As the BCCI scandal has unfolded, Mohammed Hammoud has emerged as a shadowy figure with close ties to a number of powerful American political and government figures.

During the 1980's, Hammoud acted as a front-man or nominee for BCCI, became an owner of BCCI and of CCAH, the holding company for First American, borrowed over $110 million from BCCI, much of which he failed to make interest payments on, and made numerous investments in the United States with funds provided him by BCCI, and in one case, backed up by guarantees from First American.

During the same period, Hammoud, a little known Lebanese merchant, also purchased the shares in First American held by Clark Clifford and Robert Altman; had his U.S. real estate investments managed by the current U.S. Ambassador to Bahrain, Charles W. Hostler; had contact with officials from the State Department concerning the release of U.S. hostages from Beirut and other issues pertaining to Lebanon, and developed a personal and business relationship with Michael Pillsbury, a former assistant Undersecretary of Defense and Senate staff assistant.

After BCCI's indictment in October, 1988 by the U.S. Attorney in Tampa, Hammoud also worked closely with BCCI's

criminal defense team in Washington to determine whether it would be possible to "reverse Tampa" by meeting with higher-level federal officials in Washington. In the fall of 1989, Hammoud actually met with high-ranking officials at Treasury and Justice concerning the BCCI case, and had ongoing contact with Senate staffer Pillsbury seeking to assist BCCI in defending itself against its criminal case.⁽¹⁾

Hammoud's multiple roles in connection with BCCI continued until his sudden death on May 3, 1990, at the very time that investigations of BCCI were intensifying. After his death, press accounts raised questions as to whether his death was real or staged, and law enforcement indictments have described Hammoud's current status as "reportedly dead."⁽²⁾

Little is known of Hammoud's background, although Abdur Sakhia, the former general manager for BCCI N.Y., described Hammoud as a merchant who at one time operated a stall in one of Beirut's open-air markets:

My memory goes back about 27 or 28 years when I went first to Beirut. He was a small time money changer.⁽³⁾

In interviews with Subcommittee staff, Nazir Chinoy, the BCCI general manager in Paris, remembered Hammoud as:

A short man, not a very impressive personality. . . My impression of Hammoud, to me Hammoud was not rich. Pharoan had physical power from his bearing his confidence. Hammoud was a slimey sort of a chap, not a forceful personality. Would Hammoud understand foreign policy? I do not think so. He was not a worldly man. Pharoan yes. Hammoud no.⁽⁴⁾

In testimony before the Subcommittee in 1991, Massihur Rahman, BCCI's former chief financial officer, described Hammoud as "a medium sized businessman." BCCI's files indicate that Hammoud's wealth grew exponentially, and inexplicably, during the 1980's, at a clip of almost $5 million a year. By 1989 he is listed as owning assets in excess of $35 million.⁽⁵⁾ Nevertheless, according to Chinoy, Hammoud did not give "the impression of being an extremely rich man from his clothes and general behavior."⁽⁶⁾

At some point during the 1970's Hammoud became very close to the top management at BCCI. Naqvi had worked in Lebanon and BCCI had branches there, but the Subcommittee has been unable to determine who originally introduced Hammoud to BCCI. Hammoud is described in a 1983 BCCI memorandum as "a very good customer of the BCC Group," who "possesses large means."⁽⁷⁾ By the time of his death in 1990, Hammoud was a major shareholder in the bank, owning 2,646,184 shares, according to a February, 1990 report by BCCI's outside auditors, Price Waterhouse.

According to Rahman, "[h]e seemed to be very close to some of our executives. And he has been used obviously for taking loans and doing things."⁽⁸⁾ Later in his testimony Rahman characterized Hammoud as the most flexible of BCCI's nominees.

Chinoy echoed the testimony of Rahman, stating that Hammoud had "a very special relationship" with the bank. Chinoy recalled how Hammoud had borrowed about $100,000 from the Paris branch and was not servicing the loan. When Chinoy wrote Hammoud asking that the loan be repaid, Chinoy was rebuked by his superiors in London and told he "should not write abusive letters to good clients who had helped the bank." Chinoy explained that he later wrote the loan off in three separate installments.⁽⁹⁾

The loan to Hammoud by BCCI's Paris branch pales in comparison to the massive loans Hammoud received from BCCI elsewhere. As of April 1990, Hammoud owed over $110 million dollars to BCCI and its affiliate, ICIC, Grand Caymans, As Price Waterhouse concluded in the report, "there remain too many unanswered questions about Mr. Hammoud [including] his connection with delinquent accounts of BCCI." At the time, Price Waterhouse expressed its concern about the lack of evidence at BCCI that Hammoud owned "any of the companies" he claimed to own in connection with BCCI lending. ⁽¹⁰⁾

Hammoud made real estate investments in the United States through a series of companies: Linden Investments, Copperwood, N.V., Marmaris investments, N.V., Eastward, N.V. and Carlson Farms, Ltd. Ambassador Charles Hostler, who advised Hammoud on his US investments, referred to these companies as "holding companies" for the properties.

Documents obtained by the Subcommittee indicate that all of the companies were probably front companies which Hammoud established on behalf of BCCI. For instance in November, 1978, Hammoud wrote to ICIC, BCCI's "bank within a bank":

I have to request you to arrange on my behalf for the incorporation of a company in Cayman Islands with an authorized capital of US$900,000.00 and Issued and Paid-up capital of $US100,000.00. This company to be incorporated with the name and style of "Linden Investments Company Limited" is to have as its principle objects investments in immovable properties in the U.S.A. and other places, either directly or through any of its subsidiaries to be incorporated in such countries where maximum tax benefits would be available for such property investments, and with such other objects as are usable and necessary for such investment companies, including borrowing powers.

You may appoint your own nominee directors for the said Linden Investment Co. Ltd. and transfer to their names such shares as may be necessary according to the legal requirements. The remaining shares may be held by you in your name or in the name of any other company as your nominee.

I hereby authorize you to appoint any agents for the aforesaid purpose and to do, execute and perform or cause to be done, executed and performed all acts, deeds and things that may be required or necessary in a fiduciary capacity for the aforesaid purpose and to give any other authority or writing that you may require or deem necessary for this purpose.⁽¹¹⁾

Hammoud's real estate investments include property he purchased from a church in Alexandria, Virginia, an office building in New York, a building in Boston adjacent to Boston Symphony Hall, and a development in the small town of Sherman, Connecticut. All of these investments were financed by BCCI and none of the loans was ever serviced. Carlson Farms, for instance, received a $1 million letter of credit from BCCI secured by only the guarantee of Linden Investments, which apparently held no other properties.⁽¹²⁾

In his Senate testimony, Sakhia described the Hammoud's real estate holdings in the US with which he was familiar. According to Sakhia:

We did a loan to him from BCCI in New York, which we were told from London to give that loan in the first place.

In the second instance, when we had acquired the property and we wanted to develop a property in Washington, he contacted us to make a construction loan-- which we refused to do because we were not equipped to handle constructions loans."⁽¹³⁾

Sakhia testified that he "completely refused to do the second transaction," but that the Central Credit Division in London ordered him to the first transaction, which wound up being "110% of the loan". Sakhia acknowledged that the loan did not make business sense. ⁽¹⁴⁾

After Sakhia refused to do the construction loan, the Central Credit Committee in London told its New York regional manager "[W]hy don't you introduce him to First American, because the property is in Washington. First American is located in Washington and First American is big in real estate loans." First American subsequently issued a $4 million letter of credit to Hammoud.⁽¹⁵⁾

Senator Kerry was struck by the fact that Hammoud needed an introduction to First American after Hammoud had become a shareholder of First American, having purchased his shares in First American/CCAH from First American's chairman and president, Clark Clifford and Robert Altman. Sakhia testified that he too was baffled by the events:

It's [First American] not like a big corporation with hundreds of shareholders. The handful of shareholders -- [Hammmoud] directly bought the shares from the Chairman and the President. And he wants me to introduce the officers of First American. It didn't make any sense to me.⁽¹⁶⁾

In 1990, the U.S. General Manager of BCCI, in an effort to avoid the scrutiny of bank regulators, recommended "immediate transfer" of Hammoud's assets "to an off shore unit."

Hammoud's investment in First American Bank came about as a result of his acquisition of stock throughout the 1980s through BCCI, and in fact, as a nominee for BCCI. In 1986, Hammoud first began acquiring stock at $2,200 a share as BCCI's nominee. By 1990, Hammoud had acquired 6% of the shares of the bank on BCCI's behalf.

In March 1988, Hammoud bought stock from Clifford and Altman, the Chairman and President of First American, for a whopping $6,800 a share -- the highest price ever paid for First American stock. Hammoud's $25 million purchase of First American shares was bankrolled by BCCI, although in testimony before the Subcommittee, Altman stated that:

[M]r. Hammoud was one of the individuals not listed by the Federal Reserve as a nominee in their notice of charges. He was in their category of bona fide shareholder.⁽¹⁷⁾

Altman added that after Hammoud's death in the spring of 1990, "we had been contacted by Hammoud's estate." According to Altman:

His estate believes that the stock is stock that belonged to Mr. Hammoud and now belongs to his heirs. They certainly take the position that Mr. Hammoud was no nominee. He was a bona fide shareholder. And they had asked that the stock be transferred into the names of the heirs. And we were seeking certain documentation in that regard before the transfer could be lawfully effected.⁽¹⁸⁾

Altman's representations before the Subcommittee regarding the bona fides of Mohammed Hammoud were recently challenged in the indictment of Clifford and Altman by the Manhattan District Attorney. The indictment charged that:

As part of the business of the corrupt enterprise, assets were purchased with depositors' funds, but were falsely maintained as ostensibly separate from the BCC group. These assets were purchased in the names of, among others ....Mohammed M. Hammoud, a Lebanese businessman who reportedly died in 1990.

Moreover, Masihur Rahman, BCCI's chief financial officer, provided detail on the mechanism that Hammoud employed to mask the sham transactions involving CCAH stock. Rahman testified that Hammoud used two front companies, Mid-Gulf and Rubstone, to purchase the shares. According to Rahman, after Price Waterhouse raised concerns about BCCI and the bank began an internal investigation, Rahman confronted Hammoud: "He [Hammoud] was first denying, but finally it was accepted that both of them belonged to Hammoud."⁽¹⁹⁾ Rahman did not know what the companies did, "except that they had some loans [from BCCI] for CCAH." According to Rahman, the amount loaned to Rubstone to purchase First American shares was around $14 million and the amount loaned to Mid-Gulf to purchase First American shares was $44 million."⁽²⁰⁾

The Subcommittee has obtained an undated letter of instruction from Hammoud to the Manager of BCCI, Overseas, Grand Cayman, which support Rahman's testimony. The letter specifically states:

With reference to the loan advanced by you on my recommendation to Mssrs. Rubstone Trading, of amount up to $US 12 million, I hereby authorize you to hold my shares in Credit and Commerce American Holdings N.V., as security to cover the outstanding balance of the loan.⁽²¹⁾

By April 1990, as the auditors scrutinized BCCI and its CCAH loans, Hammoud informed BCCI that he did "not hold any shares" in either Midgulf or Rubstone.⁽²²⁾ Apparently, both Hammoud and BCCI had decided that it was not in their interest to have Hammoud seen as a nominee for BCCI holding CCAH shares. This, of course, was during the period that Price Waterhouse was uncovering massive fraud and deception at BCCI, and just weeks before Hammoud's sudden death.

Documents obtained by the Subcommittee from BCCI's liquidators show that Robert Altman, who was also BCCI's U.S. attorney, held a power of attorney for Hammoud, giving Altman the right to dispose of Hammoud's stock in CCAH at any time as Hammoud's agent. Altman testified he was unaware that he had such a power of attorney and when shown the document by Senator Kerry, he expressed profound shock:

[T]his gives an authority to sell shares, and that is something that to the best of my recollection, I'd never seen before. I do not know how to explain it. I don't know where it came from, but I don't believe it was ever in our files.⁽²³⁾

Thus, Altman, who sold his stock to Hammoud for three times what Altman paid for the stock, had the ability through the power of attorney also to buy and sell shares of CCAH to and from Hammoud in any case.

Altman testified that he never met Hammoud. This statement seems odd given that Hammoud was in Washington on a number of occasions, and was ostensibly a major shareholder of First American, on whose behalf Altman was running the bank. On the other hand, there was really no reason for Altman to have met Hammoud if Hammoud was the flexible front man that he has been portrayed to have been. It is entirely possible that Hammoud was not even aware of his holdings in First American: the loans were arranged by BCCI; the purchase and sale may have been arranged by Altman using the power of attorney.

Hammoud also had contacts with US Ambassador to Bahrain Charles Hostler. As a businessman in Beirut in the 1960's, Hammoud met Hostler when Hostler was a young U.S. Air Force officer, attached to Lebanon, Jordan and Cyprus, and based in Beirut, Lebanon. Hammoud's wife taught Arabic to the young Mr. Hostler, and the Hammouds and Hostler became good friends. ⁽²⁴⁾ Later, Hostler returned to Beirut as the manager of the Douglas Aircraft Company in Lebanon from 1965 to 1967, before accepting a position with McDonnell Douglas in the U.S. As the report to the Foreign Relations Committee on Hostler described his career:

Mr. Hostler served at the United States Department of Commerce as Deputy Assistant Secretary of International Commerce from 1974 to 1976, where he was responsible for establishing and managing the nation's export expansion program. From 1963 to 1969 he worked in numerous capacities for McDonnell Douglas Corporation including Director of International Operations for the Middle East and North Africa. . . and Manager of International Marketing for Missiles and Space.⁽²⁵⁾

According to the Wall Street Journal, Ambassador Hostler stated that he has from time to time given financial advice to Hammoud. Hostler told the Subcommittee that he advised Hammoud on three properties: "vacant land" in Sherman Connecticut, an "old building" in Boston, Massachusetts and a "tear-down" in New York City.⁽²⁶⁾

Curtis Hagen, a real estate broker, also worked with Hammoud on the three properties referenced by the Ambassador in his affidavit.

Concerning the tear-down in New York City, Hagen told the Subcommittee:

In NYC I engineered a joint venture between BCCI and Skanska with an agreed to land evaluation of 5 million (BCCI purchased it at $1.1 million) In the midst of contract negotiation between the two law firms representing each entity. In the meantime I turned down an offer of 4 million in cash by Paul Milstein, because the tax burden was too severe. However, he eventually built the project, although the chain of title after Hammoud came on the scene with Hostler is unclear to me.⁽²⁷⁾

Concerning the "old building" in Boston, Hagen told the Subcommittee:

I arranged a zoning change from a two story Taxpayer to a 17 story and lower condominium residential & commercial building with on-parking premises. This process, as you know, was extremely complex and took 2 and 1/2 years to bring to a point, where only a very routine submission of a detail was needed to finalize. BSO now has ownership. Hostler arranged the sale to BSO for Hammoud, however I do not know what consideration BSO gave to Hammoud/Hostler.⁽²⁸⁾

Concerning the "vacant land" in Sherman, Connecticut, Hagen told the Subcommittee:

After 6 tons of papers, maps, demographics, etc. the final subdivision was approved and I negotiated the required road bond.⁽²⁹⁾

In short, the vacant land, the old building and the tear down were substantial properties with real value.

In his affidavit to the Subcommittee, Ambassador Hostler stated that "He [Hammoud] considered me expert in real estate matters, since he lived abroad and was then largely unacquainted with US real estate practices."⁽³⁰⁾ However, Hagen, the New York real estate broker, didn't think Hostler knew much about real estate: "[H]ostler, the real estate typhoon, knew as much about real estate as my Aunt Matilda knew in 1860 about building a space shuttle."⁽³¹⁾

It appears that Hagen did the lion's share of work to make Hammoud's various real estate investments marketable and saleable. The question arises as to what Hostler's role was and what compensation he was received.

According to the Ambassador:

"His inquiries and my advisory activities for him were intermittent and limited. I would estimate that they involved perhaps an average of several hours a month in the period between 1982 and 1988."⁽³²⁾

Hostler claims that he "received no salary, gifts or other gratuities or compensation from Hammoud, though I was reimbursed for my direct, nominal, actual receipted expenses."⁽³³⁾

Hagen, however, recalls a meeting at the Pierre Hotel in Hammoud's suite on July 16, 1982 between Hammoud, Hostler, Pisani [an architect] Milne [a Utah real estate developer] and Hagen and his daughter. According to Hagen, "It was either at that meeting or a few days before wherein Hammoud placed both hands on Hostler's shoulders and said: "there will be a Cadillac in your driveway, tomorrow morning."⁽³⁴⁾

The Subcommittee has been unable to ascertain whether or not Ambassador Hostler received the Cadillac. However, it is certainly unusual for anyone to provide business services to someone else for several hours a month for six years without receiving any form of compensation for it in return. Hence, Ambassador Hostler's described willingness to work for Hammoud for nothing for this lengthy period raises the question of why Ambassador Hostler did perform these services.

Michael Pillsbury is a former Senate staffer. He was formerly an Assistant Secretary of Defense. According to the Washington Post, Pillsbury was "a member of the top-secret "208 Committee," the interagency group that oversees Central Intelligence Agency covert operations for the President and meets in the situation room and room 208 of the Old Executive Office Building."

Pillsbury has told Subcommittee staff that he initially met Hammoud in the context of his work in the Senate when a real estate developer, Earl Milne, introduced him in 1981 or 1982. According to Pillsbury, Hammoud was "unusual" because he was a wealthy, Lebanese shi'ite. Pillsbury subsequently developed a personal relationship with Hammoud and over the course of the decade met him "ten to twenty" times in several cities around the world, including Washington, London, Geneva, Beirut, Damascus and "possibly Paris". According to Pillsbury, Hammoud provided him with intelligence related information concerning U.S. hostages held in Lebanon, which Pillsbury then passed on to US government agencies. As a letter to Subcommittee staff from Pillsbury's attorney, former Watergate prosecutor Seymour Glanzer, states:

Mr. Pillsbury has never said that he is "withholding important information" [from the Subcommittee]. What he did say was that he was reticent about disclosing inflrmation that might be needed about Mr. Hammoud's purported assistance to the United States Government. That was because he was alluding to two State Depeartment communications which may be "classified" and which can be obtained from the State Department. Thus, he does not believe he is at liberty to disclose their contents. One of these communications is a cable from the American Ambassador in Beirut in approximately November 1983, and the other is a cable from the American Ambassador in Damascus in approximately April 1989. Therefore, Mr. Pillsbury believes it is appropriate that disclosure be taken up with the State Department.⁽³⁵⁾

Following receipt of the letter from Glanzer, Senator Kerry asked the State Department to retrieve the documents described. Unfortunately, the State Department was not able to locate the 1983 cable. It was able to locate the second cable and that cable remains classified. At the time of the second cable, Edward Derejian was U.S. Ambassador to Syria, and since that time has been appointed Assistant Secretary of State for Middle Eastern Affairs. Contemporaneous notes from BCCI's attorneys show that Pillsbury was contending that Hammoud was directly involved in assisting the U.S. on negotiations concerning the release of the U.S. hostages held in Lebanon as of the fall of 1989.⁽³⁶⁾

In the early-1980's Pillsbury moved from the Senate to become the assistant undersecretary for Defense. In that position he championed the provision of advanced weapon systems, notably stinger missiles, to anti-communist insurgencies around the world, including Savimbi's UNITA forces in Angola and the Mujahadin in Afghanistan. Pillsbury is known to have made frequent trips to both countries.

The Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare -- House Republican Research Committee claims that Hammoud was an arms merchant:

In order to insert large quantities of explosive and related equipment into target countries, the Hizballah established a web of import-export companies in Western Europe as part of its dormant network. Lebanon's leading shi'ite businessmen, including Mohammed Hammoud, who would later become a key financier of BCCI, provided crucial expertise, organizational and financial assistance without which projects could not have been undertaken.

Pillsbury has denied that he ever used Hammoud or BCCI either to arrange or to finance the provision of sophisticated weapons to anti-communist insurgencies.

In fact, Pillsbury has stated that his contact with Hammoud, aside from the information he provided on the US hostages held in Lebanon, was in the context of a book that they were writing together about the Shi'ites of Lebanon.

According to Pillsbury, Hammoud paid him an advance to coauthor a scholarly text about the Shi'ites and Pillsbury had completed some 200 pages of this book by the time of Hammoud's death. Pillsbury told the Subcommittee that he disclosed the book deal to the Senate Ethics Committee. However, Pillsbury refused to disclose the amount he had been paid by Hammoud, and when the payment was made. Pillsbury argued that these facts were irrelevant since he ultimately returned the money, although he refused to specify when that occurred. Pillsbury stated that his expenses had never been paid by either Hammoud or BCCI. However, these statements are contradicted by notes taken by BCCI's lawyers in October, l989 state that Pillsbury travelled to Europe on several occasions on tips paid for by Hammoud, raising in their minds concerns about whether Pillsbury's trips were actually being paid for by BCCI. Both BCCI officials and Pillsbury denied BCCI's involvement in the payments. However, given Hammoud's $110 million debt to BCCI at the time, and his frequent front-man status for BCCI, the distinction between Hammoud's activities and BCCI's activities does not seem to be very clear.⁽³⁷⁾

Subcommittee staff have seen a law enforcement document which alleges that after Hammoud's death, Pillsbury travelled to Geneva to identify the body. Pillsbury denies the allegation. Pillsbury may or may not have identified the body, but after Hammoud's alleged death Pillsbury maintained a close relationship with Hammoud's family. The Subcommittee has been provided a document which appears to show that after the death of Hammoud, Pillsbury met in New York with Robert Altman, one of BCCI's lawyers, and with Hammoud's son, to discuss settlement of the elder Hammoud's estate. Pillsbury has told the Subcommittee that he only met Altman only twice -- both times in the context of Senate business.

In the fall of 1989, Hammoud began to take an active interest in BCCI's legal problems in the United States as a result of its indictment for drug money laundering in Tampa, Florida. He met with Pillsbury on a number of occasions concerning these problems. Pillsbury in turn identified key Treasury and Justice Department officials in Washington who in Pillsbury's view would be key to assisting BCCI if they determined that the sting operation against BCCI were improper. Hammoud met with some, unidentified, officials from both Treasury and Justice, as well as with BCCI's criminal defense team in Washington. Available documentation concerning Hammoud's activities in this period suggests he may have undertaken other steps in connection with assisting BCCI with its criminal defense, but information on this point is, unfortunately, inadequate to determine precisely what.⁽³⁸⁾

Hammoud, unfortunately, cannot shed any light on his political or government connections because he is, as prosecutors describe his status, "reportedly dead."⁽³⁹⁾ He allegedly died in Geneva in 1990 while visiting his doctor and he is buried in Beirut. However, insurance companies have reportedly refused to pay out on the life policy because Hammoud's corpse was found to be several inches shorter than the height recorded at his last medical examination. Several former BCCI officials who have testified before the Subcommittee have testified that they do not believe Hammoud is dead.

Hammoud was reportedly buried in Beirut and his family provided his London lawyers with a video of the funeral which allegedly shows high ranking Syrian intelligence officials in attendance. In its August 10, 1992 edition, Newsweek reports:

Intelligence officials now say that Mohammed Hammoud, an alleged BCCI front man, was taped saying over the telephone, "If anybody knew how dirty the Americans are in this BCCI business, they'd be surprised -- they're dirtier than the Pakistanis." He then said he was about to tell someone about the American role. Eight hours later he was found dead.⁽⁴⁰⁾

Much about Mohammed Hammoud's life, business with BCCI, and alleged death remains a mystery to the Subcommittee. He clearly had very close ties not only to BCCI, but also to several US political and government officials as well as to various intelligence agencies.

1. An account of these meetings is contained in the chapter concerning BCCI's lawyers and their contacts with Hammoud and Michael Pillsbury.

2. See e.g. indictment, People v. Abedi, New York Supreme Court, County of New York, July 29, 1992.

3. S. Hrg. 102-350. pt. 2, p.612. In an interview with staff prior to his testimony Sakhia stated, "I went to Beirut to a seminar at American University in 1960. Hammoud used to have an office, a storefront the size of this sofa. His store was three feet deep and eight feet wide."

4. Staff interview, Nazir Chinoy, March 9, 1992.

5. BCCI memorandum, Central Credit Division, re:Congressional Place Ltd./M M Hammoud. March 30, 1989.

6. S. Hrg. 102-350, Pt.4 p. 374.

7. BCCI memorandum, reprinted in S. Hrg. 102-350, pt.4, p.762.

8. S. Hrg. 102-350. Pt.1, p.534.

9. Id. p.374.

10. See documents at S. Hrg. 102-350, Pt. 1 pp. 356-358.

11. Letter to ICIC from Mohammed Hammoud, November 1, 1978, reprinted in S. Hrg. 102-350, pt. 4. p.740.

12. BCCI Memorandum, reprinted in S. Hrg. 102-350, pt.4, p.762.

13. pt. 2, p.612.

14. Id.

15. Id. Sakhia explained in his interview with staff, "This transaction was done by First American not directly secured by the assets of Hammoud, but by a counter guarantee of First American. BCCI issued the guarantee which was confirmed by First American."

16. Id. p.614. In his interview with staff prior to his testimony Sakhia asked rhetorically, "If he had bought and sold shares from Clifford & Altman, why would he want my introduction? -- Since he didn't put a cent of his own into First American, he didn't feel like he owned it."

17. Id. p.176.

18. Id. p.176

19. pt. 1, p.534.

20. Id. p. 535.

21. Letter to "the Manager" from Mohammad M. Hammoud, reprinted in S. Hrg. 102-350, pt. 4.p 782.

22. Letter to BCCI, London, from i.H. Ansari, dated 4.4.90.

23. S. Hrg. pt.3, p.195.

24. See Hostler Affidavit, S. Hrg. 102-350 Pt. 4 p. 768, Hostler Resume, submitted to Foreign Relations Committee as part of confirmation process.

25. Report for the Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate, Ambassadorial Nomination for State of Bahrain, Charles Warren Hostler.

26. S. Hrg. 102-350 Pt. 4 pp. 769-771.

27. Letter to Jonathan Winer from Curtis Hagen, February 10, 1992, reprinted in S. Hrg. 102-350, pt. 4, p.765.

28. Id.

29. Id.

30. Id. pt.4., p.770.

31. Id.

32. Affidavit of Ambassador Hostler, reprinted in S. Hrg. 102-350, Pt.4, p.771.

33. Id. p.771.

34. Id. 766.

35. Seymour Glanzer to David S. McKean, July 31, 1992, concerning Michael Pillsbury.

36. Staff interviews with Pillsbury, March-July, 1992; see also attorney notes of interviews with Pillsbury, October, l989, provided to Subcommittee by BCCI attorney Raymond Banoun on September 3, l992.

37. Documentation on this issues is provided in a series of memoranda created by BCCI's criminal defense team and provided to the Subcommittee on September 3, 1992 by former BCCI lawyer Raymond Banoun and by the law firm of Janis, Schuelke and Wechsler on behalf of Lawrence Wechsler.

38. The fullest account of Hammoud's activities on BCCI's behalf in connection with its criminal defense appears in notes taken by BCCI's lawyers in the U.S. and provided to the Subcommittee on September 3, 1992 by Raymond Banoun and Lawrence Wechsler. These documents form the basis for the information set forth concerning this section.

39. People v. Abedi, New York Supreme Court, New York County, July 29, 1992.

40. Newsweek, August 10, 1992,