and he remained in residence for 8 months, leading Johnston to question “who paid his expenses?” [ix] There are reasons to suspect the latter. [x] Unknown to Mead and numerous others, Johnston had given me his entire files on these transactions, including copies of all correspondence, telephone notes etc. [xi] In his letter dated 6 November 1995, to a colleague, he states (in part) "Mr. Johnston freely admitted that he had trouble when he showed these documents to the UBS in London and that they tried to call in the UK police saying he was carrying false documentation." He continues "I think it is a balance between a crooked offer, but they do not realise it is crooked, or the real thing but the UBS do not want to admit it. You know our views on the UBS and we shall therefore approach this subject very carefully. I always groan when I see gold offers that involves that particular bank because we all know that their appearance in the transaction materially reduced the chance of there ever being a conclusion." Just over a month later his caution had given way to some confidence when he issued his letter confirming he was "ready, willing and able" to buy the gold.
PART 1.3 - GOVERNMENT SHADOWS
Throughout the period between his arrest and conviction, Johnston continued to also negotiate with another gold broker, this one in Germany. This company, which I cannot identify for reasons of confidentiality, acted as a cover to conceal the identity of a "mandate" acting on behalf of the principal -- a powerful private syndicate of banks, trusts and foundations. The mandate operates out of the Northern Germany. He is extremely well connected to the German establishment and has regular access to diplomatic bags that he uses to transmit confidential correspondence. He acts on behalf of "the most powerful and influential private syndicate in the world," according to his letter to Johnston dated 12 April 1995. All these parties were fully informed of Johnston's legal "troubles" as they arose.
Since we are dealing with two individuals who represented the same ultimate buyers (the syndicate), and since I cannot name either, I will, for convenience sake, call the first "Source A" and the second "Source B." Source A was the initial point of contact and was subordinate to Source B. After a few days of negotiation, Source A sent a letter to Johnston. Headed STRICTLY PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL, the letter stated:
"Further to our conversation earlier today, we would confirm to you that we have been given the 'Green Light' to proceed with caution."
He then adds, by way of explanation, that they had conducted a "soft probe through our people to ensure as far as possible that we had a real situation."
If coincidence equates to sod's law of mishap and thingy-up, then it should come as no surprise that this letter was dated 21 February 1995. That very same day saw Westpac's David Blenkinsopp fax copies of Johnston's documents to the UBS. This, in turn, triggered the inevitable reaction if you believe what German banker, Wolfgang Jentsch had to say. In any event, the City of London police were notified and, together with Westpac staff, set out to entrap Johnson.
The subsequent arrest and fraud charge directed at Johnston is, in my opinion, utterly absurd. I have read and re-read thousands or pages of private correspondence and witness transcripts provided by Johnston about this matter. A child, unencumbered by bias, could readily determine that Johnston and his partners observed strict honesty and professional integrity at all times. They always, without exception, made it totally clear to all potential buyers that the latter must undertake their own due diligence and establish the bona fides of the certificates.
In fact, it is the established market procedure when negotiating the purchase of gold bullion certificates for the buyer to "prove up" the paperwork -- unless specified to the contrary. This is no different from any other business including retail purchasing where the universal watchwords are "let the buyer beware."
This is especially the case, moreover, when dealing with sensitive Secret or Private Treaty documents. All buyers involved in this and related transactions were aware of the sensitivity involved and openly committed themselves to their own professional obligation to conduct validating enquiries. They all undertook these measures without complaint or disfavour. These "probes" repeatedly showed Johnston's documentation was solid and was of sufficient validity for each to then issue Corporate "Ready Willing and Able" (RWA) to purchase letters, signifying their agreement to move to the next stage of negotiations.
This raises numerous important questions. If the potential buyers (none of them members of the public), after conducting rigorous due diligence investigations, were content to proceed to the next stage in purchasing the certificates, where is the crime? The charge of fraud implies deception, but in Johnston's case there was no deception. On the contrary, Johnston told all concerned of his arrest, of the UBS allegation and his upcoming trial and also repeatedly stated that the buyer must validate the certificates in line with market procedure. He was also quite open in saying he believed the certificates to be genuine, but could not state categorically that they were. What more could he do?
The events as outlined raise the possibility, at least in my cynical mind, that someone somewhere was watching and listening to Johnston. This is especially so when recalling that Bruce Mead issued his purchase letter to Johnston just two days before the article appeared in the London Times. At stake, when one includes all the certificates under Johnston's control, was a staggering US$300 billion worth of gold. This does not include the large quantity of gemstones, platinum, foreign currency and, in fact, three even larger gold certificates in the possession of the Last Legal Holder.
A number of subsequent letters and telephone conversations from both Source A and Source B have a considerable bearing on this story:
Source A phone call 27 June 1995:(3 months after arrest)
"The assets [certificates] are genuine and authentic."
"In 1972 forty-eight (48) countries signed off a convention as to the assets under the Doctor's [Damanik] control."
"This is a political red hot potato…"
The Federal Reserve/IMF have given in principal proof for a Government entity to lease/purchase the assets…"
Source B letter dated 12 April 1995: (1 month after arrest)
"… any prospective buyer… needs Federal approval. My principals have that approval." Source B letter dated 12 July 1995: (3 months after arrest)
"Firstly, the contract format enclosed is the ONLY means of transacting this proposal successfully. It would not be possible to 'buy' this amount without destroying the existing market and with it, the Western economy. I do not overstate the fact. The transaction will be overseen by representatives of several authorities including the Federal Reserve and the IMF…"
"It is our estimation that total integration of these transactions into the world monetary system will be in excess of forty years…"
Source B letter dated 21 September 1995: (6 months after arrest)
"… I take this opportunity to re-affirm that the position of my principals remains unchanged. We are ready to transact immediately for any and all of the Metal and paper currently held under signature of Dr. Damanik…" The last is interesting in that the principals clearly understood that Dr. Damanik (the Last Legal Holder) was not the owner of the certificates and underlying gold metal, but rather a conduit. This fact is repeated again and again, by both sources. In fact, they appeared to know a great deal more about Damanik's past activities than did Johnston:
Source A letter dated 7 July 1995: (4 months after arrest)
"The Dr. has issued in the last few years, no less than seven mandates [Johnston being the latest]. Those mandates were withdrawn three weeks ago."
"No mention of this transaction must be leaked in any way to any one. If it is leaked, the whole matter will become very serious indeed and I have been informed that we could face very serious consequences." Source A letter dated 28 June 1995: (3 months after arrest)
"We trust you fully understand and appreciate our verbal explanation of why the assets under the signatory control of Dr. Damanik, have not been given approval by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the I.M.F., since 1972, inclusive of our proposed transactions and same for any transaction that would generate profits by hypothecating the assets value into a Trading Programme."
"Simply, or politically, the West, Fed's and the I.M.F. will not and can not allow the magnitude of the profits, the power and the worlds financial foundation to be put at risk by the unknown and uncontrolled utilisation of the proposed profits."
Source A letter dated 19 June 1995 (3 months after arrest)
"We have been warned and instructed that nothing of this transaction should become common knowledge and any leakage would result in the closing down of this project."
"We are given information only on a face to face basis by a representative of GOVERNMENT. This Government has given explicit instructions that nothing at all should be stated on open telephone or fax, only by face to face contact. Our faxes and phones are being constantly monitored as are yours, even if you do not know it." Australians do not enjoy being ordered around, especially by Poms. The content of some of these statements was sufficient to light a blue touch paper and matters soon became acrimonious. In Source A's letter dated 7 July 1995, wrangling and intransigence had appeared to cause, according to the writer, a response from the US Feds:
‘The Feds 'have now instructed that all papers appertaining to this transaction in the hands of the syndicating banks to be shredded immediately." The writer added: 'The transaction has to be cleaned and started again from scratch.'"
When I telephoned and spoke to Source A, on 28 November 1996, the individual was audibly shaken and clearly scared. After some minutes and my dropped comment that I had copies of all his correspondence, he agreed to speak, providing I withheld his name. He had been advised not to speak of this subject by "unofficial channels," he said. He confided these channels were "US Intelligence." In a still later conversation, he identified this as the FBI. Meanwhile, he related he had been "instructed" to shred all documents related to the gold certificates. Finally, he said that publication of the story could wreck the western economy. So far, I have been unable to speak directly with Source B.
Both Bruce Mead and Source A, at one time or another, stated that the stories of Nazi and Japanese gold were true. Oddly, I had not posed this question or even hinted at it, but it was to prove a vitally important avenue of investigation. However, during my late 1998 telephone call with Source A, I specifically asked the origin of Dr. Damanik's gold. "Marcos," was the one word reply.
PART 1.4 - THE MYSTERIOUS DR. DAMANIK
So who is this mysterious Dr. Edison Damanik who has access to so much gold? Born 30 November 1930, in Pematang, Slantr City, Northern Sumatra, he later lived in the USA where he studied for his Doctoral degree. He later travelled widely in Europe and Asia before returning to live in Indonesia. He was a former Indonesian policeman holding the rank of Inspector.
Johnston understood he was an "adviser" to President Suharto and a "consultant" to the Suharto Government. This has been confirmed by his son, Petrus, who said his father had a "connection" with President Suharto as well as the Central Bank of Indonesia. Moreover, during a trip to Switzerland in 1995, Johnston had a brief, chance meeting with the daughter of former President Sukarno, who was accompanied by French-Canadian attorney, Guy Lassard. During this meeting, Sukarno's daughter expressed her knowledge of the certificates and proclaimed they were genuine.
Damanik, meanwhile, was the Chairman of a financial entity titled P.T. Galaxy Trust with a registered address in Tomang, Jakarta. Johnston told the Police what he knew of the background and history of this trust during his interrogation. Originally, a trust had been founded in the late 18th century, called the Molexi Trust and was registered in Hong Kong. This was one of seven trusts in operation, each with its own trustee/director, but Dr. Damanik was the last surviving trustee for all of these. Johnston and Bristow, in piecing this information together, concluded that the seven trusts had been connected to the seven wills of Cecil Rhodes. In any event, Molexi Trust appears to have been absorbed by a new entity, P.T. Galaxy Trust, in the late 1920's or early 1930's. All the gold certificates and other financial papers (platinum, gemstones, cash deposits etc) were now nominally owned by P.T. Galaxy Trust.
There is no question that this trust exists and that Johnston was legally empowered to negotiate various gold and platinum certificates (and other valuables) on its behalf. I have in my files hundreds of pages of documents, letters of authority and other papers attesting to this fact. Nor do I doubt that these certificates were of substance. Dozens of different companies and banks around the world had issued corporate offers to buy them. This included, as we have seen, a state-owned bank in France, Credit Lyonnais, as well as a shadowy and hitherto unidentified "syndicate." Others have included, Phillip Morris, the massive American tobacco company and, in fact, the Government of France, in the form of the Interior Ministry's own company SOFREMI (Societe Francaise D'Exportation de Materials, Systems et Services du Ministere de L'Interieur). Their letter dated 25 May 1996 was addressed to: "last legal holder of International Guarantee Certificate - Dr. Damanik," and bore the reference "96/21-BP/MV/2945. It was headed "LETTER OF INTENT."
The text of the letter is straightforward and to the point: "We are willing and able to work with certain international gold guarantee certificates. We would like to present to your attention Mr. Nicholas Marorslavac, Administrative and Financial Director of SOFREMI." It was signed Bernard Poussier, Executive Vice President.
I felt this was of some significance and, therefore, asked a high level financier I was acquainted with to verify the letter. He confirmed that Mr. Poussier was the EVP of SOFREMI, and that the signature purporting to be his was a good likeness. [ii]
Damanik told Johnston and Bristow some, but not all, of the background to the origin of the certificates. He said they resulted from a "Private Secret Treaty" that arose in 1954. He also said this had to do with the Bandung meeting that was held in Bandung, Indonesia, in 1955. This was the first ever meeting of the Non Aligned Nations. Attending the meeting were numerous heads of state and other senior government representatives. Included, was China's Chou En Lai, who the CIA planned to assassinate during the meeting. Not least, Damanik said the certificates were to do with "Rhodes scholars, who are the keepers of the currency."
Other certificates Johnston was authorised to negotiate included, as named holders:
Mao Tze Tung
Mr. Todor Zhivkon
Augusto Pinochet
Mr. Kim Il Sung
Mr. Ferdinand Marcos
Mr. King of Bhumibol (King of Thailand)
Adnan Kasogi
Hosni Muburak
Chaim Herzog
Almost without exception, these names have been misspelled, incorrectly titled or possess other grammatical flaws, such as that for "Mrs. Queen Elizabeth II," - also rendered on other documents as "Mrs. Elizabeth Queen II."
Not only do the foregoing, in most cases, form an international rogues gallery of some of the most gruesome and bloody dictators in recent history, but most are known to have been eminently corruptible. [iii] Meanwhile, if forgeries they are -- something that I sincerely doubt -- then the master forger should be hung for these slipshod errors.
This is not, however, reflected elsewhere on the certificates, which are otherwise of an immaculate standard. Whoever it was that prepared these documents, clearly was expert and went to a great deal of time and effort. For example, the quality of the paper, the ink, the various designs, artwork and presentation are first class.
In my earlier career in the City I have handled almost every form of "bank paper" ever issued (from bearer bonds to stock certificates and certificates of deposit and bills of exchange through to promissory notes -- and many others besides) and I have rarely seen such quality as these. [iv] Therefore, it strikes me as very odd indeed, that a person (or persons) capable of producing such high standards and intricacy of detail would fall foul of such elementary mistakes as spelling errors and the misrepresentation of correct titles. For this to occur once or twice is, in my view, extremely unlikely but just about feasible. But, for it to happen in every case defies belief.
Moreover, it is worth repeating that each certificate was in reality a set of documents. For the 740 MT, this consisted of 17 certificates and 20 Heritage documents. Printed front and back in fine detail, the entire "set," totalled 74 different pieces of artwork. This alone demonstrates that these documents represented a considerable investment in time and effort.
Earlier, I discussed the witness statement of German banker Wolfgang Jentsch, in which he outlined a series of steps that required being followed to validate secret Government documents of this type. Johnston, in fact, received very detailed instructions from Dr. Damanik in this respect. These were as follows:
"Irrespective of the fact that the papers may bear the name of a well known Prime bank, these papers are Government papers issued under Private or Secret Treaty between the Government Ministry of Finance and the Holder using the named Prime Bank as a vehicle only, and at a level of strictly limited access; i.e., at a minimum level of Corporate/Government banking. These types of transaction exist due to the fact that the value of the transactions were/are beyond the capacity and/or resources that many Prime Banks can commercially handle with full and diligent risk management; therefore the Government would guarantee the transaction's security and/or yield with the sanction of the IMF." [v]
These instructions consist of three A4 sized, single spaced paragraphs of text that I do not intend to repeat verbatim here. However, suffice it to say that this stipulated that validation could only take place on a Government to Government basis through "the United States Federal Reserve Bank." [vi] Damanik was even more specific when he mentioned the name of Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Fed. He also added that the certificates were "… extremely politically sensitive and are issued by various Governments using the notated Prime Banks as a vehicle only." [vii] The clarity of this last statement speaks for itself.
Each potential buyer was issued with these instructions and provided with a diagram that showed the route they had to take. In a simplified form this was: buyer contacts their domestic Government MoF/Central Bank who contacts the US Federal Reserve. The Fed then contact the issuing Government MoF/Central Bank who contacts the issuing "vehicle" bank. Any response must move back along this chain to the buyer. If the response is satisfactory, the buyer can then proceed to purchase the certificate and underlying gold bullion. In the event that the buyer chose to contact the IMF, a different procedure was to be employed. [viii]
In the Spring of 1998, following Damanik's death, his wife Mrs. Etty Purnama-Damanik, "in her personal and corporate capacity for and on behalf of the legal beneficiary/owner," instructed Johnston and Bristow to forward all original documents to Kontas Investments Limited, a corporate entity with a registered address in Basel, Switzerland. [ix] This was to facilitate a "reorganisation" of Dr. Damanik's assets.
This brought to the end four years hard and gruelling work for Johnston and Bristow. The cost of their efforts had been horrendous. Both had lost their houses, their entire savings and in Johnston's case, his liberty for twelve months, plus tarnishing his reputation. Neither of them had earned a penny in the process and, in fact, calculate that the venture cost them a total of A$1 million. [x]
Footnotes
This, as you will see, did not even remotely inhibit their enthusiasm to purchase a number of bullion certificates Johnston was offering. In fact, none of those lining up to purchase gold from Johnston took the slightest heed of his arrest (other than offering commiserations for his bad luck). Without an exception, all were convinced there was substance to the gold certificates and regarded the intervention of the authorities as bothersome and politically motivated.
[ii] .For personal reasons, however, he felt it unwise for him to make direct contact with SOFREMI to verify further.
[iii] One notable name is obvious by its absence, in my view: Suharto.
[iv] The closest match in quality in my experience are bearer bonds.
[v] Drawn from notes provided to me by Johnston and Bristow. Interestingly, each certificate had IMF codes printed on it.
[vi] These pages were prepared by Johnston and Bristow under the specific direction of Dr. Damanik.
[vii] Another individual who was negotiating some of these certificates was an authorised intermediary for an Eastern European Governmen
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Post by alefdracon on Dec 6, 2012 4:49:32 GMT 4
PART 2.1 - BIG BANG CIRCA 1954
And here, but for a number of curious coincidences, my involvement in this story may have also come to an end, too. However, in trying to understand the nature of the black gold market and to discover what was hidden behind the Secret Treaty, I began to uncover a welter of additional information.
For some time I had been in contact with a BBC journalist about a story wholly unconnected to World War II plunder and black gold. This individual had, in the course of his own investigation, interviewed a former ONI and CIA officer following the latter’s release from custody by Austrian officials in late 1996. The meeting had occurred in a forest in Austria, for security reasons, I was told.
The CIA man was Gunther Russbacher -- regarded by some as tricky and potentially deceitful but still others, including author Rodney Stich (Defrauding America) consider him very reliable and extremely knowledgeable in matters of a "black" nature. Russbacher, whose father was an Austrian officer in Nazi intelligence during the war, emigrated to the United States in, I understand, 1954 (although others have the date as 1950) and settled in Oklahoma City. Russbacher’s German connection fits the pattern.
In any event, Russbacher told the BBC journalist that huge quantities of Nazi gold had been shipped to South America, via Spain, just prior to the close of World War II. The loot had sat in South America for a number of years, but as soon as its existence became known to Israeli intelligence the plunder was immediately transferred to the Philippines and hidden, Russbacher said.
Over a year after my interview with Russbacher, I was put in contact with Ken Krohn, who I was told was a business associate of Russbacher's. I telephoned Krohn in California on 27 February 1998, telling him I was conducting research into black market gold deals. He immediately asked if I had been speaking to Russbacher. At that time, I had not, and I told him so. Krohn then stated that he was a member of "Gunther's Team" and had acted in the role of "Stateside Anchor." Krohn then asked me to call him back the following Tuesday so that he could, in the meantime, refresh his memory from his files. He had, he said "names, dates, files. It'll make your hair curl."
On 3 March 1998, we had a further lengthy telephone conversation. Gunther's Team was, Krohn indicated, part of the ongoing Nippon Star outfit headed by General John Singlaub. [ii] Russbacher's team consisted of five Americans and a handful of Filipinos, who between them had recovered in excess of 500 metric tonnes of gold stashed in the Philippines. The Philippine stash included bullion plundered by the Nazis as well as gold stolen from China during World War II. The gold recovered by Russbacher's team had, Krohn said, been sold to the Austrian National Bank at an 11.6% discount from the prevailing price of gold. Krohn added that the banker at the Austrian National Bank who handled the negotiations and transfer was Dr. Werner Metz. On the Philippine side, the deal was handled by Gabriel C. Singson, Chairman of the Philippine National Bank, acting on behalf of then- President Fidel Ramos. Krohn said that President Ramos's wife had travelled to Austria to get the "commission."
The intermediary who negotiated the deal between the two parties was, Krohn said, former U.N. Secretary General Kurt Waldheim – who, Krohn said, was a relative of Russbacher. The Austrians wanted the gold to "support the Eurodollar," according to Krohn. He said that when he, together with Russbacher, and other members of the team, travelled to Austria, they were met at the airport by Austrian security. Russbacher was arrested and taken away, but Krohn and the rest of the team were merely roughed up and then flown back to the US on the first available flight. Krohn contended that Russbacher had double-crossed them all and had disappeared with everyone's commission.
Interestingly, Russbacher's former wife, Rayelan Russbacher, tells a tale that is identical to Krohn's account in all material respects, except as to the quantities of gold involved. In early May 2000, Rayelan Russbacher faxed me copies of about 30 documents relating to her former husband’s gold deal as described above. The code name for the transaction was “White Robe/150-920-458." The documents she faxed show that the intended transaction was, in fact, a series of between ten and 50 transactions, each involving a quantity of 2,500 metric tonnes of gold negotiated at a discount rate of 10% (rather than the 11.6% rate described by Krohn). Additionally, the commitments for these transactions could be “rolled over” and “extended” up to a total of 500,000 metric tonnes. A first “test” tranche of 2,500 tonnes with a face value of approximately US$30 billion was called for (giving a price of about $370 per ounce). This staggering deal, if consummated in full, had a price tag of US$6 trillion – equivalent to the current US national debt!
Kurt Waldheim's apparent involvement in this deal raises an additional aspect worth exploring, if only briefly. Waldheim was appointed Secretary General of the United Nations in 1971, a position he held until 1981. It is inconceivable that his background as a Nazi officer would not have been known to the US government, which would have thoroughly, albeit informally, vetted him at the time his name was thrown into the hat for the UN job. In all probability, details of his service in the Wermacht would have been available to US authorities -- and particularly the CIA -- and the Gehlen Org since at least 1955, when he took up his seat as the official Austrian delegate to the UN.
It, therefore, must have come as a shock to Waldheim to see his name in headline banners in the world's press, linked to Nazi war crimes. Details of these allegations were provided to the New York Times by the US Justice Department and appeared in that newspaper in an article published on 13th March 1994. Coincidentally -- if one believes in coincidence, Father Christmas and the tooth fairy -- it was at this precise point in time that the Russbacher bullion deal was about to be signed (much the same situation as the Times newspaper article that appears to have scuppered Johnston's deal with Credit Lyonnais that was outlined earlier). Interestingly, Russbacher's colleague, Michael Blinston, who was overseeing the deal, sent a fax to Russbacher in late February 1994 in which he voiced his concerns that a "Mr. Pruit," who represented the London office of Citibank, had arrived in Manila with an authorised "buy order" to purchase the gold on offer.
Suspicious, Blinston wondered whether their deal was "being delayed on purpose to allow Citibank to take the deal from us?" He then adds that it "sounds familiar does it not???" (See the "Russbacher" Appendices) In any event, on 15th March 1994, two days after the Waldheim allegations hit the headlines, the Central Bank of the Philippines finally issued an authorised offer to sell the gold to the Austrian central bank. One can speculate that a CIA faction other than the one to which Russbacher belonged decided to try and scupper the deal and, perhaps, arrange to have its own team get awarded the contract instead. Such gamesmanship is not uncommon to large transactions, and, in this case, truly prodigious amounts of money were involved.
It is also of interest that one of those involved in this transaction was referred to in documents as “Philippine Passport – L-506511” and now identified as Imelda Marcos. Her role was not as seller but as an intermediary who would accrue a fee of .25%.What is intriguing about this deal is the total quantity involved. Shown in the exhibits to this manuscript is a letter from the Knights of Malta entitled “Lansdale Project,” which states in the fifth paragraph: “Reference 500,000 MT: The reaction on the 500,000 MT will also be discussed during the meeting.” The meeting referred to was a “sit down” by the “Washington people” to discuss the “ramifications” of another Lansdale transaction. Significantly, this letter was part of Peter Johnston’s papers, although Peter had absolutely no knowledge of Gunther Russbacher and his involvement in a similar (or the same) transaction. The connection is, clearly, Imelda Marcos, who had a finger in both Peter Johnston’s and Russbacher’s deal.
Some while after my discussions with Ken Krohn, I was able to make contact with Russbacher directly. On 30 August 1998, we spoke for the first time by telephone. This call was followed by two further telephone conversations. Russbacher listened as I repeated Ken Krohn's recollection of events. He asked what I knew of the background to the story. I repeated what I had learned from the BBC journalist -- that Nazi gold had been shipped to South America where it had been discovered by the Israelis, forcing its relocation to the Philippines in 1954 -- and that this led to a "Secret Agreement." [iii][iv]
Russbacher responded to my description with an emphatic "Boom!" After a pause, he asked if Krohn had given me names. I said he had. Russbacher then asked if I knew "who the facilitator was" I responded by asking him whom he meant. He evaded my question and seemed relieved that I didn't appear to know about Waldheim's role in the transaction. After confirming that he was aware of Singlaub and his role in Nippon Star gold recoveries, Russbacher said he preferred not to answer any more questions. This was a sensitive subject, he said. According to both Krohn and Rayelan Gunther Russbacher, (who, as you will see from the exhibits used his full, original Austrian name of Russbacher Erz Herzog von Esterhaszy) is a member of the Templar Knights.
In an email message dated 15 August 1998, Rayelan told me that the 500 MT transaction arose following an approach to Russbacher by Sam Nicanor, a Filipino citizen who she believed was also a covert contract agent for one of the American intelligence agencies or groups. She added that at that time, “Sam was arranging a gold transfer that involved gold that was not the Austrian treasury…. It was gold that belonged to the founder of Krupp.”
Meanwhile, one fact that leapt out at me from all this was the date 1954. It could easily have been a coincidence, but then again it might have a distinct bearing on Peter Johnston's story. It is of interest, too, to learn that it was the year 1954 when Mossad boss, Isser Harel, travelled to Washington to meet with CIA Director, Allen Dulles. The result of the meeting was the beginning of an intelligence “partnership” between America and Israel that would soon benefit the smaller nation with a plethora of state-of-the-art technical spying equipment. What it did not do, obviously, was assign Israel any secrets of the American atomic weapons programme that was heavily protected by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 as well as prevailing US espionage laws. [v]
The 1954 date also eventually led me to wonder if there were any trails leading to Martin Bormann and his huge hoard of Nazi plunder. At that time, Bormann was living in Argentina under the special protection of its dictator, Juan Peron. Peron was cast out of power in 1955 and fled to Spain to live in safety where he could count the $1.5 billion fortune he had amassed from corruption and “donations” made by the new Nazi paymaster, the former Reichsleiter, Martin Bormann. Was it conceivable that Bormann had learned of a forthcoming plot to oust Peron and so took action to secure his assets? It is admittedly a fanciful idea that has no factual backing whatsoever. Still, it is often by such curious “brainstorms” that meaningful connections are unveiled. The Bormann connection would later prove of considerable importance to my investigation.
Of significance too, was that Ken Krohn stated that the quantity of gold recovered by the Russbacher team was “nearly” 400 metric tonnes. This is a very interesting figure. In the international black market, quantities of “AU” (gold) are often used as an identifier to a given transaction. A wise seller will, if unsuccessful the first time around (as often is the case), re-offer the bullion in multiple smaller volumes -- or in tranches -- to camouflage the fact that the gold has been offered in a previous, failed, transaction. As an example of identification by quantity, a large block of gold originating from Thailand continues to re-appear periodically in the black market and is immediately identified by its quantity - marginally above 5,000 metric tonnes.
I will return to the Russbacher–Krohn and Bormann connections shortly.
Footnotes
Chemical and electromagnetic mind control technology. [ii] For a background on Singlaub and Nippon Star, see Sterling Seagrave The Marcos Dynasty (London: Macmillan, 1988) at 395-396. I must also offer my thanks to Gunther Russbacher's former wife, Rayelan, who has assisted in my research and who donated a number of invaluable documents from Gunther Russbacher's files. [iii] The implication I have drawn from this "Secret Agreement" is that the Israelis were given a percentage of profits. To some, this may sound a cynical interpretation on my part. To those who doubt, I would recommend reading Loftus and Aarons, The Secret War Against the Jews (St. Martin's Press, 1994) to understand how Israel blackmailed Western nations in order to survive during the critical years of its existence. Of note in this regard is that one of the certificates Johnston had access to was issued by the Bank of America, dated November 1984, in the name of Chaim Herzog. [iv] It is a fact that Israeli agents were in hot pursuit of Martin Bormann (and Mengele) at this time. Bormann had control of a vast fortune of Nazi assets and loot, including the "bulk of the treasure that had made up the financial reserves of the Deutsche Bank," according to Paul Manning, Martin Bormann - Nazi in Exile. Manning had access to an FBI surveillance report that stated "At the end of 1954, Martin Bormann was seen in Mina Clavera, Cordoba in the company of two men with Spanish surnames. He was calling himself Jose Perez. "Bormann's head of security, Heinrich Mueller, in order to put investigators off the scent, periodically would leak stories to the press that Bormann's body had been located. In one case, in 1955, the remains of an "Israeli agent who had gotten to close to his target" were exhumed. Manning at 213. [v] See Gordon Thomas, Gideon’s Spies, (London: MacMillan, 1999) at 29,30 and 81.
PART 2.2 - MARCOS GOLD
In any event, I had already begun looking at stories about Marcos gold with a great deal more interest. I was also struck by the fact that of all the certificates in the possession of Dr. Damanik accessed by Johnston, the oldest was a gold certificate in the name of Ferdinand Marcos.
This was dated 9 September 1956 and was for a "deposit" of 7,120 metric tonnes of AU issued by Swiss Bank Corporation (Schweizerische Bank Gesellschaft M.H.C.). This was some years before Marcos was elected as a senator and years before climbing his way to the presidency of the Philippines. It was in the "early fifties" that Sterling Seagrave has Marcos collaborating with Japanese-American investigator Minoru Fukimatsu as he interviewed over 300 witnesses to gold burial troves in the Philippines. Both men also accessed secret Japanese government archives. Seagraves adds that Fukimatsu "came up with a map and in November 1953, began digging. "
Over twenty years later, the CIA had become a partner with [then] President Marcos in shipping vast quantities of gleaming gold bars -- bearing the triple A “chop” (a term used to describe hallmarks) -- to Australia (and elsewhere), courtesy of the Nugan Hand Bank, which flew the bullion into the giant CIA/NSA facility at Alice Springs. [ii] The gold thereafter disappeared at about the same time that one now internationally well-known Australian media man began his spectacular march to global tycoon-ship. [iii] Meanwhile, papers in my possession show that another Australian bank was selected to hold a very large stockpile of Marcos gold. This is none other than Peter Johnston's bank -- Westpac.
But there were other 1954 "coincidences" that were also equally striking. Not least was the fact that the London Bullion Market, which had closed at the onset of war in 1939, suddenly decided to re-open on 22 March 1954. Even before World War II began, England was financially barren. Joseph Kennedy, who was the then US Ambassador to the Court of St. James, reported that England had no gold, whatsoever, of her own. Six years of harrowing global warfare could only have worsened that already bleak economic picture. But by 1954, apparently, there was sufficient gold "in play" to warrant the revival of the London Bullion Market. Where did the gold come from? Was it just that South African production had reached sufficient levels to make trading gold in London economically viable once more, or did insiders know something the rest of us weren't privy to?
Paul Manning -- the highly respected Pulitzer Prize nominee journalist -- in his book on Martin Bormann and the mystery of disappeared Nazi assets and war plunder notes" the economic bastions of power that he [Bormann] established in the neutral nations of the world in 1944 were the bedrock enabling the West German government to rise from defeat, once they had again become masters of their destiny after the Treaty of Paris in 1954." [iv] In other words, the vast amount of Nazi assets and loot that had disappeared when Martin Bormann fled to South America in 1945 were quietly repatriated to the newly created Federal Republic of Germany following the Paris Treaty of 1954.
Whatever else might have happened in 1954 (including the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu and the arrival in Saigon of top CIA strategist Edward Lansdale, who fought deadly battles against French military intelligence for control of the region's opium business), one event cannot be overlooked. This was the first ever meeting of the Bilderberg group during 29-31 May 1954. [v] That first meeting was dominated by American, British and then German participants who filled 36 of the available 67 slots. This is not the place to go into detail about the Bilderberg conferences, except to note for those who are unfamiliar with the Bilderberg group that it is a very powerful elite Western forum that is surrounded by almost impenetrable secrecy. The group was headed by one-time SS probationary member, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, until he resigned in disgrace following publication of the story about his acceptance of kickbacks in the Lockheed bribe scandal. Bernhard was shown to have accepted $1 million as far back as 1962.
In the light of the foregoing, it is hard not to conclude that some form of “secret treaty” may well have been signed in 1954 that involved the recovery of World War II plunder -- both European and Asian -- and that a portion of it was subsequently used in US military and intelligence "black operations." I note that most of the certificates that Peter Johnston had access to through Dr. Damanik are dated between 1980 and 84 -- the very period when the CIA was actively participating in laundering Marcos bullion. [vi] All these certificates represented cashes of gold and platinum. Three certificates, one of which was dated 1963 and the two others with dates of August and December 1972, were for cash deposits denominated in Swiss francs, Canadian dollars and US dollars and running into many tens of billions in equivalent US dollars.
This is interesting, because author Sterling Seagrave in The Marcos Dynasty observes that Marcos was able to secure "… large loans using as collateral gold bullion that he was as yet unable to get out of the Philippines." [vii] But how large is “large”? The "International Transaction Obligation" certificate that Johnston had access to, issued by the Union Bank of Switzerland, was dated 17 January 1963, and was for SFR 92.625 billion. Moreover, this certificate is in the name of “Adnan Kasogi” and bears the "Special Code”: “Panama Fusse King." Although Khashoggi's name has inevitably been misspelled, it is interesting to note that he was "Ferdinand's pal and Imelda's disco partner, fellow Lockheed agent and business associate of Kodama."[viii]
The ability of Marcos to secure loans against gold still stashed on the Philippines is not without a historical precedent. In his best-selling book A Man Called Intrepid, author William Stevenson discusses the gold reserves shipped by France to the French island of Martinique – located off the American coast. He says that these reserves amounted to 50 million ounces, or approximately 1,550 metric tonnes constituting the bulk of French gold reserves. The British greatly feared that Vichy France under Petain would release this gold to the Nazis. At the time, England was bankrupt. Intrepid devised a plan to steal the gold from Martinique, but this proved difficult. Instead, he decided it was just as easy to effect “control” over the gold by subjecting it to a naval quarantine and showing that it was feasible to capture it if necessary. The idea was to then use the gold to support US loans to Britain for the war effort, which one historian quipped was “an exercise in constructive blackmail.” [ix] Interestingly, I asked the Foreign Office historian who researched and wrote the September 1996 “History Notes – Nazi Gold: Information from the British Archives” what happened to the Martinique gold. She had no idea, she said. It remains unclear if the plan was carried through or shelved, although the latter seems more likely.
Let us return to the Marcos documents. To my mind, the peculiarities in this story abound and multiply. The 1963 Swiss franc cash certificate was issued just months after Prince Bernhard received his first known kickback from Lockheed -- which was being used as a "cloak" by the CIA to funnel political bribe money all over the world. [x] The certificate is in the name of Marcos's friend, Adnan “Kasogi,” a "fellow Lockheed agent" of Yoshio Kodama. The latter was, as Sterling Seagrave clearly demonstrates, a rear admiral in the Japanese Navy during World War II as well as a member of the Japanese Yakuza crime clan.
More significant still is the fact that Kodama worked for the Japanese prince who headed the Japanese secret service and who was overlord of the Japanese plunder teams known as "The Golden Lily." The Golden Lily operated in Mukden in Manchuria, but had its headquarters in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Kodama was tasked with "shepherding masses of war loot in naval vessels ahead of him under the watchful eye of naval officers seconded to him." [xi] The loot had been plundered from all over Asia under Kodama'a authority and was moved "up the coast of Borneo through Brunei to the Philippines," where it was eventually buried. [xii]
The two other cash certificates Johnston was involved with were: an International Certificate titled "Commercial Deposit" issued by the Royal Bank of Canada for Can$ 9.36 billion dated 12 August 1972 in the name of Hosni Mubarak and an international certificate entitled "Obligation of Certificate International Certificate of Deposit" issued by the Bank of England, dated 15 December 1972 in the name of Mao Tze-Tung for US$16.62 billion. 1972 was an interesting year. First, President Nixon had closed the gold window only a year before, in 1971, thereby disconnecting the US dollar from gold. It is also the year Nixon was re-elected and met, in February, with Chinese leader Mao Tze-Tung in Peking (now Beijing). One individual familiar with a great many of Marcos’s secret gold transactions claims that Nixon gave China 200,000 metric tonnes of gold in exchange for an agreement that China would “stay out of any Asian expansion for fifty years.” [xiii] Interestingly, my own records also show a number of gold transactions involving China but the nature of its involvement is less than clear.
Of interest in regard to the Lockheed bribe scandal is the fact that Lockheed's European Sales Director, Dutchman Fred Meuser, had been a member of Prince Bernhard's wartime air force squadron. Of equal significance, I think, is the fact following the war, Meuser "… joined Lockheed, became a naturalised American citizen and in 1954 was transferred to Geneva." [xiv]
Another member of the Lockheed bribe team was Nicholas Deak, a former OSS/CIA officer who formed the money-broking firm of Deak & Co. Through this company, Lockheed funnelled funds to Yoshio Kodama and then on to senior Japanese political figures, including Prime Minister Nobosuke Kishi -- one of Kodama's protégés. [xv] Nicholas Deak’s company later joined forces with Lionel C. Perera, who founded the money firm of Perera, Manfra & Brookes. This led to the formation of Deak & Co, Perera, Manfra & Brookes. As a young US Army Major, Lionel Perera was attached to the Chief of Military Government Finance Office at Third Army in Germany at war's end, where he interviewed Colonel Rauch. Rauch, an SS colonel, was responsible for hiding the Reich Bank gold reserves and other war loot in the Bavarian Alps in the weeks prior to the end of the war. [xvi]
In any event, while Lockheed's Fred Meuser may have been the European expert at political bribery, the CIA's Edwin Wilson was certainly an expert at political blackmail. Wilson, coincidentally, also operated out of Switzerland for many years. Wilson's close buddy in the spook agency, Frank Terpil, told author, Jim Hougan, that "Historically, one of Wilson's Agency jobs was to subvert members of both houses [of Congress] by any means necessary…" [xvii] Wilson's technique of influence normally involved sexual blackmail. VIPs would be "coerced by living out their sexual fantasies in the flesh… A remembrance of these occasions [was] permanently recorded via selected cameras… The technicians in charge of filming…[were] TSD [Technical Services Division of the CIA]. The unwitting porno stars advanced their political careers, some of [whom] may still be in office." [xviii] Wilson's skill in these matters dated back to the 1950s, when he took over a network of homosexual and paedophile rings from CIA asset and McCarthy Committee counsel Roy Cohn. [xix]
Yet, Europeans needed no teaching about the art of political blackmail and bribery -- a practice they had polished and refined for hundreds of years. An instructive example of this skill is featured in the story of Italian financier Florio Fiorini, former Director of Finance of ENI, the huge state-owned Italian Oil Company. Fiorini, who was later arrested and imprisoned for "fraudulent bankruptcy," was ousted from ENI for his attempts to salvage Roberto Calvi's ailing Banco Ambrosiano -- the bank most closely associated with the Vatican Bank, headed by American-born Bishop Paul Marcinckus. Readers may recall the volume of persistent reports of the Vatican Bank's involvement in laundering looted gold from World War II -- a charge the Vatican Bank denies.
Denials or not, Peter Johnston was also kind enough to hand me his files for other bullion transactions he was involved with before he became entangled with Dr. Damanik's Secret Treaty transactions. In one of these deals, Johnston met with Imelda Marcos and others representing her interests to negotiate buying various quantities of metal. One of these transactions involved a large quantity of gold (at least 7,500 metric tonnes) held by the Dresdner Bank, Frankfurt. Johnston was given a written authority by the then current account holder, Alfredo De Ramos, to validate how much metal was in the account and if it was free from all liens and encumbrances. The account was in the name of "Ramon Poirrotte/Alfredo de Ramos," and showed the client code as "UEB Industries Mex." [xx]
Johnston duly arranged for Dresdner Bank to be contacted and given the signed authority to verify the account. In a fax dated 6 November 1995 to his Philippine partner, Johnston stated:
"Dresdner Account - Ramos.
1) The account is intact.
2) There is a lien against the deposit fixed at 80% of the value. This encumbrance involves the Australian government and an unknown government.
3) The Dresdner Bank request an 'upfront' payment of 20% of the deposits value before full negotiations can be implemented.
4) There has been a previous enquiry by a Swiss lawyer approximately three months ago. This person is now missing, presumed dead."
Johnston closed his message by saying:
"Our buyer is reluctant to proceed in light of the above. Do you wish to 'open' negotiations with alternative buyers?"
The reply he received the following day is brief and to the point:
"It is true the account was used by the Government of Australia and Singapore, but it matures this year, 1995, or matured already. This is according to the holder/signatory. Also, there is a written agreement between the bank and the governments and this contract is with the bank…"
The fact that a Swiss lawyer had disappeared and was now presumed dead, just for having earlier probed this account, seems to have attracted little interest on the part of Johnston's partner. Johnston had earlier been confidentially advised that the proceeds of the Dresdner Bank account were to be divided as follows:
1) Dresdner Bank
2) Peoples [sic] Republic of Germany
3) Peoples Republic of the Philippines
4) United States Government
5) Vatican
6) Owner/holder signatory
Other documents make it clear that the name in which the Dresdner Bank account is held, i.e. Ramon Poirrotte, is also known as Jose Antonio Diaz, of the Monte Carlo registered Diaz and Poirrotte Enterprises. This is none other than Don Severino Garcia Sta. Romana, a legendary OSS officer who died in 1974. In fact, Romana had numerous aliases and worked closely with Edward Lansdale in the Philippines during the early fifties to put down the Huk uprising. Even though the Huks were not considered any sort of danger and were not expected to seize power, they were put down with great brutality. At the forefront of everyone's mind, presumably, was the great troves of bullion and gems stashed in locations that the Huks had occupied. Don Severino Romana's Dresdner Bank deal referenced above was merely the tip of a far larger iceberg. Other related transactions totalled over 90,000 metric tonnes of gold. Over 30,000 metric tonnes of this were represented by gold bullion certificates held in an account at the Union Bank of Switzerland, Zurich, in the name of Maj. Gen. Edward Lansdale. [xxi] That such quantities of gold exist outside of official channels is staggering, because, according to official figures, no more than 135,000 metric tonnes of metal has been mined since 4,000 B.C. However, things, as we have seen, are not always what they seem to be. The official mining figures do not, and never have, included gold from China, Southeast Asia, India or Russia. Nor are they accurate as to gold quantities in countries that they purport to include in the count. For example, Pope Clement possessed a staggering fortune as far back as 1334 that included 25 million gold florins. [xxii] Such sums of gold do not figure at all in the historical mining statistics provided by official sources, which are either uninformed about the true volume of gold available or, more likely, engaging in a disinformation campaign for nefarious reasons.
A Filipino newspaper, The Inquirer, featured an article published in 1998 entitled "Soldiers of Fortune" revealing that 96 members of the 16th Infantry Battalion had signed a joint affidavit declaring that, together with members of the 51st Engineering Brigade, they had -- between 1973 and 1985 -- recovered over 60,000 metric tonnes of gold from thirty out of 172 Japanese treasure sites. Both Army units operated in complete secrecy as part of "Task Force Restoration," which was headed by Marcos's closest henchman, Fabian Ver.
With these Vatican "bones" laid to temporary rest, we can now briefly return to the previously mentioned and instructive story of Florio Fiorini. During his enforced retreat at Champ Dollon, Fiorini set about writing a book revealing his knowledge of insider dealing and political corruption in Italy and elsewhere in Europe since the early 1970s.[xxiii] This included his revelations regarding the infamous "Protection Account" maintained by UBS Lugano, which was established for the specific purpose of bribing Italian (and other European) political parties and senior political figures. [xxiv] All those European banks and businesses that were heavily engaged in political corruption had devised a method of generating the large amount of slush funds required, without harming their own balance sheets. This, Fiorini said, was a "very simple, bomb-proof system which made the central banks pay…"
This bomb-proof system was in operation from 1967 until 1981 and revolved around the foreign exchange market that Fiorini describes as a "rigged roulette wheel," and involved seven major European transnationals. [xxv][xxvi] These were nicknamed the "Band of Seven" and were "the terror of the central banks." The Band of Seven included, according to Fiorini, "myself from ENI; Sexauer of the Deutsche Bank; Semadeni of the Swiss Bank Corporation; Voroscilov of the Russian Vanhestorgbank; Roger Fiss of Citibank; Cadario of Renault Finance [and] Pellegrini of the Union Bank of Switzerland. [xxvii]
Working in harmony -- often using inside information -- and in great secrecy, the Band of Seven was able to manufacture large profits by manipulating the various national foreign exchange rates. This was possible because the exchange rates were "fixed" -- a situation that allows large speculative forays by an insider group who know the central banks will intervene to support and stabilise that rate. In effect, this is equivalent to the central banks placing money in a large container and handing it over to the seven players. [xxviii]
The unalterable consequence of these covert manipulations is that the taxpayers in those countries, forced to defend their currencies, actually provide the money that is used to suborn and corrupt their own political leaders. [xxix] Fiorini admits the amounts garnered in this manner were "moderate," a mere $15k a day, or $300k per month, to "feed the starving of the parties," but adds that these were dollars of the "seventies," and worth "four times today's value."
Of more than passing interest in these matters is Dr. Alfred Hartmann, who had run the Banque de Commerce et de Placement (BCP), Geneva, for many years. As Fiorini explains in his story, the large sums of money earned by the Band of Seven's market rigging activities were laundered through the BCP. Hartmann was also the Vice Chairman and General Manager of Rothschilds Bank A.G.[xxx] and the vice president of the CIA connected Inter Maritime Bank. [xxxi] The BCP is also said to have played a part in the Iran-Contra affair.
This cannot come as any great surprise, for Hartmann was known as a long-term CIA asset. His contact or "controller" was none other than Edwin Wilson, the CIA operative who we earlier learned specialised in gay and paedophile blackmail stings against political targets -- presumably those politicians who couldn't be bought as a consequence of the Band of Seven's market manipulations. He is also known to have specialised in creating financial “fronts” for the CIA. Dr. Hartmann, meanwhile, would later become a senior executive in BCCI, the bank that provided a full service to drug lords, gun-runners, terrorists, gangsters and the US and European intelligence community.
BCCI also had the dubious distinction of corrupting members of both Houses of Parliament (and Congress) at a time when "brown-envelope" payments of cash of the Al Fayed variety had yet to hit media headlines. [xxxii]
Footnotes
Seagrave, Sterling, The Marcos Dynasty (London: MacMillan, 1988) at 139. Seagrave additionally reveals on page 306 that a Japanese treasure map for the "Teresa II " site totalled 777 billion yen in 1944 values. At that time the exchange rate was about 3.50 yen to the dollar. For those who wish to calculate weights and prices it is as well to know that the world price of gold was set at $35.00 per ounce and that there are 32,150 ounces to each metric tonne. [ii] Ibid at 316. [iii] Following the discovery of the "suicided" Frank Nugan and the subsequent failure of the Nugan Hand Bank, the CIA moved its Marcos gold laundering activities to Nugan Hand's successor, the Hawaii-based Bishop, Baldwin, Rewald, Dillingham and Wong (BBRDW). Many of the former Nugan Hand key executives and consultants moved en bloc to BBRDW, although Ronald Rewald -- a long time CIA asset with the code name "Winterdog" -- was selected to be the head man. This was due to Rewald's gilt-edged connections through sport, principally polo. Included in the list of dignitaries Rewald had access to were the Sultan of Brunei, one of the wealthiest men in the world. See, Seagrave and also Rodney Stich, Defrauding America, generally, for background on Nugan Hand and BBRDW. [iv] Manning, Paul, Martin Bormann-Nazi in Exile (Lyle Stuart Inc, 1981), at 292.
[v] A list of participants is available in Robert Eringer's short but excellent book The Global Manipulators (Pentacle Books, 1980).
[vi]See Seagrave, Sterling, The Marcos Dynasty at 340.
[vii] Ibid at 345.
[viii] Ibid at 375.
[ix] Stephenson, William, A Man Called Intrepid (London: MacMillan, 1976) at 352-7.
[x] Extracted from Peter Dale Scott's unpublished (and unnamed) book-length manuscript on Nazi gold and Operation Sunrise.
[xi] Seagrave at 118.
[xii] Ibid.
[xiii] This individual adds: “The fear that America had over China's crossing the border in Korea was that China would invade Formosa and the Philippines, leading to a nuclear war.”
[xiv] Sampson, Anthony, The Arms Bazaar (Coronet Books, 1977).
[xv] Ibid at 263-279.
[xvi] Sayer, Ian and Botting, Douglas, Nazi Gold (London: Mainstream Publishing, 1998).
[xvii] Hougan, Jim, Secret Agenda as related in The Franklin Cover-up: Child Abuse, Satanism, and Murder in Nebraska, John DeCamp (Nebraska: AWT, Incorporated, 1992).
[xviii] Ibid.
[xix] The CIA operation directed at corrupting members of Congress and other public figures and opinion makers was called "Operation George Orwell." This operation achieved nation-wide scope on 4 July 1980.
[xx] These and many other papers given me by Peter Johnston are stored in a secure location.
[xxi] Confidential documents in my possession.
[xxii] Patton, Guy and Macness, Robin, Web of Gold (Sigwick & Jackson, 2000) at 248.
[xxiii] The ENI/Fiorini story is extracted from a translated copy of L'Espresso, 21 March 1993.
[xxiv] Prior to 1975, the slush funds gathered in this manner were stashed at the Banque de Commerce et de Placement, Geneva, 70% owned by ENI and later sold to UBS. By 1979, BCP had been sold to BCCI.
[xxv] In ENI's case, the influence on the foreign exchange market was enormous because it possessed 25% of the US dollars then circulating in Italy -- "it paid 50% of the National Power Bill." This provided ENI with immense financial clout.
[xxvi] Interestingly, Fiorini says the "system" became operative again, for a short while, in 1992. His reference, obviously, was Britain's "Black Wednesday," which resulted in the resignation of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and a cost of £10 billion and more to defend sterling against predators -- one of whom was hedge fund guru, George Soros.
[xxvii] The number "seven" in this connection appears to be a very rich vein. For example, according to an article in McClure’s Magazine, August 1911, entitled “The Seven Men,” John Moody had this to say: “Seven men in Wall Street now control a great share of the fundamental industry and resources of the United States. Three of the seven men, J.P. Morgan, James J. Hill, and George F. Baker, head of the First National Bank of New York belong to the so-called Morgan group; four of them, John D. and William Rockerfeller, James Stillman, head of the National City Bank, and Jacob H.Schiff of the private banking firm of Kuhn, Loeb Company, to the so-called Standard Oil City Bank group. The central machine of capital extends its control over the United States...The process is not only economically logical; it is now practically automatic.” Besides this, it is a fact that it is a convention that many of the data provided by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency focus only on the seven largest US banks. As at the third quarter 1998, these were: Chase Manhattan, Morgan, Citibank, Nations Bank, Bankers Trust, Bank of America and First National Bank of Chicago. Make of this what you will.
[xxviii] Fiorini reveals that the central banks were aware of this game, but since it "did sometimes happen from time to time that we gave the [central] banks a hand," the band of seven was "tolerated."
[xxix] Manipulations were not just focused on the FOREX market. Another "wheeze" was the bullion market, which was dominated in Switzerland by the Russian Vanhestorgbank. In this case, Veroshilov would provide advance warning that he was going to (for example) place 100 thousand ounces of gold on the market. This information enabled the group to sell gold short first thing in the morning and then buy it back at noon, netting a healthy profit along the way.
[xxx] Rothschild Bank AG has a long history of criminal relationships and suspect transactions. It was, for example, the bank chosen by Conservative Central Office to stash the £200 million or so received from grateful arms manufacturers during the Iran-Iraq War. This created a dilemma for the Tory Party. The funds could not be repatriated to the UK, because they were illegal. The interest earned on them, however, could be brought back to the UK. This interest totalled approximately £20 million a year and comprised the vast bulk of Tory Party funding during the late eighties and early nineties.
[xxxi] Hartmann was also Chairman of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL), Zurich and worked for the infamous Bank of Credit and Commerce International.
[xxxii] Allegedly included in those well-known persons appearing at BCCI's Leadenhall Street headquarters for handouts and favours were Lord Callaghan (good for, allegedly, £25,000 cash – transferred by brown paper envelope), David Steel and Jeffrey Archer, according to a former BCCI's cashier.
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Post by alefdracon on Dec 6, 2012 4:50:21 GMT 4
PART 2.3 - THE BLACK PRINCE As we can see, the Central Intelligence Agency appeared able to break every known law up to and including committing assassinations, without fear of exposure or criminal charges. This was helped enormously by a well guarded memorandum of agreement between the CIA and the Justice Department that allowed the CIA to police itself and, in effect, enabled it to turn a blind eye to any and all criminal activities carried out on the part of its employees -- making the CIA above the law. Curiously, this memorandum was dated 18 February 1954 -- and was the direct predecessor of the now infamous Memorandum of Understanding between the CIA and the Justice Department signed during the Reagan Administration. The later “MOU” has come to be known as a charter for cocaine cartel operators and other drug traffickers during the 1980s and amounts to a de facto “get out of jail” card. It is interesting to note that the original 1954 agreement occurred on Allen Dulles’s watch as DCI (Director of Central Intelligence).
Allen Dulles was appointed as Director of Central Intelligence in 1953 at about the same time his brother, John Foster, was appointed Secretary of State. Between them the Dulles boys grabbed hold of US foreign policy and shaped it in their own corrupt image. We shall return to the dastardly duo shortly and focus on their long and close association with the Schroder banking group. Importantly, the Schroder and Wagg families agreed to combine their interests in the formation of the City- based merchant bank, J. Henry Schroder Wagg & Co. –in an agreement enacted in, yes, 1954.
Another odd ingredient forms part of this peculiar story. Wackenhut Corporation, the international security firm that is known to have very close connection to the US military and intelligence community, “had its beginnings in 1954,” according to early Wackenhut literature sent to prospective clients. [ii] Wackenhut has been linked to the Inslaw software debacle as well as the Danny Casolaro story. Casolaro, a freelance journalist, was “suicided” on the brink of learning vital information in regard to the so-called “Octopus.” “Octopus” is the term used to refer to a deeply secretive and loose association of military, intelligence and organised crime professionals who line their own pockets in the name of state secrecy. Wackenhut also has long been involved in arms development and trading – one of the two essential ingredients of the “guns ‘n dope” barter brigade that has littered the twentieth century with dozens of high intensity conflicts fuelled by the dope trade.
The year 1954 was of significance for another reason, too. US projections forecast that by 1954 the Soviet Union would also have a tenable thermonuclear capability and that US military power must grow sufficiently by then in order to “provide reasonable assurance that the free world could survive an initial surprise atomic attack of the weight which it is estimated the USSR will be capable of delivering by 1954 and still permit the free world to go on to the eventual attainment of its objectives.” Cold War strategists had, back in 1950, written the coldest of Cold War documents: National Security Council Directive 68 (NSC 68). Fearing, or at least presenting the fear of, Soviet world domination, NSC 68 argued for “A Rapid Build-up of Political, Economic, and Military Strength in the Free World.” This was to be achieved by all necessary means, it seems, for, although admitting that, “the United States now possesses the greatest military potential of any single nation in the world,” the cold warriors were concerned that the Soviet Union possessed “greater numerical forces” than the US. This was not to be tolerated.
Instead, a “military shield” was to be provided that had the effect of mercilessly strapping the US taxpayer to the grindstone of weapons development – and, as a natural by-product, huge corporate profits for arms manufacturers -- for the next fifty years. NSC 68 argued persuasively that this could be achieved in the time honoured way by a “reduction of Federal expenditures for purposes other than defense and foreign assistance, if necessary by the deferment of certain desirable programs” and “increased taxes.” It seems probable that another hitherto unstated objective was the bribery of unaligned nations by means of gold certificates.
Another event of great significance took place in 1954. That year, President Eisenhower commissioned General James Doolittle to conduct a study of CIA covert operations. General Doolittle concluded the CIA was often ineffective against the KGB and that the CIA "must learn to subvert, sabotage and destroy its enemies by more clever, more sophisticated and more effective methods than those used against it." It is likely that bribery and corruption formed a part of Doolittle’s “more clever, more sophisticated and more effective methods...” [iii]
These measures included a willingness to modify behaviour and, where feasible, manipulate minds. It was in 1954 that Morse Allen, the CIA’s first behavioural research kingpin, began what are now regarded as deeply concerning experiments in hypnosis designed to create an unthinking, robotic assassin known as the “Manchurian Candidate.” These experiments developed and widened under the secret CIA mind control programme MKULTRA – a series of studies way ahead of their time that date back to 1953 and included, as far back as 1965, studies concerned with gene-splitting and gene manipulation.
Nor can this re-telling of events be complete without brief mention of the fastidious audit of US gold reserves conducted at Fort Knox in utmost secrecy in 1954. This is curious, as meticulous audits of gold reserves on the 1954 scale are uncommon. Each of the almost three quarters of a million 400-ounce bars was counted and weighed. Moreover, every hundredth bar was bored and a small quantity of gold removed and assayed to determine purity. Extraordinarily, the gold “plugs” removed from the bars were sent to assay offices throughout the United States to ensure that no single individual could learn how detailed the audit was.
To this day, no one knows why this comprehensive inventory was conducted in such secrecy. Is it possible that someone in the Eisenhower Administration learned of the gold hoards on the Philippines and figured that Fort Knox had been plundered and its gold replaced with ersatz bullion while the real gold had been shipped to the Philippines and buried? Did someone conclude that General Douglas MacArthur and his mentor, former President Herbert Hoover, might have been behind such a crooked scheme? We now know that both MacArthur and Hoover had huge quantities of gold valued in excess of $100 million stashed in hidden bank accounts set up by the CIA’s Santa Romana. [iv]
Meanwhile, the following lists some of the more significant events of 1954, but does not include the US Internal Revenue Code of that year, only because I have been unable to study that code in any detail. By any measure, however, 1954 is proving to be a spectacular year for historians:
* Secret Treaty signed that concerns vast amounts of gold stashed in the Philippines. The treaty remains virtually impenetrable - although it is rumoured to involve bribery of national leaders of non-aligned nations attending the Bandung conference in 1955. * Marcos learns that Yamanutsa's gold is real in November 1953 and begins digging in 1954. * London gold market opens for the first time since 1939. * First Bilderberg meeting, chaired by Prince Bernhard. * Fred Meuser, Lockheed's European Director, transfers to Geneva to live, work and play and bribe Bilderberg Chairman, Prince Bernhard. * Germany joins NATO. * German External Debt Treaty agreed to (Bormann funds flood back to the fatherland). * SEATO Treaty signed in Manila. * Four Power Treaty is signed in Paris to terminate the occupation regime in Germany * Geneva Accord reached regarding peace between France and Indochina. * US signs Mutual Defence Pact with Korea. * Ed Lansdale travels to Manila, Saigon and Djakarta. * Ten - year - old Gunther Russbacher emigrates to the US to later take up a career in ONI and CIA -- along, he says, with many other Austrian nationals. They all become US citizens. Forty years later, Russbacher peddles gold recovered from the Philippines to the Austrian central bank. * Moscow agrees to withdraw from Austria and allow democratic elections. * The Israeli Mossad and US CIA found an intelligence “partnership.” * US enacts the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. * German industrialists (principally Krupp) begin campaign in US Senate to recover assets seized by Allies at the end of WWII. John Foster Dulles supports the campaign. * Swiss bankers discuss question of Nazi gold and "heirless assets" -- those plundered from Jews in the concentration camps. * Schroder and Wagg families combine their interests via the 1954 registered company Schroder Successors Ltd., to become J. Henry Schroder Wagg merchant bankers. * Rothschilds’ holding in Rio Tinto Company sold back to Spanish government. * US gold audit at Fort Knox.
And 1955 events I have compiled so far:
* Bilderberg's second annual meeting includes discussions of the Bandung Meeting (second item on the agenda) * Bandung Meeting. * NSC 68 target date for US superiority.
Meanwhile, one of the more intriguing pieces of information regarding the Dulles brothers is their interest in the Council on Foreign Relations, an elite group of policy makers that sprang out of the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. The CFR was formed as the sister organisation of the British Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA), which was founded by those closely associated with the aims of the Rhodes-Milner group. Moreover, according to Peter Grose in his all-too-flattering biography of Allen Dulles, Gentleman Spy, Dulles travelled to Europe in 1947, where he,
“… paused in London for meetings with Alan Toynbee and took a leisurely side trip to Oxford ‘at its loveliest’ for mellow conversations in the common room of All Souls, where matters of import could be considered over port and cigars.” [v]
The name Arnold Toynbee, naturally raises interest, for he was one of that small and close band of disciples of John Ruskin at Oxford that included Cecil Rhodes, Lord Alfred Milner and others who became principal architects of the Rhodes-Milner group that sat at the very heart of the RIIA-CFR, Anglo-American relationship. Peter Grose also references what is portrayed as an almost chance encounter between Dulles and Arnold Toynbee (the nephew of the Toynbee the older) on board a Pan American Clipper “Flying Boat” in 1942. This was during Dulles’s extended journey to Switzerland for the purpose of taking up residence as the senior OSS man. Toynbee, in addition to his Oxford connections, was also a member of Britain’s secret intelligence service. This is of some consequence, particularly when we recall Dr. Damanik’s earlier mention that the Secret Treaty was closely connected to “Rhodes scholars.”
There may also well be some connections to the 1954 report of the Reece Committee. The Special Congressional Committee under Chairman B. Carroll Reece (Tennessee) had been charged in 1953 with investigating tax-exempt foundations. Establishment historian, Carroll Quigley, in his book Tragedy & Hope – which provided the first clear factual insight into the Rhodes-Milner group – states of the Reece Committee that:
“it soon became clear that people of immense wealth would be unhappy if the investigation went too far and that the ‘most respected’ newspapers in the country, closely allied with these men of wealth, would not get excited enough about any revelations to make the publicity worthwhile, in terms of votes or campaign contributions.” [vi]
What Quigley was describing was self-censorship by the US media to protect the interests of their patrons. In any event, one cannot help but muse whether the seven trusts mentioned by Dr. Damanik as being vehicles for the Secret Treaty gold bullion certificates were, in some manner, connected to one or more of those tax-exempt foundations investigated by Congressman Reece and his committee. Once again, a study of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 is called for when time permits.
Joseph Retinger, one of the architects of the Atlantic-Europe movement that sewed together the elites of America and Europe, was also the principal founding member of the Bilderberg group. According to Retinger, John Foster Dulles, “was among those in America who helped us most.” [vii] Another founding member of the Bilderberg group was Sir Colin Gubbins, who headed Britain’s wartime SOE, which was the model for the OSS, which in turn was the predecessor of the CIA. There were others from the intelligence community who involved themselves with Bilderberg from the very beginning. For example, Walter Beedel Smith, Eisenhower’s Chief of Staff during World War II – and later Director of the then newly formed Central Intelligence Agency -- became one of two US co-chairman.
Crucial to the underlying Anglo-American structure of Bilderberg was the Continental European contingent of which German participants formed the greater part. Not least, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands was the first Chairman of Bilderberg. In an earlier incarnation, the Prince worked for I.G. Farben’s notorious intelligence department “NW7,” which became the Third Reich’s private eyes and ears during World War II. In his Farben role, Bernhard worked under Frank Fahle, who later was appointed as Lockheed’s agent in West Germany. The connections continue. John Foster Dulles, as senior partner in the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, personally represented I. G. Farben’s American company, General Aniline and Film Corporation, prior to World War II. His allegiance to his clients in obfuscating German ownership of GAF earned Foster a reprimand from a state prosecutor as a “scoundrel who should be disbarred.”
Of some interest too, is the fact that Prince Bernhard is associated with the Knights Templar through the Dutch variant of the Order of St. John (the Johanniter Orde, Nederland), of which he is the head with the title "Landcommandeur." The Prince governs the Dutch order along with a chapter of eight other knights. The Prince was appointed to his position in 1954. The involvement of secret societies as a covert ant-Communist force throughout the Cold War is dealt with in more detail in an article I have written titled "Holy Smoke & Mirrors," which appears in an Appendix to this Dossier.
The rebuke aimed at John Foster Dulles mentioned above in no way thwarted the ambitions of the crusty statesman. By 1954, as Secretary of State, he dropped any pretence of impartiality and testified (in opposition to the Justice Department’s position) in favour of a bill designed to return vested eneI disagreeets (of which GAF was one, for example) to their former owners. This bill, introduced by Senator Dirksen, was intended to contravene the 1945 Reparations Agreement.
Footnotes
Central Intelligence Agency Inspector General REPORT OF INVESTIGATION INTO ALLEGATIONS OF CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CIA AND THE CONTRAS IN COCAINE TRAFFICKING TO THE UNITED STATES Volume II -- The Contra Story, dated October 8, 1998. The report stated: "For over 20 years, CIA had broad discretion to report or not report information that came to its attention regarding potential violations of federal law by its employees, assets and other persons. According to a 1954 memorandum from CIA General Counsel Lawrence Houston to the DCI, Houston discussed the issue of reporting Federal criminal violations to the Department of Justice (DoJ) with Deputy Attorney General William P. Rogers on February 18, 1954. According to that memorandum, Rogers and Houston agreed that CIA would be responsible for determining whether a potential violation of criminal law by persons associated with CIA would be referred to DoJ for prosecution."
[ii] Noted in Carol Marshall’s excellent but thus far unpublished manuscript The Last Circle, at 15. A condensed version is available on the Internet at the Lycaeum Book Archives at www.lycaeum.org/books/books/last_circle/.
[iii] Burton Hersh, Old Boys (New York: Scribners, 1992) at 355.
[iv] See Sterling Seagrave The Yamato Dynasty (London: Bantam Press, 1999) at 293.
[v] Peter Grose, Gentleman Spy, the Life of Allen Dulles (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1994) at 270.
[vi] Carroll Quigley, Tragedy & Hope (California: GSG Associates, reprint of original London: MacMillan, 1966 imprint) at 955.
[vii] Holly Sklar, Trilateralism, (Montreal: Black Rose Books,1980) at 162.
PART 2.4 - THE BORMANN–PERON-KRUPP-MARCOS CONNECTION
The maneuvering in the US Senate to draw a blade across the war reparations agreement was unnecessary for some of the better-connected German industrialists. Alfried Krupp, widely regarded as a “super-Nazi” for financing Hitler and Himmler (and because he utilised slave labour and plundered occupied territories) was personally “pardoned” from a pending war crimes trial by John McCloy – High Commissioner in Germany. Not only that, but McCloy, a former director of the Ford Foundation, rescinded a property confiscation order that would have stripped the Baron of his enormous holdings, thereby bringing to a close his status as one of the world’s wealthiest individuals.
In the post- war years, one of the more colourful Nazi characters employed by Krupp was Otto (“Scarface”) Skorzeny – dubbed Hitler’s “favourite commando.” In addition to being the head of the post- war SS escape network, Die Spinne (The Spider), Skorzeny was also an operative for the CIA. Krupp favoured the burly SS officer especially because of his valiant achievements in transferring Krupp’s wealth -- and that of other industrialists, plus gold and other loot plundered by the Nazis -- to banks in neutral nations shortly before the collapse of the Third Reich. Skorzeny had other powerful friends also. Allen Dulles is said to have personally involved himself in the 1953 decision by Reinhard Gehlen nominating Skorzeny as the chief military adviser to the Egyptian regime of General Mohammed Naguib.
Also intriguing is the close connection between Baron Krupp and Reichsleiter Martin Bormann, who escaped post-war Germany via the Vatican ratlines to Argentina after languishing for a few years in Italy.
Ladislas Farago in his book Aftermath – Martin Bormann and the Fourth Reich, reveals that Dr. Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach approached Bormann in August 1942 intent on passing his vast fortune – which was increasing under the Third Reich – via a “fideicommission” to a single heir, thus keeping the Krupp empire intact. The alternative was to see the amassed fortune divided many ways, which would have inevitably led to the disintegration of the house of Krupp.
The problem was that the existing law interfered with his desire. He told Bormann that he wished the firm to pass on to his eldest son, Alfried, regarded as a “devout Nazi and SS man.” In exchange for Hitler’s agreeing to modify the law to permit Krupp’s request, Bormann extracted an agreement whereby Krupp assigned a portion of his vast assets, in secret, to the Nazi Party under Bormann’s control. Consequently, a new law was passed on 12 November 1943 permitting a “Lex Krupp.” Pleased with the agreement, Hitler lavished profitable contracts on him, making Krupphaus the “most prosperous cog in the industrial war-machine.”
One of the assets assigned was a massive ranch in Argentina that was later used by Bormann as a favoured bolt-hole. Ever a realist, Bormann understood that the defeat at Stalingrad spelled the end of the Third Reich. Consequently, he began shipping plunder regularly, by U-boat, to Argentina throughout 1942 and 1944 under a plan known as “Aktion Fuerland” – Operation Land of Fire, so named because of the archipelago, Tierre del Fuego, Argentina’s southernmost “Land of Fire.” These transfers, totalling around 1,800 shipments, were to be used to “help the rebuilding of the Nazi empire,” according to Rudolph Freude, one of Bormann’s trustees and a close confidant of Eva Duarte – later to become Eva Peron.
Evita Peron was, in fact, part of the Freude syndicate handling the vast stash of Nazi loot that was regularly being shipped to Argentina for deposit in four banks chosen by Freude. These banks were the Banco Aleman, the Banco Aleman Transatlantico, the Banco Germanico and the Banco Tornquist. In each case the gold, silver, gemstones and other treasure were deposited to accounts in the same name – that of Senorita Eva Duarte. Four individuals implicitly trusted by Bormann had joint control over all the deposits – a procedure designed to ensure that personal greed was checked before it could take root.
The principal reason for Bormann’s sojourn in Italy, forcing his delay in travelling to Argentina to safety, was that Juan Domingo Peron, under the guidance of greedy Evita, wished to acquire some of Bormann’s hoard in exchange for allowing Bormann entry and providing him state security once he had arrived. Practical as ever, Bormann agreed to hand over a portion of the assets he controlled. He eventually arrived in Buenos Aires in the Spring of 1948 to begin his new life.
It is, therefore, of considerable interest to learn that in the summer of 1947 – when negotiations between Bormann and Juan Peron were in full flow – Evita chose to make a “good-will” trip to Europe, travelling to Lisbon, Madrid, Geneva, Paris, Zurich, Lucerne and Rome, where, according to Ladislas Farago, negotiations with Bormann were finally steeled. [ii] She also visited a less well known Spanish city – Avila -- that lies to the west of Madrid.
Why she visited Avila is not known – at least by me. But there is an intriguing possibility worth mentioning. The Appendices at the end of this Dossier reveal a vast fortune in gold, gemstones and currency left as an inheritance by Sr. Don Franco Miguel de Avila and Sra. Dona Trinidad Asis de Villarba de Avila of Spain. The heirs of this vast estate were Francorito MC de Avila and Lolita Trinidad V. de Avila of Manila, Philippines.
Of interest, Dona de Avila shared the same middle name “Trinidad” as Imelda Marcos’s mother – Remedios Trinidad Romualdez, known to intimates as “Medy.” Whether this is happenstance or indicates that the heirs of this fortune are related to Imelda Marcos, I do not know. I do know that both Marcos's preferred to use close confidantes and family as “cut-outs” whenever possible.
The so-called “Melmer” hoard of gold and other blood money gathered by the SS at the death camps included 550,000 ounces of gold. [iii] This is a quite specific amount of gold that converted totals just over 17 tonnes. It is, therefore, of more than passing interest to note that I have in my possession an ownership certificate dated 2 June 1980 in the name of Dra. Rosario Romualdez Ramo. Romualdez is, of course, the family name of Imelda Marcos. The certificate is too faded to reproduce, but it bears the account number 881-161426 together with the transaction code number RRR/51981-26. You will, by now, have gathered that it represents ownership of 17 tonnes of gold.
The Peron connection to Bormann gold provides yet another twist. In early 1973 – the year Peron returned to power in Argentina -- 400 tonnes of gold belonging to Peron was put on sale in the black market. Worth £700 million, it almost equalled the entirety of the Bank of England’s official gold reserves. In any event, the sale of Peron’s 400 tonnes of gold was code-named “Bormann 1345,” creating a suspicion that it might have originated as one of Bormann’s 1,800 odd “shipments” of loot to Argentina (a figure mentioned by both Tom Bower and Ladislas Farago). In any event, the Spanish government was tutor for this bullion and was required to sanction the sale that was being offered by a Chilean businessman living in Madrid. The transfer agent was, according to author, Robert Hutchison, Professor Vincenzo de Nardo – described as an “Inspector-General with the Italian Finance Ministry,” who stated that his involvement was private but conceded that the transactions was of a “political nature.” [iv]
Peron, it will be recalled, was an intimate of Licio Gelli, the grandmaster of the notorious P2 Masonic Lodge that has been described as a right-wing parallel government in waiting [see description of P2 Masonic Lodge below]. Gelli answered to the Vatican Chamberlain, Umberto Ortolani – a member of the inner council of the Knights of Malta. [v] Juan Peron, who visited Rome in 1973, was accompanied on his return to Argentina by Licio Gelli, who was appointed honorary Argentine Consul in Florence a few months later. Less than a year after Peron’s successful re-election, Escriva de Balanguer, the legendary founder of Opus Dei, visited Argentina, said to be home to one of Opus Dei’s most successful operations in South America.
Throughout his long sojourn in South America, Bormann generally felt safe from being identified and, indeed, safe from capture. His life revolved around administering the ever growing mass of Nazi funds that long ago had been artfully invested. However, in November 1972, London’s Daily Express newspaper broke a series of articles showing that Bormann had escaped retribution and was living in South America. Bormann was, in fact, living in some comfort in a huge hacienda in Chile when the story broke, causing a worldwide sensation.
News of the Daily Express’s Bormann “expose” quickly reached Captain Hans von Gerstein in Argentina. Gerstein was a close confidant of Bormann and more than the fear that his master might become a target of Israeli revenge or kidnapping, Gerstein’s concern was for the vast financial empire that Bormann still personally controlled and which was spread throughout 750 corporations located around the world.
With Bormann’s consent, a conference was held Santiago, Chile beginning 22 December 1972 and lasting until Christmas Eve. The meeting was carefully monitored and kept under 24- hour human and electronic surveillance by Chile’s secret police special bureau. Finally, after two days of intense meetings, control over Bormann’s assets moved into the hands of Captain von Gerstein. According to author Paul Manning in his book Martin Bormann – Nazi in Exile, Bormann’s assets are now administered by a “leadership group of twenty” younger men who oversee investment strategy in the form a board of directors, chaired by Bormann.
Among the institutions that have benefited from Bormann’s gold-hoarding efforts is Deutsche Bank, which, just prior to the collapse of the Third Reich, entrusted the Reichsleiter with its secret reserves to preserve them intact. [vi] Manning notes that other major conglomerates that have reason to thank Bormann for his care of Nazi wealth include Bayer AG, BASF and Hoechst. The explosion of growth and profitability of these and numerous other corporations resulted from the huge flow of investment funds that “poured in from the interlocking companies established in safe haven countries by Martin Bormann and Hermann Schmitz.” [vii]
One additional interesting fact was Bormann’s return from Chile – where he had fled following the downfall of Juan Peron in 1955 -- back to Buenos Aires in 1966 and 1967. His visits were timed to coincide with meetings of a shadowy group committed to building a reinvigorated worldwide movement of Third World nations patterned on the Third Reich. This was to be the successor to Hitler’s New Order with a focus on a coalition of anti-communist right-wing forces. One of the aims of the secretive group was “the seizure of total power in Argentina” together with a plan leading to the “ideological conquest of Latin America.” These aims were to be pressed forward in “collaboration” with the “chiefs of national Socialism in Germany and the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church.” [viii]
This “hierarchy” within the Roman Catholic Church would almost certainly have reached as high as Monsignor Giovanni Montini, who was the Vatican’s Undersecretary of State throughout the war years and shortly after. Montini, of course, would become Pope Paul VI. In their book The Secret War against the Jews, authors John Loftus and Mark Aarons say that some evidence exists that Montini became a “source” for the CIA after World War II. [ix] Likewise, the Sicilian born banker, Michele Sindona, who knew Montini and who worked closely with Roberto Calvi, the disgraced Milanese banker who brought down Italy’s largest private bank, Banco Ambrosiano.
It was Montini who headed the Vatican-run “Ratlines” engaged in smuggling wanted war criminals, members of the SS and other Nazis on the run to safety in Latin America, the Middle East and elsewhere. Meanwhile, the shadowy anti-communist group that wished to induct Bormann into its circle as a notional figurehead to aid it with the task of “building a reinvigorated world-wide movement of Third World nations patterned on the Third Reich,” was the World Anti-Communist League (WACL) that was chaired by US CIA operative, John Singlaub. He entered our story earlier as a leading member of the Philippine gold-hunting Nippon Star group.
It is hardly surprising that another member of Singlaub’s WACL was Kodama Yoshio, who also earlier featured in this story. Another, of course, was Ferdinand Marcos, who attended WACL meetings throughout his 20-year reign as dictator of the plunder-rich Philippines. It is interesting to note that America’s tax authority, the IRS, granted the US arm of WACL tax-exempt status following serious pressure from Ronald Reagan’s White House. Singlaub and others would later leave their mark on public history due to their involvement in the Iran-Contra Affair that was given birth by Lt. Col. Oliver North’s so-called “Enterprise.”
Interestingly, Kodama was one of those who, in 1954, founded the Asian Peoples Anti-Communist League. Kodama, along with his Yakuza compatriot and war-criminal cellmate, Ryoichi Sasakawa, ruled Japan with an iron fist artfully concealed in the gloved hand of political puppets. Sasakawa, in particular, boasted of a close, personal friendship with Ferdinand Marcos "long before he became president." Author Sterling Seagrave believes their friendship arose during "the Quirino presidency at the end of the 1940's when Marcos and other Quirino lieutenants were busy trying to discover" where Japanese plunder had been buried in the Philippines. Sasakawa was also deeply involved with the CIA, especially during the CIA sponsored anti-Sukarno campaign of the of the 1950's when he was in charge of supplying "materials to the anti-Sukarno camp." [x]
Other founding members of the APACL included the former Chinese warlord and patron of the feared Shanghai underworld Green Gang, Chiang Kai Shek and Korea's Park Chung Hee -- whose claim to fame was to establish the Korean Central Intelligence Agency modelled on America's CIA. Another founding member was the Reverend Sun Myung Moon of the Unification Church [Moonies] -- a CIA tool if ever there was one. Meanwhile, one-time war criminal and Yakuza boss Ryoichi Sasakawa (together with Kodama) virtually ruled Japan from behind the scenes.
If there was one thing that connected the individual members of this odd group, it was their shared fascist beliefs and backgrounds that resulted in another common denominator -- all became immensely wealthy.
Meanwhile, the stated objective of Hitler's New Order / Vatican- backed coalition group mentioned earlier was simple – “A New World” based on Nazi ideals. The group had major bases in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Libya, Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Iran, Taiwan, Japan, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru and Venezuela, according to a report passed to Coordinacion Federal – Argentina’s secret service. This report additionally stated that funding for the organisation was provided from “hidden treasure of the Third Reich on deposit in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Paris, Monaco, Lucerne and Zurich,” as well as from a US$500 million sum available through “Group Peron” and other revenue “derived from dividends paid by Mercedes-Benz of Stuttgart” on investments placed there by this so-called “Sacred Movement.” It was a case of Nazi loot used to fund the European anti-communist movement and Japanese loot funding the Asian Anti-Communist League.
Bormann’s role in the Fourth Reich group was little more than as an honorific figurehead. His induction into the “Sacred Movement” was scheduled for a meeting in Buenos Aires in the form of an “initiation” ceremony along Masonic lines. It is almost certain that this group was also an appendage of the secretive Italian Masonic Lodge, Propaganda Due (P2) that is known to have had deep and powerful connections in Latin America – especially Argentina. In any event, the Masonic “ceremony” proved a fiasco, with Bormann storming out in impatience. [xi]
It is of more than passing interest to learn that Singlaub’s Nippon Star venture also had ultra right-wing motives in its search for World War II plunder. According to Bob Curtis, who had earlier worked with Ferdinand Marcos following his development of a technique that would alter the metallurgical finger-print of gold (obviously of immense use to Marcos, who had recovered tens of thousands of tonnes of war plunder), Singlaub and others involved with Nippon Star had an ultra right-wing agenda.
Curtis, who had earlier escaped Marcos’s clutches fearing for his life, fled with detailed photographs of all 172 maps made by the Japanese Golden Lily. These showed where each hoard of plunder had been buried and how much each trove was worth. Years later he was given the bulk of Ferdinand Marcos’s personal archives by Marcos’s mistress. These, Curtis said, totalled over 60,000 documents. Because of his possession of the Golden Lily treasure maps and his earlier involvement with Marcos, Curtis was invited to become involved with Singlaub and other members of Nippon Star in their recovery venture.
Curtis travelled to Hong Kong, where he was briefed over a three-day period by the CIA. Included in these briefing were details of a very sensitive transaction between Marcos and Manuel Noriega that involved gold for drugs. [xii] Not least, Curtis speaks of a number of transactions that involved Madame Pineda – who was an intermediary for Imelda Marcos (and who regularly features in Peter Johnston’s correspondence in my keeping). On Pineda, Curtis had this to say: “When I learn how to scan and attach files, I'll send you some goodies on Pineda, which is mind boggling. It involves the son of an ex-US president.” [xiii] This may well be a reference to George W. Bush, who is rumoured by other sources to be involved in black market gold deals.
Not least, Curtis told me that he held many details of Krupp deals other than the one I was already privy to and added that the “Krupp involvement is deeper than you think. Several transactions were for a trillion dollars” [my emphasis]. [xiv] Curtis also revealed that:
“The China Mandate is a real earth shaker. 200,000 metric tons, negotiated with Nixon and Mao. The purpose: to keep China out of any Asian expansion for 50 years. The fear that America had over China's crossing the border in Korea was that China would invade Formosa and the Philippines, leading to a nuclear war. This document could get you killed, so could the Trilateral document that I referred to earlier.”[xv]
Curtis also had some notes written by hand by Edward Lansdale, who he says typifies an “early player and mover” and who was also involved in the China deal. The Trilateral Commission reference, Curtis told me, regards a letter (in the possession of Curtis) that was sent to President Marcos on Trilateral notepaper – on the authority of Dr. Henry Kissinger – demanding that Marcos sell “63, 321 tons of gold to 2000 US and European banks admittedly controlled by the Trilateral.” This letter was dated 21 February 1986. Curtis adds that the last sentence of the 12 page letter states:
“Release the 62,321 metric tons of gold now, while your are in a solid possession and right and you alone can do it and alone can claim immortal glory as the greatest man in Asia."
According to Curtis, it was Marcos's refusal that led to his loss of power three days later. The gold that Marcos refused to sell – in exchange for US Treasury certificates and some cash -- was eventually shipped to the US aboard the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier “President Eisenhower,” having been later “released” by Imelda Marcos, who was avoiding pursuit for criminal charges when she fled the Philippines with her husband. Curtis notes that President Reagan wanted the gold for the “Rainbow Dollars” that had already been printed and that Reagan planned to back with gold. What is interesting here is a news article that appeared in the Philippine Enquirer where 96 members of the 51st Army Engineering Brigade operating in total secrecy under President Marcos state in an affidavit that they recovered 60,000 tons of gold during the Marcos years. This article is reproduced in the Appendices. Not least Curtis states that other players involved in Marcos gold over the years have included the Club of Rome and also the Tavistock Institute. [xvi]
Curtis’s claims will undoubtedly be seen by some as too conspiratorial and extravagant to be worth taking seriously. However, it is as well to know that Curtis has passed muster with a number of investigative journalists and authors, including, among others, columnist Jack Anderson and Sterling Seagrave.
This was all very interesting to me simply because in addition to his activities with the Secret Treaty gold certificate negotiations, Peter Johnston was also involved with Imelda Marcos on other bullion transactions. One of these involved a vast transfer of money authorised by the last remaining heir of the Krupp family fortune, Baron Arndt Krupp von Bohlen & Halbach. Dated 4 November 1985, a letter issued on the Baron’s private letterhead – and bearing his signature – authorised Krupphausen attorney Carl Letermeyer to effect payment to Clem. T. Santiago of Manila, Philippines of the equivalent of “one percent (1%) from profits of Krupphausen in 1980 up to 1985 now on deposit at Volksbank Willislav AG, Switzerland.” [xvii]
However, complication beset the transaction, not least the death of Baron Krupp. As late as January 1988, Carl Letermeyer wrote to Clem T. Santiago at the Krupp Heritage & World Peace Foundation in Singapore enclosing a summary of figures covering the five-year period stated in the Baron’s November 1985 authorisation. The sums involved are almost unbelievable, and for this reason I recommend a careful study of Sterling Seagrave’s 1999 book The Yamato Dynasty (Bantam Press) – especially the footnotes on pages 354/5. In any event, the transfer sum due to Santiago at the Krupp Foundation – and representing 1% of profits over a five-year period -- totalled US$112 billion. [xviii]
Seagrave’s intriguing and well researched book reveals the true story of the origin of Marcos gold that resulted from immense Japanese plunder throughout Southeast Asia World War II. The bulk of it – totalling 172 treasure troves – was buried on and around the Philippine islands prior to the war’s end. One site referenced by Seagrave, and audited by Japanese accountants, contained a staggering Yen777 billion. The dollar-yen exchange rate was almost four yen to the dollar, giving an equivalent in 1945 US currency of $194 billion. Nor can it be argued that Seagrave is exaggerating. Documents in my own possession amply confirm what he says. The foregoing facts corroborate Seagrave’s thesis that numerous wealthy individuals possessing right-wing sympathies aided and abetted the OSS/CIA by laundering plundered Japanese gold, gemstones and other booty. In fact, the OSS began recovering the loot from one Philippine 777 site commencing in 1945 and efforts have continued, more or less, up to the present.
Directly related to the foregoing are other equally interesting facts. Allen Dulles, together with former New York Governor Thomas Dewey, owned a large shareholding in Mary Carter Paint Company, a firm reputed to be a CIA front and owned by leading Mafia financier, Meyer Lansky. This company, later renamed Resorts International, caused a flurry of press interest when it was discovered it had made a 1968 contribution of $100,000 to the Nixon presidential campaign fund in the form of thirty-three cheques for $3,000 and one for $1,000.
Richard Nixon was, of course, Vice President during the Eisenhower Administration, which spanned the years 1952-1960. In 1971, Nixon closed the gold window, thus removing gold as a backing for the US dollar. In time, the mobbed-up Resorts International would demonstrate links to Castle Bank in the Bahamas – a CIA front company founded by veteran OSS and CIA bagman, Paul Helliwell. Castle Bank would later, in turn, reveal close connections to Wall Street’s junk bond investment bank, Drexel Burnham & Lambert – thus squaring the then- hazy but now- clear circle of associations among the CIA, the Mob, Wall Street and government.
Meanwhile, it is of additional interest to note that the Bahamas-based Paradise Island Bridge Company was principally owned by Swiss and German investors, including the director of a BASF subsidiary company. BASF is, of course, the largest single successor firm of I.G. Farben. In any event, the company was highlighted throughout the Watergate years due to allegations that it had been laundering “skim money” (possibly from the joint Mob/ CIA- owned Paradise Island Casino or, perhaps, from World War II plunder recovered by the CIA?) for eventual payment to then President Nixon via his confidant, Bebe Rebozo. Allegations surrounding an amount of $200,000 paid to Nixon’s camp was made by an IRS informant. [xix] Nixon and his top henchmen in the White House were so pro-Nazi that it began to sour relations with Israel.
Crime boss Meyer Lansky had a controlling interest in the Swiss -registered and -based International Credit Bank through his henchmen Tibor Rosenbaum and John Pullman. Customers of the bank included the State of Israel, the Rothschild family and, not least, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands.
Bernhard was born a German prince who married a Dutch queen and became an honorary member of the SS before joining the intelligence arm of I. G. Farben -- which later became an indispensable spook asset of the Third Reich. When war broke out, Bernhard quit his German associations and joined the RAF, which, delighted to have this blue-blood aboard, gave him his own battle squadron. Post-war, he closely associated himself with both American and British intelligence and took bribes from American aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Corporation. This latter episode was during his chairmanship of the Bilderberg group – forcing his resignation -- and at about the same time that he opened an account in Meyer Lansky’s private Swiss bank for landed financiers, princes, Mafiosi and casino gentry. Few, surely, can list these manifold and genteel credits on their vitae. The words “for sale” and “highest bidder” inevitably spring to mind.
Footnotes
Ladislas Farago, Aftermath (New York : Simon & Schuster, 1974) at 222-5. [ii] Ibid at 213. [iii] Ibid at 203. This treasure also included 3,500 ounces of platinum, 4,638 carats in diamonds and others precious stones and an assortment of gold marks, pound sterling, dollars and Swiss francs. [iv] Robert Hutchison, Their Kingdom Come (New York, St. Martin’s Press,1997) at 211. [v] Ibid at 208. [vi] See, Farago’s Aftermath. [vii] Paul Manning, – Martin Bormann – Nazi in Exile (Lyle Stuart Inc., 1981) at 282. [viii] Farago at 395. [ix] John Loftus and Mark Aarons at 83-84. [x] See Seagraves at 121 [xi] Farago at 397. [xii] Personal correspondence with this writer. [xiii] Ibid. [xiv] Personal correspondence with this writer. [xv] Ibid. [xvi] Personal correspondence with this writer. These claims have also proved impossible to corroborate thus far. However, I believe them to be worthy of inclusion with the understanding that they are unverified. I also think it worth noting that when researching his book, Marcos Dynasty, author Sterling Seagrave arranged for investigative reporter Don Goldberg to spend a few days reviewing thousands of Marcos documents in the possession of Curtis and concluded, based on Goldberg’s reports, he was telling the truth. [xvii] See the "Krupp Letter" in the Appendices. [xviii] Copy of fax of original letter in this writer’s possession. [xix] From an unpublished manuscript by Peter Dale Scott.
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Post by alefdracon on Dec 6, 2012 4:51:04 GMT 4
PART 3.1 - THE SECRET TEAM If there was one single most significant event in connection with this story that took place in 1954, it was the creation of the 5412 Committee -- later known as the “Forty Committee” and more colloquially as “The Secret Team” -- under authorisation of National Security Council Directive NSC 5412/2 of 15 March 1954. I note a curiosity in regard to “Operation 40,” a secretive “wet ops” team formed in 1959 by then US Vice President Richard Nixon. Members of “Operation 40” are now believed to have been behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Another term for assassinations conducted by Operation 40 is “Room 222.” In this case, however, the “hit” is carried out “against members of one's own team who are no longer useful or have become an embarrassment to the ‘agency’ or have or will become a security risk.” This follows on from “Room 40,” which was a term for assassinations conducted by the British during World War II.
Whether or not there is any significance in the fact that that JFK was killed on the “22” of November 1963 remains to be seen. My own investigations over the last four years suggest to me that numbers and dates do possess a special “message sending” significance. Research I have collected on this front has yet to be collated but will form another “dossier” in the near future.
Meanwhile, the involvement of Nazis in the assassination of JFK has been spelled out by the indefatigable Mae Brussel in a lengthy essay published on 22 November 1983 in The Rebel magazine. This insightful essay is available via Virginia McCullough, who has formed a detailed archive of Mae Brussel’s important work, at www.newsmakingnews.com.
On 18 November 1963, just four days before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Argentine government issued a Special Order No. CF-S01365 O.J.P., which initiated the only period in Argentina’s recent history when Nazi fugitives were in jeopardy. This resulted in the formation of special Nazi-hunting squads of Argentine secret police. Until then and, in fact, also soon after this brief and curious interlude, any and all Nazis on the run - including the so called “Gran Fugitivos” (Grand Fugitives) like Bormann, Mengele, Gestapo Heinrich Muller and others -- were more protected in Argentina than in any other country in the world. Is it possible that the government of Argentina, because of its deep and abiding connections with Nazis, learned of the forthcoming “hit” on JFK? Could the curious and dramatic (but not long lasting) anti-Nazi action have been little more than a PR exercise to exonerate themselves in advance of their closeness to certain Nazis associated with the Kennedy death, which members knew would result in a major worldwide news story of unparalleled proportions?
One individual knowledgeable about group “forty” is L. Fletcher Prouty, who was Chief of Special Operations (i.e., clandestine activities) for the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. His duties involved the military support of the clandestine activities of the CIA. Prouty was the real life representation of Mr. X, played by Donald Sutherland in Oliver Stone’s movie JFK. Prouty resigned his commission following the assassination of President John Kennedy and later wrote an enormously powerful book titled The Secret Team, which sheds a tremendous amount of light on the secret activities of the CIA and Pentagon during the early years of the Cold War.
The 5412 Committee, which met in Room 40 at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, became the de facto parallel government of the United States, a fact that was later acknowledged by President Eisenhower in his speech regarding the dangers of the “military industrial complex.” At the heart of the US secret government lay a doctrine that was “driven by the twin goals of reinforcing the private interests that largely control the state and maintaining an international environment in which they can prosper.” [ii] The broader interests of the people are not permitted to enter the equation, which is reserved entirely for men of wealth and power. The Dulles brothers fit into this subterranean power complex with considerable ease. Prouty says this of the 5412 Committee:
“As time passed and as the DCI [of the CIA] exploited his position, it might have seemed to be rather reasonable to suggest the establishment of a small special group to take this 'burden' from these senior officials and to provide men who could more readily attend to such matters, minor as they were, in the place of the busy Council principals. Thus the establishment of the first Special Group.
“As things progressed, the Special Group 5412/2 became not just the working group of the NSC but rather a select group that had assumed the responsibility for clandestine activity. Certainly, each designated Special Group member reported back to his principal but by that time it was not so much for direction as it was for 'informational approval;' in the language of bureaucracy this meant, ‘if he doesn't say a clear NO, it's O.K.’”
“By that time in the course of events a new process had evolved and the DCI felt perfectly at liberty to prepare all the clandestine operations his intelligence sources would support and to present them to the Special Group for nothing more than approval. But even this was not enough. The next step was to have Agency-affiliated men in the Special Group itself, or at least to have them working with the Group as special advisers. This is why the President's appointee has always been so important to the DCI. Since the appointment of Maxwell Taylor in that position after the Bay of Pigs, the DCI has had men in that position whom he could count upon as a two-way conduit. When the DCI wanted to get information to the President he would use this man and when he wanted the President's approval on something, he would use him for that too. The same has been true with the representatives in State and Defense. During much of the crucial build-up years in Indochina, men such as Bill Bundy and Ed Lansdale have represented State and Defense on this committee. Of course, both of these men were CIA alumni and as a result the DCI could always count upon them to grease the way for any of his proposals to the NSC."
“This has been a significant evolution away from the language and the intent of the law. It has meant that the sole authority established as a final resort to oversee and control the CIA has become no more than a rubber stamp for all clandestine operations. And throughout all of this the ST [Secret Team] has been able to carry out its desires under a cloak of secrecy that has kept its moves shielded from the highest officials of this Government. For example, in those crucial early years of Vietnam, did McNamara and Rusk look upon Lansdale and Bill Bundy as Defense and State men under their command and control, or did they recognize them as CIA agents under the direction of the DCI? Or when the Special Assistant for Counterinsurgency and Special Activities from the Joint Staff was called to the White House, did President Kennedy and others look upon this man, General Krulak, as a member of the military establishment because he was wearing a uniform, or did they recognize him as a key spokesman for the interests and activities of the CIA?"
"This shift of command control over the Agency from under the direction of the NSC was undoubtedly as important a move as has occurred in any part of the Government since the passage of the National Security Act of 1947. It explains why the CIA has operated so free of effective and ironclad control during the past ten to twelve years."
Fletcher Prouty also recounts in The Secret Team his personal encounters with then Major General Edward G. Lansdale, who became McNamara’s special assistant for all matters involving the CIA and special operations. Earlier in his career, Lansdale had been a key operative for the 5412 Committee and, as I outlined earlier, possessed absolute knowledge of the vast quantities of gold bullion buried in the Philippine islands by the Japanese treasure teams known as the Golden Lily. Under Lansdale’s direction, Severino Garcia Romano commenced recovery of gold bullion and other plundered loot beginning in 1945.
Whether the true facts regarding the Secret Treaty are ever released for historians to review remains questionable. My own view is that from a Cold War perspective there is little on this subject that requires ongoing secrecy. However, from a financial perspective there is much that demands obscurity. The staggering amounts of funds then and now available to the national security powers of the United States as a consequence of secretive Philippine plunder recovery efforts remains as sensitive as ever. Who actually has control of these sums? I doubt that the US government, per se, is in control of them, but believe rather that a network of private concerns holds the power.
Likewise, the full story of the nature of gold has yet to be told, and my guess is that it will remain hermetically sealed amongst the few for a very long time to come. Two things are certain, however. The historical official mining figures for gold are patently false and have been knowingly fabricated and thrust on an unsuspecting public. Second, and leading on from this, it is, therefore, evident that gold is not at all rare. Current statistics show above- ground stocks of the metal to total about 140,000 metric tonnes. The reality is far, far higher and, in all probability, is well in excess of one million tonnes. I doubt anyone really knows for certain, owing to the fact that so much is still buried in the Philippines and elsewhere in Southeast Asia that tallying it all up is impossible - even to this day.
A brief mention needs to be made of Carmel Offie, a State Department flunky and contemporary of the Dulles brothers, Frank Wisner and others intimately involved with the machinations of the Secret Team. Later believed to be a KGB “plant” by the FBI’s Edgar Hoover.[iii] Offie’s career began to follow a downward trajectory, but not before Hoover had raised serious questions concerning the source of his income. Employed on a mid-level government salary, Offie had dollars to burn around Washington.
The CIA’s first DCI, Beedel Smith, tried to placate Hoover by saying that Offie had received a “pay-off” of $10,000 for taking the blame when several people in Paris had almost been caught abusing their diplomatic pouch privileges. Hoover added that one of those involved in the pouch affair might have been General Lucius Clay, formerly the Governor of the US Zone in post-war Germany and a member of the Board of Directors of Newmont Mining, one of the leading gold mining companies. [iv] According to Hoover, Offie was “either given or allowed to buy at a very favourable option price some stock in the Newmont holdings in North Africa, which gave a fabulous payoff…” thereby making Offie “semi-independent.” [v]
Is it possible that Newmont Mining might have acted with or on behalf of those members of the OSS/CIA/Secret Team engaged in recovering gold bullion from the Philippine treasure troves, by re-smelting (in effect, laundering) war loot? The connection between Newmont Mining and Philippine gold stores is, of course, very tenuous. However, this story is all about tenuous connections that become increasingly firmer as more facts emerge from the shadows.
That being so, another fact that has emerged from the shadows is the location of one of Newmont’s offices up country in Thailand at Chang Mai. This city sits slap in the middle of the Golden Triangle opium region and was chosen by the CIA-Mafia owned and Australian domiciled Nugan Hand Bank for a branch office because of this proximity. In addition to laundering drug money on behalf of its owners, the CIA, Nugan Hand Bank is believed to have been heavily involved in the transfer of large quantities of so-called "Marcos" gold flown by CIA pilots from Clark AFB in the Philippines to the secret US Pine Gap facility located at Alice Springs, Australia. It is, therefore, of some interest that Michael Hand, the joint founder of Nugan Hand Bank, was at one time one of five aids to General Edward Lansdale. [vi]
Historically suspicious of paper money, Southeast Asian warlords -- amongst other Asian peoples - have always preferred payment for goods and services in gold and silver. General Khun Sa, (but born Chiang Chi-Fu) was, as warlord of the Shan States of Burma, known as the “biggest heroin dealer in the world,” [vii] because, as leader of the Shan States, he was in control of most of the Golden Triangle. A two-part feature article I wrote in 1997, titled "Deep Black" provides an insight to this subject.
The foregoing suggests the strong probability that plundered gold hidden in the Philippines by the Japanese Golden Lily teams later found its way to the Golden Triangle to be exchanged for opium, thanks to the efforts of the Nugan Hand Bank and the CIA. Such a gold laundering scenario would have made a great deal of sense, because sale of stores of this magnitude on the open market would have certainly forced the world price lower, thereby causing acute visibility. Exchanging gold in secrecy for Chinese heroin that would later be sold in Europe and the US at many thousands' percent profit over purchase cost can only have represented a most appealing financial strategy to those devoid of principles and ethics.
The Cold War was not so cold as it was profitable and profits increasingly became the name of the game. This process received a considerable fillip when President Richard Nixon disconnected gold from the US currency in 1971. Eliminating the gold standard would soon lead to the long-planned global hegemony of the Almighty Dollar, which unofficially became a narcotics-backed currency. Along the way, oil shocks would be witnessed, odd goings-on at the Department of Treasury would come to light and Wall Street investment banks would learn ever more ingenious ways to engineer ever greater profits at their whim. As usual, the taxpayer generally picked up the tab.
Footnotes
I am grateful to Mr. J.P. Viken, who provided this information. [ii] Cited by Noam Chomsky in his book Deterring Democracy - available free in electronic form on www.ZNET.com (Chapter One: “Cold War Fact and Fancy”). [iii] See Hersh, Burton, The Old Boys, (New York: Scribners, 1992) at 448. [iv] Clay was the predecessor of John McCloy and the man in charge when substantial quantities of Nazi gold went missing from the Reichsbank vaults. For a detailed telling of the Nazi Gold Robbery, see Sayer, Ian and Botting, Douglas, Nazi Gold (London: Mainstream Publishing, 1998). [v] Hersh at 444-445. [vi] This interesting tidbit provided courtesy of Kris Millegan. [vii] Kwitny, Jonathan, The Crimes of Patriots (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987) at 228.
PART 3.2 - OPUS DEI
As often is the case, there is an interesting twist to the secret treaty story.
In a newspaper article published in the Philippines on 29 October 1999, a former Roman Catholic priest and director of Caritas, Manila - the Catholic charity -- told the Manila based newspaper, The Inquirer, that he once served as “an adviser to the late President Ferdinand Marcos.” The Ex-priest, Marcelino Tagle, also stated he was an “administrator for the estate of another man,” whom he claimed was the source of the Marcos gold.
He went on to identify this person as “Fr. Jose Antonio Diaz,” and to say that Father Diaz was entrusted by the Vatican to take charge of Vatican gold buried on the Philippines. The “Vatican gold” was identified as bullion that had been “captured by Hitler” and that had belonged to the royal families of Europe and been placed under the trusteeship of the Vatican. Also included was gold plundered by the Japanese, Tagle claimed. A copy of a newspaper article exposing Sta. Romana’s Vatican connection is reproduced in the Appendix.
Tagle added that Fr. Diaz had “assumed several names when he moved to the Philippines.” One of these was “Col. Severino Sta. Romana.” Placing a value on the Sta. Romana gold as $50 trillion, Tagle noted that Sta. Romana had “hired the young Marcos as his lawyer and trustee.” This is none other than Severino Garcia Sta. Romana, formerly of the OSS and CIA, who has been discussed earlier.
Giving evidence to the Philippine Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on 14 October 1999, Tagle noted that Marcos, in his capacity as lawyer and chief trustee of Sta. Romana,
“succeeded in isolating the nominees or trustees of the gold certificates from the physical assets - so much so, that it is almost impossible to recover them without piecing the various pieces like a mosaic.” By abusing his position of trustee, Marcos effectively gained control of Sta. Romana’s gold and, later, when he had become President, used the “Central Bank to transact the gold.”
The web of control that Tagle claims Marcos spun involved the appointment of a diverse group of additional trustees over the gold and other plunder.
Today, these trustees are known as the "Umbrella.” According to a Bob Curtis, the Umbrella is mostly controlled by the Sicilian Mafia. Curtis had this to say about them:
“Yes, the mafia name I gave is one of those I changed. But this mafia is not US related. The head is a Don in Sicily. I don't want to say more here.60% of the umbrella are mafia.” [ii]
Since Curtis is intimately aware of transactions with Madame Pineda and other members of the Marcos Umbrella one must conclude that he knows what he is speaking about.
Tagle’s testimony is certainly interesting and on the face of it fits many of the facts gathered to date. For example, it snugly explains why Ferdinand Marcos appears on the earliest, 1956, gold certificate held by Johnston. This was many years before Marcos became President but at a time when his influence as a senator was growing. During his 1949 campaign for election to the legislature, Marcos told supporters “Look, I have a lot of money because I got all my war benefits. If you want to receive all your benefits, vote for me.” [iii]
One of the more interesting possibilities is that Santa Romana may have been -- in addition to his OSS/CIA position, and his status of a Catholic priest - operating on behalf of the ultra-right wing and fantastically wealthy Catholic secret society OPUS DEI , which was founded in 1928 in Spain and was closely connected to Generalissimo Franco. There is very little known about this group, even today, except that members have been accused of complicity in the assassination of Pope John Paul I, who died in mysterious circumstances in September 1978. The strange death of the “Smiling Pope” was, by all accounts, connected to the sinister activities of the secretive Masonic Lodge “Propaganda Due” (P2) which was involved with Vatican banker, Roberto Calvi - Chairman of Banco Ambrosiano. Calvi was also a close associate of Mafia financier Michele Sindona.
The history of Opus Dei is instructive. Opus Dei became a registered charitable trust, in London, in of all years,1954, when it registered the Sacerdotal Society of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei Charitable Trust. It did not officially apply for tax-exempt status until 1965 by which point it had become a major player in the evolving Eurodollar market. As author Robert Hutchison points out in his book Their Kingdom Come, the sight of an apparent highly religious and doctrinaire order “speculating in overnight francs and next weeks dollars” was sufficient to raise eyebrows and interest-- and indeed, the profile of Opus Dei -- in London City. One question that springs to mind is where did Opus Dei gain the wealth it appears to have possessed in sufficient quantity to elevate it to the ranks of a significant player in this market? It is doubtful that, at that point in time, it had control of the IOR - the Vatican bank. Could it be that Opus Dei had access to some of the gold and other assets plundered in World War II?
The Spanish connection to the Marcos gold story is of interest because amongst Johnston’s other bullion transactions with Imelda Marcos was one that related to a very large transaction that came from the estate of Don Franco Miguel de Avila and Dona Trinidad Asis de Villarba de Avila. It concerned gold, cash and gems “located in thirty three (33) countries and deposited in fifty seven (57) banks.” This included bullion belonging to the estate of the late Pedro Palafox Laurel - one of the former henchmen of Ferdinand Marcos who was reportedly murdered by Marcos. [iv] Laurel’s assets in the form of “gold certificates, cash and ownership certificates of various properties” were stashed in a safety deposit box at the Overseas Trust Bank, Hong Kong, and formed part of Ferdinand Marcos’s vast web of foreign holdings held by trusted nominees. [v] Interestingly, a portion of the Laurel estate was stashed in the LIPPO bank in Jakarta.
That Marcos operated as a cat's-paw for the Vatican - as suggested earlier by Marcelino Tagle, is confirmed in documents relating to the estate of Don de Avila that reference 47,500 metric tonnes of gold belonging to the Vatican. [vi] This metal was held in Westpac, head office, Melbourne, under the codename FLAT. [vii]
What we haven’t spoken of in any detail is the huge quantities of gold, platinum, gemstones and priceless religious treasures that are still stashed on Indonesia. This piece of information has been held back until last for a very telling reason. Earlier, I mentioned the 1955 meeting in the Indonesian town of Bangdung, where the world’s “non-aligned” nations met for the first time as a group. Virtually unknown to contemporary history is the suggestion that Indonesia’s then President Achmed Sukarno along with a number of other Third World leaders had secretly planned to establish an international non-aligned bank, to be headquartered in Jakarta and backed by gold reserves recovered from World War II treasure stashed in Indonesia. [viii] This represented, apparently, trillions of dollars in gold reserves - making the bank a serious force to be reckoned with and one, moreover, that undoubtedly was viewed as a grave threat to US interests. [ix]
We now know that Allen Dulles and company at the CIA began planning Sukarno’s downfall at this same time. For example, during the 1955 elections in Indonesia, a “million dollars US got converted to rupiahs to prop up the Moslem-oriented Masjuni party and give Sukarno competition.” [x]
By 1956, the Dulles brothers were fit to burst with Sukarno’s grandiose plans, and Frank Wisner - the CIA’s Deputy Director of Plans (for covert operations) -- typified the prevalent feeling when he said “I think it’s time we held Sukarno’s feet to the fire.” [xi] Holding Sukarno’s feet to the fire was, apparently, a droll euphemism for assassination. Despite this, the CIA’s early covert efforts against “Bungkarno” resembled the antics of a Keystone Cops re-enactment society more than anything else, but success was eventually achieved and Sukarno was deposed in 1965.
With him went the idea of an independent and alternative world bank answerable to the interests of those participating non-aligned nations that had no desire to continue to be exploited by Anglo-American interests. Today, the gold that was to be used as reserves for Sukarno’s bank remains stashed in various parts of Indonesia under armed guard.
Yet this is by no means the end of the story. Amongst the various certificates handed to Peter Johnston by the late Dr. Damanik was one headed “Obligation.” Immediately below this the words “Treasure Note” appear. It is dated 14 March 1981 on Barclays Bank International. As is normal, Karmal's name is misspelled as Babrak Kermel, along with other apparently purposeful typographical errors (for example, one person’s Christian name "John" is spelled "Jhon" a mistake that seems to have been favoured by those who appear to have composed these errors). Also as usual, there is an IMF reference. The sum referenced is US$500,000,000.
Since there is a Swiss "deposit code" and named Swiss individuals, I imagine funds were deposited in Switzerland, possibly with one of Barclays’ private Swiss - domiciled banks.
Two curious seals are repeatedly printed on the Treasure Note and accompanying papers.
One is a seal of a crown above the word "BUCENGHAM" surrounded in a double circle bearing the words "Barclays Commercial Bank"
The other seal has an icon that is indescribable (but rather like a wine press or something similar) that is circled with the words "The Department of Treasure 1789"
One question is what "department of treasure" was around in 1789?
Nonplussed at this, I decided to discover what significant events, if any, took place in 1789. The most famous occurrence was the French Revolution. However, another event that transpired had more immediate relevance to this story. When I first looked the Barclays note over in detail, I thought it likely that the seal stating “The Department of Treasure 1789” was just another purposeful typographical error, but I was wrong.
The Department of Treasure is an accurate historical rendering and style for what is now known as the U.S. Department of Treasury. Moreover, the date 1789 does indeed seem to have a reference to the US Treasury for the simple fact that in 1789, the 1st US Congress enacted a Bill to establish the US
Customs Service - the first ever Federal law enforcement agency. The latter has always been answerable to the US Treasury Department and back in 1789, when the US was an infant sovereign state, the only means of revenue (taxation had not yet been introduced) to that state was via excise and tariff duty collected by customs men. This income was passed on to the US Treasury.
The foregoing appears to indicate - if very loosely - that the Barclays Obligation Note is, in fact, a de facto obligation on the US Treasury Department that was issued through a major international bank as an “arms length” device for purposes of deniability. This is further supported by the words “International Deposit,” which appear immediately below the words “Treasure Note,” suggesting that funds have been deposited at Barclays, thus making them an intermediary and not the principal.
Another question that also needs to be asked is why the US Treasury (providing I disagreeumption of their primary responsibility for this Note is correct) parted with half a billion dollars to a Soviet puppet placed in power as a result of a Soviet military invasion of its “client” state, Afghanistan.
Not least, who or what is “BUCENGHAM?” (BUCKINGHAM...)
Footnotes
Tagle also said that the gold included “royal gold” that the British reportedly shipped to Singapore for safekeeping in the event that Hitler would conquer all of Europe. The story that British gold was secretly shipped to Singapore - rather than Canada-- for safety and was then captured by Japanese forces when they overran the island is often whispered. However, I have seen no reliable evidence (at least thus far) that this is true. [ii] Personal correspondence with this writer. [iii] Seagrave, Sterling, The Marcos Dynasty (London, MacMillan, 1988) at 133. [iv] Ibid at 349. [v] Confidential documents in my possession state that the safety deposit box was held in the name of LEE KING KWOK and included, in total, eleven gold certificates. [vi] Documents in this writers possession from Peter Johnston's files. [vii] FLAT is an acronym for “Francorita, Lolita, Avila, Trinidad.” [viii] This information comes from a new source who is providing some telling and significant information. [ix] In fact, the level of interest generated can be judged by fact that the Bandung meeting was the second item on the agenda during the March 1955 Bilderberg conference. [x] Hersh, Burton, The Old Boys (New York: Scribners, 1992) at 414-5. [xi] Blum, William, Killing Hope (Common Courage Press, 1995) at 99.
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Post by alefdracon on Dec 6, 2012 4:51:54 GMT 4
PART 4.1 - TINKER, LAWYER, TRAITOR, SPY
Allen Dulles, his brother, John Foster, and James Jesus Angleton are central to this story. The Dulles brothers were at the heart of a conspiracy dedicated to eradicating Communism and shifting the political spectrum of the world far to the right. This was part of a strategy designed to benefit the business interests of an elite group of iron-willed men who sat atop a network of transnational companies in the US, Japan and Europe.
This elite liked what Mussolini and Hitler were trying to do in Europe and were happy to finance both fascists in order to place them in the seats of power in Italy and Germany. These power brokers would later learn that the Austrian Corporal had a mind of his own and would not be content to be a mannequin for larger interests. The result was World War II.
Throughout the Second World War secret discussions took place between various factions in Germany and the US and Great Britain aimed at finding an acceptable formula that would bring peace to Western Europe and result in a coalition of the West that was militarily capable of defeating Stalin and the Soviet Union.
By 1942, with the defeat of the Third Reich in Stalingrad, it became clear to many of the more observant players that Germany would lose the war. As a consequence, secret discussions and peace-feelers increased in intensity. One of those who quickly formed the opinion that Germany would be defeated was Walter Schellenberg, chief of the SS Foreign Intelligence Service.
In spite of the horrendous crimes that the SS was guilty of, it was regarded by one Catholic archbishop as the "most respectable of the Nazi Party organizations." Unarguably the SS was the very elite of the Third Reich and attracted an officer corps composed of the well–to-do, the well-connected and the blue-blooded of Germany. The latter included the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, Prince Wilhelm of Hesse and the Prince von Hohenzollern -- and in an honorary role, the Prince of Lippe-Biesterfeld, who is better known to the world as Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands.
Most members of this elite inner circle of the SS were against Hitler and were content to engage in an on-going series of secret peace talks with a hard core of extreme right-wing groups in the US and UK aimed at deposing Hitler in favour of Himmler -- who, despite his humble origins, possessed real power and who made the right diplomatic noises about maintaining a relationship with the Vatican. Underlying these peace discussions was a joint understanding that a war should be prosecuted by Germany and the West against Russia to defeat Communism.
The man chosen by Walter Schellenberg to oversee these negotiations was Prince Max von Hohenlohe, who, as early as 1942, approached Sir Samuel Hoare -- a member of a right-leaning British group under Lord Halifax. Getting no results, Schellenberg instructed Hohenlohe to open a channel with the US. In January 1943, Hohenlohe met with Allen Dulles in Geneva.
For the remainder of the war, Dulles maintained intimate connections with the SS despite orders from the President to cease and desist. For Dulles, business came well ahead of loyalty to one's country. The result of these early contacts, as we have earlier seen, was Operation Sunrise and the absorption of large contingents of the SS and Gestapo into the US anti-communist cause.
According to whispers circulating in the black gold market, the Dulles brothers, James Jesus Angleton and others associated with the story of World War II plunder did not object to acquiring a personal share of the loot. How true this rumour is is not known, but Sterling Seagrave in his book The Yamato Dynasty reveals that former US President Herbert Hoover and General Douglas MacArthur each had large gold bullion accounts valued in the tens of millions of dollars.
PART 4.1a - DEEPER SECRETS What the foregoing shows is that there is, and has been for many decades, a conspiracy of silence relating to the actual – as opposed to official – quantity of mined gold in the world. Words fail to convey the global significance of this purposely concealed disparity. In fact, the difference between official figures and reality represents a gulf so wide and a secret so dark as to be nearly unbelievable. But the facts are now evident.
Speaking openly of this particular aspect of the story is not without some perceived dangers, and I do so with reservations that are tempered only by the knowledge that, in the last analysis, the truth should be told. Although this statement may seem fanciful I can assure readers that others who are also in the know share this concern and I am not alone in taking measures to protect and duplicate my files.
No one who earns a living from the world of gold or who trades or holds the noble metal as an asset – including most governments, central banks, the intelligence community, heads of state, narcotics cartels, organised crime clans and, of course, the all powerful gold banks -- wish “their” market and this “secret” to be disturbed by reality. For too long these and other forces have perpetrated a myth designed to penalise the many while enriching the few – very much a direct consequence of the final dismantling of the Bretton Woods Agreement by the Nazi- and Mafia- associated President, Richard Nixon, in 1971.
Readers of this Dossier will see for themselves from the papers of the late Baron Krupp that are provided in the Appendices that the richest man in the world certainly is not Microsoft’s Bill Gates, who is a real latecomer so far as the wealth stakes are concerned. The figures shown by Carl Letermeyer, Baron Krupp’s attorney, reveal that the House of Krupp earned income during the early mid Eighties that, on average, was greater than $2 trillion a year. Whether these prodigious sums belonged entirely to Krupp, or whether, instead, the Krupp Foundation was used to launder huge quantities of loot, remains uncertain. Rumours and whispers point in the latter direction and may point to a conspiracy that has a distasteful hard right-wing smell to it.
We now know that just one Golden Lily “777” treasure site was worth almost $200 billion in 1945 US dollars. We also know that there were dozens of triple seven sites, plus some triple nines and, of course, tens of dozens of smaller troves. In fact, Japan’s Golden Lily teams stashed plunder in a minimum of 172 burial sites on the Philippines alone.
A reliable estimate is that the value of gold at these 172 sites collectively totalled $100 trillion in 1945 US dollars – a figure that simply dwarfs the present day global debt. This sum is so massive as to be virtually incomprehensible -- yet it probably does not include the complete figures, as we shall see.
Others who have investigated this story sensibly avoid mentioning such figures, knowing that the perceptions of the uninformed -- and, perhaps even of experts -- will be that they are preposterous–and that this perception may tend to create an undesirable attitude that will discount the rest of their work. There are other fears besides these, too.
Meanwhile, we need note that a very considerable quantity of Japanese plunder was also buried throughout Indonesia and there is evidence to suppose that there were other sites in Korea, too. The Philippines, although the largest site for buried treasure, was by no means the only one.
A feeling for what we are dealing with took place some moths ago between me and a knowledgeable individual in these matters who, for convenience's sake, I will call "Tom." This individual contacted me some months ago seeking to exchange information in the hope of clarifying a number of questions he had regarding a corpus of information he had been made privy to over a number of years. Significantly, he was cognizant of Peter Johnston’s story and knew of his arrest and troubles. He also knew about some of the people and firms Johnston was in contact with at the time of his arrest. It seemed clear he had followed the case at the time – and remembered it.
Tom told me he had been involved in what he termed “international business” for the past 25 years, during which time he had become familiar with transactions involving black market gold and other precious metals. He said that this was not his principal business, adding that he found most of the approaches made to him about gold little more than irritations.
Tom went on to reveal that a few years ago he became personally involved with the story of “Sukarno’s Treasure,” and a large cache of gold hidden in the jungles of Indonesia. In the early 1990s, a long-time friend and business partner of his met a Filipino gentleman (whose identity I am aware of), who was a retired lawyer now living in the United States. This gentleman was an intimate of Bung Sukarno, who appointed him the principal trustee of Sukarno's fabled gold hoard -- the so called “Revolutionary Fund.” This person was also intimately knowledgeable about President Marcos's own dealings in black gold and, as Tom relayed it to me,
"he has doc's and significant knowledge re Marcos dealings, deposits in various banks & the relationship and dealings between Marcos & Sukarno."
Tom then added:
"For whatever reasons, after the death of Sukarno control over this evidently personal fortune was turned over not to his immediate family heirs, but rather to the safe keeping of a group of individuals called "gurus." These gurus had been instructed by Sukarno, in writing I understand, to contact [the trustee] & to look to him for leadership with regard to how and what when it came to the stashed cache of valuables. The issue of how & why [the trustee] gained what ever authority and control he has over all this stuff that's hidden in the jungles of Indonesia, and also the issue of whether his authority has any larger legitimacy is probably important. But this doesn't belie the fact that apparently he does have at least some significant degree of control over it; i.e. he knows how to get to it, he's the recognized connection to & for the people physically holding it, and he has authority as "mandated trustee" over it in writing from Sukarno (I've seen the document)."
Tom continues:
"Over the past few years I've also seen and been able to peruse many thousands of pages of apparently original aging bank documents and statements pertaining to the personal assets and fortune, of the late Sukarno. According to the master document I've seen these assets, precious metals & also cash totalled 270 T. U$ in 1964, and are supposedly on deposit with UBS, SBC and various other major world banks. I say supposedly because evidently they are but they aren't; but this is another story."
The apparently paradoxical statement that "...they are but they aren't," will be clarified shortly from other sources. Much of this had a very familiar ring to it and I felt it likely that he was discussing many of the same certificates of deposit that Dr. Damanik had access to.
Tom continued his story:
"Also about five years ago several Americans I've worked with, known and trusted to the very highest degree for more than twenty-five years now, travelled to Indonesia with [the trustee]. While there they were taken to several repositories, in the jungle mountains of Irian Jaya and some other places in the Indonesian islands, (at each location after several days trekking through the jungles where they were allowed freely and at their leisure to view and inspect all that was there and anything and everything they wanted to see, handle or kick-the-tires of). In these repositories was and still is a very very large volume of valuables - Art objects; Gems; Jewelry; and a extremely large volume of precious metals. To quote my friend, I have never seen anything like this in my life. There was stack upon stack and row upon row, of beautifully made UBS origin precious metal storage boxes, all containing 1KG J. M. Hallmarked Gold or Platinum bars, each bar with a unique number and certificate [i.e., one kilogram bars bearing the Johnson Mathey hallmark]. There were some large jade carvings, gems, etc. etc. It was like the Arabian Nights. At this time, along with stacks of files and doc's (several large suit cases full) pertaining to the Sukarno metal deposits in UBS, several bars were brought back to the US and are presently in a safety-box here."
Significantly, Sukarno's trustee agreed to allow a selection of bars drawn at random from the cache to enable them to be drilled and analysed to verify their purity and metal content (a bar number and description was provided to this writer for verification purposes). Also, a number of UBS and SBC documents that were also provided during the same trip later were able to be verified genuine.
As interesting and, indeed, as important as this information was, there was a still more significant surprise awaiting me. According to Tom, Sukarno's trustee explained that all this gold and other plunder was originally intended:
"...to be the reserve for a third world non-aligned nations bank that Sukarno was going to set up with HQ in Indonesia.”
In one stroke much of the smoke and mirrors that had surrounded Dr. Damanik's own reticent explanations to Peter Johnson were clarified.
Sukarno's plan to found a non-aligned world bank is of the greatest historical significance. The establishment of such a powerful entity possessing gold reserves that dwarfed those available to the West would have sent shivers of fear down the backs of Western governments and the European and US banking fraternity, which just a few years earlier had concluded the Bretton Woods Agreement, resulting in the establishment of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Both institutions remain the primary vehicles for keeping Third World nations impoverished -- a fact that benefits a wealthy West dedicated to a social structure dependent on consumerism.
It is more than likely that this plan for a non-aligned nations’ world bank formed the substantive backdrop to the 1955 Bandung conference of non-aligned nations that so clearly caused concern for the Bilderberg group in 1955 -- and which Dr. Damanik darkly referenced in his discussions with Peter Johnston. Founding such a bank would certainly have galvanized the intelligence community into action and may very well amount to the real motive -- and hitherto an even deeper secret -- behind the CIA's decision, commencing 1955, to corral and then overthrow President Sukarno.
Tom observed:
"I can understand no one wanting to upset the apple cart with regard to the current status of metal in the bank, legal or not, that may or may not have legitimately belonged to a dead third world leader. In fact I've been told very rudely by one banker that the banks who issued the deposit certificates in question do not and never did have anything to do with them ... the heirs of Sukarno have no right to any of these deposits ... and they are currently being controlled and operated by 'legally appointed names,' but these individuals have nothing to do with anything Indonesian."
This state of the affairs neatly dovetails with the facts regarding Peter Johnston's and Dr. Damanik's gold certificates. If Sukarno (and Marcos et al) did not control the gold -- and since it was stolen during World War II by the Golden Lily, clearly they didn't -- who does control it and why does such a fortune remain undisturbed in the jungles of Indonesia?
This cache of Sukarno gold was, Tom said:
"stashed, left, & has been just held in secret for a long time, at the very least since the 1960s. Also evidently there hasn't been any attempt to launder it, sell any of it off or do much else with it - the only thing I've heard, but don't have anything other than [the trustee] story to substantiate, is that a few years ago a son of one of the people charged with guarding some of this treasure made a deal to sell 200 tonnes of the AU to some Hong Kong people, he spirited it away to Singapore and later ended up dead in a hotel there. Also evidently the only thing anyone seems to have tried to do is something with the CDs relating to metal deposits in Swiss banks, all without result so far as I know."
Suspicious deaths of individuals involved in trying to move, sell or launder black gold are fairly common and, naturally, lead to great care and caution amongst those who try to recover and move hoards of treasure from their burial sites. This caution usually extends to the practice of not discussing details of such transactions with anyone other than intimates. Again, the reference to failed attempts to sell gold certificates backed by this gold parallels Peter Johnston's own experience.
Having digested the information received from Tom, I posed a number of subsequent questions to him. He replied saying:
"Yes, when I said 270 T I meant US$ 270 Trillion. This is the 'Value' figure indicated on the top of a UBS 'Master' document [the trustee] has. As it's on their letter head evidently it was put together by UBS. This document is a very long listing of account or certificate ID#s, on a page about 3+ feet square. One can match ID numbers of individual certificates against numbers found on this list. Also some numbers have indications that these have been loaned to or are/were being used by someone (NASA funding, UK Crown are only a few I remember). I assume these certificates and their periodic statements, the related warehouse receipts and this master document refer only to the Au & PT being held by UBS in storage. Also I assume these don't concern the hoard of Au, Pt, art & gems that's still hidden in the jungles."
"To give you an idea of what's involved. There are: - Bank certificates indicating Au and Pt on deposit with UBS; thousands of tons total! - Yearly Statements regarding many of these accounts sent out by the banks concerned to three designated world locations (most recent of these I've seen personally are dated 1994). Most of these are hundreds of pages each. - Vault Keys & Depositor I.D. cards made of gold, Warehouse receipts, all related to these UBS accounts and vaults. - Bank CDs related to cash, issued by banks such as Credit Suisse, SBC, HKSB, Bank of Tokyo. - Accounts in several other major and minor world banks. - A Power of Trusteeship Document granted to [the trustee] which I understand gives him authority to govern and administer certain aspects if not all of this estate (And which I also understand IS on file with the Swiss government and several Swiss banking institutions). - Finally, the 'Master List' above mentioned."
"Although we have all these documents indicating metal & also cash on deposit with UBS and other banks, many thousands of pages, never the less, I am told several puzzling & seemingly contradictory things by a banker who to me clearly appears to have some inside knowledge re these matters:
1.) That UBS, Credit Suisse and SBC 'Do not and never did have anything to do with these deposits'. This, even though all these documents are on the letterheads of UBS, Cr Swiss, SBC, etc., and even though these banks have sent and continue to send out yearly statements regarding these deposits.
2.) That 'These accounts are currently operative, not dormant; and the people who run them do so with the proper authority'. However, 'NO heir of Sukarno or Marcos has any right to govern any of these accounts and deposits ... or has any authority whatever over these accounts. Those are not their own ... private family ... accounts, to be bequeathed to family or designated heirs'. This, although Sukarno's name, signature and picture, as well as that of some of his family members, are on these certificates and accounts (also Marcos on some others I gather).
3.) Also related to Marcos, 'These accounts are being properly administered by the appointed "names". The Credit Suisse "cash'' account alone is now over $3 billion, spread over 200 accounts (for Marcos personal share only, of course)'. And, 'Why doesn't anyone ask Imee and her husband about the Deutsche Bank deposits in his name? Why is he completely uninterested in recovering any assets?' 4.) Finally, although I'm told 'The truth of all this is much simpler than the elaborate speculations which have allowed brokers of all sorts to cheerfully attempt to screw each other'. At the same time I am rather rudely instructed 'not to delve deeply into matters that can earn you more knowledge than you should be reasonably comfortable having.'"
In a later exchange, Tom revealed that Sukarno's trustee told him that:
"UBS tried to bribe him in 1992, this was when he went to Switzerland to talk to UBS and present his credentials and position statement. I don't remember exactly but I think they offered him $100 million cash & 100 tons of Au to go away and forget about it. Also, I believe there were at least 2 others who [the trustee] had given original certificates to present to UBS who were bribed; one lady somehow connected with the World Bank, and another man somehow connected to the then mayor of Paris. Then there's the incident of the SBC $25 million FCM note #4507 B.L."
"About 4+ years ago we met with some retired US treasury dept. people. Among the many things [the trustee] has they chose a $25 million FCM (or FMC ?) note to work with. As I understand this is a US dollar Swiss treasury note of some kind issued by SBC. This note has reached maturity and I believe it's now worth in the neighborhood of $80 million. The note is in the name of one of Sukarno's former wives named Harteeni (sp?). [The trustee] has the documentation to show that she has signed it over to him, thus if there were any doubt Harteeni is still living so conceivably she could confirm this."
"To try to make a long story short. When these retired treasury people presented a copy of this note to UBS NY requesting arrangements be made for payment on it to [the trustee], law officers of some kind were called in, the copy of the note was confiscated and they were charged by the bank with presenting a false document. A court date was set, and far from being distraught I can tell you that [the trustee] and the retired treasury people were very happy, because now this was going to be a beginning in bringing up the matter of all of Sukarno's deposits, [the trustee's] trusteeship, etc. etc.
However when they went to court neither the UBS NY lady lawyer who had brought the charge, [lawyer's name withheld], nor anyone else from UBS showed up to pursue or press the charge. Finally I can tell you that at the present time one of the retired treasury people has filed a written complaint with his US Senator, complaining that his rights were violated by what happened. The Senator has begun his own investigation of the matter, feeling that someone's trying to cover up something & also maybe he can get the democrats on this. However I've heard the Senator's preliminary investigation has run into a lot of roadblocks and hasn't gotten very far."
I have cited Tom's story at some length, not only because it fills in many gaps in Peter Johnston's own story, but also because it is highly revealing in its own right. Tom sought answers to the many questions he had about the foregoing, not least the curious involvement of the numerous international banks involved, not as principals, but as representatives for others. As we shall see, it is almost certainly the case that these "others" are a group of nations who were party to a secret agreement to exert control over plundered World War II gold and other assets and to ensure these did not enter the banking system or otherwise be utilised without such nations’ approval.
Footnotes
See Seagrave, Sterling, The Yamato Dynasty (London: Bantam Press, 1999) for a more detailed background on the nature, size and quantity of Golden Lily plunder sites in the Philippines.
PART 4.2 - DEFROCKING THE SECRET TREATY
Exciting as Tom's revelations were, I still needed to make sense of the underlying structure that appeared to govern this mountain of gold still hidden in Southeast Asia.
The answer to this enigma appears to reside in a secret meeting held in 1972 in which 48 nations (or representatives from 48 nations) participated that formalised an earlier informal agreement (dare I say a "Secret Treaty?") to control and "use" the metal plundered during World War II. By all accounts, bullion banks, central banks, and also refineries have since joined in this arrangement and have formed an unofficial "club" to police and control the black gold that they henceforward designated as being on "vacation." This appears to imply that gold plundered during World War II, whether it is kept in bank vaults beneath Zurich Airport or concealed in burial sites in the Philippines or Indonesia makes little real difference to those who are pulling the strings. In any event this ratification remains "unofficial."
The secret 1972 meeting occurred just one year after President Nixon closed the gold window and one year before the Trilateral Commission was founded -- an event that resulted in the integration of Japan into the Western fold. As we have seen from previous pages, a number of reports indicate that the Trilateral Commission is a large mover and shaker in the world of black gold.
According to information I have received, almost all of the gold plundered by Japan's Golden Lily came from official state reserves (see images on this page) and thus the exact amounts plundered were obviously known and clearly hallmarked -- one reason Ferdinand Marcos hired Bob Curtis to alter the metal’s "fingerprint" of the gold Marcos had recovered and Marcos insisted that "his" metal should not be offered for sale on any of the world’s seven official bullion markets.
Yet one has to ask why these gold reserves -- which have been known about by senior officials and bankers in the US and in Europe, at least since 1945 -- have been allowed to remain in situ rather than being returned to the dozen or so Southeast Asian nations to which they rightfully belong. In keeping the existence of this plunder a secret and not permitting its integration in the official global banking and financial system appears, on the face of it, to be little more than a contravention of international law, somewhat akin to piracy, doesn’t it?
But that is not all. Those individuals and groups that today are legitimately working to privately recover (under existing laws governing "treasure troves") gold and other treasure stashed in the Philippines and elsewhere by the Golden Lily cannot dispose of the assets they have recovered without going through the banking system; apart, that is, from comparatively small deals that occasionally take place between private parties.
Moreover, it has been suggested by one knowledgeable source that the money earned by private treasure hunters who are directed through this labyrinth is a fraction of the current value of the metal they recover -- a fact that is corroborated by Sukarno's trustee. The powers that be have decreed that the found metal is nevertheless not theirs to dispose of as they please -- despite the fact that they have legally recovered it and legitimately own it. Instead it "belongs" to an unofficial and immensely powerful "club" the members of which rigorously control distribution for their own ends -- whatever they may be. Clearly, this is a case of the arrogance of might and muscle stamping international law to a pulp.
It also seems that a mechanism is in place governing the movement of this metal. The gold and platinum that are permitted to enter the banking system are indirectly and unobtrusively "vectored" through cut-outs until they reach -- so I am informed -- an arm's-length associate firm of the Union Bank of Switzerland. This firm, in turn, is said to operate on behalf of an un-named American entity that is believed to be the Federal Reserve. This arrangement and line of access exactly parallels the transactional guidelines given to Peter Johnston by Dr. Damanik.
When I say "enter the banking system," this does not necessarily mean physical movement. Indeed, as we have seen with the Sukarno revelations, large quantities of bullion remain immobile in the jungles of Indonesia. A great deal also remains untouched and still buried in the Philippines.
Physical accessibility is not necessary or, perhaps, even desirable for the powers that be. If the gold cannot be moved except with their express permission, it is for all intents and purposes little different from bullion that is locked and guarded in a bank vault -- where change of ownership is customarily effected by book transfer and/or the exchange of paper certificates denoting ownership.
We have also seen from some accounts that this metal can be utilized -- perhaps hypothecated -- as an asset to generate funding for a variety of purposes, including, it appears, America's NASA projects and certain projects on behalf of the British crown. Another source has indicated the involvement of this gold in the construction of sophisticated weapon systems, including ICBMs during the Cold War. It is impossible to corroborate these claims but, if true, such usage would certainly have been protected by state secrecy, I imagine. Moreover, according to documents Peter Johnston provided, some metal has been leased to sovereign nations on a long-term basis -- even though the borrower must have known that the gold was both legally and technically "stolen." Meanwhile, there are almost certainly numerous other projects for which this plunder has acted as collateral.
That these arrangements (the Secret Treaty) remain secret and unofficial means they are unaccountable and are thus absent of any scrutiny by democratically elected officials and, more worrying, the public at large. It is not even known for certain that those who act on behalf of sovereign nations in this respect have done so with the consent of their own democratic institutions. One cannot help but ask if each and every president since 1945 was made aware of this deepest secret. We do know as a matter of historical fact that Allen Dulles did not shirk from betraying his president and country. His loyalties lay first and foremost with an international group of powerful businessmen.
That being the case, is it not possible to suggest that this is a secret kept by a fairly small and tight club for their own ends -- and if you're not one of them (to use Margaret Thatcher's terminology "is he one of us?") you are kept out of the charmed circle? And if these are valid questions to ask, then is it possible to identify who "they" might be?
As we have already seen two elite and interlocked groups -- the Trilateral Commission and the Bilderberg group -- have their fingerprints all over this story. Might their aim be to slowly and stealthily engineer the world into whatever image and shape they wish? Colonel Fletcher Prouty, in his excellent book, JFK, chills his readers with what he believes the scenario of this elite is: war for profit, genocide to depopulate the world to what are regarded as manageable levels and, ultimately, the introduction of mechanisms aimed at social control. If democratically elected leaders such as JFK get in the way of the elite’s plans, they are terminated. In outlining this frightening scene, Prouty also argues that the Cold War was, to some extent anyway, a charade, since members of Russia’s own elite had gone along with this programme since at least 1972. Clearly, having access to almost unimaginable sums of money confers a degree of power that is almost beyond dream. One knowledgeable former Swiss banker says that the members of the "club" who control access to these assets already have plans to go "global."
Even today, secrecy remains at the heart of this decades old intrigue and I do not think it an over-statement to regard this story as the biggest secret of them all. What little I truly know of the dispensation of power and the perennial behind-the-scenes scheming by unelected, unaccountable members of a shadowy cabal fills me with no confidence that they will, or plan, to, do the right thing for the majority of us. What is known of their modus operandi points to a creed of self-righteous greed and an appalling absence of morality that to most of us would chill the marrow. One can easily imagine they see themselves as the modern gods of Olympus cruelly toying with mankind even as they lazily drop a grape into their mouths or sip a goblet of wine.
If I had not had the assistance of Peter Johnston in providing me with his bulging files four and half years ago, this story would not have been told. It is fitting, therefore, that the last words of this Dossier call for Peter's besmirched name to be cleared. Peter, at all times, WAS empowered with legally binding authority to dispose of the assets legally controlled by Dr. Damanik. Peter had no way of knowing that a secret cabal with immense power would be threatened by his efforts to dispose of these assets. His arrest, trial and imprisonment constitute a blatant miscarriage of justice that, at the very least, emanated from the Union Bank of Switzerland, which, in turn, was aided and abetted by the Bank of England. Others stood idly by, thus compounding his wrongful imprisonment.
ENDS
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Post by alefdracon on Dec 6, 2012 4:52:58 GMT 4
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Post by alefdracon on Dec 6, 2012 4:54:02 GMT 4
APPENDIX 1
THE TRILATERAL OVERTHROW OF MARCOS FOR GOLD
The following Q & A are extracted from "The Marcos Legacy Revisted - Raiders of the Lost Gold, by Erick A. San Juan, published in 1998 in Makati City, Philippines.
This Q & A is with Erick A. San Juan a prominent civic leader, political activist (anti-Communist advocate), author, journalist & weekly contributor to newspapers & Philippine radio.
Q. From your direct knowledge, what events or conversations with certain personalities indicated foreign complicity in the EDSA Revolution and its connection to the Marcos gold? Who were the gainers and why?
A. During the latter stages of the Marcos regime, I came to be friends with James Brandon Foley* [Note: I am constrained to break my pledge to preserve the anonymity of my sources because without any attribution to an authoritative source, this revelation will be nothing but hearsay. My apologies. I sincerely hope he will understand, given the situation I am in and the position I have taken.] a political officer (another term for CIA agents at that time) of the U.S. Embassy. We used to go out and date several women, sometimes to discos, and the like. Our favorite hang-out was the Hyatt Regency. In between socials, Jim and I would engage in frequent brain-storming at his private apartment at the Seafront. On one particular night, he disclosed to me that there was a secret operation plan to oust Marcos, and that men like Jose Concepcion of RFM and the Ayalas were being used as conduits to access the smooth flow of funds to finally bring an end to the Marcos authoritarian government.
Jim likewise mentioned the involvement of Cardinal Jaime Sin, whose role was to draw a large crowd of supporters and sympathizers in the event that a blocking force was needed. Sin is an expert in the Antonio Gramsci-type of Marxism. This was confirmed by Dr. John Coleman in his expose 'The Violation of the Christian Church,' where he stated that Sin's Radio Veritas 'speaks out Communist propaganda in 13 languages all throughout Asia,' using Liberation Theology to destroy the moral fiber of the large number of Catholics. Sin believes in the Marxist principle that 'Religion is the opium of the masses.' He exploited this tactic to the hilt and succeeded in what is now called 'people power' mass action. As acknowledged by Coleman, 'Cardinal Sin of the Philippines worked diligently to overthrow the government of President Marcos. He was ably assisted by a former executive of the World Council of Churches, Jovito Salonga. Salonga was brought back to the Philippines under escort of the U.S. State Department.' (CDC Report, October 1988)
In Coleman's estimation, Salonga was to take Mrs. Aquino and this Protestant 'will cut a deal with the Marxist New People's Army (NPA).' Although this did not materialize because of Salonga's poor health, Coleman was still partly correct. Another fellow Protestant filled in his shoes (Fidel V. Ramos) and has quite successfully negotiated peace with the Communists!
Q. What events preceding Marcos' announcement of the snap election proved that he was under American pressure? Why do you think he acceded to the 'request?'
A. Everything really hinged on the Marcos gold bars. The Trilateral Commission, through its chairman David Rockefeller, and member George Schultz, were convinced that they had been conned by President Marcos. This being so, the Trilateralists did everything to pressure him, to destabilize his one-man rule, cut his source of funding, and even blackmail him (the Dovie Beams affair). A part of the globalists' notorious activities were documented by David Smith of the U.S. based Newswatch magazine, in August 1987: 'Representatives from Indonesia and the Philippines went to Jonathan May (ex-World Bank head) and stated that agents from the Chase Manhattan Bank and other banks said they would 'forgive' the loans and interests if the following were met:
(1) Eliminate their National Currency; (2) Dollar-denominate their new money system; (3) Use a debit card system instead of a currency system; (4) Give the bankers perpetual rights over all natural resources.
Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines refused to accept and was deposed very shortly thereafter.'
Marcos eventually gave in to the globalists' proposal for a snap election, using veteran 'ambush interview' expert Ted Koppel of CBS. Clever as he was, Marcos did not reveal to the Americans that prior to his interview with Koppel, he had already conducted a secret survey of the electorate. Despite the adverse media hype launched against him, Marcos was confident of a re-election.
However, Jim Foley (who was later transferred to Algiers), disclosed that the real agenda was not the snap election; rather, it was to persuade Marcos to sign a document attesting to the fact that his gold bars and other precious metals deposited at Fort Knox and other depositories of the world would be under the guardianship of the Trilateral Commission, and a certain percentage would be given to the Philippine Government in the form of an investment loan from the World Bank.
The document was subsequently hand-carried by. U.S. Ambassador-at-Large Phillip Habib, which Marcos refused to sign. The Filipino head of state felt that the war loot (which was remolded into gold bars bearing the Central Bank seal) must be given to the Filipino people.
Q. How was the American's influence exerted during the snap election? Was there American involvement in the walkout of the computer workers?
A. First, there was the barrage of disinformation launched by Newsweek, Time and other publications regarding the illicit love affairs of both Marcos and the First Lady (e.g., George Hamilton), the incurable ailment of the President, and the public confidence in Namfrel and distrust in the Comelec. Then came the walk-out of the computer workers at the PICC. These were all part of the U.S. scenario during the snap election.
Most of the computer workers were promised visas and immigrant status to the U.S. Some of them, I understand, took advantage of this rare opportunity.
Q. Did any of your contacts know about the outbreak of the mutiny at EDSA?
A. Both Jim Foley and Norbert Garrett, CIA Station Chief, U.S Embassy, predicted a bloody confrontation in the event that Marcos stubbornly decided to stay in Malacanang. The Presidents only saving grace was the signing of the document brought by Habib.
Q. Who were pressuring Marcos to give in and leave? Is there any, credible evidence that this happened?
A. The pressures came from both U.S. and Philippine sources. On the American side, there was Philip Habib. He was joined by U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines, Stephen Bosworth, Richard Armitage, Michael Armacost, Rep. Stephen Solarz, Norbert Garrett (CIA Station Chief in Manila), and Joseph Mussomelli (Anti-Fraud Section, U.S. Embassy). Senator Paul Laxalt as you probably know, was the guy who spoke to Marcos on the phone and told him to 'cut and cut cleanly.' Lines to Washington were kept busy by calls coming in from Lawrence Eagleburger and Henry Kissinger. Later on, I was told that operating funds came in from Maurice 'Hank' Greenberg, through dollar grants from the C.V. Starr Foundation of New York. Greenberg is a powerful member of the B'nai B'rith. Others like Higdon, Brzezinski and Generals Pike and Allen of JUSMAG also formed part of the American initiative to oust Marcos.
On the Philippine side were assets like Joe Concepcion, Jobo Fernandez, Cesar Zalamea, Jaime Ongpin, and Alex Melchor. Journalists, likewise, were used for their media hype.
Q. Could you elaborate more on Habib's role in the events that followed?
A. As I have earlier stated, Habib was sent by the Trilateralists to the Philippines to pressure Marcos into signing the document prepared in the U.S. It contained provisions of equal sharing of the gold bars among different countries (through their banker's in the Commission), transshipped by Marcos to Fort Knox and other depositories under a top secret operation plan coded 'Tuna Highway.' Initially, Marcos was supported by the Commission to implement martial law in l972, and was even provided with a martial plan. Along with it came a minting plant, installed at the Central Bank premises by Thomas de la Rue Ltd. of London, and a smelting plant with which to convert the war booty into new gold bars. The plan was executed by trusted generals of Marcos who diverted some portions of the shipment to other destinations aside from Fort Knox. This was covered by a prescription period (November 1945 to November 1985) in accordance with international law. After this 40-year period, it was to be declared 'finders keepers.' Some countries who felt conned by these agreements pursued their claim at the International Court of Justice, to mature in 2005.
Had Marcos chosen to sign the document, he would have remained President for life. In the process, he would have received the distinction of being 'the best President we ever had.' In addition, the Philippines' share could have paid our external debt of, at that time, $24 Billion, plus a comprehensive Marshall Plan for industrialization. (To date, our external debt has zoomed up to $47 Billion, according to the latest BSFI figures.) Instead, he chose the hard way, and very badly miscalculated. He wanted to regroup his forces in the North, but was flown to Hawaii instead.
Q. Were there contacts between the Military camps and the embassy and/or Washington during the four days at EDSA?
A. Definitely. It has always been standard operating procedure for our military officials to 'keep the line open' between them and the defense attaches of the U.S. Embassy. Most of out top ranking officers have been nurtured in U.S. military schools. Some were even granted immigrant status in the U.S. while serving the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Their families were granted entry to the exclusive clubs of the American government such as JUSMAG, Seafront, Clark Air Base, Subic Base, Camp John Hay, etc. There they could avail of clubhouse facilities, golf courses and other amenities.
After EDSA, most of the renegade Marcos generals migrated to the U.S. These are the ones who never resisted the Aquino-Ramos-Enrile-Sin forces.
Q. Why didn't Marcos move during the first hours of the mutiny when there were very few people around the camps?
A. Marcos was sternly warned not to harm the people at EDSA, Otherwise, Malacanang would be targeted by the U.S. military sources. Thus, Marcos took the backseat and relied on the group of then Col. Rolando Abadilla to finish the job for him. You see, Abadilla's elite force from the MISG (Military Intelligence and Security Group), together with a SWAT team, successfully penetrated Camp Crame, disguised as Ramos supporters. As soon as Marcos was confronted about this by his Chief-of-Staff, General Fabian Ver, the president simply advised the latter to relax, as Abadilla was in the process of arresting Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile and his cousin, Fidel Ramos, whom the president underestimated as a gutless individual. Marcos never imagined that Abadilla would have a change of heart. Abadilla was the prime suspect as the chief operator of Ninoy's death at the tarmac.
Q. How do you connect Cardinal Sin with the American plan?
A. Cory Aquino was instructed by Cardinal Sin to seek refuge in a Cebu convent. As the fireworks were about to start, Cory was to install her revolutionary government in Davao with the assistance of the RAM forces and her NFIA sympathizers. This alternate plan vas likewise designed by the CIA, with Col. Voltaire Gazmin given the role of securing Cory in Cebu.
This plan was totally discarded when Marcos peacefully left the Philippines, due to the insistence of Cardinal Sin, who was backed up all the way by the Vatican and the U.S. State Department. Cory ended up being the sole titular head.
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Post by alefdracon on Dec 6, 2012 4:54:44 GMT 4
Appendix 2
BIG BROTHER & THE CASHLESS SOCIETY - THE JONATHAN MAY STORY
The Jonathan May Story has been circulating on the internet for years. What follows is drawn from that source and is at least four years old
Jonathan May is a British citizen, who through certain sources in the Trilateral Commission, and the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) became quite knowlegable as to what the "internationalists" intend to do worldwide. He became so disturbed with this information that he decided with a few others, to try to counteract their 'game-plan'. He refers to the "internationalists" as "a group of power-elite individuals, probably no more than 12-15 people, who hold the purse strings of every nation in the world, and control most of the governments of the world - through the control of their finances."
He decided to counter-act them by establishing a world-wide "federal reserve". (Nb: This is not referring to the "Fed", or US Federal Reserve, which is a PRIVATELY OWNED COMPANY).
He got the Arabs to invest some large sums of money. At the point that the Arabs were to deliver the funds in order to start this new system, the "internationalists" in England found out about it. His life was repeatedly threatened, and so he went to America. In August 1986, shortly after arrival in the US, he was arrested and put in the Federal Prison in Minneapolis on erroneous charges.
The following is an extract from the transcript of a telephone interview with Jonathan May from the Federal Prison in Minneapolis.
"First of all there are thirteen families that effectively control the central banks of the hard currency countries. The hard currency countries are the countries whose currencies are caused not to fluctuate as much as the other countries' currencies fluctuate. Those thirteen families have the control of the policy making and the decision making of the central banks of those countries.
They all, with one accord, practice fractional reserve banking. Fractional reserve banking has allowed the central banks to permit the prime banks, whose owners and controllers are the same people who own the central banks, to lend up to twenty six units of currency, for every one unit of currency they have, quote, "on deposit". (In America, a deposit of $1,000- can be used by the banks as "security" to lend the equivalent of $20,229.60, and that does not include the interest).
"The initial final stages of the final phase of system 2000 which is the global creditors, unilateral totalitarian plan was put into effect back in the early mid seventies. A Pentagon official and three other US Govt officials had visited the Prime Minister in Nigeria. They offered him $50 million to more than double the price of body light (light crude oil). [Only two nations in the world have light crude oil, which is the oil that as it comes out of the ground, it could almost be used in your car. It is the most valuable oil in the world. According to the price of light crude oil, all other oil in the world is priced.]
At the same time, George Bush and some others of the Trilateral Commission were in the middle east persuading middle eastern nations and England to consolidate OPEC, of which, America is also a part, but rarely mentioned.
The deal cut with the middle eastern oil producers, was that the oil buyers were prepared to pay significantly higher prices for the oil, provided the middle eastern nations 'supported' America, by investing these revenues in the big banks in America.
Sheikh Kheimani's nephew assured us that Sheikh Kheimani and the other oil ministers did not know until the late 70's/early 80's, that the controlling interests in the prime banks were also the same people who have the controlling interest of the major oil companies through a joint stock trust that was set up by the original Rockefellers here in America in 1870, three years before the US Govt declared joint stock trusts illegal in 1873. It is that entity that is the ultimate controlling factor in America of the prime banks, the Federal Reserve Board, the major oil companies and many of the major multinationals.
That trust is in joint control of the Rockefeller Foundation and the European interests. The deal cut with the Saudi and Kuwait and other mid eastern nations was that they should put their money in the prime banks. They did not know that the prime banks were able to lend out a ratio of approx 20 times their deposits! Their revenues were only the interest on the monies they were depositing for between 10 and 30 years, receiving the principal at the end of the term.
Because they had locked-in deposits, the banks were then able to make loans to the Third World Nations, whilst knowing and relying on the greed of the ministers of these nations to mishandle the money over the years to the extent where that manipulated greed has caused those countries to be in the position they are in.
In 1983, we became aware of the fact that a group of very, very quiet bank holding companies which, authorised under regulation Y, Section 225.4 of USC, can extend credit under any terms they feel like. We became aware of the fact that these companies were receiving loans from the prime banks to buy forclosed real property, ie: businesses with bricks and mortar from liquidations, forclosures and bankruptcies - which were being effected by the FDIC, and FSOIT. These entities are subsidiaries, or at least, totally under the control of the Federal Reserve Board.
At the end of 1985 we were approached by an emissary of President Marcos and President Suharto, and another from Indonesia with a severe problem that they had. The problem was that having borrowed all the money they borrowed, they still needed more money. But the only way the IMF were prepared to lend them money was if they eliminated their own currencies, became dollar denominated, subsequently eliminated cash altogether, and went onto a unilateral, centralised credit card system. This would then become part of their identity system, whereby everybody's social security number was synonymous with a credit card number. The central bank would thus act as the wholesaler for credit which was extended to it by the new super bank, announced by Paul Volker on the 27th October, 1985, and subsequently ratified by Ronald Reagan.
A further contingent condition of the "benevolence" of the IMF, was that in order to help the economy of those countries, the IMF were to nominate external non-domestic corporations to properly engineer, exploit and excavate the natural resources of those countries in return for perpetual royalities. Marcos was sharp enough to pick up the word "perpetual" and realised, quite obviously, that in so doing he would be signing away the sovereignity of his nation forever.
In return for President Suharto and President Marcos's capitulation to the IMF's terms and conditions, they were to have their existing debts forgiven absolutely and the new lines of credit to be extended to them were to be upon better terms and conditions.
When we heard the word 'perpetual' and the word "totally forgiven" we immediately began to recognise what another group of holding companies, operating with the previous group of holding companies that we mentioned, were doing. What they were doing, was receiving credit from the first group of holding companies to purchase assets and liabilities from the prime banks.
Now the only liabilities they were purchasing, were the liabilities represented by the deposits of the Arab nations. The only assets they were buying, were the assets represented by the loans made to some of the debtor nations.
It then became clear as a result of observation and subsequent ratification by information from within the Trilateral Commission, that the forgiveness of the third world debts would obviously eliminate the assets which were being purchased by this second group of holding companies, leaving them only with the liabilities that were owed to the middle eastern nations.
The Arabs were being serviced by the prime banks, and had no idea that these liabilities were now owed by the holding companies; they also had no idea that the debtor nations had stopped repaying the prime banks.
The holding companies' arrangement was merely that the prime banks were going to act as servicing agents for the holding companies, again so that the third world nations didn't know that the holding companies were owed the money.
The effect of the elimination of the assets of the second group of holding companies is actually three fold: 1) They would be insolvent and would be legally able to declare themselves insolvent. 2) They can then legally and legitimately avoid payment to the middle eastern nations. 3) The precipitous effect of that, in view of the westernisation of the middle east nations, is obvious; they will have to liquidate all the volume of the other assets they have, which are primarily represented by US corporate ownership of many, many billions of dollars worth of US stocks.
The effect of the Saudis and Kuwaiti's and the middle eastern people selling even 25% of their total holdings of the US market, and the other markets that are US dollar denominated, will be absolutely chaotic in terms of the stock market and, everything else. The catastrophic effect of that, has been designed to throw the American stock market, American private corporations, American real estate, and people in general, into a state of confusion.
The plan is, that the state of confusion will be greeted with the "salvation" of the "benevolent" bankers on two fronts. First they propose to eliminate cash because of the collapse and also to stop drug trafficking and tax cheating.
It is at that point that they intend to implement a mandatory credit card, identity, social security card which will be satellite linked through the "Star Wars Program", which has 40% to do with Star Wars, and 60% to do with the transmission of banking information to the central bank which will be the super bank into which all the other major banks will be linked along with the subsidiary banks, rather like a family. The super bank is to be the wholesaler, the prime banks the retailers in this country. It is a world design, it is a world order, it is a world programme.
The resultant collapse of the second group of holding companies will precipitate the Saudis and the Kuwaiti's liquidation of assets. It will also precipitate their inability to pay the private group of bank holding companies the money that they owe them for the credit extension to them to buy the assets and liabilities.
This in turn will precipitate those bank holding companies inability to pay the loan extended to them by the prime banks to buy the foreclosed loans, which were used as collateral to secure those loans, hence ultimately the prime banks will end up with all the property!
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Post by alefdracon on Dec 6, 2012 4:55:16 GMT 4
APPENDIX 3
SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE : `We were there; we dug up gold'
The following news story appeared in the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper that has published a number of insightful articles about Marcos gold. Interestingly, the quantity of gold that members of the 16th Infantry battalion say they recovered over a 22 year period closely parallels the quantity mentioned in the Trilateral Commission letter to President Marcos.
THE PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER
THEY were just in their early 20s in September 1972 when first recruited into the reactivated 16th Infantry Battalion, with the "mysterious'' task of digging tons of gold and gemstones for President Ferdinand Marcos.
Twenty-five years later, the soldiers now in their 40s and 50s have surfaced to file a claim in California and Zurich against the Marcos estate for their labors from 1973 to the second quarter of 1985 when they dug--what to their estimate--were 60,000 tons of gold and other precious metals and gemstones. They have written a joint affidavit signed by at least 96 of the original diggers.
Roberto B. Caoile, 45, the group's spokesperson, said their members number more than 115. They are still looking for other comrades--members of the 51st Army Engineering Brigade and the AFP Logistics Command who helped them in the diggings, classified as "top secret'' by Marcos and Ver.
The soldiers, some of them retired, others still in active service, represent the Forgotten Claimants of Yamanutsa--World War II Treasures Versus Marcos Estate Incorporated.
They were part of the Task Force Restoration, organized by Armed Forces Chief of Staff Fabian Ver, whose main task was to conduct "massive diggings and excavations'' under the cover of fighting the communist insurgency in the countryside during the martial law years.
Not fantasies
"These are not mere legendary fantasies out of Arabian nights as claimed by ignorant, unknowledgeable or pseudo-pretenders/impostors who ought to deceive, conceal, cover, camouflage and confuse the real truth about this matter for their very own personal pursuits and vested interests alone,'' sates the soldiers' affidavit.
This was apparently a shot at an earlier statement of Magtanggol Gunigundo, chair of the Presidential Commission on Good Government who had denied the existence of the Marcos gold hoard.
They said the statements of Ferdinand "Bongbong'' Marcos Jr., denying the Marcos gold, were also "pure lies, deception and greediness to conceal, cover and camouflage the selfishness of the Marcoses.''
"We were there. We dug the gold. Why would they deny this now?'' Caoile said.
The soldiers' group said it is only "appropriate'' that the Marcoses pay the human rights victims a specific amount based on the just and fair computation of each victim's "factual predicament during Marcos' rule.'' The human rights claimants had been awarded a $2-billion judgment against the Marcos estate.
But the soldiers said they, too, should be given their just share for digging the gold and other treasures.
"We want the truth to come out and we want to be recognized for our role in digging the gold. This has been kept from the public far too long,'' Caoile said.
Missing link?
Theirs is a story that may be considered the missing link in the mystery of the Marcos gold. According to the soldiers, the Marcos generals and officers close to the late president knew about the operation, including President Ramos who was in the so-called "Rolex 12'' circle and was chief of the Philippine Constabulary.
Ver's elite Presidential Guard Battalion watched and guarded the young soldiers with hawk-like attention while they conducted the digging operations at night, claimed Reynaldo Dominguez, one of the "gold soldiers'' in Task Force Restoration, who recently retired with the rank of second lieutenant.
During the day, they slept or did their "standard'' work of "restoration'' or infrastructure development and other "field operations.''
They did not question their orders, Dominguez said. When they were sent on "field training'' they obeyed to serve the country.
Dominguez and Caoile were among those newly recruited in the reactivated 16th Infantry Battalion which was one of the first troops sent to the "digging fields'' in 1972. Caoile was then only 20; Dominguez, 25.
172 sites
Throughout the 13 years that the members of the Task Force Restoration did their work, only some 30 treasure sites out of 172 were dug up, they claimed. The rest where members of the Japanese Imperial Army buried their looted treasures from some 10 countries as identified by Marcos and Ver with the help of "some Japanese men,'' who had the maps, were untouched or may have been dug up by "those in the know.''
The young men, some 300 of them, who became members of the reactivated 16th Infantry Battalion, were recruited in September 1972. On Oct. 16, 1972, they took oath as new recruits with the rank of "private,'' of the battalion under the 2nd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army in Camp Capinpin, Tanay, Rizal. Lt. Col. Javier was their battalion commander. Their group was under then Col. Ramon L. Cannu, commanding officer of the 2nd Infantry Brigade.
First digging
Their first digging operation was in March 1973 near Lake Caliraya in Lumban, Laguna, according to the retired soldiers.
"Sometime on early morning of the first week of March 1973, we were secretly tasked to provide manpower for digging operations and security to a huge part of the infamous and legendary Yamanutsa WWII treasures consisting of gold bars and gemstones buried by Japanese soldiers within the plateau in the vicinity of Lake Caliraya Resort, in Cavinti, Laguna,'' their affidavit states.
Their unit stayed in the area up to the last week of April 1973, but a platoon-sized detachment remained to "ward off New People's Army elements operating there.''
They started the preliminary work--setting up steel sheets around the area and constructing the akeshift field barracks--and then dug the area as instructed.
Ver's PGB and high-ranking officers inspected the construction of the makeshift field barracks and the "pounding of long flat steel bars which served as perimeter fence at the treasure site about to be dug up . . .''
Dominguez, who was in the first group, recalled how they prepared to dig a hole in the ground 30 feet wide and 35 feet deep, as instructed by their superior officers. Their stay of several months extended to a year.
Animal offerings
They were even told to make offerings--pigs or chickens which were killed at the site to appease "enkantos'' who were supposedly guarding the treasures. Otherwise, they could encounter severe difficulty at the digging site. The ground would mysteriously swell with water or some of their things would get lost. Even the soldiers themselves were told to have no "dark intentions'' and to be "pure in heart'' so they could accomplish their objective, Dominguez said.
President Marcos himself came to visit them at the site whenever there was a glimpse of success. He also made "random visits'' aboard a helicopter during the diggings, they said.
"During these operations, members of our unit saw four Japanese nationals together with ex-president Ferdinand E. Marcos, Generals Fabian Ver and Ramon Cannu, Lt. Colonels Lachica and Javier D. Carbonnel, and Capt. Renato Jamora and some members of the elite Presidential Guard Battalion,'' the soldiers' sworn statement says.
Eureka
But it was only on the evening of April 27, 1973, at around 11 p.m., that the "treasure digging activity finally reached its objective.''
They had been using two bulldozers, two backhoe "Kato'' and a heavy-duty crane when they struck something, the first of the group's find.
"Several steel cylindrical drums measuring approximately three feet long and 1.5 feet in diameter, and an undetermined number of rectangular copper boxes (three feet long, one foot wide and two feet high) entombed in several thick concrete vaults were unearthed at an estimated depth of 35 to 40 feet,'' they claim in their joint affidavit.
One of the concrete vaults was accidentally hit by the Kato backhoe while the vaults were being dug up. Until that time, the soldiers didn't know what they were sent down there to dig.
Because of repeated strikes, the teeth of the backhoe broke the body of the vault, hitting a steel drum inside it. The soldiers saw "heavy yellow metal gold which gleamed amidst the floodlights concentrated on the big digging area.'' One of the bars which they saw was a foot long, three inches wide and almost two inches thick.
Marcos elated
After more than 30 minutes, three helicopters arrived. Two Huey military-type helicopters came escorting a presidential chopper ferrying Marcos, Ver, Cannu, Felix and some PGB close-in security personnel. They came to inspect the treasure find. Marcos could not contain his excitement, the soldiers said.
"When the ex-PFM saw the successful operation, he was very much elated and very happy with the group numbering about 60 soldiers who were there at that time. The others (soldiers) were away manning the second and third layer perimeter security of the digging area,'' their affidavit says.
Marcos allegedly told them in Tagalog: You will all share in everything that's here but you have to wait for the right time.
The concrete vaults (approximately six feet long, five feet wide and five feet high) were lifted one by one through the use of a heavy crane and were placed aboard three six by six military trucks which were on a 24-hour stand-by near the battalion headquarters command post at the area.
"Before the former President and (his) party left the place, we overheard him instructing General Ver apparently on where to transport and hide the gold bars which (task) was carried out by PGB elements,'' the soldiers' sworn statement says.
"Sometime in the fourth week of April 1973, we were pulled out from the area, but a platoon-sized detachment was left and stayed there for almost a year after the site was further improved as new tourist spot into what is called now as Japanese Shrine Sunken Garden,'' they said.
After the digging at Lake Caliraya in Laguna, the other company elements of the reactivated 16th Infantry Battalion were utilized to provide the same security detail services and conduct treasure digging operations separately in the areas of Montalban, Antipolo, Baras and Teresa all in Rizal province from 1974 to 1981. This led to the activation of the "Task Force Restoration'' under Lt. Col. Porferio Gemoto sometime in 1977 and 1978.
To justify the continuous service of these soldiers in the treasure-digging operations, some company elements of the 16th Infantry Battalion were placed under the operational control of the Presidential Security Command in Malacañ ;ang with provisional headquarters at an old incinerator plant located in front of Muñ ;oz, Edsa, Quezon City, the soldiers' affidavit said.
Task Force Restoration had then extended its operations to the Intramuros-Manila Cathedral area near where the Palacio del Gobernador was built.
Discovery of tunnels
In 1972, before the diggings happened, Marcos' men discovered a vast tunnel "within the Pasig River'' along what is now the Napindan flood control project, underground tunnels from the Fort Bonifacio military reservation up to Villamor Air Base and Bicutan-Taguig via Fort Bonifacio Army General Hospital.
These secret tunnels preceded all the other treasure hunting and digging operations. The soldiers said the gold discoveries made by Marcos, as well as their operations, were the real reasons why he started his strongman rule "in the guise of a threatening rebellion by the alleged newly revitalized CPP/NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines, New People's Army) and Muslim secessionism in Mindanao.''
In fact, Marcos allegedly had to create the conditions for this to justify martial law and allow the secret diggings done by newly recruited soldiers sent to the countryside allegedly for "field training.''
Diggers tell of 60,000 tons of treasure
THERE was a different group who dug, another group in charge of transporting the boxes containing the treasures, and another group who took care of securing these before they were transported outside the country. This is according to Roberto Caoile, spokesperson of the Forgotten Claimants of Yamanutsa-World War II Treasures Versus Marcos Estate Inc.
The trucks which transported the crates of gold bars and other treasures were large six by six trucks heavily covered and boarded up, Caoile said. Some of the WW II gold bars were coated in black hardened tar and asphalt to ``discourage innocent finders during these treasure-hunting operations,'' Caoile said.
The gold bars dug by the soldiers were stored in the vaults of the old Central Bank in Intramuros. Later, in the mid-1970s, Marcos ``ordered the construction of a new and modern coin and gold minting and refining plant of the Central Bank along East Avenue in Diliman, Quezon City.''
According to the soldiers, this was to ``further accommodate voluminous bulk of Yamanutsa gold bars and bullions for remelting''-_to change their original forms and markings which included the countries where the gold came from.
There were orders from Marcos to erase the marks from the gold bars which the soldiers had dug up, Caoile said. This was to prevent the government of the countries which the Japanese had looted from discovering these. At that time in the '70s, only 30 years after the last World War, these countries still had the right to ask for the return of their treasures.
The different gold bars which the soldiers dug up had inscriptions such as ``Cambodia'' with five star markings; ``Sumatra'' with four stars; ``Burma'' with three stars, and other marks identical to the countries of their origin.
The Cambodia gold bars weighed 6.3 kilograms each; the Sumatra gold bars weighed 6.2 kg each; and the Burma bars weighed around 6 kg each.
Upon orders from Marcos, the original size and weight of the gold bars were modified to make it appear that these did not come from the Japanese treasure loot; thus, the need to remelt these at the Central Bank, the soldiers claimed.
Shipped out
The soldiers' affidavit says ``crates by crates'' of gold bars were shipped out of the country via the Manila International Airport (now the Ninoy Aquino International Airport) using C-130 military aircraft after martial law was proclaimed. This was witnessed by perimeter security personnel of the airport.
``During those years of diggings and excavations, frequent electric power brownouts occurred (in) the Greater Manila area intentionally done to cover up the series of transport of gold bars from treasure sites to the Central Bank or secret warehouse vaults pre-designated by ex-PFM thru General Ver,'' a document prepared by the new claimant group of soldiers says.
The group said even before martial rule in 1972, Marcos had already successfully excavated gold bullions and gemstones at the Manila Railroad Company (MRRCO, now PNR) yard complex at Tutuban terminal. This was at the start of his first term as president from 1965 to 1969.
He started treasure digging when elected president in 1965 but could not finish it in four years; thus the need to employ soldiers to continue the work under Task Force Restoration when he was reelected, the forgotten Claimants said.
60,000 metric tons
The soldiers claimed that in all, they excavated and retrieved more than 60,000 metric tons of gold bars, bullions, and other precious metals such as palladium, platinum, chrome, nickel, zinc and little babbitt bars. There were precious gems such as diamonds, both cut and uncut.
Among the ``major'' treasure sites which the soldiers, who now formed the ``Forgotten Claimants of Yamanutsa,'' had dug up were in Caliraya in Cavinti-Lumban, Laguna; Baras and Teresa in Rizal province; Montalban caves in Montalban, Rizal; Montalban Mascat; Sitio Mayagay, Sampaloc in Tanay, Rizal; Fort Bonifacio Tunnel; Fort Bonifacio hospital; the area of the Manpower and Youth building; Bastion de San Lorenzo in Fort Santiago; Muñoz in Nueva Ecija; Balok bridge, also in Nueva Ecija; site of the Central Luzon State University statue in Muñoz; Sta. Fe in Nueva Vizcaya; Campo 4 in San Jose, Nueva Vizcaya; and San Mateo in Rizal province.
According to them, the Japanese army units had subdivided the treasures they brought into the country and buried them in places classified as major and minor treasure sites. The Japanese allegedly used the Manila Railroad Co. to transport the treasures.
Major or minor treasure sites depended on the ``suitability, concealment, permanency and location of man-made, built-up areas, mountainous and/ or rolling hills, terrain with creeks, rivers, dams, big acacia, mango, camachile or duhat trees that serve as references for future retrieval of said treasure deposits,'' the soldiers' said.
This excludes the four, six, eight or more pieces of gold bars usually found underneath big acacia or mango trees where they had been stashed by low-ranking Japanese soldiers while their superior officers were not looking.
In some of the major treasure sites, the soldiers even found skeletons still wearing their tattered uniforms and helmets, and with their swords beside them.
In Fort Santiago alone, there were more than 100 boxes of treasures which the soldiers found buried under the old torture chamber, Bastion de San Lorenzo, which is just near the Pasig River.
The gold treasures were buried at or below sea level where the ground temperature is cooler to prevent melting.
Too poor to file
Their lawyer, Benjamin Rosario, said the soldiers have all the right to file a claims suit against the Marcoses because they had a ``direct hand and knowledge about the treasure digging activities of the Marcoses.'' In fact, they directly participated in these activities.
Most of the soldiers are poor. Not much has changed since they were young recruits digging for gold. Much as they wanted to file a suit directly to the Zurich tribunal as instructed by Swiss Ambassador Kurt Hoechner, they could not do so because of the monumental lawyer's fees they have to pay.
A Swiss lawyer's asking price is 500 to 600 francs per hour. ``Where will we get the money?'' said the group's spokesperson, Caoile. They have already written Hoechner, about their plight and their plan to file a suit in Zurich.
Swiss envoy regrets
On April 29, 1996, they sent most of their vital documents to Hoechner to seek help from the Swiss Embassy in filing their claim.
On Sept. 5, 1996, Hoechner wrote back: ``I regret to inform you that the Swiss Embassy is not in a position to forward those documents to a court in Zurich. Indeed, the Embassy cannot be considered as legal place of service for a civil suit pending before a Swiss court. You are obliged to serve these papers by other means directly to the Tribunal in Zurich.''
Hoechner said that as far as the so-called ``Marcos case'' is concerned, the Swiss government is limited to the request for judicial assistance in criminal matters under the pertinent Swiss law made by the Philippine government through the PCGG.
``The Swiss Embassy in Manila has no role in these proceedings. A discussion with the private claimants on this matter can therefore not take place and would be to no avail,'' he added.
When they wrote the US District Court in California, they were given an option for a ``pauper trial'' since they had no money. There was a list of lawyers to choose from. But the old ``gold soldiers'' were apprehensive about a ``pauper trial'' since, according to them, they would ``lose for sure.''
In late 1995, around December, they wrote Credit Suisse and Swiss Banking Corp., two of the Swiss banks which hold the frozen $500 million Marcos accounts. They did not receive any answer. Shortly after that, the two Swiss banks initiated a mediation with the Philippine government and the lawyers of the 10,000 human rights victims to settle the conflicting claims on the Marcos deposits. This came to nothing as no settlement was agreed upon without the Marcoses' consent.
``The banks probably got scared with the appearance of a new claimant group which knew a lot about the Marcos treasures,'' Caoile said.
`Loyal, confidential'
``The more than 100 major treasure sites of Mr. Marcos including minor ones could not just be excavated by himself alone without utilizing the trusted, loyal and confidential services of a big number of diggers composed of the Task Force Restoration members,'' their document states. Even in President Ramos' time, there have been secret diggings, they add.
No talk
Caoile said Marcoses and other government officials including President Ramos would ``never talk about the gold.'' ``Instead, they will deny and torture the minds and belief of the people by telling them that these Marcos gold is nothing but a mere hoax, fiction, fantasies of a fertile and speculative mind,'' he said.
``They do not want to expose the truth about the Marcos gold because they are expecting to benefit out of it in collaboration and connivance with foreign conspirators both here and abroad,'' he added.
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Post by alefdracon on Dec 6, 2012 4:55:53 GMT 4
APPENDIX 4
SMART CARDS, E-CASH AND THE CASHLESS SOCIETY
The following news story appeared in Wired News on 26 March 1997 about C-SET or "chip secured electronic transactions. This article is of interest in view of the foregoing comments contained in Appendix 1 & 2 regarding the plans to convert to a cashless society. Note the application of this technology for tax collection and as a secure means of card holder "identification."
France Adopts E-Commerce Security Protocol by Jerome Thorel
5:06 a.m. Mar. 26, 1997 PST France is adopting a protocol for secure electronic payments that will make the nation's banks the "trusted third parties" that hold encrypted information about online buyers - and the repository of personal information to be made available to police pursuing criminal investigations.
The French protocol, known as chip-secured electronic transaction, or C-SET, will also tie into Europe's "smart" credit-card system that allows for more reliable identification of card users than the signature method employed in the United States.
The European Commission has also agreed to test the system as a possible future standard, and Europe's major economic powers, including Germany and the United Kingdom, also intend to test it.
French security officials agreed earlier this month to accept C-SET because it is compatible with future trusted-third-party systems, dedicated to assuring national governments that all encrypted communications will be key-escrowed.
In France and other European countries, credit cards are "smartcards." Embedded with microchips, smartcards are a more secure way to authenticate - and identify - the buyer than a handwritten signature. The French Groupement des Cartes Bancaires "CB", a consortium of more than 200 French banks, was not fully satisfied by the US security standard, which relies solely on software and certificates stored on a user's hard drive.
C-SET adds a hardware component outside the user's computer: a US$100 numeric pad that an online buyer must use to key in a personal identification number as part of every purchase. Online accounts used in C-SET would be tied to the smart credit-cards issued by banks.
Online transactions will take place on a server owned by the card-issuing bank. The same bank plays the role of the trusted third party that will hold the encryption key that can be used to unlock the user's transaction records.
Under the French proposal, the banks will have to keep records of all transactional data for law-enforcement purposes.
Claude Meggle, director of security for the French banking consortium, said the PIN-pad-based identification system could also be used as a way to identify users who send encrypted messages in private communications. The trusted third parties will have to keep a record of connections - as all banks are doing today to officially fight fraud - and give a user's private key to police authorities if called upon to do so.
Meggle also noted that C-SET will give the authorities a means to levy taxes on online transactions.
"The French Finance Ministry has not yet decided to apply taxes and duties for online transactions, but C-SET is an adequate system for that," Meggle said.
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Post by alefdracon on Dec 6, 2012 4:57:26 GMT 4
APPENDIX 5 The following two images are taken from the May 1973 Bilderberg Conference minutes. The meeting focused entirely on energy issues with an emphasis on oil supplies, an anticipated oil price hike and the impact this would have on OECD economies. The first scan is of the title page of the minutes of the meeting.
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Post by alefdracon on Dec 6, 2012 4:58:43 GMT 4
APPENDIX 6.1 Copy of purported Trilateral Commission's Communique to President Marcos Page 1 The following 12 images were scanned from the appendix of a book published in 1998 in Makati City, Philippines entitled Marcos Legacy Revisited subtitled: Raiders of the Lost Gold, by Erick A. San Juan. A text version of the letter is available HERE Thanks are due to to "Dirk" for scanning and providing these images (Redcat says hello, Dirk) and for transcribing the contents of the letter. Naturally, the veracity of the letter cannot be established with any certainty. However, it is interesting, I think, that this document corresponds precisely with the Marcos letter that Bob Curtis now holds and which he communicated parts to this writer.
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Post by alefdracon on Dec 6, 2012 4:59:55 GMT 4
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Post by alefdracon on Dec 6, 2012 5:12:46 GMT 4
APPENDIX 6.13
Reproduced below is chapter 31 in its entirety extracted from the Marcos Legacy Revisited subtitled: Raiders of the Lost Gold, by Erick A. San Juan, published in 1998 in Makati City, Philippines. My thanks to "Dirk" for providing this.
Of interest is the sloppy prose style and typographical errors that closely correspond to the "mistakes" contained on all of Peter Johnston's gold bullion certificates - perhaps indicating that this, also, was written with "deniability" in mind?
CHAPTER 31
The Trilateral Commission's Aborted Deal with FM
The aborted deal of the CORPORATION INTERNATIONAL with the late Pres. Ferdinand Marcos (better known as the Trilateral Commission) involved an agreement in which the president was promised power for life and a guarantee of an Investment Loan to be coursed through a Mini-Marshall plan to save the failing Philippine economy. All these in exchange for his gold bullion.
The original document showing specifically how much gold Marcos kept at Fort Knox was given to me by an emissary of President Marcos which I handed, in trust, to Reynaldo Fajardo, who was supposed to write a book on this. This was the very same document brought by Ambassador Philip Habib to Manila in February 1986 for Marcos' signature. Marcos, however, didn't sign the document because THE CORPORATION wanted the gold bullion for themselves alone and merely offered to give him an investment loan in exchange. Soon after, through Cardinal Jaime Sin's call for people support, and armed with "Plan C," employing the Marxist principle "Religion is the opium of society." EDSA People Power came to the fore. This marked the beginning of Marcos' downfall.
A photocopy of these records was passed on to me by my friend, Col. Adex Villalon (RES). Had Marcos known of an impending conflict between the Philippine Government and his family, he could have immediately signed Habib's document and could have lived happily ever after.
The following is the text of the Trilateral Commission's communique with the late president Ferdinand Marcos under the letterhead, THE CORPORATION INTERNATIONAL, brought by then U.S. Ambassador Philip Habib for F.M.'s approval and subsequent signature. The deal turned sour because the CORPORATION wanted to get everything, simply leaving Marcos a so-called investment loan out of his total gold hoard. On my visits to Hawaii, Marcos made it clear to me that he did not sign the document because, in his own words "para akong pinirito sa sarili kong mantika" (I would have been fried in my own lard). He further added that he had all those years, invested so much of his time, expertise, strategies, and a lot of guts, just to safeguard all the wealth which he intended to offer his countrymen's future and that of our children's children. This was also the reason why he was forced to leave Malacanang to regroup in Paoay, Ilocos Norte, but instead, he claimed to have been kidnapped, taken by force and against his will by the Americans and flown to Hawaii.
NOTE: The photocopy clearly displayed the entire logo of THE CORPORATION INTERNATIONAL, with the words "CLOAKED WITH SECRECY" stamped on every page, together with the following details on each page's right-hand margin:
FIFTH AVENUE AT 55TH STREET NEW YORK, NY 10022 212 753 4500
LANCASTERGATE - HYDEPARK - LONDONW23NZ Telephone: 61-2525090 Telex: 291655 Prestel 3441100
WEINSERGSTRASSE 45, CH-8008 ZURICH
The Corporation International
TO: GM13CO RE: TRANSACTION OF 62,321 MT
YOU ARE NOW PURSUING AS CODED SELLER, WE HEREBY GUARANTEE THAT YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THE SAID TRANSACTION, UPON ITS SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION IS 1/4% OF 1%. WE SHALL MAKE ALL PAYMENTS MADE TO YOUR ACCOUNT TO ANY BANK OF YOUR CHOICE, AT YOUR INSTRUCTION.
Makati, Philippines, February 21,1986
PN15182541/ OR 12241942/ AA (BBRP) ABLL1
ATTESTED: (signature unidentified) "301/RVH/301STCO/S18/69/66"
TO: 1135PACER
IN CONNECTION WITH THE TRANSACTION OF 62,321 METRIC TONS, PURSUED BY GM13CO, WE HEREBY GUARANTEE THAT YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THE SAID TRANSACTION, UPON ITS SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION IS 1/4% OF 1%. WE SHALL MAKE ALL PAYMENTS MADE TO YOUR ACCOUNT TO ANY BANK OF YOUR CHOICE AT YOUR INSTRUCTION.
Makati, Philippines, February 21, 1986.
PN15182541/ OR 12241942/ AA (BBRP) ABLL1B
ATTESTED: (signature unidentified) 301/RVH/301STCO/S18/69/66
THE CORPORATION INTERNATIONAL
C O N F I D E N T I A L
REQUEST ATTENTION TO: ____________________ ____________________ THRU:
1. THE CODED PRIVATE SELLER OF SCATTERED GOLD BARS IN THE PHILIPPINES
INVESTMENT LOANS:
SUCCESFULLY AND DISCREETLY LOANS ARRANGED FROM 1980 TO 1985 INCLUSIVE WITH 216 PRIME LEAD BANKS BY PN-1518254 AND HIS 25 SECRET GROUPS: WITH PARTICIPATIONS OF CODED GROUPS FROM USA AND EUROPE.
SUBJECT :
READINESS AND AVAILABILITY AND BLOCKED U.S. DLRS 100 BILLION, OR U.S. DLRS 150-BILLION INITIALLY AS INVESTMENT LOANS OFFERED TO THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT THRU THE CODED PRIVATE SELLER OF THESE 62,321 METRIC TONS OF GOLD BARS OR MORE.
THESE USDLRS BILLION FUNDS AS INVESTMENT LOANS HAVE BEEN ARRANGED-NEGOTIATED SINCE 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1984 WITH USDLRS 600-BILLION CAN BE REACTIVATED WITH 1,000 PRIME BANKS IN THE U.S.A. AND EUROPE WITHIN 20 DAYS FROM ACCEPTANCE AND REPAYABLE WITH 62,321 METRIC TONS OR MORE OF THESE GOLD BARS OF RECORDED 999.9% PURITY OF DIFFERENT SIZES OR DENOMINATIONS OWNED AND POSSESSED BY PHILIPPINES/ CODED PRIVATE SELLER IN THE PHILIPPINES.
C O N F I D E N T I A L
1) 62,321 METRIC TONS OF GOLD BARS IN THE PHILIPPINES, ETC.
Hereunder in simple words are the facts and events in a nutshell to which we adhered and by reasons of which, we, thru the code 'U.S.A.D.T' the World-Sole-Financially Established lenders-buyers and the European Lenders-Buyers, have both recognized without any reservation, the rights, possession, ownership and disposition of these gold bars with recorded 999.9% purity of different sizes and denominations of your/Philippines and for which we agree, as we have agreed to give INVESTMENT LOANS repayable with these gold bars in the Philippines, vice-versa.
2) IN THE PHILIPPINES
These 62,321 Metric Tons or more of gold bars are in the Philippines, but secretly, per our calculations only about 43,200 Metric Tons of these gold bars had been found and excavated from 1972 to 1980, the other 20,000 Metric Tons, or more, are still to be located and 'excavated' (?), or already very secretly-shrewdly in the hands of some retired/active Generals (?) and/or private Hunters-Priests, alike.
3) READINESS OF UNLIMITED USDLRS-BILLION FUNDS AS INVESTMENT LOANS: PHILIPPINES IN CRISIS
The Philippines is in a sort of serious political and economic crisis. Every and all bankers in the world are refusing to give financial aids and no more foreign banks and foreign institutions would lend money to the Philippine Government due to its huge unpaid external debts, and the only salvation as we believe and know pretty clear are these gold bars of the coded seller thru 'Authority' under the principle of 'Pares Patria' thru, the initial USDLRS IOO-Billion and up to USDLRS 150-Billion which had long been blocked and ready since December 2, 1985 and the USDLRS 600-Billion can be easily reactivated by fiduciary-principals of ours, thru code: "U.S.A.D.T." and the European groups with its 1,000 prime banks within 20 days, more or less, if these offers are accepted. And all these U.S. BILLION FUNDS are all for INVESTMENT LOANS for the Philippine/coded seller and repayable with all these 62,321 Metric Tons, or more, of gold bars of any size or denomination with 999.9% purity.
4) BEGINNING OF NEGOTIATIONS ABROAD WHOEVER THE CODED PRIVATE SELLER
Therefore Sir, with much due respect to the private coded seller authorized for these huge transactions in connection with these scattered gold bars of different sizes in the Philippines 999.9% purity and 24 carat - we wish you to know, thru the undersigned coded Chairman of the Confidential Committee, in order these highly classified messages may eventually reach the coded seller of these 62,321 or more Metric Tons of gold bars with different sizes or denominations that initially USDLRS 100-Billion or USDLRS 150-Billion as Investment-Loans have long been readied and blocked and can be reactivated within a very reasonable time. To be repetitious, all these INVESTMENT LOANS as cited above, initially USDLRS 100-Billion have had already been readied and blocked since December 2, 1985 up to the present with 1,000 prime banks in the USA continents and in some 500 primebanks in the European countries---with USDLRS 600 Billion or more can be reactivated within 20 days or more, are all for direct INVESTMENT LOANS to the Philippines/coded seller who is naturally under the 'Pares Patria' of the President of the Philippines and which are repayable in 24 hours only with these 62,321 Metric Tons or more of gold bars of different sizes and denominations and with 999.9% purity. These USDLRS BILLION DOLLARS can be verified on bank-to-bank levels only.
5) MAN CODED PNI518254 AND HIS SECRET GROUPS INTERNAL AND ABROAD
If only to help the Philippines and his countrymen thru his beloved President to secure the unlimited U.S. Billion Dollars as Investment loans and overcome the political and economic uncertainties of the Philippines, this coded man, PN1518254 or code '12241942/AA (BBRP) ABLLIB' had resigned from his gainful banking-finance-law practices giving up his retainership of 43 private corporations and even went to the extent of, at the great sacrifice of his family and relatives of encumbering his properties some of which have already been forfeited and spending with his groups both foreign and local to the tune of more than 315,000 dollars had worked and still is working very hard with HIS AFORESAID GROUPS TO TIGHTLY HOLD ON THESE 8,000 foreign banks and to successfully secure these unlimited U.S. Billion Dollars as Investment Loan, all repayable with these gold bars in the Philippines.
6) OUR FOREIGN FIDUCIARY PRINCIPALS' REQUIREMENTS
Therefore, thru our foreign fiduciary principals-lenders-buyers, we request the following:
1. Ocular inspection of all these (Physical stocks) gold bars in the Philippines or elsewhere abroad by PN1518254 soonest with coded 'U.S.A.D.T.' representative and the certification of availability and genuineness of aforesaid gold bars from the International Prime Trust bank of seller on the deposit of these gold bars or two hard copies authorization from the President of the Philippines or his authorized Minister confirming the availability of these gold bars about 62,321 Metric Tons or more of any sizes and purity of 999.5% or 999.9% and the readiness and willingness to accept our Investment Loan offers which are all repayable with these aforesaid gold bars and after assay and determination of the genuineness of gold bars of the U.S.A.D.T./USA and the European Legitimate Lenders-Buyers, will pay thru coded sellers' prime banks, or on any suggested procedures from coded authorized seller/ Philippine coded Authority that can be mutually agreed upon.
2. These U.S.A.D.T./LENDERS-BUYERS GROUPS from the USA, together with the European groups, shall always be FLEXIBLE and UNDERSTANDING to the secret requirements of the Authority/ Coded Private Seller, knowing these huge transactions have to partake of a very PRIVATE TRANSACTION IN NATURE.
3. All incentives and commissions are deducted at source with international tariff of 10% and incentives of 7% less 2% for PN1518524/Foreign Groups/Local VIPS/GROUPS.
4. That our U.S.A.D.T. Lenders-Buyers groups in the USA will pay CASH ONE THIRD of the total prices based on the London Second Fix of all these gold bars of any sizes, minus/less above international Tariff 10% and 7% commissions deducted at source, with remaining balance corresponding to the prices of all these gold bars, shall be paid depending on the "WISHES" of the coded Seller assigned for this purpose.
7) MECHANICS OF USDLRS-BILLION DOLLARS INVESTMENT LOANS FOR THE PHILIPPINES
The mechanics of these unlimited USDLRS-BILLION DOLLARS as INVESTMENT LOANS are as follows:
1. Since these huge confidential transactions involving USDLRS 983 Billion which are "perhaps" the actual price of these gold bars in the Philippines, which price is based on London Second Fix, less the ten (10%) percent tariff for rebaring, recasting and reassaying deductible for every release of these USDLRS-BILLION funds as INVESTMENT LOANS and less further the seven (7%) percent as incentives and tax sales abroad (to 7% less 2% for codes LOCAL VIPS/ GROUPS AND PN1518524 and 1,000 to 2,000 members groups)--- are purely private transactions --- and no world financing agencies will ever know any of these huge transactions, except the coded private seller and the confidential Philippine AUTHORITY.
2. It will appear in all banks documentation of these coded "U.S.A.D.T." LENDERS-BUYERS GROUPS from the USA, as well as from the EUROPEAN LENDERS-BUYERS GROUPS - the former represented by the private company while the latter is represented also by private company, respectively, that all these initial USDLRS100-Billion or more will appear exactly as 'VOLUNTARY INVESTMENT LOANS' to coded seller for "PHILIPPINE AUTHORITY" and for that reason, as if an, repeat as if an, INVESTMENT LOANS AGREEMENT shall be signed at the office of the Philippine President, when in truth, it is the acceptance of these US-HUNDREDS BILLION DOLLARS FUNDS very secretly and the simultaneous turn-over to our two groups of all those gold bar's with 999.9% purity.
3. And behind these INVESTMENT LOANS --- for the reasons the initial USDLRS 100-Billion or initial USDLRS 150-Billion as irrevocably certified by our 10 to 40 lead prime international banks and these funds are good as CASH - thus there will only be two permanent and exclusive contracts to be signed with the coded private seller under the umbrella of "Code1 " of the Philippines in favor of our two world most financially established democratic lenders-buyers groups, i. e. the U.S.A.D.T / LENDERS-BUYERS GROUPS from the USA and the EUROPEAN GROUPS, and which contracts shall be signed in the physical presence of that "Authority" of the Philippines, at Malacanang Palace, Manila, Philippines:
4. Simultaneously, within 10 days, after such agreements and acceptance of the Initial USDLRS-100 Billion, or USDLRS 150-Billion, with our licensed international assayers of these two world most established Financial coded groups, as buyers-lenders shall proceed to personally conduct the assaying of all the physical stocks of these gold bars which may last up to May 30, 1986; thereafter, these physical stocks of gold bars, if found genuine, the coded "U.S.A.D.T." LENDERS-BUYERS GROUPS will immediately issue so-called Certified funds from International Prime Banks for the balance.
8) ABSOLUTE GUARANTEE BY THESE TWO LENDERS-BUYERS GROUPS
The U.S.A.D.T world most established Financial Legitimate moneyed groups from the USA thru its front company and with the EUROPEAN LENDERS-BUYERS GROUPS thru its front-company hereby mutually, thru the undersigned committee Chairman, has IRREVOCABLY, UNEQUIVOCALLY AND ABSOLUTELY guaranteed that the private coded seller and his "AUTHORITY" of the Philippines shall be free and exempt from any civil or criminal liability or international suits that may arise in connection with these gold bars transactions which these two most financially established groups are buying with the processes and mechanics of so-called "INVESTMENT LOANS AGREEMENTS"; and the undersigned members and chairman of the finance confidential committee of these USADT-LENDERS-BUYERS from the USA and the EUROPEAN-LENDERS-BUYERS will all do the hauling and transporting of all these gold bars very quietly at their expense without any obligations whatsoever from private coded seller and his "Authority" after the assay are finished up to May 1986, through the U.S.A. 90,000 deadweight tons Aircraft Carrier in one or two shipments only and very confidentially. Further whatever PENDING CASES this coded seller or his "AUTHORITY" has filed against them with the International Court of Justice or International Forum, these two word most established financial and moneyed groups through the undersigned members and chairman of the Finance Committee shall be answerable and responsible and hereby, these coded world's group assume any and all obligations unconditionally and responsibility thereto.
9) FINAL OFFER AND CONCLUSION
The acceptance of these USDLRS 600-Billion up to USDLRS 983-Billion, with initial USDLRS 100-Billion and/or USDLRS150-Billion already BLOCKED since December 2, 1984 and November 7, 1985 as INVESTMENT LOANS, and all repayable very secretly and CONFIDENTIALLY with all these gold bars in the Philippines of about 62,321 Metric Tons or more with 999.9% purity --- the first and primary "contact" to be made by said "AUTHORITY" /coded private seller (thru its seller's international bank) should be coursed first its acceptance of these UNLIMITED-US-BILLION DOLLARS as Investment Loans to the same man coded as PN1518254 or "12241942/ AA (BBRP) ABLLIB" and with coded seller will know where to immediately "contact" this PN1518254.
With the foregoing facts and events and more practically our aforesaid adherence and firmed and complete recognition of the Philippines' rights, possession, ownership and disposition of all those gold bars, we, thru the coded "U.S.A.D.T." MONEYED-LENDERS-BUYERS from the USA and with the European lenders-buyers groups, ---now wish to call the special attention of:
10) CODED SELLER THRU HIS "AUTHORITY" CONCERNED
On these "INVESTMENT LOANS" long negotiated and finally arranged from 1980 to 1984 inclusive with 216 foreign prime banks by the man coded as PN1518254 or "12241942 (BBRP)ABBLIB" and his groups, with the principal participations of Foreign groups (USA) and the European groups.
Consequently, the READINESS and AVAILABILITY of all these UNLIMITED US-BILLION DOLLARS as INVESTMENT LOANS cited above are all blocked since December 2, 1985 exclusively intended for the Philippine' coded seller repayable with these 62,321 Metric Tons of gold bars, or more, in the Philippines. And with these huge sums as INVESTMENT LOANS are still intact, "frozen" so to say with the 3,000 prime banks in the USA and in 500 prime banks in the European continents earning nothing since December 2, 1985 up to the present while other end users /countries in the world are all in bad need of these "BLOCKED-US BILLION DOLLARS."
These two-world-moneyed groups thru the undersigned had agreed with coded seller that all these gold bars transactions should be treated as very PRIVATE IN NATURE and no involvement of any public officials nor Philippine embassies abroad, and we shall always be FLEXIBLE, UNDERSTANDING and SYMPATHETIC to the "requirements" of the Philippine "coded seller." And finally, with the successful and confidential conclusion of this transaction, it becomes necessary immediately to convert the present Central Bank Minting facilities to an internationally accepted gold bullion refinery, either as subsidiaries of world renown minting firms such as the Johnson Mathey, National Mint or the likes or as separate private company under the Trilateral supervision.
Now, it's up to YOU, SIR, to make the 54 Million Filipino people happy and economically and industrually stable and solid with these UNLIMITED BILLION USDLRS INVESTMENT LOANS repayable with these 62,321 Metric Tons of gold bars or more in your country. Don't wait for others to claim this IMMORTAL CREDIT. Kindly do it while you are in your solid possession and right and you alone can do it and alone can claim immortal glory as the greatest man in Asia.
Yours very respectfully, "PN1518254 /OR 12241942 /AA (BBRP)ABBLIB"
(unidentified signature) "301 /RVH /301STCO /S18 /69 /66" THE "U.S.A.D.T." GROUPS OR LENDERS-BUYERS/ USA AND THE EUROPEAN GROUPS OF LENDERS-BUYERS thru (Confidential Finance Committee Members)
(unidentified signature) Authorized Signature Coded Chairman, World's Coded Finance Committee
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Post by alefdracon on Dec 6, 2012 5:14:35 GMT 4
APPENDIX 7 Marcos Chronology Report Reproduced below is a copy of Charlie Avila's Marcos Chronology Report detailing the former President's involvement in WW11 plunder. The report is available for download at www.prsi.homepage.comThere are a number of interesting points mentioned in this document - not least of which are the Marcos laundering connection to the Sultanate of Sabah. BELIEVE IT OR NOT: THE FACTS, THE BACKGROUND AND PROCESS OF THE GREATEST LOOT IN HISTORY a chronology by CHARLIE AVILA February 1942 Treasure talk in the Philippines dates back to World War II. Most countries tried to hide their wealth when they realized that the enemy was about to attack. Spain shipped all of its gold reserves to Russia for safekeeping (guess who never saw their gold again?). In the Philippines, while the Americans and Filipinos were holding off the Japanese at Bataan, President Quezon had twenty tons of the treasury's gold bullion and silver pesos loaded on the submarine USSTrout and taken to Australia. Another 350 tons of silver pesos, worth more than Php15 million (almost $8 million), was dumped in the waters off southern Corregidor in May 1942 and several million dollars in paper currency were burned after the serial numbers were noted and radioed to Washington. August 1942 During the middle part of 1942, the tide of battle began to turn. Japan was losing. Any planned movement of treasure back to Japan had to change - if only as a temporary measure. When the Japanese Imperial Army rolled victorious through Asia, it systematically pillaged each country, shipping raw materials to Japan to further the war effort. What is little known is that the Japanese did not stop with raw materials. The plunder of each country they occupied was absolute, total. All banks, treasuries, and other depositories of wealth were looted. Even the bodies of the enemy dead were violated. Gold teeth were ripped out, fingers with rings cut off, museums, temples, churches were not spared, along with the temples of vice - gambling, prostitution, smuggling, opium, money lending. A group of Japanese officers, assisted by a special engineer brigade, began burying treasure. They took months of excavation to build elaborate tunnel systems and complexes large enough to hold trucks and sometimes deep enough to be below the water table. The Japanese built the first underwater tunnel from Kyushu, furthest south of the four major islands, to Honshu, the largest island, in 1942. They had the technology - no doubt about it. Marcos believed in the treasure. After he became president, a large number of military were assigned full time to treasure hunt under the secret leadership of his most trusted Fabian Ver. Progress reports to Marcos about various treasure site excavations were found in the palace after the Edsa insurrection. Aside from Ver, the team included Col. Mario Lachica, Gen. Santiago Barangan, Gen. Onofre Ramos, Col. Florentino Villacrucis, Col. Porfirio Gemoto, Gen. Ramon Cannu, Gen. Tomas Dumpit, Col. Orlando Dulay, Maj. Patricio Dumlao, Johnny Wilson and Venancio Duque. 1949 - 1950 It can be said that Marcos came from a poor family and that he made his first million as a first-term congressman in 1949 and 1950 selling import licenses. He bought a Cadillac to celebrate his new status. Before then there was no outward indication of any wealth. 1954 When Marcos courted Imelda in 1954 the story goes that he brought her to a bank vault and showed her stacks of hundred-dollar bills but no gold bars. He didn't open his first bank account abroad until 1967. But in 1988 and thereafter the Marcoses decided to talk like it was settled doctrine that he had began accumulating gold toward the end of the war. One day Marcos explained to Enrique Zobel de Ayala < www.nenepimentel.org/bluerib/zobel-depo.htm > that he reminted gold bars in Hong Kong in 1946 and accumulated more through various treasure hunts but kept everything secret because other countries might have legal claims until 1985 because of the statute of limitations. Which makes the whole story tragicomic, if true, in that 1985 was the beginning of the end - going all the way to the Edsa people's urban insurrection of 1986. 1967 While Marcos was rather quick later in life to talk about his wealth as the result of treasure hunting, he was all the time loathe to talk about commissions and payoffs, confiscations and outright thievery. In the year 1967 Marcos received his first payoffs from the US government. After he committed troops to Vietnam, he began receiving quarterly checks of US$200,000.00 each, delivered by the US Embassy, as per a secret agreement "between officials of Department of State and President Marcos that the Philippine Government could conceal the receipt of these payments from the Philippine public in its national defense budget." July 07, 1967 Papers found in Malacañang showed Marcos opened his first bank account abroad on this day when he deposited US$215,000.00 in Chase Manhattan Bank in New York. Not yet accustomed to hiding money, he used his own name. The following year, 1968, he opened his first Swiss account. March 21, 1968 The Manila Times headline was "CAMP MASSACRES BARED", reporting the massacre of fourteen soldiers on Corregidor island, with another 40 missing, in a Marcos project code-named Jabida, whose aim was sabotage and insurgency in Sabah. The recruits were Filipino Muslims and the target was a Malaysian Muslim state. The recruits naturally rebelled and were therefore massacred. To Marcos, the natural resources of Sabah were the ultimate gold mine. He said as much so many times to mistress Dovie Beams. And he claimed to have the Special Power of Attorney on Sabah from the Sultanate of Jolo, traditional owners of what had now become a Malaysian state. March 1968 Walter Fessler, an official of Credit Suisse Bank in Zurich, came to Manila. He was brought to Malacanang. Forms were filled out and signatures appended. On his signature verification form, Marcos wrote out "William Saunders (pseudonym)," an alias he had used in his WWII days, and underneath that name he wrote "Ferdinand Marcos (real name)." Imelda did the same, choosing Jane Ryan as her pseudonym. Four bank accounts were opened. Four checks, totalling US$950,000.00 were given for the deposit. January 01, 1970 Today Marcos announced to the nation that he was giving up all his worldly wealth. He now admitted he was rich. This was amazing. He never admitted anything. But then came the blockbuster."You know how I made my pile? I discovered Yamanutsa's treasure." The shabby excuse was universally judged exasperatingly unoriginal. But there it was. He said he was rich because of Yamanutsa's treasure and he was giving all that up for the Filipino nation in gratitude for their electing him to a second term - the only president ever to be reelected, he proclaimed. February 13, 1970 Manila did not believe the Marcos Foundation announcement. The demonstrations got worse. Protests turned violent. While the battle raged, Marcos and Imelda issued handwritten instructions to Markus Geel on this day to establish another foundation - one to be kept secret from the Filipino people - the Xandy Foundation in Vaduz, the capital city of Liechtenstein. This tiny state between Austria and Switzerland was famous for offering a unique form of corporate structure - the anstalt - a single-shareholder company protected by the world's tightest corporate secrecy laws. The CIA and KGB hid their covert funds there. Even Swiss bankers who sometimes had the need to hide money used the anstalten. The Saunders and Ryan accounts were closed and the money transferred to the Xandy Foundation account at Credit Suisse. This would be the first of many foundations set up in this manner with Swiss bankers and lawyers as directors to hide the identities of Marcos and Imelda. August 26, 1970 The Trinidad Foundation was set up in Vaduz. January 27, 1971 Roger Roxas < www.state.hi.us/jud/20606.htm > and his team of treasure hunters discovered a gold statuette of Buddha, almost three feet tall and too heavy to lift. On this day they borrowed a truck and brought the Buddha back to Roger's house at 47 Ledesma Street in Baguio. It was two in the morning. When they finally got to weigh the statue they saw that it weighed 2,000 pounds. A representative from the Treasure Hunters Association in Manila, Louie Mendoza, tested the Buddha and said it was 22-karat, about 92 percent pure gold. Another treasure hunter, First Lieutenant Ken Cheatham of the US Air Force at Clark, came with his friends to see the Buddha and took a lot of photos. April 5, 1971 At two thirty in the morning of this day, Holy Monday, Marcos' uncle, Judge Pio Marcos, authorized the search of Roger Roxas' house because Roger had allegedly violated a Central Bank regulation. The search became messy and violent. At the end of the day, the Buddha was gone. Roger was picked up, blindfolded and driven to a secret location outside Manila. He thought it was a military camp in Pampanga. They tortured him until he signed a confession stating Marcos was not involved in the theft of the Buddha. June 21, 1971 The Azio Foundation was set up in Vaduz. August 21, 1971 The bombing of opposition rally at Plaza Miranda: Roger Roxas was to be the main opposition exhibit in the anti-Marcos campaign to dramatize the gold-greed and tyrannical methods of the President. The suspension of the writ of habeas corpus followed a month later - one of the elements forming the yearlong prelude to martial law. September 24, 1971 The Rosalys Foundation was set up in Vaduz. October 1971 Rosalys Foundation opened a bank account # 51960 at Swiss Bank Corporation. From this day to June 30, 1980, Berlin and Company would transfer US$10.3 million into this account. December 27, 1971 The Charis Foundation was set up in Vaduz. September 17-21, 1972 The start of the U.S.-Marcos Martial Law Regime, following Philippine Supreme Court decisions against foreign (i.e. US) ownership of land and in the wake of certitude that Marcos would not be legally allowed to run for a third term, not even by the ongoing Constitutional Convention, which he had so polluted with bribes and illegal interventions. The Philippine Communist Party and its so-called New People's Army were then a very small insignificant group. The Muslim secessionist movement was quietly gaining ground. The middle forces of Christian and Social Democrats were on the ascendancy in both organization and propaganda. With US help, specifically Richard M. Nixon's, Marcos now mounted the only successful coup, so far, in Philippine history -the coup which political scientists referred to as the "auto-golpe" because it was a coup against himself. The rest is history (of systematic plunder and systematic human rights violations). 1973 The Central Bank's gold reserves dropped to 1,057,000 ounces. Governor Licaros claimed that 800,000 ounces (about 22.7 tons) were sold to obtain much needed dollars - which would have brought in $28 million at the official price of $35 an ounce. The Philippine Central Bank was a powerful entity in the Philippines. It was equivalent to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve in the US plus most of the functions of the Federal Depositors Insurance Corporation and various state banking commissions. As governor, Licaros had complete discretion in the purchase and sale of gold; he answered to no one except to the President. A confidential source said that the gold mentioned here was sold not at official but at market value which was at least double the official price. Under the Marcos regime, a Mafia-like code of silence was strictly observed to hide illicit transactions involving people's money. In the rare occasion when the public got to know some of the illegal dealings, no problem.the technocrats - men of integrity and brilliance -would employ a technique they had developed into a high art, namely, the technique of the cover-up. They would justify cover-up on the ground that transactions were "confidential". Graft and corruption operations are always confidential. Of course. June 22, 1973 Rayby Foundation was established in Vaduz. May 2, 1973 On this day Fabian Ver wrote Marcos regarding a group code-named Task Force Restoration that was set up to recover treasure at Fort Bonifacio and Fort Santiago. September 1974 Olof Jonsson, noted psychic, and a friend, Cary Calloway, flew to Manila accompanied by Norman Kirst, who had just met Jonsson and offered to sponsor the trip. The trip was on Marcos' invitation with a view to treasure hunting. Later, Kirst called Bob Curtis in Reno, Nevada and invited him to be part of the group. Curtis supposedly possessed a new technology for extracting more gold per ton of material. The idea of Marcos was to launder gold bars by melting them down and reprocessing them in order to eliminate identifying marks and to refine their purity. The team included Villacrusis, Amelito Mutuc, Cesar Leyran, Ben Valmores and Pol Giga and Mario Lachica. They called themselves the LEBER GROUP. Effective January 1, 1975, Americans could legally buy and possess gold. Goldmarkets all over the world were already buzzing with increased activity. December 1974 Charis foundation was renamed Scolari. The purpose was not clear - perhaps to throw future investigators off their trail. 1974-1977 Through these three years gold reserves stayed at exactly the same figure of 1,056,000 ounces - which would seem to be a statistical impossibility. They had never stayed at the same level before, even for two years running. January 17, 1975 A secret decree not made public until after the Edsa insurrection was signed by Marcos today stating that in the event he became incapacitated or died, power would be turned over to Imelda. March 11, 1975 Marcos invited Jonsson, Kirst, and Curtis for an overnight cruise on the presidential yacht. They went to Corregidor afterwards. Marcos had an office below which was a room that Ver took them to - about thirty square feet of gold bars stacked from floor to ceiling. They noticed the bars had what appeared to be Chinese markings. March 1975 - July 1976 Marcos' highway commissioner, Baltazar Aquino, went to Hong Kong at least ten times to collect "commissions" totaling $4,539,786.60 owed to Marcos by Japanese suppliers of the Philippine highways ministry. June 7, 1975 In his own handwriting, Marcos amended the January 17th decree and clarified imelda's role as chairperson of committee with presidential powers. July 2-3, 1975 Jack Anderson's Washington Post column mentioned that Marcos was looking for "buried World War II Japanese treasure in the Sierra Madre."Actually it was at a land site near Teresa, Rizal - at the foot of the Sierra Madre - that excavation began in mid-May of this year on orders of Fabian Ver following a map that showed a main tunnel about 300 yards long, fifty feet wide, and forty feet high with side tunnels at both ends of about 100 yards long - a site excavated for the Japanese by several hundred American, Australian and Filipino prisoners of war who were then killed and buried with the treasure. September 22, 1976 On this day Marcos signed PD 1033, proposing 9 new amendments to the constitution, including the infamous Amendment 6 which would allow him to continue exercising his powers after martial law was lifted "whenever in my judgment…there exists a grave emergency or threat or imminence thereof.." - amendments which were all ratified the following month. September 1976 This month the Marcoses bought their first property in the U.S. - a condo in the exclusive Olympic Towers on Fifth Avenue in New York. Five months later they would also buy the three adjoining apartments, paying a total of $4,000,000.00 for the four and using Antonio Floirendo's company, Theaventures Limited in Hong Kong, as front for these purchases. January 01, 1977 On New Year's Eve, Licaros had a problem. Foreign creditors wanted enough international reserves to cover three or four months of import requirements but there was only enough to cover two months. Today, New Year's Day Licaros had a solution taken straight from the book, Alice in Wonderland. There would be a new definition for the term "international reserves." The term originally meant "all gold, foreign exchange assets of the Central Bank, and net foreign exchange holdings of the commercial banks." The new definition excluded the net foreign exchange holdings of the commercial banks because it had become an increasingly larger negative figure. Why? Because they were borrowing more and more dollars. Plus the new definition now included the Central Bank's borrowing as part of its foreign exchange assets. Thus, with the stroke of a pen, the value of the reserves almost doubled, from $844.7 million to $1.525 billion, which was about 4.7 months of import requirements. August 1977 Marcos' friend Eulogio Balao was head of the Philippine Reparations Mission in Japan and collected the kickbacks there in yen, then used his diplomatic status to take the yen out of Japan, go to Hong Kong, and change it to US dollars at Berlin and Company, a foreign exchange dealer. After Balao died in August 1977, Andres Genito, Jr., set up the Angenit Investment Corporation to receive the kickbacks and opened an account at Wing Lung Bank in Hong Kong. Berlin and Company transferred HK$44,030,378.00 from its account in Hang Lung Bank to Wing Lung Bank. October 13, 1977 Today, after addressing the UN General Assembly, Imelda celebrated by going shopping and spending $384,000 including $50,000 for a platinum bracelet with rubies; $50,000 for a diamond bracelet; and $58,000 for a pin set with diamonds. The day before, Vilma Bautista, one of her private secretaries, paid $18,500 for a gold pendant with diamonds and emeralds; $9,450 for a gold ring with diamonds and emeralds; and $4,800 for a gold and diamond necklace. October 27, 1977 The Marcoses donated $1.5 million to Tufts University in Boston, endowing a professorial chair in East Asian and Pacific Studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. The students and professors discovered this and forced the school to reject the donation. To save face, the Marcoses were allowed to finance several seminars and lectures. November 2, 1977 Still at her shopping spree, Imelda paid $450,000 for a gold necklace and bracelet with emeralds, rubies, and diamonds; $300,000 for a gold ring with emeralds and diamonds; and $300,000 for a gold pendant with diamonds, rubies, and thirty-nine emeralds. April 06, 1978 Tonight at a predetermined time almost every street corner in Metro Manila overflowed with people beating on cans, pots and frying pans, shouting the name of Ninoy Aquino's party. "LABAN! LABAN! LABAN!" Massive popular protest was more than matched by massive voter fraud. Imelda won by a landslide. Ninoy who clearly topped the election did not make it in the counting - coming quite behind the least known of Imelda's party. April 17, 1978 Today Marcos signed PD 602 ordering all gold producers to sell to the Central Bank. In September he inaugurated the new Central Bank Gold Refinery and Mint in Quezon City. June 1978 Steve Psinakis conducts his own investigation into the Marcos treasure hunts. The results are printed in a twenty-four part series in the Philippine News beginning this month, June 1978.Photos and documents added to the articles' credibility. The year before, on October 1977, Psinakis masterminded the dramatic escape of his brother-in-law Eugenio Lopez Jr. and Sergio Osmena III. They broke out of a prison in Manila and flew to Hong Kong on a private aircraft. From there they were flown to the U.S. and granted political asylum. July 1978 After a trip to Russia, Imelda arrived in New York and immediately warmed up for a shopping spree. She started with paying $193,320 for antiques, including $12,000 for a Ming Period side table; $24,000 for a pair of Georgian mahogany Gainsborough armchairs; $6,240 for a Sheraton double-sided writing desk; $11,600 for a George II wood side table with marble top - all in the name of the Philippine consulate to dodge New York sales tax. That was merely for starters. A week later she spent $2,181,000.00 in one day! This included $1,150,000 for a platinum and emerald bracelet with diamonds from Bulgari; $330,000 for a necklace with a ruby, diamonds, and emeralds; $300,000 for a ring with heart-shaped emeralds; $78,000 for 18-carat gold ear clips with diamonds; $300,000 for a pendant with canary diamonds, rubies and emeralds on a gold chain. After New York, she dropped by Hong Kong where a Cartier representative admitted it was this Filipina, Imelda, who had put together the world's largest collection of gems - in 1978. August 1978 In Vaduz during this month the names kept changing. The Azio Foundation was renamed Verso, Scolari was renamed Valamo, and Xandy was renamed Wintrop. November 11, 1978 Baltazar Aquino collected the kickbacks from public highways funds ranging from 10 to 15%. On this day, $407,322.07 was credited to his account by Berlin and Company. February 1979 Imelda was named chairman of the cabinet committee, composed of all ministries, to launch the BLISS (Bagong Lipunan Sites and Services) program, an ambitious attempt to centralize control of all economic and social development. She assumed responsibility for the "11 needs of Man" codified in her ministry's mufti-year Human Settlements Plan, 1978-2000. By 1986, the number of Filipinos living below the poverty line doubled from 18 million in 1965 to 35 million. And the ecological balance of the country had degraded from 75 % to 27% forest cover remaining - with 39 million acres of forest falling victim to rampant logging. This was BLISS. May 1979 The Marcos couple celebrated their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary in a party that cost $5,000,000.00 There was a silver carriage drawn by eight white horses. November 21, 1979 Two representatives of Standard Chartered Hong Kong Trustee, Ltd. - P.A.L. Vine and Lai Wai Hung visited Malacanang palace. A trust agreement was drawn up. Vine returned to Manila on December 5, 1980, and met with Rolando Gapud, Marcos' chief financial advisor and Gapud's erstwhile boss, Jose Y. Campos, one of Marcos' close friends. Two trust accounts - a dollar account and a peso account - were opened at Security Bank and Trust Company (SBTC). Campos was signatory for Marcos. These two accounts were owned by the trust in Hong Kong, which was owned and controlled by Marcos and Imelda. Afterward, ten other trust accounts were opened at SBTC 7700,7710,7720, etc. and a deed of trust was executed between Standard Chartered and Security Bank for each account. For example, the deed of trust for account 7730 was between Beneficio Investment ,Inc., a Panamanian Corporation, and SBTC. That account owned Beneficio Investment, whose bearer shares were held by Standard Chartered for Marcos and Imelda. Aside from the Hong Kong accounts, other accounts were opened in Switzerland: in Credit Suisse, Banque Paribas, Lombard Odier et Cie, Swiss Bank Corporation, Swiss Volksbank, Finanz AG, Trade Development Bank and Bank Hoffman. Accounts were opened at Barclays in London. Also at offshore banks in Cayman Islands and New Hebrides. In the US they had eighty-three accounts in nine banks, including Lloyds Bank and California Overseas Bank in Los Angeles, Redwood Bank in San Francisco, and Irving Trust, Citibank, Chase Manhattan, Chemical Bank, and Manufacturers Hanover in New York. The money just kept pouring in. Lucio Tan paid Marcos Php100 million a year. According to Gapud, Tan "belongs to the group that could get presidential decrees and letters of instruction from Mr. Marcos for their joint benefit." Marcos demanded 60 percent of the shares of Lucio Tan's holding company, Shareholdings Inc. which owned Fortune Tobacco, Asia Brewery, Allied bank, and Foremost Farms. What applied to Tan was also true of the other cronies like Silverio of Delta Motors. About Php 10,000,000 in cash were deposited weekly in the SBTC accounts and then wire transferred to accounts in Hong Kong and from there to Swiss bank accounts controlled by the foundations. As chief financial advisor, Gapud acquired hundreds of millions of dollars of shares in a multitude of companies - shares endorsed in blank by the original owner making them bearer certificates and allowing Marcos to avoid direct involvement but assuring him secret controlling interest in almost every industry in the nation - banking, insurance, mining, shipping, oil, sugar, coconut, manufacturing, construction, etc. November 23, 1978 A house was purchased at 4 Capshire Drive in Cherry Hill, New Jersey (actually near to Philadelphia where Bongbong was taking courses at that time) for use by servants and Bongbong's security detachment. The Marcoses did not neglect their annual real estate purchase. During this year and next year, 1979, they purchased two properties - one at 3850 Princeton Pike, Princeton - a 13-acre estate for use by daughter Imee as she attended Princeton. The other was a house at 19 Pendleton Drive in Cherry Hill for use of Bongbong and under the name of Tristan Beplat, erstwhile head of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines. April 1979 In two days in New York this month, Imelda spent $280,000 for a necklace wet with emeralds and diamonds; $18,500 for a yellow gold evening bag with one round cut diamond; $8,975.20 for 20-carat gold ear clips with twenty-four baguette diamonds; $8,438.10 for 18-carat gold ear clips with fifty-two tapered baguette diamonds; and $12,056.50 for 20 carat gold ear clips with diamonds. January 1980 Gold reserves were on a steady annual rise from 1978 to date, gradually increasing to 1,900,000 ounces, or an average of 8 metric tons a year, which was about the equivalent of local production. The price of gold reached an all-time high of $875 an ounce this month. Despite this, four chambers of commerce - the European, American, Japanese, and Australian - submitted a position paper under the guise of finding ways to attract new foreign investment. Red tape, corruption, and a flawed infrastructure were delicately criticized. The message: it had not been easy doing business in the Philippines. This was decidedly a different tune from the one they sang to Marcos when the latter first abolished democracy in the land. Things looked rosy then but gradually the foreign business community realized even they were not playing on a level field. April 1980 Marcos attended the American Newspaper Publishers Association (ANPA) convention. Manglapus' Movement for a Free Philippines (MFP) had a field day - exposing the true Philippine situation. Under such pressure, the White House deliberately snubbed Marcos. June 1980 For $1,577,000.00 in New York Imelda buys Webster Hotel on West 45th Street. She rewards Gen. Romeo Gatan as a limited partner. Gatan arrested Ninoy at the beginning of Martial Law. November 24, 1983 On this day a man named Jose Cruz-Cruzal was arrested when he arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport from Manila. They found a plastic bag he was about to conceal in the small of his back. It contained documents that stated that Marcos wanted to borrow billions of dollars from banks through an American, Frank B. Higdon, living in Virginia. The collateral was "floors of gold" stored underneath a bank in Manila. June 27, 1984 After the international reserves scandal died down, Marcos issued PD 1937, eliminating the ten-year limit on the amortization of losses at the Central Bank. Before this decree, the CB had to write off one-tenth of its losses every year. Now they could be amortized "over a period at a rate which shall be based on the adequacy of the Central Bank's profits." In other words, forever. When Marcos signed this decree, the CB losses were fast approaching Php 100 billion or more than four times the amount known to be missing from the international reserves. Now one-tenth of these losses would no longer have to be written off annually. Incredibly, they were listed as assets!! Sec.43 (d) of this PD read: "The Monetary Board may, whenever it deems it advisable, exclude from the computation of the annual profits and losses of any given fiscal year all or part of the extraordinary expenses incurred during the year." Only the CB knew what it considered "extraordinary" and could be excluded from public view and scrutiny. Could these be the expenditures incurred by Marcos and Imelda for the May 14,1984 Batasan elections? Could these be the source funds for the hidden wealth stashed abroad? Indeed, the question must be asked - what items of expenditures have been eliminated from the CB 1984 and 1985 profit and loss statements that utilized this particular seemingly innocuous section? May 14, 1984 "Election" day: eleven people from Langoni, Negros Occidental were picked up hours after the voting, marched through the village with their hands bound, brought to PC HQ where, according to eyewitness, the were beaten and kicked and nine of them taken to a nearby field where they were all shot dead while the fate of the other two arrested is still unknown. The bodies of the dead still bore marks of torture. The American Committee for Human Rights sent a mission to the Philippines. Their report noted: "It was the overall impression of the mission that one-third to one-half of all individuals arrested by the military are subject to torture, as defined by the United Nations Declaration on Torture." The TFDP (Task Force Detainees of the Philippines) documented in detailed records 5,531 cases of torture, 2,537 cases of summary execution, 783 cases of disappearances, and 92,607 arrests under martial law. Former US Ambassador Stephen Bosworth testified that in a conversation with Marcos, the latter said: "I'm aware there is torture and everything happens, but that is part of the interrogation process and these people are communists." January 10, 1984 Jose "Jobo" Fernandez, head of Far East Bank, is summoned by Marcos to the palace and given Laya's old job - Governor of the Central Bank. August 1984 The IMF said the Central Bank had overstated its reserves by $264 million in 1981, $823 million in 1982, and $1.2 billion in 1983. Gross reserves had fallen $1.4 billion between June and December 1983. This means the CB now had no usable reserves. It could no longer pay its foreign debt. Bobby Ongpin reported an estimated $2 billion had flown the country in 1984 and $1 billion the year before. What was the role of the IMF resident representative who, since 1970, had been keeping regular office hours in the CB? The CB paid for the residential mansion of the IMF resident rep and furnished him with a car with uniformed driver. Was the IMF resident rep, who was regularly furnished papers and reports of personnel of departments and offices wittingly or unwittingly a party or accessory to the "falsification" of international reserves? February 08, 1985 On this day, the Sandiganbayan sentenced two municipal treasury employees to prison terms of sixty-four and twenty-six years respectively for malversing a few hundred pesos. According to income tax returns, the Marcoses had a net worth of US$7,000 when they became the First Couple in 1965. How many billion dollars were they worth when they had to flee abroad? That is why the Guinness Book of Records named him the world's greatest thief based on what they could trace. June 1985 World media, in particular San Jose Mercury News, Far Eastern Economic Review, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Nation, aided no doubt by the opposition in exile intensified the expose of the "hidden billions" and the draining of the Philippines. August 1985 While Marcos battled the hidden wealth scandal, a gold deal was being offered in Israel. Oliver North was trying to find ways to fund the Contras of Nicaragua. The Israelis had 40 metric tons of gold for sale for $465 million, with a possible 20 more tons if the first deal went through. The commission would net $5 million for the Contras. Fabian Ver knew the Israelis, had befriended them when they used him to sign fake end-user certificates for arms shipments destined for Iran. When the buyers found out the seller was Ver, they approached him directly to cut out the Israeli middlemen. October 1985 An Interpol cable stated that three suspicious shipments - one of gold and two of silver -had been made by the Central Bank. Speculation was that the Marcos family was diverting the precious metals to Switzerland to put them in their personal accounts. A bill of lading from one shipment showed that 244 silver bars, weighing 8,202 kilograms, were received by First United Transport on October 11, 1985, and moved to the docks escorted by the Presidential Security Command (Ver). November 01, 1985 Dr. Potenciano Baccay's body was found in the back of his own van with twenty stab wounds. His crime was to have revealed to the Pittsburgh Press the public state secret that Marcos had indeed had two kidney transplants. Two days after the murder Marcos was provoked to show how healthy he was by calling for a snap election to be held February 7, 1986 against Imelda's warning of the dangers of such a move: "You're not in the best of health…The people are angry…A campaign could turn treacherous." December 1985 Illegal use of aid funds as being the norm and not the exception is exemplified by the following: the Central Bank wired the Federal Reserve Bank in New York to pay $15 million to First Chicago International, for account of Lombard, for redemption of US dollar Treasury Notes. The Fed wired back on December 20 that there was only $6 million in the account. Then $45 million earmarked for USAID projects in the Philippines was released by the US part of which was used to redeem the Notes. 1985 By year-end, Imelda's Metro Manila Commission had managed to accumulate debts of Php 1.99 billion (which included $100 million in foreign loans) in its ten years of existence. Imelda had accomplished nothing and left the people embittered and even more disillusioned. The insurgents' ranks grew by twenty percent a year. Meritorious officers in the armed forces experienced low moral due to Marcos' penchant for promoting friends over more deserving officers. November 1985 Sen. Edward Kennedy, citing numerous reports of corruption at the highest levels of the Philippine government, asked the US General Accounting Office to investigate economic and military assistance programs to that country. Report? $92.5 million of non-project ESF aid could not be accounted for and the team could not state that $227 million in ESF funds were not misused. For instance, the National Electrification Administration padded a $1.45 million disaster relief fund for the rehabilitation of typhoon-wrecked power lines. They had submitted false vouchers amounting to $108,441.00. December 03, 1985 - February 19, 1986 During this time, just before the Edsa uprising, there were twenty wire transfers totaling $94 million to three Swiss banks - Banque Hoffman, Societe de Banque Suisse, and Union de Banque Suisse; one Swiss company - Transammonia AG; five foreign banks in Zurich and Geneva; and the Commerzbank in Luxembourg. Where did these monies come from? From the gold accounts abroad? The Central Bank has refused to answer this question. In fact all Central Bank bosses have attempted to bury the Central Bank losses along with the past by restructuring the old debt. How much was actually stolen and written off under the Special Accounts? And how much gold, if any, did Marcos steal from the international reserves? Is there any doubt that he looted the Central Bank? Well, then, where is the final tally of the loot? When Jobo bills were issued they were meant to complement the operations of the Binondo Central Bank that had been organized by Marcos and Ongpin to secure dollars to shore up official reserves. Ongpin assured the big dollar traders that they would find attractive use for the Philippine pesos despite the deteriorating conditions of the country because the Jobo bills were simply too attractive, with incredibly high interest rates. Absent money-laundering legislation it was not difficult for hot cash from all over to enter the Philippine financial system. Jobo's Far East Bank, Philamlife, and AIG meanwhile made a killing brokering the initial placement entry phases of these hot monies into the Philippine financial system. The short-term nature of the Jobo bills made an ideal cover for the layering phase of the money laundering process. "Heavy soaping", i.e. maturation of bills, reinvestment, and transformation into other financial instruments like dollars TTs (services provided by Far East Bank) was gladly facilitated. And all of this, naturally, was done at someone's expense - at the expense of Juan de la Cruz who must now bear on his shoulder the heavy cross or intertemporal burden of future taxes as the huge bankruptcy losses of the old CB is amortized into the economy flows. February 16, 1986 In Fe's records of monies paid out during Marcos' last campaign, one unusually large item was authorized by "FL" (First Lady) and paid to Assemblyman Arturo Pacificador on this day. A few days later, two carloads of men drove into San Jose, the provincial capital of Antique. Evelio Javier, head of Aquino's campaign, was watching the votes being counted when the men opened fire and killed Evelio after he was still able to run through town but finally got cornered in a public toilet where he was gunned down in front of shocked townspeople. Pacificador was later convicted of the murder. February 25, 1986 Marcos fled the Philippines leaving behind a foreign debt of $27 billion and a bureaucracy gone mad. "Cash advances" for the elections from the national treasury amounted to Php3.12 billion ($150 million). The Central Bank printed millions of peso bills, many with the same serial number. Sixty million pesos in newly printed bills were found in a vehicle owned by Imelda's brother Bejo in the Port Area of Manila, and another Php 100 million aboard the MV Legaspi also owned by Bejo Romualdez. How massive and humungus a loot Marcos took can be deduced from the known losses he left behind. The known losses he left at the Central Bank included $1.2 billion in missing reserves and $6 billion in the Special Accounts. Imelda charged off most of her spending sprees to the PNB or Philippine National Bank which creatively wrote off her debts as "unresponded transfers". Ver also used PNB funds to finance his "intelligence" operations. The known losses at the PNB amounted to Php72.1 billion At the DBP, the losses Marcos left behind totaled Php85 billion; at the Philguarantee, it was Php6.2 billion ; and at the NIDC or National Investment and Development Corporation (NDC) - the losses amounted to Php 2.8 billion. These losses were primarily due to cronyism - giving loans to cronies that had little or no collateral, whose corporations were undercapitalized, whose loan proceeds were not used for the avowed purpose, and where the practice of corporate layering was common, i.e. using two or more companies with the same incorporators and officers, whereby one company which gives the loan owns the company which obtains the loan, or similar arrangements. The cronies enjoyed their closeness to Marcos. With him they formed a Grand Coalition. They participated in the exercise of dictatorship. But Marcos owned them. The wealth of the cronies belonged to him. Because of the free rides taken by Imelda, Marcos and the cronies, the Philippine Airlines was in debt by $13.8 billion. The conservative Grand Total for losses Marcos left behind (and therefore the kind of loot he grabbed and hid) amounted to $17.1 billion. The Central Bank, the PNB, and other financial institutions badly need an audit. The special review (not regular audit because there seems not to have been any - there are no records anyway) did not uncover Imelda's spending - her name never appeared - and Ver's intelligence fund. The review gave no hint of theft or missing money, only "downward adjustments" and "proposed adjustments" to "deficiencies" and "shortages of money". February 26, 1986 A few hours after the Marcos party landed in Honolulu, their luggage arrived - 300 crates on board a C-141 cargo jet. It took twenty-five customs officers five hours to tag the bags and identify the contents. The process was videotaped because of all the money and jewelry found inside. There were 278 crates of jewelry and art worth an estimated US$5 million. Twenty-two crates contained more than Php27.7 million in newly minted currency, mostly hundred-peso denominations worth approximately US$1,270,000.00 (It was illegal for anyone to depart the Philippines carrying more than Php500 in cash. ) There were other certificates of deposit from Philippine banks worth about US$1 million, five handguns, 154 videotapes, seventeen cassette tapes, and 2,068 pages of documents - all of which were impounded by Customs. The Marcos party was allowed to keep only US$300,000.00 in gold and $150,000.00 in bearer bonds that they brought in with their personal luggage because they declared them and broke no US customs laws. There were 24 one-kilo gold bars fitted into a $17,000 hand-tooled Gucci briefcase with a solid gold buckle and a plaque on it that read, "To Ferdinand Marcos, from Imelda, on the Occasion of our 24th Wedding Anniversary." February 1986 When Marcos departed the Philippines, the losses in the three Central Bank accounts surpassed Php 122 billion (more than $6 billion). The big bulk of losses was attributed to the RIR account mainly due to two items: forward cover and swap contracts. Forward cover referred to foreign exchange provided by the CB at a fixed exchange rate to importers of essential commodities. Swap contracts referred to CB's receiving foreign exchange from banks in exchange for pesos at the prevailing rate with a promise to deliver the foreign exchange back to them at an agreed future date. There was no mention of losses due to CB transactions in gold or foreign exchange. February 28, 1986 On this day, Jim Burke, security expert from the US Embassy, was tapping on the wooden paneling in Imelda's abandoned Malacanang bedroom when he heard a hollow sound. It was the walk-in vault. Inside were thirty-five suitcases secured with locks and tape. They contained a treasure trove of documents about Swiss bank accounts, New York real estate, foundations in Vaduz, and some notepaper on which Marcos had practiced his William Saunders signature. They also contained jewelry valued at some US$10.5 million. March 16, 1986 Did Marcos steal any gold from the CB? The CB always refused to comment. Why? Today the LA Times reported that 6.325 metric tons of gold was unaccounted for in the Central Bank. Between 1978, the year Marcos ordered all gold producers to sell only to the CB, and end 1984, the Bureau of Mines reported that 124,234 pounds of gold were refined. But the CB reported receiving only 110,319 pounds during this same period. That left a difference of 13,915 pounds (6.325 metric tons). March 1986 Jokingly referring to themselves as the Office of National Revenge, a vigilante team led by Charlie Avila and Linggoy Alcuaz received a tip in the morning that Marcos' daughter Imee had kept a private office in the suburb of Mandaluyong at 82 Edsa. They obtained a search warrant, then rushed to Camp Crame to pick up some soldiers. After devising a plan, they boarded four cars and drove to the premises, arriving around midnight. The soldiers scaled a fence and sealed off the area. Avila, Alcuaz, and their men moved in and found documents in cardboard boxes, desks, and filing cabinets. Gunfire could be heard outside but it didn't deter the search. The documents revealed the names of offshore companies and overseas investments of Marcos and his cronies - a late link in the paper trail that had been started abroad by the teams of Avila, Steve Psinakis, Sonny Alvarez, Raul Daza, Boni Gillego, and Raul Manglapus. March 09, 1986 A Greek-American, Demetrios Roumeliotes, was stopped at the Manila International Airport before he could leave with eight large envelopes stuffed with jewelry that he admitted belonged to Imelda - valued at US$4.7 million. March 15, 1986 Ernie Maceda, Minister of Natural Resources, revealed today that some 7 to 14 tons of Philippine gold are sold to the Binondo Central Bank annually and then smuggled to Sabah, Malaysia - this gold being part of some 20 tons produced by 200,000 panners all over the country. Maceda's query was whether part of the gold they produced was siphoned to the "invisible gold hoard of Ms. Imelda R. Marcos." "We deliver to the Central Bank," the miners said. "If it happened (the siphoning), it happened in the Central Bank." March 17, 1986 The Archdiocese of San Francisco in California announced that they had uncovered a gold deal involving 5,000 tons of gold bullion allegedly connected to the government of deposed president Marcos. March 19, 1986 Michael de Guzman flew into Honolulu and talked to Irwin Ver who brought him to Marcos, Imelda and Bongbong. Calls were made to Zurich - to Ernst Scheller of Credit Suisse. Marcos prepared two letters of authority. Mike was their last hope to withdraw the moneys from the Swiss banks. Marcos had tried to on March 21 but was prevented because of the freeze order of the Swiss authorities. So on March 24th Mike de Guzman tried his luck. No luck. He tried it again May 7th. Still the banks refused because of the freeze order. Mike knew it was time to go back home - to the new Philippine government. He offered to help them get the Marcos deposits in return for a fee. Supporting Mike was Ibrahim Dagher, a Lebanese businessman. They had identified one account for $213 million and eleven foundations that held a total of $4.5 billion in deposits in nine different banks with an additional $3 billion in precious metals and securities on deposit - or a tentative total of $7.5 billion. Operation Big Bird had commenced with Mike de Guzman, Col. Joe Almonte and Charlie Avila operating. In the end, however, Big Bird would not - could not - fly because the government had strong doubts about the integrity of de Guzman, understandably, despite the guarantees built in to the operation to prevent any treachery. April 1986 Julie Amargo, having obtained a duplicate copy of the KLM cargo airway bill of 9 September 1983 asked the PCGG to investigate and pinpoint the persons behind the shipment. In response the CB published, 2 months later, an article about "locations swaps" done to "beef up liquidity at a time when the CB was having difficulty meeting its foreign exchange payments." The article was an exercise in obfuscation. It spoke of a total of 30 shipments for location swaps between 1981 December 21 and 1986 July 30 wherein a total of 6,081 bars were shipped out. Of course, the majority of the shipments, 27/30, occurred during the Marcos regime. But the article was not clear on how much were the actual sales aside from the September 9, 1983 shipment. And the press, not the CB, reported the shipment. To add to the confusion, the CB, when asked, admitted there were other gold shipments during the Marcos regime in addition to the location swaps but CB could not provide further information. April 1986 An Australian broker in Sydney said that T.C.B. Andrew Tan had offered to sell 2,000 tons of gold just before Marcos' downfall. Tan had told the broker the gold was part of the spoils of war taken by the Japanese in WWII. The gold talks continued. June 05, 1986 A U.S. judge ordered Customs to release Marcos' money, jewelry, and belongings. Then a timely government appeal prevented the implementation of the order. The Marcoses were being charged by the Attorney General in New York of violations of the RICO (Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations) statue. The Philippine government followed suit by filing several civil cases in the U.S. Subpoenas began to arrive. Ver decided to leave, flying out of the country on a fake passport. And quietly Marcos put out the word. Find another safe haven. He wasn't welcome anywhere unfortunately. There was nowhere to go. He became a target for con men who made a lot of promises and asked for a lot of money. July 1986 Marcos admitted to lawyers that four Philippine government agencies - National Intelligence Security Authority (NISA), Intelligence Section of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP), and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) targeted oppositionists in exile and other anti-Marcos organizations for intelligence and counter-intelligence operations through military attaches in the Philippine embassy and their consulates. Also, using the Freedom of Information Act, lawyers obtained 400 pages of documents from US intelligence agencies related to US-Philippine intelligence dealings. They showed the CIA, FBI, and US government officials had knowledge of Ver's intelligence activities in the US and extended him full cooperation. August 12, 1986 The global freeze on the Marcos loot was not totally effective. P.A.L.Vine who managed Marcos' two trust accounts at Standard Chartered Hong Kong Trustee LTD. Received instructions from Marcos and remitted $708,000 to the law firm of Anderson, Hibey, Manheim and Blair, Marcos Attorneys' in Washington DC. How much more Marcos was able to move after the freeze may never be known. August 28, 1986 An NBI informant posing as a buyer saw ninety 75-kilogram gold bars in an apartment building in Quezon City owned by Jonathan de la Cruz, an aide of Bongbong Marcos. That's about 6.76 metric tons or almost the same amount of gold missing and written of in the L.A. Times March 16th issue. And here is a longer list of questions: In 1973 reserves dropped from 1,857,000 ounces (52.75 metric tons) to 1,057,000 ounces. The CB claimed 800,000 ounces were sold. Assuming an annual production of 30 metric tons, what about the gold produced that year? From 1974-1977, gold reserves stayed at exactly the same figure of 1,056,000 ounces. Again, what about the four years of production totaling approximately 120 metric tons? Gold reserves began another steady annual rise in 1978. From then until 1980 they gradually increased to 1,900,000 ounces, or an average of about 8 metric tons a year. What about the other 22 metric tons annually totaling 66 tons? In 1981, reserves took a dip, to 1,650,000 ounces, a drop of 7.1 metric tons, which was sold. But another 30 metric tons should have been produced. Reserves rose by 6.1 metric tons in 1982, to 1,866,000 ounces. That left 23.9 metric tons unaccounted for. In 1983 they dropped to 289,000 ounces, a decrease of 44.8 metric tons from the year before, which was sold. What about the 30 metric tons produced? In 1984 they rose to 786,000 ounces, an increase of 14.1 metric tons. That left 15.9 metric tons unaccounted for. In 1985 they rose to 1,478,000 ounces, an increase of 19.7 metric tons. That left 10,3 metric tons unaccounted for. Marcos departed in February 1986. Is it true that Marcos propagated the Yamanutsa myth to hide the fact that he looted the Central Bank, that its gold bars were melted down and recast in odd-size bars to make them look old (how does gold look old, anyway?). Marcos claimed that he "received the surrender of Gen. Yamanutsa" after a battle with his guerrilla outfit. History has recorded that Yamanutsa surrendered to Lt. Co. Aubrey Smith Kenworthy and that there was no battle. Yamanutsa's peaceful surrender had been arranged at least two weeks before the event. In one entry in Marcos' diary he noted, "I often wonder what I will be remembered for in history. Scholar? Military hero…?" In a supreme irony, he did achieve what he so vainly sought - lasting fame - but not in the way he envisioned: The largest human rights case in history - 10,000 victims. Guinness Book of Records - the world's greatest thief. The largest monetary award in history - $22 billion. September 30, 1986 Questioned by Philippine and US lawyers about his hidden wealth, Marcos took the Fifth Amendment 197 times. Imelda followed suit - 200 times. July 09, 1987 Congressman Solarz exposes Marcos' many plans to organize a loyalist army and take Cory Aquino hostage and in any other way return to power. Marcos assured would-be financiers for his prospective adventures that he had $500 million in bank accounts in Switzerland and $14 billion in gold secretly buried in several different places in the Philippines which could be used as collateral. When asked about the gold, Marcos would always become vague. At first he implied he got the gold from the Central Bank through collusion with a former governor now deceased. He said, " It is my money but it, I borrowed it from these people who were buy, who were buying the gold…" November 1987 Sen. Nene Pimentel exposed the way the Central Bank "cooked the books". It used a double-entry accounting system, with the losses in the Special Accounts reflected as assets in the CB's monthly statement of its condition. He said this ran counter to accepted accounting principles. Pimentel also wanted to know why Jobo allowed the overprinting of paper money, including the printing of peso bills with the same serial number, which led to massive overspending during the snap elections. No one knew exactly how much had been printed. Nonetheless Jobo and the CB were not saying. Under the CB Charter, as governor he was in charge of the gold. He could sell it at any price, at any time, to any buyer, and no one could question him, not even members of Congress. Fernandez was also criticized for not divesting himself of his shares in the Far East Bank which he was required to do by law. It was no secret that since he became governor the overall position of Far East Bank had risen dramatically. March 1988 In meetings with presidential uncle Komong Sumulong and presidential cousin Ding Tanjuatco, Marcos presented a proposal. If he and his family were allowed to go home, he would give $15 billion to the Philippine government: five billion for infrastructure, another five to reduce the country's foreign debt and $5 billion to Aquino's family for the suffering they endured. Tanjuatco was amused no end at Marcos' studied ability to talk to him like he was an old acquaintance - which he certainly was not. July 11, 1988 Marcos confided to Allen Weinstein of the Center for Democracy that he would prove his sincerity by immediately transferring the Swiss bank accounts under dispute to the Philippine government. When this became public Marcos denied he ever made the offer. December 08, 1988 Marcos was asking Enzo (Zobel) for a loan of $250-million. Enzo said he didn't have that kind of money but asked how the loan would be repaid if he could arrange it. Marcos asked his nurse, Teresita Gallego, to fetch a folder - an inch and a half thick and full of deposit certificates for gold stored in various banks all over the world - Switzerland, Monaco, the Vatican, the Bahamas, and other places. Zobel knew Marcos had been flying gold out of the country since martial law began and there were no more checks on any of his actions. As a pilot in the air force reserve, Enzo had a lot of friends that flew and talked about flying C-130 aircraft loaded with gold to Zurich. 1988 Nandeng Pedrosa, son of the former finance secretary, was in Taipei as a consultant when he met Robert Kerkez who was trying to negotiate a deal involving a gold certificate for 50 metric tons of gold. In Manila, the PCGG invited a retired colonel and two foreigners for questioning. They were allegedly engaged in trading huge volumes of gold bars believed to be part of Marcos' gold hoard. Kerkez was one of the foreigners. The other was Ibrahim Dagher. 1989 Sen. Maceda asked the senate to conduct an inquiry to determine how much gold was bought and produced by the CB in the last ten years, how much gold was sold, at what price, and what persons were involved in the transactions. December 1989 An American jury found the Marcos estate liable for $15 million in the killing of anti-Marcos activists Gene Viernes and Silme Domingo. Manglapus, Psinakis, Gillego and other erstwhile exile oppositionists testified at the trial. 1990 Joey Cuisia took over from Jobo as CB governor, on Jobo Fernandez' recommendation (affinity group of Far East Bank, AIG, Philamlife etc.). During hearings conducted by the Senate Committee on Banks he refused to answer Senators Romulo and Saguisag how much the country owed its top thirty lenders. On further questioning, he admitted that not even the president (Cory), much less the cabinet, was informed about certain details of the foreign debt. The finding by a government-commissioned UN study that the Central Bank was bankrupt had been kept from the president by NEDA and the Dept. of Finance. It was disgruntled employees at NEDA that leaked the information to the press. March 27, 1990 Another gold deal surfaced. Threatened with a hold order form the PCGG that would not allow him to leave the country, British national Geoffrey Greenlees admitted he was arranging a purchase of gold and produced a tree-page Memorandum which called for Preliminary purchase Agreement involving not 2,000 metric tons but "1000 m/t rolling over up to 190000 M/T (AU). He said the deal was initiated in Manila when a lady, Margaret Tucker, introduced him to a Filipino attorney, Victor Santos, who represented the sellers. The name Margaret Tucker grabbed the government's full attention. That was the alias used in Europe by Edna Camcam, girlfriend of Fabian Ver. December 21, 1990 The Swiss Federal Tribunal (i.e. Supreme Court) affirmed the sequestration request of 7. All bank accounts identified as belonging to Marcos or Imelda remained frozen. With accumulated interest, the account originally identified by Operation Big Bird now amounted to a total of $356 million. May 1991 PCGG's David Castro announced that 325 metric tons of gold valued at $3.5 billion, which had been smuggled out of the Philippines by Marcos, had been found in Switzerland. The bars bore the Central Bank of the Philippines hallmark and were kept in the storage vault of a bonded warehouse managed by Union Bank at the J.M.Kloten airport near Zurich. The gold was in vault number 88-RW-RP and the account number was G-72570367-d-UBS. Later Castro produced documents showing the serial numbers of gold bars which were released by the Central Bank's minting plant for shipment in 1983 and 1984. These bars were not part of the Central Bank's official inventory. He showed a copy of the receipt for the bars signed by Tomas Rodriguez, operations manager of Tamaraw Security Agency. Tamaraw was owned by Ver. Castro also said he had interviewed one of the pilots who flew the bars to Switzerland after Ninoy was murdered in 1983.
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Post by alefdracon on Dec 6, 2012 5:15:20 GMT 4
November 04, 1991 Today, a Sunday, the circus came to town. The Swiss Federal Tribunal had ruled the year before that the Philippine government must comply with the European Convention o Human Rights, especially due process. There had to be a lawsuit filed within one year. Thus, the solicitor general's office filed all sorts of cases against Imelda and the government had to allow her to return to answer the charges. "I come home penniless," she tearfully said on arrival. She then repaired to her suite at the Philippine Plaza Hotel which cost $2,000 a day and rented sixty rooms for her entourage - American lawyers, American security guards and American PR firms. December 1991 The Central Bank had accumulated losses of Php324 billion in the Special Accounts. June 26, 1992 Imelda and Bongbong on the one hand and PCGG's Castro on the other hand, after a 12-hour marathon session, signed a main agreement and two sub-agreements on the Marcos wealth and the government's prosecution of the Marcos estate - agreements that were rejected by Gunigundo a few days later after the latter took over the PCGG from Castro. September 1992 Marcos was found guilty of violating the human rights of 10,000 victims. The ruling occurred just after a judge found Imee Marcos-Manotoc guilty of the torture and murder of Archimedes Trajano, a 21 year old engineering student at Mapua who had the temerity to ask Imee after a speech she gave whether the Kabataang Barangay (a national youth group) "must be headed by the president's daughter?" November 30, 1992 The Central Bank < prsi.homepage.com/cb.html > losses were Php561 billion and climbing. Cuisia asked that the CB be restructured. Sen. Romulo asked to see the 1983 audit of the international reserves. He couldn't get a copy. It was "restricted". January 05, 1993 Imelda didn't show up for the scheduled signing of a new PCGG agreement. She kept vacillating on the terms and conditions - demanding she be allowed to travel abroad for thirty-three days to confer with bank officials in Switzerland, Austria, Hong Kong and Morocco to work out the transfer of the frozen funds. Actually she was hoping a guy she had authorized, J.T.Calderon, would be able to move the funds just as the order was lifted, before the government had a chance to transfer them to Manila. When the government discovered the authority, all negotiations with Imelda were halted and her requests for travel suspended. June 14, 1993 R.A.7653 created the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The old CB became the CB-Board of Liquidators in order to wind up its affairs. The new BSP assumed only Php280.8 billion of the old CB's total liabilities of Php612 billion. As part of its "cleansing the books", BSP wrote off its recorded investment of $7.0 million in Triad Asia Limited. This was placed as time deposit in 1985, was allegedly transferred to National Commercial Bank of Jeddah but remained unconfirmed by the latter since 1986. The BSP's loss in International Reserves in this investment was $8,640,243.69. August 10, 1993 Georges Philippe, a Swiss lawyer of Imelda, wrote today a confidential letter to the Marcoses' old Swiss lawyer, Bruno de Preux, who handled almost all of the Marcos family's hidden accounts in Switzerland. Philippe requested de Preux for the status of: A $750 million account with United Mizrahi Bank in Zurich; Various currency and gold deposits at the Union Bank of Switzerland, at Kloten airport and at Credit Suisse; A $356 million account (now in escrow and worth almost $600 million) which was being claimed by the PCGG. January 05, 1993 Imelda didn't show up for the scheduled signing of a new PCGG agreement. She kept vacillating on the terms and conditions - demanding she be allowed to travel abroad for thirty-three days to confer with bank officials in Switzerland, Austria, Hong Kong and Morocco to work out the transfer of the frozen funds. Actually she was hoping a guy she had authorized, J.T.Calderon, would be able to move the funds just as the order was lifted, before the government had a chance to transfer them to Manila. When the government discovered the authority, all negotiations with Imelda were halted and her requests for travel suspended. June 14, 1993 R.A.7653 created the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The old CB became the CB-Board of Liquidators in order to wind up its affairs. The new BSP assumed only Php280.8 billion of the old CB's total liabilities of Php612 billion. As part of its "cleansing the books", BSP wrote off its recorded investment of $7.0 million in Triad Asia Limited. This was placed as time deposit in 1985, was allegedly transferred to National Commercial Bank of Jeddah but remained unconfirmed by the latter since 1986. The BSP's loss in International Reserves in this investment was $8,640,243.69. August 10, 1993 Georges Philippe, a Swiss lawyer of Imelda, wrote today a confidential letter to the Marcoses' old Swiss lawyer, Bruno de Preux, who handled almost all of the Marcos family's hidden accounts in Switzerland. Philippe requested de Preux for the status of: A $750 million account with United Mizrahi Bank in Zurich; Various currency and gold deposits at the Union Bank of Switzerland, at Kloten airport and at Credit Suisse; A $356 million account (now in escrow and worth almost $600 million) which was being claimed by the PCGG. 1994 The human rights jury awarded the victims $1.2 billion in exemplary damages, then $766.4 million in compensatory damages a year after that, for a total of $1.964 billion. Two days after, another $7.3 million was awarded to twenty-one Filipinos in a separate lawsuit. 1995 The US Supreme Court upheld the $1.2 billion judgment. March 29, 1995 The Swiss Parliament passed a law (an amendment to a previous act) that removed the need for a final judgment of criminal conviction of the accused (such as the Marcoses ) in the case of criminally acquired assets which could now therefore be returned to claimants (such as the Philippine government) by Swiss court order. August 14, 1995 The PCGG, through Chair Magtanggol Gunigundo, and the PNB, through trust officer Jose V. Ferro, entered into a so-called 'escrow agreement' in anticipation of a possible order by Zurich District Attorney Peter Cosandey to transfer the Marcos Swiss deposits to be held in escrow in the Philippines. This transfer was now deemed possible on account of the March 29, 1995 Swiss Parliament act. The escrow agreement, however, appeared irregular in the view of former PCGG Chair Jovito R. Salonga in that there was no actual deposit of funds, stock or personal property. Without an escrow deposit in an escrow account to be held by the depositor in the PNB, there can be no escrow agreement to talk about, Salonga opined. In fact, the so-called escrow agreement stated in Section 1: "Certain funds (the Escrow Funds) will be delivered and deposited in accordance with an order by Examining Magistrate Peter Cosandey...into an account of the Escrow Agent." This made the agreement, at best, a pre-escrow agreement similar to a pre-incorporation agreement entered into in anticipation of a future delivery and deposit of escrow funds which did not exist in August 1995. Salonga emphasized that the escrow was irregular because, supposedly made by the PCGG, the latter was not in control or possession of the Marcos Swiss deposits at the time of the Agreement as it still is not in control or possession of the said funds up to today. This is legally absurd, Salonga said: to make a claimant, not in control of the funds, the source of the escrow deposit. July 1996 In part because of the torture of Roger Roxas, $22 billion was awarded to his Golden Budha Corporation. December 10, 1997 The Swiss Supreme Court promulgated a landmark decision that took into account the March 1995 Swiss Parliament act and the fact that new criminal cases had been filed against Imelda Marcos. The court held that there was no need for any criminal proceeding; that a civil or administrative proceeding would suffice, and the Marcos Swiss deposits which had been "criminally acquired" can be returned to the Philippines in deference to the final judgment of the Philippine court as to the ownership of these deposits. The Swiss court also announced that the interest and reputation of Switzerland was at stake if it would become a haven for money launderers laundering money obtained by crime. Therefore, in the case of the Marcos deposits, because "the illegal source of the assets in this case cannot be doubted" the Swiss court ordered that the money be returned to the Philippines to be held in escrow account in the PNB to await the judgment of the Sandiganbayan in the forfeiture case. As columnist Neal H Cruz accurately put it: "What the PCGG and the PNB should have done, after the receipt of the [Swiss court] landmark decision, was to make sure that: (1) there was a genuine escrow agreement with the funds which the Swiss Supreme Court made available to the Philippines on December 10, 1997; (2) between the Swiss government or its duly authorized representative, on the one hand, (not the PCGG) and the PNB, on the other, inasmuch as the PCGG, a claimant, could not possibly qualify as a depositor of the escrow funds it did not possess, much less control." Why did this not happen? The reason, according to Salonga,was that the parties to the irregular escrow agreement were hoping that a previous (December 1993) compromise deal between them and the Marcoses - hatched in secrecy and born of false hopes - would be considered valid. December 09, 1998 The Philippine Supreme Court held that the "compromise settlement" between the PCGG and the Marcoses was illegal and void. The court held that the stipulation to drop the pending criminal cases against the Marcoses was an encroachment on judicial power; that the PCGG had no authority to compromise with the Marcoses, the principals in the ill-gotten wealth cases; and that the PCGG had no competence under the Constitution to grant tax exemption to the Marcos family. The Marcoses filed a motion for reconsideration with the Supreme Court. May 20, 1999 The Philippine Supreme Court denied with finality the Marcoses' motion for reconsideration of the December 9, 1998 ruling against the PCGG compromise agreement. Meanwhile, the new Estrada administration tried to forge a compromise settlement with the Marcoses on the Marcos Swiss deposits supposedly held in escrow in the PNB as the target. All sorts of excuses were invented but to no avail because of the Supreme Court's final decision. July 16, 1999 In a seven-page pre-trial brief, the PCGG at long last asked the Sandiganbayan to confiscate the ill-gotten wealth of Bobby Ongpin, the estates of Marcos and Ver, and that of the operators of the Binondo Central Bank who "engaged in the buying of millions of US dollars and bringing the same out of the country for deposit in foreign banks, thereby obtaining millions of dollars for themselves and for Marcos to the grave damage and prejudice of the Filipino people." The PCGG asked the court to let the BCB operators pay Php51 billion in moral damages for defrauding the Filipino people. Other defendants include Edna Camcam, Ver's mistress, and Vinnie James Yu of the Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp. (Pasar) which entered into a joint venture with the HK-based Triad Asia Ltd where millions of dollars were remitted to the damage and prejudice of the government and the Filipino people. Some $5 to $8 million exchanged hands daily at the BCB, with some $5 million salted away in private jets or regular commercial flights with military escorts, and where, on many occasions, gold bullion was part of the precious cargo. In an earlier confession, Bobby Ongpin said that dollars unsold by the Binondo Central Bank were sold to PASAR which in turn sold the excess dollars to the Central Bank. He did not explain why the dollars took the roundabout route that presumably gave PASAR huge profits. Or was this in exchange for the acquisition (by whom?) of the gold and silver side-produced by the PASAR copper smelting plants? In any case the Chinese Central Bankers were allowed a spread or profit of 20 centavos per dollar traded and Ongpin said that before BCB's cessation, the participants earned hundreds of millions of pesos in profits. However, he emphasized, he committed no illegal acts. He swears that his scheme added $400 million to the CB foreign exchange reserves and the Filipino people should all be grateful to him for it. For now, anyway, the PCGG does not think so. Bobby Ongpin, as former minister of Trade and Industry and Chairman of the Board of Directors of National Development Company (NDC) and Vinnie James Yu, as former Assistant General Manager of NDC and Treasurer of the Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corporation (PASAR), taking advantage of their positions and in unlawful collaboration with Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, entered into a joint venture known as Triad Asia Limited with Triad Holding Corporation, to which the government was obligated to contribute US$500,000 as equity, but Ongpin and Yu actually remitted to Triad Asia Limited, using NDC and PASAR resources, an aggregate of US$10,640,000. Is Triad Asia Limited in anyway connected with the notorious Triads of Hong Kong? Triads were originally created as secret societies and brotherhoods. The purpose of these societies was to overthrow the unpopular ruler. During the 18th and 19th centuries, there were many new secret Chinese societies founded, but they were not concerned as much in overthrowing the ruler as in terrorizing and robbing the citizens. During the first half of the 20th century, the Triads took root in Hong Kong. These were plain criminal organizations and after the political crackdown in 1956 the Triads became much less structured. The triads spread quickly throughout the Chinese community in Hong Kong. They soon controlled the streets by prostitution, gambling, etc. as they gained more power and made more connections, the Hong Kong Triads grew very strong and could now start with such things as extortion. A lot of people in the police force were also bribed; Chinese as well as English. As time went by new ways of making money appeared, mainly drug trafficking, selling copies of luxury goods and selling private software. The modern Hong Kong Triads just want to make money out of their criminal activities. Today (as before), the main criminal activities are extortion, drug-handling, loan-sharking credit and card-fraud and video piracy. And for now, in fact, activist investigators started looking at the origins and nature of Belle Resources Corporation which had been awarded the right to conduct electronic gambling (Bingo!) nationwide and the allegation that this was all BCB money returning home to grow. July 17, 1999 Following the Supreme Court doctrine, the Sandiganbayan now also denied a motion for the government to enter into a partial compromise settlement of $150 million with human rights victims which, it was hoped by the Estrada administration, would pave the way for the bigger compromise settlement on the balance of the Marcos deposits. As expected, a motion for reconsideration was filed by the parties involved. August 10, 1999 Senator Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel, Chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, opened the probe today into the $13.2 billion "I. Arenetta" account and the Marcos gold hoard even as in faraway Switzerland another investigation was about to start - concerning the alleged conspiracy and money laundering activities of Swiss officials in connection with the secret Marcos cash and gold accounts. October 1999 The Sandiganbayan threw out with finality the motion for reconsideration on a proposed partial compromise settlement of Marcos moneys in favor of human rights victims. At the same time, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee discovered that what had been assumed to be true and indisputable, viz. the $590 million (now $602 million) held in escrow in the PNB - is false. The simple truth pointed out by Salonga now became clear: the PCGG, a claimant without any escrow deposit, could not and cannot legally enter into an escrow agreement with the PNB. Realizing there was no way out, President Estrada also declared with alleged finality that "there is no, and there will not be, any out-of-court settlement with the Marcos family." The "ball" is now in the solo court of the Sandiganbayan which should finish and decide the forfeiture suit pending before it since 1991!!!! Or are they waiting for a future forum of constitutional amendments - the only valid forum above settled Supreme Court doctrines? Is the "Concord" or the "Cha-cha" which was never in the mind of Estrada during the campaign for the presidency (in fact he was ostensibly against it) not an inspiration coming form the side of the Marcoses to make the necessary corrections of who or what agency can enter into compromise settlements with them, etc.? Is it any wonder the administration is insisting we believe their claim that their idea of constitution-amending is purely focused on "economic" provisions - ostensibly about allowing foreigners to own land but really to include provisions, first of all, on the most significant economic area in the country, viz. the Marcos loot?? October 27, 1999 Industrialist Enrique Zobel showed investigating senators Pimentel and Flavier of the Blue Ribbon Committee a copy of a US treasury deposit certificate worth $161 million which he said belonged to Marcos. Zobel estimated the Marcos wealth to be worth around $100 billion, including $35 billion worth of gold certificates which the late dictator had showed him in October 1988. The two senators had gone to Hawaii to depose Zobel as a third party who possessed "information, documents and other related papers and instruments" on the still-hidden assets of the late strongman. On the "thick folder" containing gold deposit certificates in places all over the world amounting to more than $35 billion based on the prevailing market price of $400 per ounce, Zobel said: "I felt they were authentic. There was no question about that. I scanned through the certificates. I was openly interested in the number of ounces and the location, and the locations were all over the world." One commentator present at this testimony remarked:"Enzo did his duty by the Filipino people the best way he knows how. That his blue eyes come with a Batangas accent and humor to match just about sums up the worth of this man's Filipinoness. The worth of his testimony is however a little more difficult to establish." 2000 Where have all the moneys gone? Long time passing. Where have all the treasures gone? Long time ago. ends
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Post by alefdracon on Dec 6, 2012 5:15:57 GMT 4
APPENDIX 8
The following is extracted from Eric A. San Juan's book "Marcos Legacy Revisited," courtesy of "Dirk." The preamble and after word is by, author San Juan and the letter itself does exist and was circulated in the "market" soon after it was written.
Since the search for the so-called Marcos fortune began, the nation has been treated to all sorts of reports about cash being stashed in the banks of Switzerland, and gold bullion at Fort Knox, the Bank of England and many places in the Philippines. The diggings at Fort Santiago sanctioned by no less than President Aquino's national security adviser showed how much the government put its faith in the story of the hidden gold treasure.
The diggings have stopped but unknown to the public, a small group of men continues to operate at People's Television 4 station under the tutelage of Conrado Limcaoco Jr, for no higher purpose than to pursue leads about the Yamanutsa treasure with the assistance of Noel Soriano, the National Security Adviser of Cory Aquino.
In the last failed coup, military rebels claimed to have carted away from PTV-4 documents pertaining to this gold search. On the basis of these papers, the Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabayan-Soldiers Of the Filipino People-Young Officers Union claimed that the Limcaoco group had recovered some gold and had gathered facts that lead them to believe the Yamanutsa treasure exists, but they appeared determined to hide this from the Filipino people.
Limcaoco denies the charges. But he does not deny the existence of his work and what he has been doing. He says that the group's task is to evaluate every bit of inforwhation that comes along, without prejudging it.
Most of what comes along is mind-boggling, but Limcaoco says he is not prepared to reject anything.
Based on the group's work, an October 10, 1989, Limcaoco's staff prepared the draft of a report to President Aquino, which proposes to tell all. Limcaoco says he never signed the letter, and that it was not sent at all. But even without the final signature and without it having been sent, the letter reads better than a story, whether factual or fictional.
The following is Limcaoco's letter to Mrs. Aquno:
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
10 October 1989
CORAZON C. AQUINO President of the Philippines Malacanang, Manila
Dear Mrs. President,
I have never waivered in my commitment to serve you and our people over the past few years. Even in our bleakest moments, I was confident we would triumph -- and thus far, we have.
In the course of tracking down the right-wing military adventurists a task which is continuing, we have unearthed a story -- parts of which you may have heard before -- but which we feel deserves a serious second glance at this particular historical conjuncture. I ask you to please read through this report personally and not show or pass it on to other officials of this govemment until we have had the chance to meet, should you feel such a meeting is necessary after going through this. Please suspend your judgment and disbelief and know that this report was written after much in-depth intelligence work and soul-searching on my part.
I. Background/Premises
Our work thus far supports the contention that the Yamanutsa treasure does exist and appears to be the basis for the Marcos' hidden wealth. What has been recovered and sequestered to date is not even the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
Over 90% of the worlds legal and illegal gold production were in Asia at the outbreak of World War II. Why? History will tell us why. From the galleon trade where spices and silk were traded for gold and other precious metals to the days before World War II when the Europeans, fearing a war in the West, moved their gold to their Asian colonies and former colonies for safekeeping. Thus, England moved their gold to Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia -France to Vietnam, and so forth. The rest you know. The Japanese brought the gold here and had to leave it here as they retreated in defeat
From 1967 to 1973, Cipirino Garcia Sta. Romana found some of this gold and began shipping it out of the country mostly to the PROC. In 1973/4, Sta. Romana signed a power of attorney over the gold to Marcos. More of the treasure was found with the help of treasuro maps, foreign treasure hunters and the AFP (many of the retired generals now in Hawaii) in subsequent years. It was either (1) shipped out as is, (2) laundered via the Central Bank reminting facilities and through other means and then shipped out, or (3) reburied under the custodianship of trusted subalterns or heirs. Further, there reportedly is still 35-37% of the treasure still to be discovered -- which the likes of Noel Soriano and company have set their eyes on.
II. The Global Implications
There is a forty (40) year period within which another country may claim treasure/property taken from it with another country. This period lapsed in November 1985.
An interesting question is -- who owns the gold? Or better still -- who wants the gold? Technically, now the people of the Philippines can lay some claim to the gold, assuming Marcos was not an innocent "finder" or "treasure hunter" entitled to a share, but instead used his position and influence to find it, ship it out, and even sell some of it. To answer the question --
The countries of Europe want the gold! They believe much of it was theirs to begin with. They want or need it so much they are even willing to buy some of it back. A 1983/84 sale we are reconstructing indicates that the 11 monarchs of Europe syndicated a deal involving over 120 banks with the Bank of England as the lead bank to buy back some of the gold. This transaction is known by the code JOB/HK/25 which I will detail later.
The 12 Asian countries conquered and plundered by Japan in World War II want the gold! They believe they have a stake in this as it was from their countries that the Japanese took it from. Marcos struck deals with many of these Asian countries. He shipped back some of the gold to them in return for a share in the booty. For example, the gold shipped back to Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and India are reportedly split now at 70% of the particular country and 30% for Marcos. Japan allegedly has been promised 50% of Marcos 30% in these Asian settlements. Mrs. Yamanutsa has alleged shares in some of the gold stock in Asia. I will also detail this later in this report.
The United States of America wants some of the gold! The US had virtually no gold of its own to begin with. They need it to back their currency and to stave off economic difficulties. Marcos shipped large stocks of gold to the USA. Marcos allegedly committed to sell 300,000 metric tons of the gold to the US. Obviously, the Asian countries and the Europeans would look with displeasure at this -- if they knew about it or could prove it We have evidence that at least 2 major sales were negotiated with CIA and US Treasury front organizations in 1983/4 and 1984/5. One of these transactions in 1984/5 codenamed YAB42 was apparently aborted because of a difference in payment terms. The US offered 20% in cash and 80% in US government securities.
Marcos wanted 80% in cash and 20% in securities. The amount involved is staggering. A taped conversation with one of the buyer negotiators indicate that senior executive officials of the US Government during the period had to get Congressional approval to increase the US foreign debt to accommodate this deal. As late as mid-1986, US officials were trying to convince Marcos to conclude the deal in Hawaii. In 1987, feelers from their front organizations -- e.g., Navegacion Global's Mr. Bullock were sent to this government (A letter from Mr. Bullock was received by Malacanang Records Office last October 8, 1987 and is enclosed as Annex A). I believe some of our people may have even sat with Mr Bullock. I do not think they knew what Bullock vas really up to -- or understood or believed him if he told them. We allegedly have gold sitting in US depositories -- which the US government wants badly. They reportedly cannot release their new "rainbow dollar" (multicolored dollar bills) that are already printed without this gold to back it up.
III. The Marcos Scheme of Things
Marcos compartmentalized this whole operation so that very few could piece it all together. We have managed to assemble quite a number of Marcos' real operating people -- those that shipped the gold out, found the buyers, negotiated the transactions We are slowy piecing the puzzle together.
For each Marcos account, whether in cash or in bullion, these are assigned trustees and signatories -- some of whom do not even know each other. There are secret bank/depository arrangements such as access code and security countersigns.
Before his death, Marcos organized what is called THE UMBRELLA, a network of 54 people whose task is to manage these assets in the event of his death. In theory, the umbrella, not Mrs. Marcos or his children would execute his will. At least two members of the umbrella's inner core of about one dozen are already working with us. The umbrella has never been tested in action before. Marcos has never died before. Those who now work with me tell me that the chairman of the umbrella is a very decent man who can be talked to on behalf of our nation. Apparently, there is no sharp cleavage between this group (family, heirs, followers, etc.) and Imelda's. Most of what we know is FM's not Imelda's. It is doubtful that even she would know all of FM's holdings. The destabilization efforts will most probably come from Imelda's camp not surprisingly. Marcos is reported to have revised his will a few months before he died, asking former Solicitor General Estelito Mendoza to Hawaii for this purpose. Imelda was reportedly vehemently against the revision. We are trying, through the umbrella, to get a copy of this will.
Exactly how much gold is involved? The estimates vary, and understandably so because of the complex shipping procedures and the compartmentalized nature of the operation.
I have seen documents saying that the gold under the control of the umbrella (there are smaller stocks not reported to or controlled by the umbrella) is in the neighborhood of 1.33 million metric tons (MT). Whether one believes this figure or a lessor figure is not material given the magnitude of the entire scenario. One metric ton of gold is worth about $11 million. The Phippines' annual gold production is estimated at between 40-60 metric tons The world's "legal" annual gold production, which is regulated by the London gold cartel so as not to upset gold pricesas well as the value of currencies of the world, is estimated at between 1,200 to 1,400 metric tons.
So, where is the gold? How much of it have we traced thus far?
IV. Where Is It?
Our sources have pinpointed the locations, volume, and details of many of the Marcos and Imelda gold accounts around the world.
We have left out the volume figures for countries other than the United States which are relevant for understanding points raised in other sections of the report We do have the detailed breakdown of these other accounts in the other countries but thought it best to omit these for now. The volume/amounts involved are staggering and may be subject to misinterpretation There is admittedly a possibility in some instances of double-counting an entry because of the process of shipping and laundering the gold from one country to another. We can present the figures per country and per bank should you wish to see them.
Whatever volume figures are ultimately believed or proven, the magnitude remains astounding. The gold was shipped out in a span of more than a decade from the late sixties to the mid-eighties. In the later frenzied stages from 1983-85, all forms of transport were used from commercial and chartered ocean vessels and aircraft to the military aircraft of the Philippines.
A. Asia
1. PROC -- in various depositories in Southern China & Switzerland; joint IRM/FM stock
-- an amount allegedly given to Mao Tse Tung by IRM, 1973, now with Madam Mao
2. Singapore -- in three banks in Singapore; banks and signatories identified
-- an amount reportedly given to Lee Kuan Yew by IRM in 1975, now in Tatlee Bank, Singapore
3. Malaysia -- in Bank Negara (Central bank), shipped 1973
4. Indonesia -- in at least 4 banks in Jakarta, 9,600 MT sold in 1987 for FM to Union Bank of Switzerland
5. India -- in various depositories; one 94 year-old trustee identified
6. Hong Kong -- in 10 Hong Kong banks; banks, signatories, account numbers, etc. identified
7. Marianas -- in private storage, IRM's stock; trustee identified
8. Palau -- in private storage, IRM's stock, trustee identified
9. Philippines -- 4,600 pieces, 75 kgs. in 18 identified banks in Metro Manila
-- more in private storage, some identified
-- more still to be dug up estimated at 400,000 MT
NOTES: Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 which are FM stocks are probably covered by the 70-30 deal with each country. No. 1 still has to be studied further, as both IRM and Madame Mao are no longer in their respective nation's political structures. Nos. 7 & 8 are also IRM stocks and are not probably covered by the 70-30 deal. Japan and Mrs. Yamanutsa have their stakes here as mentioned. Mrs. Yamanutsa is co-owner of some Hongkong stock (already identified). Japan may expect 50% of FM's 30% in these Asian settlements.
A. US and Environs
1. 38,000 MT -- various identified depository banks in New York
2. 72,000 MT -- Fort Knox, account no. identified
3. 18,300 MT -- in a New York bank; signatories, account codes identified
4. 62,000 MT -- various identified depository banks; Canada, Nevada, California, and Panama
NOTES: These were shipped out covering a period of more than 10 years from 1973-1983, The MAFIA and the CIA helped ship it, including some monitored shipments through Clark Air Base. Nos. 1 & 2 formed the stock for the YAB42 transaction to be detailed later Nos. 3 & 4 were also being sold in 1983-1985. It is doubtful any of these transactions were actually consumated.
5. Bahamas -- Banco Bahamas; trustee identified
6. Panama -- Bank of Panama; possible 1983 sales through Navegacion Global's Bullock
B. Europe
1. England -- in 4 identified London depository banks; IRM's stock
-- shipped 1978-85, flown to and reminted in Switzerland, then on to London in GLD bars
2. Switzerland -- in various depository banks, some banks and signatories identified
3. FRG -- in various depositories in Luxembourg and Bonn
-- Fabian Ver and Edna Camcam's account, some lent to back up FRG's currency
C. Africa -- FM owns 40% of 4 leading gold mining and processing firms
V. Some Transactions Worth Looking At
We must differentiate between the movement of the stock, its ultimate destination, and its final disposition in the event it was sold. The movement often required numerous transit points and sometimes "laundering" services like those provided by Johnson Matthey reminting refineries in England and Switzerland or by the Golden Eagle reminting plant in Hong Kong and even possibly by our awn Central Bank refinery in Quezon City. The original form of the treasure was varied and often indicated their countries of origin -- e.g. 75 kg., 91.33 kg. bars with various 'hallmarks" like "Suhatra-Loyd," a dragon, AAA, etc. Internationally, the 12.5 4 GLD or Good London Delivery bar is the recognized unit of gold that is numbered and registered in the London Commodity Computer by batches with indicated owners. These GLDs in batches are covered by Gold Bullion Certificates (GBCs) that are also registered in the London computer If GLDs are bought and sold, it is often not necessary to effect a, physical transfer of the stock but merely to credit and debit or swap equivalent currency or other GLDs or GBCs.
In 1983, FM gave the signal to start selling his gold in grand fashion. This was perhaps triggered by the unrest and re-awakening after 21 August. Literally hundreds of gold buyers, traders, brokers, and middlemen converged in Manila in the years 1983-85, FM issued "mandates" to select people to sell this gold for him (A sample of a "mandate" granted to a certain Konsehala Candelaria V. Santiago is enclosed as Annex B). Others managed to secure "sub-mandates" from the original mandate holders. Still others produced "fake mandates" that they used to con some buyers with to give them hefty advances. We have some of the real mandate holders working with us.
In passing, today there are over 160 gold buyers and brokers now in Manila reminiscent of the 1983-85 years anticipating gold sales by FM heirs or this governments representatives. I understand a few "looseleaf" pieces of 75 kg. bars have already been sold.
Three schemes to sell the gold were conceived in this period. First, the CB Treasury bills method where gold buyers agreed to purchase CB Treasury bills equivalent to the amount of gold they were buying. Then they would redeem these CB T-bills for gold upon maturity of these notes. Second, the loan method where buyers guarantee to lend the GRP money equivalent to the gold they were buying. Using this second method, it could well be that many of our debts are not really debts but are already paid for in gold. How else can one explain the seemingly easy credit FM enjoyed with the ADB, the WB, and the IMF and their prime banks? And this could explain the cavalier spending of these loan proceeds for personal ends. Our sources say that the very top echelon of the WB and the IMF know of this. Why are they now putting on the screws for our loans? Possibly because we have not concluded YAB42. Third, the direct sale, method where after a while the sheer magnitude of the gold being sold could no longer be sanitized by either of the two methods described earlier outright sales agreements gold were negotiated.
We have a good deal of documentary evidence to prove that gold transactions were indeed negotiated by front organizations as well as legitimate banks in those years.
To highlight a few...
1. The YAB42 transaction. This was negotiated in late 1984, early 1985. As reported, this was initiated by the US government through the US Treasury and the CIA. Front organizations; and personalities were used to make the deal ostensibly a non-governmental transaction. Dr. Ole Bay (YAB is BAY backwards) was the main trustee of the buyers' group (A Trust Exchange Agreement and a Funding Trust Pay Order between seller and buyer in transaction code YAB42 are enclosed as Annex C). Navegacion Global SA, Dupont, and other CIA conduits were used.
Forty-two (42) other major trusts were tapped to help fund this purchase. Senior US officials even called FM to confirm the veracity of the mandate holder negotiating for "the seller." Close to 100 prime banks pledged their participation in helping fund the purchase. The US offered 20% cash or $200 billion through these trusts and banks and 80% in US government securities. Using the $200 billion cash as 20% of the transaction, this transaction would then involve 110,000 MT or over $1 trillion. The stock for this transaction appears to be the 38,000 MT in New York and the 72,000 MT in Ft. Knox which total exactly 110,000 MT. In June 1986, US government representatives reportedly asked FM to conclude YAB42 and turn over the 72,000 MT in Ft. Knox He declined. Earlier, FM signed over the 38,000 MT in New York which the US government found insufficient. In 1987, Navegacion Global's Bruce Bullock tried to make contact with this government, possibly to conclude this transaction.
2. In 1983-84, we have evidence of another transaction involving a minimum 62,000 MT up to a maximum of 81,000 MT negotiated with Frank Higdon, another reported CIA intermediary (Investment loans offered to the Philippine Government which is repayable with 62,321 MT of gold bars is enclosed as Annex D). The stock for this appears to be the 62,000 MT in 4 locations in mainland America plus the 18,300 MT in Citibank, New York. It is doubtful this transaction was consumwhated as these stocks have reportedly been recently verified to still be in place.
3. The JOB/HK/25 transaction. In 1983-84, 29,327 MT was reportedly sold to the 11 monarchs of Europe with over 120 prime banks participating with the Bank of England as the lead buyer's bank. The proceeds are allegedly sitting in ledger credits to the seller in the seller's banks and even in some buyer banks. The PNB Singapore and New York branches were actively involved in this transaction and the key officers of these banks then can reportedly identify where these seller credits are located. In commissions alone, there is a reported P200 B/$10 B commission for the transaction's brokers credited to the PNB through the CB sent from the Chemical Bank of New York. There is an additional $63 million in commissions for this transaction at the AMEX Bank in Hong Kong. The brokers who are claiming these commissions are with us providing us inforwhation on this deal and are willing to negotiate with this government
4. The Central Bank of the Philippines may not be able to balance their books as far as gold is concerned. A July report by a senior Central Bank official to the PCGG prompted by preliminary inforwhation on this project we passed on to the PCGG does not reconcile with other CB data we have on gold transactions for the 1984-85 period alone.
Further, our sources say that there is at least 5,000 MT of gold in the CB vaults in Manila and Quezon City. A recent Chronicle article indicates that COA may be getting some wind of this (The newspapers reports that Central Bank has violated audit standards such as under-recording of its actual gold acquisitions and the same is enclosed as Annex E). We have the GBC number of this gold in the CB vaults. Our sources say that senior CB officials may have begun to cover their tracks by moving the gold out or logging it under someone else's account number. Very simple, let us conduct a surprise physical count of the gold in both CB vaults. If this is true, without working on the rest of what we have uncovered, then this government will be richer by, $55 billion.
The original GBC was for seven sub-lots of 1,000 MT each. Sub lots 2 and 4 have already been disposed of leaving a balance 5,000 MT. Remember, our total annual gold production is only 60 MT and our declared gold reserves are possibly only in hundreds of metric tons.
5. We have evidence to support October 1983 transaction of 1,000 MT of FM gold deposited at a PCIB branch under FM trustee Alice Lazo (deceased). The buyer was Mr. Van Dreck of a organization called MERCANTUS (A PC Bank offer to sell gold to Mercantus International Establishment and an irrevocable Purchase Order by the latter are enclosed as Annex F). What business does a local bank have keeping and selling 1,000 MT of gold? Apparently, this transaction was consumated.
These are but some of the transactions we have been able to piece together We do have some documentary evidence, but our main sources are testimonies from the people who were actually involved in these transactions who are now cooperating with us.
VI. Evaluation and Assessment
We have substantial documentation that by their sheer volume indicate these gold transactions did take place.
More important, we now have in our protective custody, key actors that actually helped FM on an operational level. Their testimonies have helped us piece this extremely complex puzzle together. More importantly, they are Wiling to assist in the recovery effort of the government. They are key actors -- trustees, part-owners, signatories, umbrella members who could be vital in "unlocking" these accounts.
Why are they helping us? Partly out of a sense of patriotism. They are not rich -- many of their relatives are impoverished. They believe that it would be criminal to allow the nation to suffer in economic deprivation when something can be done relatively quickly to correct it. Quite frankly, they also hope for a just reward to be granted by this government for their assistance together with the necessary immunities from suit and documents to allow them to spend their reward or commission. This is one of the aspects needing your approval -- the amounts or percentages should be negotiated on a case to case basis depending on the assistance given and the amount to be recovered.
They have put their trust in me for the moment. Loyal FM and IRM henchmen would definitely not look kindly on their efforts to assist us.
We would have proceeded to develop this project further except that certain factors compelled me to bring this matter to your attention now.
First, FM died -- unleashing a host of now unpredictable events that may make purposive action on our end moot and academic. What was in his will? Will the umbrella or can the umbrella execute his will? What will IRM and his other relatives do? What will the host of account trustees and signatories do? What will the banks and depositories do? We are trying to ascertain the answers to some of these questions.
Second, the project has grown to a scope now requiring your knowledge, and to use an FM term, your "mandate" to proceed in directions you agree with. I am not funded for an operation of this scope. To develop this project to this point has cost nearly P300,000 of borrowed money. We now have our "assets" in various safehouses and lodging areas. Soon, one of our "assets' will go abroad to contact the umbrella's chairman to check the contents of FM's will and his willingness to help our government and our people. I am totally loyal to our people's interest through you and word may get to you from other sources that I am in touch with "loyalists." I need you to know what it is I am doing.
Third, you are scheduled to take your second state visit to the US next month. Some of our information may have impact on that visit. At the very least, you are appraised of what we have gathered to fathom any subtle messages that the US officials may send to you. At most, we may be able to put together enough conclusive data to allow you to bring the matter up to President Bush, if not in November at some other opportune moment.
What do we have as far as the recovery of FM's ill-gotten wealth? A few hundred million dollars from deals with overt FM cronies the sale of some identified FM assets (buildings, paintings, and other properties) and court cases here, in Switzerland, and in the United States.
Lately, there are those who propose a "master settlement" approach, meaning one negotiation with possibly IRM or the representatives FM. This "master settlement" may involve the return of FM's remains and/or some of his exiled relatives and henchmen. I agree with these conditions should be rejected at the moment for national security reasons. Also, one negotiation will not work because those that propose it are at best making "educated guesses" about the amount of the ill-gotten wealth that is the basis for negotiation. The PCGG has even recently proposed, holding public discussion groups to try to get more inforwhation on the whereabouts of the wealth and amounts involved.
Lastly, it is doubtful that IRM or any one of the FM heirs would know all or even most of his wealth much less make a full disclosure of what little they may know during these negotiations. A "master settlement" on the wealth by those that propose it presently may not result in a fair deal for our government
On the other hand, negotiated settlements on a case to case basis based on more precise intelligence inforwhation and with the cooperation of the principals involved (the trustees, banks/depositors) in a given case or account may lead to faster and fairer results for our government The ex-FM operatives we are talking to are not politically motivated and place no political pre-conditions (e.g. the return of FM's remains or relatives) on assisting us.
Even if a fraction of what we have uncovered is true, moving on it correctly and recovering some of it for our people could alter the course of our history.
VII. Proposed Courses of Action and Vital Considerations
1. Agree to a detailed presentation only to you or what we have uncovered to date.
2. Allow us to continue the project to pinpoint concrete action proposals for your approval.
In this regard, a reporting/feed back mechanism directly to you must be set up. Some funding support is also needed even at this preparatory stage.
3. The concrete action proposals will probably take the form of proposed negotiated settlements with the parties involved aimed at recovering FM's share for our government and our people. Each negotiated settlement will be different in nature. Some may even be on a country to country basis, requiring your direct intervention ( e.g. the US and some of the Asian countries). Most will be between specific banks, trustees, and signatories and our government. I will detail some possible negotiated settlement formulas when we get to meet
4. There are some action proposals that can be done here immediately like the Central Bank gold and the PNB/CB sale proceeds and commissions outlined earlier. Due to the sensitive nature of these actions and the possible involvement of senior officials of this and the previous government, I propose we discuss this in private.
5. On the local front, some of the trustees/owners/caretakers of the gold already discovered but stored here in our country have come to me to explore the possibilities of negotiated settlements. Initially, some 3,000 MT of gold has been offered. I have been told, if this succeeds, there is much more. I have asked that they bring me proof positive -- gold bars to show you and a visit by me to the site of the gold stockpile -- before I bring this whatter up to you for your consideration.
6. In all negotiated settlements, we must exact a commitment and activate a monitoring mechanism to ensure that the monies released to parties other than our government are not used to destabilize our government
7. Trust is a vital dimension to this undertaking! Our newfound "partners" -- the FM trustees, signatories, and caretakers have placed their trust in this government through me and you -- whom they believe I report to directly. Some of them have had "sad experiences" with others in our government, the details of which I would rather discuss privately. I ask in turn for your continued trust and guidance without which we cannot proceed with this task nor hope to succeed. Greater men than I have risked their names and reputations on parts of this puzzle -- some have failed, others have had dubious interests at heart. I find myself in a situation where I must try to see this through its conclusions -- because success means a better life for all of us.
CONRADO A. LIMCAOCO, JR.
NOTE- The small stocks being referred to here by Mr. Limcaoco are actually the so-called unrecorded accounts of Imelda and FM's children. I was earlier told by one trustee that some of these smaller stocks were a part of Mrs-Marcos' compromise deal with the US. Government, in exchange for her acquittal in the New York court.
The photocopy of Mr. Limcaoco's letter to Pres. Cory Aquino was given to me by a RAM officer who is now living, in the U.S.A. and had a role to play among Col. Red Kapunan's group who took over Channel 4 at the height of the 1989 RAM-SFP-YOU coup d'etat. Some concerned citizens at hotel coffee shops have circulated other similar photocopies.
Even the defunct Newsday dated February 27, 1990 printed the same.
Limcaoco's Gold Recovery Program had successfully controlled the part of the Marcos gold specifically that taken from the Napindan Channel. This was the very reason why the Yellow Army particularly saw to it that Channel 4 should be the first target area to recover. The barricades erected surrounding the TV station's perimeter were dismantled only after "the loot" had been successfully brought out and transferred to "safer" ground. Thus, the persuasion flight of the U. S. Phantom Jet.
At this point, I would like to reiterate the misconception that the Marcos gold was the Yamanutsa treasure. The mere mention of Sta. Romana's name and other long existing gold accounts as having never been moved until the time Marcos gained control over them, including those at Fort Knox, strongly confirms that the Marcos gold had been successfully amassed from different sources.
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Post by alefdracon on Dec 6, 2012 5:16:36 GMT 4
APPENDIX 9 HOLY SMOKE AND MIRRORS By David Guyatt Albert Vincent Carone is one of those people who spent his life dancing between raindrops and turning invisible wherever a shadow lingered. He existed and also didn’t exist. Al Carone - unlike his near namesake, Al Capone – truly was a paradox wrapped in a mystery concealed behind an enigma. Carone was a detective in the New York Police Department, but this didn’t stop him from becoming a “made” man in the Genovese crime family. He knew all the leading Mafiosa of his day, including Vito Genovese, Sam Giancana, Santos Trafficante, Joe Colombo and Pauley Castellano amongst others. To Carone’s daughter, Dee, they were all known as “Uncle.” When she got married, her father arranged two different reception rooms to separate the “mob” guests, from the NYPD guests. But this was more window-dressing than anything else. One of Carone’s principal functions in the NYPD was to act as the “bagman” in protecting shipments of CIA drugs to the various Mafia families. Carone died in 1990 under mysterious circumstances. This followed a period of great personal disenchantment with his life following a secretive mission to Mexico in 1985 when a large number of innocent women and children died unnecessarily. His death was horrific, reports Mike Ruppert, editor of “From The Wilderness” newsletter, who has investigated Carone’s life story and written a special report on it (see acknowledgements). Meanwhile, another “Uncle” was Bill Casey, the former Director of the CIA during the Reagan administration. Casey had been with the OSS during WW11. During the “seventies” he became Chairman of the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) that regulates the US investment industry. During his tenor in that role, Casey used Carone as a “cut-out” to pass sensitive insider information to mob Capo, Pauley Castellano, says his daughter, Dee. Carone was also a full Colonel in the US Army where he had operated in the Army’s Counter Intelligence Corp (CIC). Unsurprisingly, in view of his close friendship with Bill Casey, he was also a covert operative for the CIA. But that wasn’t half of it. Carone was also a Grand Knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM) – which historically has been the military arm of the Vatican and is regarded as separate “state” with full powers of statehood including issuing its own diplomatic passports. In more recent decades SMOM has acted as a funding conduit, a black market gold channel and money-laundry for the CIA, amongst others – and is known to act as the Vatican’s intelligence arm. It was, for example, alleged to be involved in the disappearance of Russia’s gold reserves – over 2000 metric tonnes - that vanished during 1991, around the time that Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev was ousted from office. Malta knighthoods are awarded to many leading individuals who are part of the military and intelligence community. The CIA’s Bill Casey, for example, was Knight of Malta. Former NATO General (and later US Secretary of State) Alexander Haig is also a Malta Knight. Another is General Vernon Walters, the former Deputy Director of the CIA under DCI George Bush and later appointed a roving Ambassador during the Reagan administration. The legendary head of the OSS – the WW11 precursor of the CIA – was “Wild” Bill Donovan, who was made a Knight along with his wartime compatriot and later CIA chief of counter-intelligence, James Jesus Angleton. And John McCone, another prominent member of the US “spook” agency was also distinguished with a Malta knighthood. The list goes on. Most interesting was Reinhard Gehlen the former Nazi intelligence expert recruited by the US in 1945-46 to head the “Gehlen Org” – a secret German-based intelligence arm of the United States that was composed of former SS & Gestapo agents – many of whom, including Klaus Barbie, were wanted Nazi war criminals. The foregoing names amount to a listing of some of the most powerful and influential members of the western intelligence community over the last five decades. One Vatican group that has extremely close ties to the Knights of Malta is the ultra right wing Opus Dei. This is an immensely powerful faction in the Vatican today, whose public “do good” activities eclipse a plethora of the darkest political and financial machinations known to man. It will not come as a surprise, perhaps, that Carone was closely associated with Opus Dei and, in particular, a covert operation that had its origin back in 1944. This was Operation Amadeus. THE DULLES FACTOR This highly secretive operation was part of the Operation Sunrise negotiations conducted between Allen Dulles – the then senior wartime OSS officer in Switzerland, but later to become the Director of the CIA – and SS General Karl Wolff. This debonair and well-connected SS officer commanded the SS and Gestapo contingents in Italy at the time. The result of these negotiations (at least those parts that are now known about) was an agreement affording amnesty to an extensive roster of SS-Gestapo forces - in exchange for their agreement to shift their allegiance to the West in the pre-planned covert battle aimed at defeating the Soviet communist “menace.” In other words the “cold war.” One spin-off of these Dulles-Wolff arrangements were the Vatican run “rat-lines” that aided wanted Nazi war criminals to slink to safety. Tens of thousands of SS and others Nazi’s escaped capture as a result of the ratlines. These included such figures as Franz Stangl, commandant at Treblinka extermination camp and his friend, Gustav Wagner, who ran the Sobibor death camp. Others to escape in this manner included Adolf Eichmann, the architect of the Holocaust. Eichmann was later captured by Israeli intelligence agents, smuggled to Tel Aviv where he stood trial and was eventually executed. In comparison, Dr. Joseph Mengele – known as the “White Angel” – a war criminal wanted for his cruel and inhuman experiments on death camp inmates at Auschwitz, escaped to Argentina and lived a long life. Operation Amadeus was exclusively concerned with the flight of SS and Nazi war criminals to the South American continent and their later ferocious covert actions against the indigenous populations justified under the banner of “anti-communism.” One individual engaged in Amadeus activities was former Gestapo officer, Klaus Barbie, known to the world as the “Butcher of Lyon.” The principal means of funding Operation Amadeus activities was the hugely profitable narcotics business. Large stocks of SS Morphia had been smuggled out of Europe and into “catholic,” South America at the end of the war in accordance with the “Sunrise” agreement. The Morphia was accompanied by looted SS gold and large quantities of counterfeit British banknotes forged in concentration camps by captive but skilled counterfeiters as part of an SS scheme known as “Operation Bernhardt.” The escape “lines” used to move wanted men around South America away from the prying eyes of Israeli agents also proved ideal as smuggling routes for drugs. Decades later the stocks of Heroin smuggled to the United States for distribution by the CIA protected Mafia, would be complimented with locally grown Cocaine. One of the figures to emerge in to the spotlight during the 1980’s who was deeply involved in this narcotics traffic was Colonel Oliver North – who authorised the exchange of guns for drugs to finance Contra operations. Oliver North was known to Al Carone under his “work” name, “John Caffrey.” This was the time when Carone was engaged in CIA controlled cocaine transactions with Joe “Pickles” Percilia, a member of the Columbo crime family. These curious and usually concealed connections between governments – in the form of the military and intelligence community – organised crime, the Vatican and Nazi war criminals have some significant history. Not least was the secret agreement reached between US Naval intelligence officers, and Mafia don, Charles “Lucky” Luciano, during WW11. This resulted in the Mafia’s decision to aid and assist the Allies by contacting mob figure, Vito Genovese, in 1943 to prepare the way for the Allied landing in Sicily. As earlier outlined, it was primarily those SS-Gestapo units located in Italy under command of SS General Wolff that were initially concerned in the Operation Sunrise negotiations. And while large numbers of former Nazi’s were fleeing south to fight the communist menace is Latin America – and, more importantly, to personally profit from their involvement in the lucrative drug and gun business - in Europe, the spadework was being laid to overthrow, or thwart, democratically elected governments via a network of fascist-manned “Stay Behind Units,” organised under the aegis of Operation Gladio. Not surprisingly this would also lead to certain involved figures making personal fortunes out of other people’s misery – a circumstance that is so common-place it is barely worth mentioning. These neo-fascist activities would come to prominence in the early eighties following the collapse of Banco Ambrosiano and the death of Italian banker, Roberto Calvi who was “suicided” and left hanging under London’s Blackfriars bridge. This would lead to sensational disclosures about the role of the Vatican bank, the IOR, in Calvi’s financial empire and would quickly grow to include the activities of Mafia financier, Michele Sindona – who’s activities, in turn, would implicate leading blue-blood banks in Europe and America in Mafia activities. Both Sindona and Calvi were close to Opus Dei who lost around $55 million when Sindona’s empire crashed. According to his family, Roberto Calvi was deeply engrossed in helping Opus Dei take control of the IOR when he was killed. Meanwhile, both Calvi and Sindona were members of the secretive Propaganda Due (P2) Masonic lodge, that is said to have been a “parallel government” in waiting and which planned to effect a coup d’etat in Italy following a communist party victory at the polls. P2 was run by former Italian fascist and member of the Nazi SS, Licio Gelli – dubbed the “Puppet Master” by the Italian press. Gelli’s connections to the ultra hard right and fascists in Europe and Latin America were extensive. In fact, he had been deeply involved in establishing the Vatican run Ratlines that aided the worst Nazi war criminals to escape Allied justice at the end of WW11. All told an estimated 50,000 Nazi’s were helped to freedom. Gelli had numerous powerful friends including former Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini. He was also a personal friend of Argentina’s General Juan Peron and his close associations with Argentina would later lead him to be a key figure in shipping a supply of French made Exocet missiles to sink British Task Force ships during the Falklands war. In this endeavour he worked closely with Ronald R Rewald, founder of the Hawaiian based financial institution Bishop, Baldwin, Rewald, Dillingham & Wong – a CIA proprietary company and forerunner of the CIA owned Nugan Hand bank. The involvement of a CIA front company engaged in financing and providing weapons to be used against a key American ally (Britain) that had the whole-hearted public support of the US government, may seem somewhat duplicitous. However, in the world of “black ops” “friends” and “enemies” are interchangeable words and working both sides of the fence is accepted practice. In terms of hierarchy, Gelli reported to Umberto Ortolani, described by one writer as “the great Vatican door opener” and a “secret chamberlain of the Papal Household.” In addition to his P2 connections, Ortolani is also a member of the inner council of the Knights of Malta and has military intelligence connections that date back to WW11. THE OCTOPUS AND THE SPIDER There are numerous other Masonic groups and secret societies in Europe that move in and out of focus at various times. Almost all of them are catholic in nature. One of these is the Priory of Sion – a secretive order that first came to public attention in the best selling book “Holy Blood – Holy Grail,” published in 1982. The Priory is closely connected with the alleged treasure of Solomon that is said to have found its way to the small village of Rennes Le Chateau in south western France where it is said to have been buried by the Knights Templars; forerunners of the Knights of Malta. The Priory, whose headquarters were located at Annemasse, near Geneva on the Swiss border, are styled as the “Guardians” of Solomon’s treasure but most interestingly, they have numerous subterranean connections to fascists and those on the far right that date back to WW11. Meanwhile, it has to be noted in passing, that Annemasse is said to have been the centre for the anti-communist “Stay Behind” units of Operation Gladio. If this is not intriguing enough, another fact stretches co-incidence to the point of bursting. In recent years the Priory of Sion has moved its headquarters to Barcelona and now boasts a Spanish Grand Master. This, one could conclude, is to enable it to be physically closer to the historical heartland of Opus Dei, which was founded in Spain in 1928. If Otto Skorzeny was a leading force in running the SS Brotherhood escape routes (Der Spinne – the Spider) after the war, and SS General Karl Wolff was the lead negotiator with OSS Swiss Chief, Allen Dulles, then another Nazi, Walter Rauff - head of the Milan SD - was one of two liaisons with the Vatican involved in the establishment of the Nazi smuggling system. Earlier in his career, Rauff had overseen the development of the Nazi mobile gas vans, known as “Black Ravens” that gassed to death around 100,000 Jews – mostly women and children - by pumping exhaust fumes into the back of a hermetically sealed van. Another important link between the Vatican and SS escape routes was Friedrich Schwendt, who was also the man in charge of laundering forged SS banknotes. Before the war, Schwendt was an international arms dealer shipping weapons to China and Russia. He was also the investment manager of the family fortune of his first wife’s aunt, Baroness Gemmingen-Guttenberg, of the vastly wealthy Argentine based Bunge family of the massive transnational firm Bunge Corporation that is also known as the “Octopus.” This title is interesting for it may connect to the so called “Octopus” that ties-in to murdered Freelance journalist, Danny Casolaro who at the time of his death was investigating a number of high level illegalities including the theft by the Department of Justice, of a “tracking” computer programme known as PROMIS. Casolaro was writing a book about what he had discovered. He originally titled it “Behold, a Pale Horse” but later modified it to “The Octopus.” In a draft page of the book he described this group as an: “international cabal who freelance services covered parochial political intrigue, espionage, sophisticated weapon technologies that included biotoxins, drug trafficking, money laundering and murder-for hire.” Casolaro further stated that this cabal had its origins “spawned thirty years ago in the shadow of the cold war.” After Casolaro’s death, journalist Carol Marshall (a pen name) followed up his investigation and wrote an [as yet] unpublished manuscript titled The Last Circle. In this, Marshall describes her investigation of Robert Booth Nichols – one of the central figures of the Octopus whom she describes as being part of a secretive group known as “The Chosen Ones” and who wore “skull and crossbones rings, and shared a common interest, if you could call it that, in the old German SS occultism, its tribal and inner circle rites.” During her continuing investigation into the Octopus, Marshall found that the SS occultism outlined above was connected to Lt. Col. Michael A. Aquino, a former US “Green Beret,” who is a self professed Satanist – and who held a top secret security clearance for his work in military intelligence and on classified psychological warfare matters. Aquino officiated at SS black magic ceremonies held at Wewelsburg, the Castle once used by SS chief Heinrich Himmler to create an SS order of Teutonic Knights based on the Knights Templars. The foregoing connections lend themselves to a larger picture of global interlocking right wing fascist groupings that operate in the shadow-land of deniable military and intelligence operations associated with profit during WW11 and, later, throughout the cold war. In this respect it is intriguing to note that the Priory of Sion, one of the foremost Catholic groups under discussion use as a symbol something that is variously described as an octopus or a spider (l’araignee) on their documents. The Priory association with the octopus could easily relate to the so-called “Octopus” described above where organised crime work hand in glove with operatives from US intelligence and the military. If one decides, on the other hand, that the Priory symbol is a spider, there is the intriguing notion of the Vatican run Nazi escape lines of Austrian Catholic, Otto Skorzeny – and his SS Brotherhood’s “Der Spinne” – the spider. THE BUSINESS OF GOD Al Carone was, as mentioned earlier, a “made man” of the Genovese mob in addition to his other associations. It is curious, therefore, to note that one of the leading lights of the “Octopus,” according to writer, Carol Marshall, was ultra right-wing oil tycoon, Clint Murchison – owner of the Dallas Cowboys football team. Murchison’s oil company, “Murchison Oil Lease Company” was 20% owned by Gerardo Catena, the chief lieutenant of the Genovese crime family. Throughout the second world war and thereafter there was, according to author Charles Higham, in his book “Trading With The Enemy,” a “general agreement of certain major figures of American, British and German commerce to continue their relations and associations after Pearl Harbour.” Higham adds that he had also learned that “certain figures of the warring governments had arranged to assist in this [activity].” Higham’s subsequent research proved the existence of this high cabal that he dubbed “The Fraternity” not only existed but benefited handsomely throughout WW11. This led the author to ask: “What would have happened if millions of Americans and British people, struggling with coupons and lines at the gas stations, had learned that in 1942 Standard Oil of New jersey managers shipped the enemy’s fuel through neutral Switzerland and that the enemy was shipping Allied fuel? Suppose the public had discovered that the Chase Bank in Nazi-occupied Paris after Pearl Harbour was doing millions of dollars’ worth of business with the enemy with the full knowledge of the head office in Manhattan? Or that Ford trucks were being built for the German occupation troops in France with authorisation from Dearborn, Michigan? Or that Colonel Sothenes Behn, the head of the international American telephone conglomerate ITT, flew from New York to Madrid to Berne during the war to help improve Hitler’s communications systems and improve the robot bombs that devastated London? Or that ITT built the Focke-Wulfs that dropped bombs on British and American troops? Or that crucial ball bearings were shipped to Nazi associated customers in Latin America with the collusion of the vice-chairman of the U.S. War Production Board in partnership with Goring’s cousin in Philadelphia when American forces were desperately short of them? Or that such arrangements were known about in Washington and either sanctioned or deliberately ignored?” Higham’s “Fraternity” has similar characteristics to the so-called “Octopus” and also shows certain similarities to Colonel Oliver North’s “Enterprise.” All have engaged in the most dubious and illegal activities for profit and all operate hand in glove with organised crime. All lean so far to the right, ideologically speaking, that the word “fascist” can be used without reservation. Meanwhile, none of them care very much for the woes of humanity and, indeed, appear committed to stomping on ethics and moral values wherever they meet them. The Octopus – or “Oct Opus” as one European documentary film producer renders the spelling when referring to Opus Dei (which began life on 2 October 1928) - has eight arms that surround its mouth (ensuring a constant supply of food) and three hearts and is not, therefore, conducive to starving or dying. But it can also be identified by these oddities. Opus Dei, the group that are now in control of the Vatican are undoubtedly one arm of this global criminal network, in this writers view. Or are the three hearts of the Octopus more vital to identify? Could they be analogous to the “Church, State, and Mafia, the forces that prevail beneath the play of the shadows of the world…” as described by Nick Tosches in his book “Power On Earth” that tells the life story of murdered Mafia financier Michele Sindona? There is yet another interesting twist to this accumulation of associations: Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. The prince was the founding chairman of the publicity shy western power elite, the Bilderbergers. This shadowy and secretive group meet over a weekend in May each year under an almost total media blackout. Powerful and very influential figures from the world of banking, business, politics, the media, trades unions and academia are invited. Included regularly, for example, are Dr. Henry Kissinger, David Rockerfeller, Italy’s kingmaker Gianni Agnelli and other illustrious figures. The first meeting took place in May 1954. This, strangely, was the same year that Prince Bernhard became head of the Johanitter Orde in Nederland, one of four Orders that make up the Chivalric Alliance of Orders of Saint John (Alliance de Chevalerie des Hospitaliers de Saint Jean de Jerusalem). The stated purpose of these four, known as the “Alliance” that are composed of North European nations (Germany, Nederland, Sweden and Great Britain (the latter being an ancient order known as the “Most Venerable Order”) is to:” to reduce to silence the enemies of Christ." The headquarters of the Alliance is located in Switzerland. These are protestant orders rather than catholic, but it is of significance that 26th November 1963, the Alliance was “consolidated with the signing of a joint declaration between the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the Most Venerable Order, at St John's Gate, London, by the Grand Chancellor of the SMOM, the Prince of Resuttano, and Lord Wakehurst, Lord Prior of the Most Venerable Order.” In other words the Catholic and Protestant Orders bound themselves to work together to “silence the enemies of Christ” – a clear reference to Communism. Interestingly, it has been suggested that the Knights Templars were “infected” with the Johannite or Mandaean heresy that denounced Jesus as a “false prophet” recognising, in his place, John the Baptist, as the true Messiah. Meanwhile, two early Grand Masters of the Prieure of Sion are said to have had Johannite tendencies. These were Leonardo Da Vinci and Sir Isaac Newton. Not-with-standing that, the famous founder of the Knights Templars, Hughes de Payens has been accused by the Vatican to have been a Johannite. Leaving aside this brief foray into esoteric history it is as well to note that Prince Bernhard, in addition to his Bilderberg role and as head of the Dutch Johannite Order was also an honorary member of Himmler’s SS and worked in NW7 the global intelligence arm of I.G. Farben that acted in the interests of the Nazi cause. The activities of NW7 in Latin America before, during and after WW11 deeply interweave with this story. In facilitating and aligning itself with many of the foregoing activities, the Vatican aimed to help eradicate a communist ideology that despised Christianity. Opus Dei and a host of other Catholic-cum-fascist secret groups engaged in a litany of murder, money laundering, drug peddling, arms trafficking, concealing WW11 loot, embezzlement, manipulation of financial markets and many other consummate illegalities. The purpose of all these activities was, arguably, to allow the Vatican to remain the spiritual bulwark of the Christian west. But if such business is the business of a church preaching of a God in Heaven, then Cesar on earth had better watch out… a new landlord has fallen into town. ENDS Acknowledgements: The foregoing essay drew from an indispensable group of published work listed as follows. 1) A full account of the unique story of Al Carone, by Mike Ruppert, is available to order online at www.copvcia.com 2) Trading With The Enemy – Charles Higham (St. Edmundsbury Press – Suffolk -1983) 3) Their Kingdom Come – Robert Hutchison (St. martin’s press – new York, 1997) 4) Web of Gold – Guy Patton & Robin Macness (Sidgwick & Jackson – London, 2000) 5) Ratlines – Mark Aarons & John Loftus (Mandarin, London 1991). 6) The Bormann Brotherhood – William Stevenson (Arthur Baker – London, 1973). 7) Unpublished Manuscript by Peter Dale Scott on Barbie, Dulles and Operation Sunrise and which details how the OSS-SS preserved each other while serving their true masters – transnational corporations. 8) The Last Circle – an unpublished manuscript by Carol Marshall that investigates the so called “Octopus.” 9) My thanks also go to Catherine Austin Fitts ( for her invaluable help.
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Post by Noor on Dec 6, 2012 13:21:35 GMT 4
Thanks Dracon. I am familiar with this one, as well as with the gold buried in the Philippines. Just did not want to post this one from bibliotecapleyades because it seems someone on the board does not attribute much credibility to this link.
As I mentioned before back in 2007 or 2008 there was a special meeting in Manila attended by selected few from Dubai, New York, Zürich and London if I remember correctly.
The man wearing little sandals knows it all...
By the way, and apart from treasures hunt, I would like to point out that many people just died in the Philippines due to a terrible weather event and many others are dispersed. This is also part of our planet life...
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