CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS COINER Bernard Lewis’
..................
http://edwardjayepstein.com/question_calvi.htm
2) Re: The P-2 LodgeJuerg Heer, who had been executive director of the credit section of Zurich's Rothschild Bank when it acted as intermediary in Calvi's abortive take over of the Rizzoli Group, claimed to have paid Calvi's kill fee. The Rizzoli deal was Calvi's last deal, which he himself described it as "his undoing" just days before vanishing. Although Heer's name appears fleetingly in the bank's correspondence about Rizzoli, his relevance to the Calvi Affair emerged only after he was abruptly fired by the Rothschild Bank in July 1992. Accused by the Rothschild Bank of exceeding his authority in arranging bad loans, he was for imprisoned for two months, and, adding insult to injury, then sued by his former employer to recover its losses. Heer retaliated in late November by airing the Rothschild Bank's dirty laundry in public, asserting he "was part of a criminal system." As the vendetta escalated, he dredged up sensitive details about Calvi's Rizzoli deal. As the intermediary, the Rothschild Bank had acted to shielded the true principals, including one of the most intriguing conspirators in Europe, Licio Gelli-- a self-styled poet whose machinations were subsequently documented in a 64 volume investigation by a Commission of the Italian Parliament. Gelli's power proceeded from the secret Masonic Lodge in Rome, Propagandi Due, or P-2, as it was called, of which he was Grand Master. Among the 900 elite members he had enrolled, were 43 members of Parliament, 48 generals, the heads of Italy's secret intelligence service, the top magistrates in the judiciary system, the civil servants running various state-owned enterprises (including ENI), key bank regulators and leading businessmen-- a veritable . The Parliamentary Commission described it as a "state within a state." Unlike other freemason lodges, it did not hold meetings or conduct ordinary Masonic business. Whatever its supposed purpose, it had become by the time Calvi had enrolled in it in 1980, a clearing-house through which businessmen could buy political protection from government officials-- with Gelli acting as go-between, deal-maker and record-keeper. In this Rizzoli deal, Gelli, together with other P-2 associates (including the managing director of Rizzoli) had parked a controlling block of its shares at the Rothschild Bank. Calvi then had his banks lend $142 million to a "ghost" corporate shell in Panama called Bellatrix which deposited it at the Rothschild Bank to buy the shares. As a crucial part of the arrangement, Bellatrix paid an artificially high price for the Rizzoli shares-- about ten times their market value-- to generate a windfall profit for the P-2 organizers of this deal. This huge inflow of money from the Panamian "ghost" occasioned frightening concern at the Rothschild Bank. According to Heer, a Rothschild director told him, "we have to find a solution or I will end up in Lake Zurich."
The solution they found was to temporarily put the Bellatrix money into two accounts at the bank-- called Zirka and Reciota-- under a discrete fiduciary. But, within days, it was release into other numbered accounts controlled by Gelli and his P-2 associates. So the $142 million borrowed by Calvi disappeared into P-2 havens-- destined for unknown uses.
The problem, as it turned out, was that Calvi did not receive the permission he needed from Italian authorities for the Banco Ambrosiano's Luxembourg subsidiary to take control of Rizzoli. On the contrary, Italian law was changed so as to make the transfer impossible, which meant, as far as Calvi was concerned, the Rizzoli deal had not been technically consummated. So, in theory, the $142 million that the P-2 men had, still belonged to his bank. According to his personal assistant, Calvi regarded this money as a "reserve fund," and had been pressing the P-2 men to return control of this money in 1982-- without success. And, by that June, with his "ghosts" having no way to repay their debt, this money was the difference between ruin and temporary salvation and Calvi headed for Zurich-- a destination he never reached. Shortly after Calvi's body was found, Heer carried out a "secret operation" at the request of one of Gelli's associate. Heer estimated that about $5 million drawn from Gelli's account in Geneva, which he identified as part of the missing Bellatrix funds, was packed in a suitcase and delivered to him at the Rothschild Bank. He also received one-half of a $100 bill. Following his instructions, he gave the suitcase to two strangers who later arrived at the bank with the matching half of the bill, and who left with the money in an armored limousine. Subsequently, he learned from a "family member" of Gelli's that this money had been used to pay for Calvi's murder.
Banking records produced in the various investigations of the bankruptcy confirmed that most of the Bellatrix money, diverted through the Rothschild Bank, went to Gelli and his P-2 associates. Gelli, in fact, had been arrested in Geneva that September making a withdrawal of $55 million from his account (and, after first escaping and then being re-arrested, he was sentenced to 18 ½ years in prison for contributing to the fraudulent bankruptcy of the Banco Ambrosiano).
In the later part of his career, Lewis has argued with increasing stridency that the West and the Islamic world, particularly the Arabs, are engaged in a long-standing “clash of civilizations,” a term he coined and was subsequently popularized by Samuel Huntington. "I have no doubt that September 11 was the opening salvo of the final battle," in this epic confrontation, Lewis told Michael Hirsh of the Washington Monthly in 2003. Lewis reportedly had a series of influential meetings with then Vice-President Dick Cheney in which he urged swift and decisive action against the regime of Saddam Hussein, a view he also promoted in numerous publications.
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http://nypress.com/fall-guy-or-wise-guy-swiss-private-banker-juerg-heer/
Fall guy or wise guy? Swiss private banker Juerg Heer
When the cops
finally nabbed Juerg Heer on Oct. 4, 1997, he was warming his bones in
the southern Thai resort town of Hat Yai. Located on the Gulf of Siam not far
from the Malaysian border, Hat Yai was millions of miles, at least figuratively,
from Heer’s home in Zurich, the starting point of an on-the-lam odyssey
that lasted nearly five years. During that time, the 61-year-old former senior
Swiss banking officer chugged through Italy, Turkey and Azerbaijan before settling
in Thailand.
finally nabbed Juerg Heer on Oct. 4, 1997, he was warming his bones in
the southern Thai resort town of Hat Yai. Located on the Gulf of Siam not far
from the Malaysian border, Hat Yai was millions of miles, at least figuratively,
from Heer’s home in Zurich, the starting point of an on-the-lam odyssey
that lasted nearly five years. During that time, the 61-year-old former senior
Swiss banking officer chugged through Italy, Turkey and Azerbaijan before settling
in Thailand.
Back in
the summer and fall of 1992, Heer stood at ground zero of a cataclysmic scandal
that roiled the privately held Rothschild Bank AG Zurich, a branch of the vast,
respected and centuries-old European financial house built by the aristocratic
Rothschild family. After serving for more than 20 years with the bank (opened
in 1968), the last nine as its credit manager, Heer was dismissed in June 1992.
Rothschild officials accused him of taking what they termed up-front “kickbacks”
in exchange for making unsecured and unapproved loans to German-born Canadian
real estate magnate Karsten von Wersebe–agreements that ultimately resulted
in a $155 million loss to the bank when von Wersebe’s house-of-cards property
empire toppled in 1991.
the summer and fall of 1992, Heer stood at ground zero of a cataclysmic scandal
that roiled the privately held Rothschild Bank AG Zurich, a branch of the vast,
respected and centuries-old European financial house built by the aristocratic
Rothschild family. After serving for more than 20 years with the bank (opened
in 1968), the last nine as its credit manager, Heer was dismissed in June 1992.
Rothschild officials accused him of taking what they termed up-front “kickbacks”
in exchange for making unsecured and unapproved loans to German-born Canadian
real estate magnate Karsten von Wersebe–agreements that ultimately resulted
in a $155 million loss to the bank when von Wersebe’s house-of-cards property
empire toppled in 1991.
Detained
by the Swiss district attorney’s office in late July 1992, Heer was held in
custody–but never criminally charged–while the government investigated
the bank’s allegations. Rothschild Bank AG Zurich contended that Heer fraudulently
pocketed more than $20 million from his dealings with von Wersebe, working outside
the knowledge of its board and auditors, then misrepresenting his actions when
confronted with the $155 million ledger debit. (Additionally, he supposedly
broke Swiss Banking Commission regulations by lending more than 20 percent of
the bank’s capital to one client, von Wersebe.) While Heer acknowledged receiving
the $20 million, he explained that the money derived from “commissions” on transactions
wholly endorsed by his superiors.
by the Swiss district attorney’s office in late July 1992, Heer was held in
custody–but never criminally charged–while the government investigated
the bank’s allegations. Rothschild Bank AG Zurich contended that Heer fraudulently
pocketed more than $20 million from his dealings with von Wersebe, working outside
the knowledge of its board and auditors, then misrepresenting his actions when
confronted with the $155 million ledger debit. (Additionally, he supposedly
broke Swiss Banking Commission regulations by lending more than 20 percent of
the bank’s capital to one client, von Wersebe.) While Heer acknowledged receiving
the $20 million, he explained that the money derived from “commissions” on transactions
wholly endorsed by his superiors.
Either
way, he knew how to spend it, purchasing 80 vintage automobiles, an enviable
collection of modern art, a small flotilla of boats and cellars brimming with
fine wines in his luxuriously furnished homes in Switzerland and Spain.
way, he knew how to spend it, purchasing 80 vintage automobiles, an enviable
collection of modern art, a small flotilla of boats and cellars brimming with
fine wines in his luxuriously furnished homes in Switzerland and Spain.
Herr Heer
saw himself as a scapegoat, a sacrificial lamb offered up by the bank’s new
broom, chairman Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, who took over from longtime chairman
Baron Elie de Rothschild in July 1991. Released from “investigative arrest”
in October 1992, Heer fought back, disregarding the Swiss financial fraternity’s
unwritten vow of silence: he blabbed to U.S., German, Swiss and Italian newspapers
about a multitude of convoluted and hair-raising improprieties, irregularities
and outright illegalities at the bank, which reached all the way up to Baron
Elie and vice chairman/former general manager Alfred Hartmann.
saw himself as a scapegoat, a sacrificial lamb offered up by the bank’s new
broom, chairman Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, who took over from longtime chairman
Baron Elie de Rothschild in July 1991. Released from “investigative arrest”
in October 1992, Heer fought back, disregarding the Swiss financial fraternity’s
unwritten vow of silence: he blabbed to U.S., German, Swiss and Italian newspapers
about a multitude of convoluted and hair-raising improprieties, irregularities
and outright illegalities at the bank, which reached all the way up to Baron
Elie and vice chairman/former general manager Alfred Hartmann.
Heer launched
his opening salvo in November, telling the Swiss paper Sonntagszeitung,
“I was part of a criminal system,” then proceeding to relate how the Zurich
bank, renowned for managing the accounts of Europe’s richest families, had routinely
concealed the assets of its clients, many of them Italian, by setting up shell
corporations under its trusteeship.
his opening salvo in November, telling the Swiss paper Sonntagszeitung,
“I was part of a criminal system,” then proceeding to relate how the Zurich
bank, renowned for managing the accounts of Europe’s richest families, had routinely
concealed the assets of its clients, many of them Italian, by setting up shell
corporations under its trusteeship.
According
to Heer, it worked like this: a client signed over his assets to a trustee–sometimes
someone at the bank such as Baron Elie, Hartmann or himself, sometimes a dependable
outside associate–with the proviso that they could be bought back in the
future at an agreed-upon price. Then the assets were transferred to a holding
company established by the bank. One such phony firm, the Panama-based Orion,
was a popular destination; Orion, in turn, begot offshore subsidiaries for similar
purposes. In this way clients avoided taxes and other monetary controls back
home, while bank officers, Heer included, netted millions in handsome commissions
for services rendered. This, Heer asserted, was standard operating procedure,
as were the labyrinthine loans he made to von Wersebe and others.
to Heer, it worked like this: a client signed over his assets to a trustee–sometimes
someone at the bank such as Baron Elie, Hartmann or himself, sometimes a dependable
outside associate–with the proviso that they could be bought back in the
future at an agreed-upon price. Then the assets were transferred to a holding
company established by the bank. One such phony firm, the Panama-based Orion,
was a popular destination; Orion, in turn, begot offshore subsidiaries for similar
purposes. In this way clients avoided taxes and other monetary controls back
home, while bank officers, Heer included, netted millions in handsome commissions
for services rendered. This, Heer asserted, was standard operating procedure,
as were the labyrinthine loans he made to von Wersebe and others.
Occasionally
foreign tax officials became suspicious. In one case, Heer recalled, he flew
to Rome, where he knowingly lied in court in an effort to allay concerns about
the true ownership of Italy’s sixth-largest insurer. When Baron Elie declined
to comply with a similar summons, Heer added, the Italian judges flew instead
to London, where the baron plied them with food and drink and falsehoods before
sending them on their way singing “For he’s a jolly good fellow.” Heer also
tarred Hartmann, who in addition to his positions at the Zurich bank served
as chairman of the Swiss branch of the notorious and now-defunct Bank of Credit
& Commerce International; Heer alleged that Hartmann used the familiar dummy-company
stratagem to funnel BCCI money from Nigeria.
foreign tax officials became suspicious. In one case, Heer recalled, he flew
to Rome, where he knowingly lied in court in an effort to allay concerns about
the true ownership of Italy’s sixth-largest insurer. When Baron Elie declined
to comply with a similar summons, Heer added, the Italian judges flew instead
to London, where the baron plied them with food and drink and falsehoods before
sending them on their way singing “For he’s a jolly good fellow.” Heer also
tarred Hartmann, who in addition to his positions at the Zurich bank served
as chairman of the Swiss branch of the notorious and now-defunct Bank of Credit
& Commerce International; Heer alleged that Hartmann used the familiar dummy-company
stratagem to funnel BCCI money from Nigeria.
Just warming
up, Heer got personal, accusing Baron Elie of keeping a stable of mistresses,
one of whom bore him a child.
up, Heer got personal, accusing Baron Elie of keeping a stable of mistresses,
one of whom bore him a child.
Most sensationally,
Heer recounted a potboiler indirectly connecting his bank to the death of Roberto
Calvi, chairman of the collapsed Banco Ambrosiano, who was found dangling under
London’s Blackfriars Bridge in June 1982, his pockets filled with bits of bricks
and $15,000 in sundry currencies. Later that same year an associate of a higher-up
in Italy’s banned P2, the shadowy Masonic lodge with ties to the Mafia, phoned
Heer requesting his participation in a secret mission. After giving his assent,
Heer received at the bank an envelope containing half of a torn dollar bill,
plus a leather suitcase. A few days later two men arrived at the bank driving
an armored Mercedes; one of them produced the matching half of the dollar. Heer
duly delivered the suitcase. Shortly thereafter, in a conversation with his
P2 contact, Heer inquired as to the nature of the mysterious exchange, and was
informed that the suitcase had been stuffed with $5 million in P2 cash–"money
for the killers of Calvi.”
Heer recounted a potboiler indirectly connecting his bank to the death of Roberto
Calvi, chairman of the collapsed Banco Ambrosiano, who was found dangling under
London’s Blackfriars Bridge in June 1982, his pockets filled with bits of bricks
and $15,000 in sundry currencies. Later that same year an associate of a higher-up
in Italy’s banned P2, the shadowy Masonic lodge with ties to the Mafia, phoned
Heer requesting his participation in a secret mission. After giving his assent,
Heer received at the bank an envelope containing half of a torn dollar bill,
plus a leather suitcase. A few days later two men arrived at the bank driving
an armored Mercedes; one of them produced the matching half of the dollar. Heer
duly delivered the suitcase. Shortly thereafter, in a conversation with his
P2 contact, Heer inquired as to the nature of the mysterious exchange, and was
informed that the suitcase had been stuffed with $5 million in P2 cash–"money
for the killers of Calvi.”
Not surprisingly,
Rothschild Bank AG Zurich senior staffers went into damage-control overdrive
denying Heer’s allegations. “It’s all nonsense,” one groused to London’s Sunday
Times in February 1993. “This man is a compulsive liar.”
Rothschild Bank AG Zurich senior staffers went into damage-control overdrive
denying Heer’s allegations. “It’s all nonsense,” one groused to London’s Sunday
Times in February 1993. “This man is a compulsive liar.”
True or
false, Heer’s revelations succeeded in sending some of the bank’s more jittery
clients scurrying for the exits, as they withdrew their money and deposited
it elsewhere. Sir Evelyn reacted swiftly, hiring a p.r. firm to quell the brouhaha.
“What Heer is saying is blackmail,” he huffed to The Wall Street Journal
in December 1992, while suggesting that Heer’s intent was to steer the bank
toward a substantial out-of-court settlement. “He’s trying to muddy the waters
to [imply] that it was all crooked. But it wasn’t.”
false, Heer’s revelations succeeded in sending some of the bank’s more jittery
clients scurrying for the exits, as they withdrew their money and deposited
it elsewhere. Sir Evelyn reacted swiftly, hiring a p.r. firm to quell the brouhaha.
“What Heer is saying is blackmail,” he huffed to The Wall Street Journal
in December 1992, while suggesting that Heer’s intent was to steer the bank
toward a substantial out-of-court settlement. “He’s trying to muddy the waters
to [imply] that it was all crooked. But it wasn’t.”
Turning
up the heat, the bank sued Heer for violating client confidentiality. This merely
pissed him off even more. “I’ll spoil this show for them,” he railed to the
WSJ. “You can be sure of that.”
up the heat, the bank sued Heer for violating client confidentiality. This merely
pissed him off even more. “I’ll spoil this show for them,” he railed to the
WSJ. “You can be sure of that.”
No idle
saber-rattler, Heer popped up in a Zurich probate court in December to testify
against his former employer in a messy inheritance case concerning the disputed
billion-dollar estate of Count Corrado Agusta, deceased scion of a family that
owned an Italian helicopter manufacturer. Agusta’s widow, Contessa Francesca,
from whom he separated in 1986, claimed that Rothschild Bank AG Zurich had conspired
with Riccardo Agusta, the count’s son from an earlier marriage and his principal
heir, to conceal a considerable portion of her husband’s assets after his death
in 1989. Italian law entitled the contessa to at least one-third of the estate.
Under oath, Heer swore that the bank’s attorney had connived with Riccardo to
deny Francesca her rightful inheritance.
saber-rattler, Heer popped up in a Zurich probate court in December to testify
against his former employer in a messy inheritance case concerning the disputed
billion-dollar estate of Count Corrado Agusta, deceased scion of a family that
owned an Italian helicopter manufacturer. Agusta’s widow, Contessa Francesca,
from whom he separated in 1986, claimed that Rothschild Bank AG Zurich had conspired
with Riccardo Agusta, the count’s son from an earlier marriage and his principal
heir, to conceal a considerable portion of her husband’s assets after his death
in 1989. Italian law entitled the contessa to at least one-third of the estate.
Under oath, Heer swore that the bank’s attorney had connived with Riccardo to
deny Francesca her rightful inheritance.
Then, clutching
his passport, Heer took off for a holiday in Thailand, agreeing to return for
a March 1993 court hearing in connection with the fraud charges leveled against
him. But when he failed to show in March, an international warrant for his arrest
was issued, and Heer began his four-and-one-half-year fugitive’s existence.
his passport, Heer took off for a holiday in Thailand, agreeing to return for
a March 1993 court hearing in connection with the fraud charges leveled against
him. But when he failed to show in March, an international warrant for his arrest
was issued, and Heer began his four-and-one-half-year fugitive’s existence.
Born into
a prosperous Zurich banking family in 1936, Juerg Heer initially worked for
Swiss Bank Corp., where his performance caught the eye of then-Rothschild Bank
AG Zurich general manager Gilbert de Botton. In 1972, after the two men met
at a dinner party tossed on behalf of Andy Warhol, de Botton wooed Heer from
Swiss Bank Corp. (De Botton left for a post in London in 1981, replaced by Hartmann.)
Heer thrived under de Botton’s mentorship, immersing himself in a pampered lifestyle.
In 1974, for example, he bought the first of his parking lot’s worth of vintage
cars: a 1954 Mercedes 300. Later he added a clutch of Ferraris. “Money was always
important for me,” he told the Journal. “I have always had so many hobbies.”
Well, yes, including collecting art: Heer set about acquiring works by Warhol,
Alberto Giacometti and Jean Tinguely, among others.
a prosperous Zurich banking family in 1936, Juerg Heer initially worked for
Swiss Bank Corp., where his performance caught the eye of then-Rothschild Bank
AG Zurich general manager Gilbert de Botton. In 1972, after the two men met
at a dinner party tossed on behalf of Andy Warhol, de Botton wooed Heer from
Swiss Bank Corp. (De Botton left for a post in London in 1981, replaced by Hartmann.)
Heer thrived under de Botton’s mentorship, immersing himself in a pampered lifestyle.
In 1974, for example, he bought the first of his parking lot’s worth of vintage
cars: a 1954 Mercedes 300. Later he added a clutch of Ferraris. “Money was always
important for me,” he told the Journal. “I have always had so many hobbies.”
Well, yes, including collecting art: Heer set about acquiring works by Warhol,
Alberto Giacometti and Jean Tinguely, among others.
All the
while he savored his proximity to his baronial boss. “I admired Elie,” Heer
confided to the WSJ. “He is a huge showman, and somehow my role model.
He was a royal crook, and I helped him. I found it marvellous.”
while he savored his proximity to his baronial boss. “I admired Elie,” Heer
confided to the WSJ. “He is a huge showman, and somehow my role model.
He was a royal crook, and I helped him. I found it marvellous.”
Still,
Heer’s status did not exempt him from Baron Elie’s occasional tirades. At a
restaurant conclave arranged by Heer for the bank’s board of directors, Baron
Elie reportedly berated Heer, finding the establishment substandard. This unfortunate
dining decision so infuriated the baron that he threatened to dismiss Heer,
who survived only after his colleagues intervened to save his job the following
day.
Heer’s status did not exempt him from Baron Elie’s occasional tirades. At a
restaurant conclave arranged by Heer for the bank’s board of directors, Baron
Elie reportedly berated Heer, finding the establishment substandard. This unfortunate
dining decision so infuriated the baron that he threatened to dismiss Heer,
who survived only after his colleagues intervened to save his job the following
day.
Ultimately,
though, it was Sir Evelyn, and not Baron Elie, who sacked Heer and attempted
to characterize him as a rogue run amok, a knave who deceived the bank’s unsuspecting
board regarding his loan activities. This approach garnered little sympathy
among Zurich’s banking home guard.
though, it was Sir Evelyn, and not Baron Elie, who sacked Heer and attempted
to characterize him as a rogue run amok, a knave who deceived the bank’s unsuspecting
board regarding his loan activities. This approach garnered little sympathy
among Zurich’s banking home guard.
“They
are foreigners and foreigners never make it in Zurich,” one local banker divulged
anonymously to London’s Daily Telegraph in February 1993. As Sir Evelyn
and his gray-suited brigade manned battle stations, the locals shook their heads,
admonishing, as the unnamed source told the Telegraph, “Why didn’t you
do it the Swiss way? Why didn’t you send this man to some island somewhere,
make him comfortable, and make sure he never came back to talk?” That probably
would have suited Heer just fine. But Rothschild officials refused to allow
him to make off with what they considered the wages of pecuniary sin, and he,
after telling tales out of class, vamoosed: to Italy, to Turkey, to Azerbaijan
and, finally, in the summer of 1996, back to Thailand. After 16 months there,
however, Heer apparently wore out his welcome with someone. Quite suddenly,
Thai tourist police, working with Swiss cops and Interpol, pinched him in early
October 1997, charged him with immigration violations and shipped him to a Bangkok
detention center for illegal aliens. One of his protectors, it would appear,
had finked on him.
are foreigners and foreigners never make it in Zurich,” one local banker divulged
anonymously to London’s Daily Telegraph in February 1993. As Sir Evelyn
and his gray-suited brigade manned battle stations, the locals shook their heads,
admonishing, as the unnamed source told the Telegraph, “Why didn’t you
do it the Swiss way? Why didn’t you send this man to some island somewhere,
make him comfortable, and make sure he never came back to talk?” That probably
would have suited Heer just fine. But Rothschild officials refused to allow
him to make off with what they considered the wages of pecuniary sin, and he,
after telling tales out of class, vamoosed: to Italy, to Turkey, to Azerbaijan
and, finally, in the summer of 1996, back to Thailand. After 16 months there,
however, Heer apparently wore out his welcome with someone. Quite suddenly,
Thai tourist police, working with Swiss cops and Interpol, pinched him in early
October 1997, charged him with immigration violations and shipped him to a Bangkok
detention center for illegal aliens. One of his protectors, it would appear,
had finked on him.
At first
Heer admitted to entering Thailand on a bogus Hungarian passport, but, fearful
of repatriation to Switzerland, he soon changed his story, and at four separate
hearings he denied unlawful immigration. To help jog his memory, Thai authorities
relocated him to Lad Phrao jail, north of Bangkok. A month there took its toll.
In late November a visibly exhausted, wan and thin Heer finally pleaded guilty
in a Bangkok court, which fined him $75, handed him a 30-day suspended sentence,
and turned him over to Swiss policemen to be escorted home.
Heer admitted to entering Thailand on a bogus Hungarian passport, but, fearful
of repatriation to Switzerland, he soon changed his story, and at four separate
hearings he denied unlawful immigration. To help jog his memory, Thai authorities
relocated him to Lad Phrao jail, north of Bangkok. A month there took its toll.
In late November a visibly exhausted, wan and thin Heer finally pleaded guilty
in a Bangkok court, which fined him $75, handed him a 30-day suspended sentence,
and turned him over to Swiss policemen to be escorted home.
Although
a month’s stay in the squalor of a Thai jail no doubt proved extremely unpleasant,
it did not alone account for Heer’s poor physical condition: Sometime during
his flight from the law he had developed AIDS. So a Swiss judge placed him in
protective custody in a Bern hospital until he recovered sufficiently to stand
trial. When he finally came before a Zurich district court in September 1998,
the formerly combative Heer, now 62 and enfeebled by the disease, readily confessed
to embezzling 55 million Swiss francs ($33 million) from Bank Rothschild AG
Zurich between 1986 and 1992. When questioned by the court’s judge about his
alleged misconduct, Heer repeatedly responded, “I don’t want to recall it all.
But it must be right if you say so.”
a month’s stay in the squalor of a Thai jail no doubt proved extremely unpleasant,
it did not alone account for Heer’s poor physical condition: Sometime during
his flight from the law he had developed AIDS. So a Swiss judge placed him in
protective custody in a Bern hospital until he recovered sufficiently to stand
trial. When he finally came before a Zurich district court in September 1998,
the formerly combative Heer, now 62 and enfeebled by the disease, readily confessed
to embezzling 55 million Swiss francs ($33 million) from Bank Rothschild AG
Zurich between 1986 and 1992. When questioned by the court’s judge about his
alleged misconduct, Heer repeatedly responded, “I don’t want to recall it all.
But it must be right if you say so.”
Accordingly,
the court found him guilty. It also fined him $7350 for 1) participating in
a scheme that attempted to extort cash from three former bank clients during
his time on the run, 2) using forged passports and 3) breaching bank confidentiality
rules. Added to that were court fees of $22,000. Final sentence for his multiple
transgressions: four years in prison (the district attorney had asked for six),
with the nine months Heer spent in detention awaiting trial put toward time
served. He immediately gave his benediction to the sentence, promising not to
appeal.
the court found him guilty. It also fined him $7350 for 1) participating in
a scheme that attempted to extort cash from three former bank clients during
his time on the run, 2) using forged passports and 3) breaching bank confidentiality
rules. Added to that were court fees of $22,000. Final sentence for his multiple
transgressions: four years in prison (the district attorney had asked for six),
with the nine months Heer spent in detention awaiting trial put toward time
served. He immediately gave his benediction to the sentence, promising not to
appeal.
Paroled
last year, Heer emerged to live primarily at Zurich Lighthouse, an AIDS hospice,
where he died, age 65, on Feb. 21.
last year, Heer emerged to live primarily at Zurich Lighthouse, an AIDS hospice,
where he died, age 65, on Feb. 21.
“The bank
won’t survive,” Heer hissed to The Wall Street Journal in late 1992.
“They don’t want to close it, but I will make sure of it.” Fall guy or wise
guy, he was wrong nonetheless. The bank endured. He didn’t.
won’t survive,” Heer hissed to The Wall Street Journal in late 1992.
“They don’t want to close it, but I will make sure of it.” Fall guy or wise
guy, he was wrong nonetheless. The bank endured. He didn’t.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2003/dec/07/italy.theobserver
Who killed Calvi?
Reopening
the inquiry into the 'suicide' of 'God's banker' has exposed links with
the mafia, masons and Vatican fraud, writes Nick Mathiason
The murdered man's 37-year-old son had just two questions: 'Tell
me what you can do and how much will it cost?' It was the autumn of
1991 and New York investigator Jeff Katz had flown to the US city to
meet the dead man's son, Carlo Calvi. It turned out that Katz could do
quite a lot.
Roberto Calvi, known as God's banker because of his close ties to the Vatican, was found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge, central London, with a length of orange rope woven into a lover's knot around his neck. He was weighed down by bricks and found with £15,000 in cash in his pockets.
Calvi's death, in June 1982, was the moment the Italian underworld went overground in London. 'If you're going to take this case on it'll be like dancing in the mouth of wolves,' a secret service agent told Katz in Rome.
Katz was bitten. 'It was a fascinating case,' he said in London last week. 'It involved the mafia, the Vatican, P2 [a powerful masonic group]. It had 90 per cent of my time for two years so I was really stuck into it.' The painstaking work, carried out by the New York investigator and 30 others in the early 1990s, is now leading tantalisingly closer to the arrest of key figures in Britain and the recovery of tens of millions of pounds in what was one of the 20th century's most intriguing murders and financial scandals. The affair saw Italy's biggest private bank collapse with debts of $1.4 billion in 1982.
The City of London police working on the case today describe a mosaic of vicious mafia dons, and assets traced all over the world.
But it seems there are plenty of people who still do not want the secrets which supposedly died with Calvi 21 years ago to come to light. The Italian detective leading the investigation, Luca Tescaroli, recently received a hand-delivered letter containing black powder and two 12-volt batteries with a note saying: 'This is an ultimatum. Stop.'
But it is too late now. Evidence has come to light which is leading the investigation to four UK suspects who helped bring about Calvi's downfall. Three months after Calvi's death, a small-time drug dealer, Sergio Vaccari, was stabbed in the face, neck and chest more than 15 times. At the time the City of London police saw no link with Calvi. But Vaccari had possession of masonic papers. And Katz tracked down Vaccari's former landlord, who, he learned, had demanded that his tenant left his flat. Vaccari agreed on condition that the landlord found him another home. The landlord presented two options, one of which Vaccari picked. A while later Vaccari wanted details from the landlord of the other place; that flat was in Chelsea Cloisters, the place Calvi stayed in just before he died.
'From there we began to make other linkages between Vaccari and the Calvi entourage,' said Katz.
The new City of London investigation, led by Detective Superintendent Trevor Smith, drew on a detailed reconstruction of the last hours of Calvi's life. The reconstruction, devised by Katz and a forensic expert, Angela Gallop, established conclusively that Calvi was murdered. The scaffolding that Calvi was hung from, was assembled again, and a man of Calvis's height and weight climbed along it. Pressure from such weight would have left rust on Calvi's shoes, but forensic research found no rust stuck to his footwear.
It was decided that Calvi could not have committed suicide, as was first suggested by the City of London police after an investigation that lasted no more than a week. It has long been suggested that it was a masonic influence that led the City police to issue this conclusion, a claim denied by the police.
For Carlo it was not just a case of proving that his father was murdered. A suicide verdict would have meant that the son could not have got access to the $10m life insurance payout. A second inquest produced an open verdict, which still did not satisfy the insurers. When subsequent forensic work did satisfy them that Calvi had not died by his own hand, his bank's creditors - owed $1.4bn - were waiting. Touche Ross, the liquidator, took a significant slice.
Calvi was a haunted man as he entered his final days. As chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, he was in charge of an organisation that laundered money made largely from the heroin trade for the mafia. He knew the dark financial secrets of the Vatican. Letters of comfort to offshore companies which he created were signed by Archbishop Marcinkus, a Chicago-born prelate and key Vatican insider who has never faced an interview or charges.
But more ominously Calvi had intimate knowledge of regular payments made by large Italian companies to political parties. He should have known: the payments went through his bank.
Calvi was on the point of going to prison for violating exchange controls. It was Michele Sindona, once Calvi's mentor, who ratted on him. Calvi had one chance to avert humiliation. Tell the world what he knew. It was this which led to his death, Katz believes.
'There was a point at which he threatened that if the Vatican and other people who he had been working with did not get him off the hook for the four years in jail for currency exchange violations, he was going to talk,' Katz argues. 'It would have landed the heads of all the major corporations in jail and it would have ended up probably with the indictment of political leaders.'
No mafia killing in London could happen unless it were ordered by Francesco di Carlo. He was one of the first of the Cosa Nostra to realise the need to 'clean' criminal profits through the financial system. Now serving 25 years for heroin trafficking, in 1967 he had met Queen Elizabeth in Italy.
For many years it was assumed that the Calvi mystery would fade into the mists of time. But the City of London police have now established a link between di Carlo and Sergio Vaccari. And the mists are clearing.
Banking scandal
It was one of the biggest and most intriguing financial scandals of the last century.
Weeks after Roberto Calvi's murder in June 1982, the Italian bank he chaired, Banco Ambrosiano, went under with a then staggering $1.4 billion debt.
Mafia, Freemasons and the Vatican are implicated in a tale of drug trafficking, money laundering and tortuous financing spanning the world.
Many believe the death of Pope John Paul I in 1978, just 33 days after his election, happened because he wanted to break the murky links between what was then Italy's largest private bank and the Vatican.
The scandal touched financial institutions around the world and the Italian political elite.
Calvi's bank built its empire in close association with the Vatican bank, the Institute for Religious Works. This was headed by Archbishop Paul Marcinkus from Chicago. While the Vatican never accepted culpability in the collapse of Ambrosiano, it stumped up $250m to creditors. Some believe Marcinkus may yet face trial now a court case in Italy is progressing.
One of the most influential figures in the Calvi story was Licio Gelli, now 84. He was Grand Master of the P2 masonic lodge of which Silvio Berlusconi was once a member. Gelli was sentenced to 12 years for fraud in connection with the collapse of Calvi's bank and is under house arrest.
Calvi's mentor Michele Sindona was friends with former US President Richard Nixon. Sindona died in prison in 1986 poisoned by coffee laced with cyanide.
Roberto Calvi, known as God's banker because of his close ties to the Vatican, was found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge, central London, with a length of orange rope woven into a lover's knot around his neck. He was weighed down by bricks and found with £15,000 in cash in his pockets.
Calvi's death, in June 1982, was the moment the Italian underworld went overground in London. 'If you're going to take this case on it'll be like dancing in the mouth of wolves,' a secret service agent told Katz in Rome.
Katz was bitten. 'It was a fascinating case,' he said in London last week. 'It involved the mafia, the Vatican, P2 [a powerful masonic group]. It had 90 per cent of my time for two years so I was really stuck into it.' The painstaking work, carried out by the New York investigator and 30 others in the early 1990s, is now leading tantalisingly closer to the arrest of key figures in Britain and the recovery of tens of millions of pounds in what was one of the 20th century's most intriguing murders and financial scandals. The affair saw Italy's biggest private bank collapse with debts of $1.4 billion in 1982.
The City of London police working on the case today describe a mosaic of vicious mafia dons, and assets traced all over the world.
But it seems there are plenty of people who still do not want the secrets which supposedly died with Calvi 21 years ago to come to light. The Italian detective leading the investigation, Luca Tescaroli, recently received a hand-delivered letter containing black powder and two 12-volt batteries with a note saying: 'This is an ultimatum. Stop.'
But it is too late now. Evidence has come to light which is leading the investigation to four UK suspects who helped bring about Calvi's downfall. Three months after Calvi's death, a small-time drug dealer, Sergio Vaccari, was stabbed in the face, neck and chest more than 15 times. At the time the City of London police saw no link with Calvi. But Vaccari had possession of masonic papers. And Katz tracked down Vaccari's former landlord, who, he learned, had demanded that his tenant left his flat. Vaccari agreed on condition that the landlord found him another home. The landlord presented two options, one of which Vaccari picked. A while later Vaccari wanted details from the landlord of the other place; that flat was in Chelsea Cloisters, the place Calvi stayed in just before he died.
'From there we began to make other linkages between Vaccari and the Calvi entourage,' said Katz.
The new City of London investigation, led by Detective Superintendent Trevor Smith, drew on a detailed reconstruction of the last hours of Calvi's life. The reconstruction, devised by Katz and a forensic expert, Angela Gallop, established conclusively that Calvi was murdered. The scaffolding that Calvi was hung from, was assembled again, and a man of Calvis's height and weight climbed along it. Pressure from such weight would have left rust on Calvi's shoes, but forensic research found no rust stuck to his footwear.
It was decided that Calvi could not have committed suicide, as was first suggested by the City of London police after an investigation that lasted no more than a week. It has long been suggested that it was a masonic influence that led the City police to issue this conclusion, a claim denied by the police.
For Carlo it was not just a case of proving that his father was murdered. A suicide verdict would have meant that the son could not have got access to the $10m life insurance payout. A second inquest produced an open verdict, which still did not satisfy the insurers. When subsequent forensic work did satisfy them that Calvi had not died by his own hand, his bank's creditors - owed $1.4bn - were waiting. Touche Ross, the liquidator, took a significant slice.
Calvi was a haunted man as he entered his final days. As chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, he was in charge of an organisation that laundered money made largely from the heroin trade for the mafia. He knew the dark financial secrets of the Vatican. Letters of comfort to offshore companies which he created were signed by Archbishop Marcinkus, a Chicago-born prelate and key Vatican insider who has never faced an interview or charges.
But more ominously Calvi had intimate knowledge of regular payments made by large Italian companies to political parties. He should have known: the payments went through his bank.
Calvi was on the point of going to prison for violating exchange controls. It was Michele Sindona, once Calvi's mentor, who ratted on him. Calvi had one chance to avert humiliation. Tell the world what he knew. It was this which led to his death, Katz believes.
'There was a point at which he threatened that if the Vatican and other people who he had been working with did not get him off the hook for the four years in jail for currency exchange violations, he was going to talk,' Katz argues. 'It would have landed the heads of all the major corporations in jail and it would have ended up probably with the indictment of political leaders.'
No mafia killing in London could happen unless it were ordered by Francesco di Carlo. He was one of the first of the Cosa Nostra to realise the need to 'clean' criminal profits through the financial system. Now serving 25 years for heroin trafficking, in 1967 he had met Queen Elizabeth in Italy.
For many years it was assumed that the Calvi mystery would fade into the mists of time. But the City of London police have now established a link between di Carlo and Sergio Vaccari. And the mists are clearing.
Banking scandal
It was one of the biggest and most intriguing financial scandals of the last century.
Weeks after Roberto Calvi's murder in June 1982, the Italian bank he chaired, Banco Ambrosiano, went under with a then staggering $1.4 billion debt.
Mafia, Freemasons and the Vatican are implicated in a tale of drug trafficking, money laundering and tortuous financing spanning the world.
Many believe the death of Pope John Paul I in 1978, just 33 days after his election, happened because he wanted to break the murky links between what was then Italy's largest private bank and the Vatican.
The scandal touched financial institutions around the world and the Italian political elite.
Calvi's bank built its empire in close association with the Vatican bank, the Institute for Religious Works. This was headed by Archbishop Paul Marcinkus from Chicago. While the Vatican never accepted culpability in the collapse of Ambrosiano, it stumped up $250m to creditors. Some believe Marcinkus may yet face trial now a court case in Italy is progressing.
One of the most influential figures in the Calvi story was Licio Gelli, now 84. He was Grand Master of the P2 masonic lodge of which Silvio Berlusconi was once a member. Gelli was sentenced to 12 years for fraud in connection with the collapse of Calvi's bank and is under house arrest.
Calvi's mentor Michele Sindona was friends with former US President Richard Nixon. Sindona died in prison in 1986 poisoned by coffee laced with cyanide.
Rothschilds' BCCI Shake Down of Arabs :
theintelhub.com/2012/08/05/rothschilds-bcci-shake-down-of-arabs/
5 Aug 2012 – N. M. Rothschild & Sons, which owns a big chunk of the Bank of ... ties to Robert Calvi's Banco Ambrosiano takeover of Continental Illinois Bank ...Peace & Security | The Rothschilds of the Mafia on Aruba
www.tni.org/paper/rothschilds-mafia-aruba
by T Blickman - 1997 - Cited by 7 - Related articlesThe 'Rothschilds of the Mafia' or 'the bankers of Cosa Nostra' were the .... His son was married to the daughter of Pietro Davì, one of the leading figures in the ...... For the operations of the Cuntrera-Caruana clan in Europe, see: Fabrizio Calvi, ...
calvi catholic rothschild
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&prmdo=1&sclient=psy-ab&q=calvi+catholic+rothschild&oq=calvi+catholic+rothschild&gs_l=serp.3...318223.318977.3.319377.2.2.0.0.0.0.386.666.2-1j1.2.0.les%3Bepbsh..0.0...1c.m1XJZxRSong&pbx=1&biw=1024&bih=575&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&cad=b&ech=1&psi=95IuUICcH4ioyAG4iYGwCQ.1345230489784.3&emsg=NCSR&noj=1&ei=95IuUICcH4ioyAG4iYGwCQ
Calvi, Murder, Mafia, Masonic And Vatican ... - Ex-Catholics For Christ
www.excatholicsforchrist.com/articles.php?PageURL=Calvi.htmPlease click here to see our video of where Calvi was found hanging .... He had financial connections with Rockefellers, Rothschilds and even the CIA and other ..."shame" Of Calvi Death Revelations - from the Catholic Herald Archive
archive.catholicherald.co.uk/.../1/shame-of-calvi-death-revelationsAccording to a Wall Street Journal report, a former director of Rothschild's Bank in Switzerland paid two killers E5 million to kill Calvi, known as "God's banker" in ...HSBC Helped Rothschild CIA Mossad Terrorists, Soros Mexican ...
politicalvelcraft.org/.../hsbc-helped-rothschild-cia-mossad-terrorists-s...2 Aug 2012 – Rothschild An MI5/6 Cronie & Sons: Implicated With George Soros In .... The head of that bank, Roberto Calvi, was later found hanging from the ...
calvi catholic rothschild son
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&prmdo=1&sclient=psy-ab&q=calvi+catholic+rothschild+son&oq=calvi+catholic+rothschild+son&gs_l=serp.3...0.0.5.324.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0.les%3Bepbsh..0.0...1c.XgdGdBVYWx4&pbx=1&biw=1024&bih=575&cad=cbv&sei=DJUuUMnvN-bv0gHi7YC4Cg
Rothschild An MI5/6 Cronie & Sons: Implicated With George Soros ...
politicalvelcraft.org/.../rothschild-an-mi56-cronie-sons-are-implicated...
19 Jul 2012 – The head of that bank, Roberto Calvi, was later found hanging from the ... Rothschild and Sons made huge sums managing for Thatcher the ...Calvi, Murder, Mafia, Masonic And Vatican ... - Ex-Catholics For Christ
www.excatholicsforchrist.com/articles.php?PageURL=Calvi.htm
Ex-Catholics For Christ is a website devoted to reaching Roman Catholics and others ... Please click here to see our video of where Calvi was found hanging .... would give young Italian priests, hundred dollar bills and say, rather crudely, "Son, ... He had financial connections with Rockefellers, Rothschilds and even the CIA ...
...........................
Dorothy Parker - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dorthy Parker Rothschild not related to bankinhg Rothschilds
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Parker
Also known as Dot or Dottie, Parker was born Dorothy Rothschild to Jacob ... She grew up on the Upper West Side and attended Roman Catholic ... president Calvin Coolidge had died; Parker remarked, "How could they tell? ... In 1936, she contributed lyrics for the song "I Wished on the Moon", with music by Ralph Rainger.....................................
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/08/15/dr-lewis-and-mr-bernard.html
CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS COINER Bernard Lewis’
In the later part of his career, Lewis has argued with increasing stridency that the West and the Islamic world, particularly the Arabs, are engaged in a long-standing “clash of civilizations,” a term he coined and was subsequently popularized by Samuel Huntington. "I have no doubt that September 11 was the opening salvo of the final battle," in this epic confrontation, Lewis told Michael Hirsh of the Washington Monthly in 2003. Lewis reportedly had a series of influential meetings with then Vice-President Dick Cheney in which he urged swift and decisive action against the regime of Saddam Hussein, a view he also promoted in numerous publications.
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