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10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Candida Royalle.md Normal file
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---
category: "Crime & Abuse Networks"
tags:
- Person
- AdultFilm
- FemmeProductions
- FreeSpeech
- RCHorsch
alias:
- Candice Vadala
- Candice Marion Vadala
summary: "Adult film actress who in 1984 founded Femme Productions to make adult films from a woman's perspective, and a founder of Feminists for Free Expression."
died: 2015-09-07
location: "Mattituck, New York"
relations:
- type: founded
with: "[[Femme Productions]]"
start: 1984
fn: 1
- type: founded
with: "[[Feminists for Free Expression]]"
start: 1992
role: "founder, per Reason; founding member, per The Suffolk Times"
fn: 2
created: 2026-09-23
updated: 2026-09-23
---
Candida Royalle (born Candice Marion Vadala in [[Brooklyn]]; died September 7, 2015) was an adult film actress of the 1970s who in 1984 founded [[Femme Productions]] to produce "adult films from a woman's perspective." She died of ovarian cancer at her home in [[Mattituck, New York]], at 64.[^1]
### Career
Royalle performed in the mid-1970s in [[San Francisco]] and appeared in adult films including *Thoroughly Amorous Amy* and *Fascination* before moving to writing, producing and directing.[^1][^2] Femme Productions released 18 films between 1984 and 2007, 13 of them directed by Royalle; its best known included *Three Daughters* (1986) and *Sensual Escape* (1991). Two others, *Lovers* (1993) and *Lovers 2* (1994), were directed by [[R.C. Horsch]] under the name "RC Hürsch."[^2][^3] In the 1990s she arranged distribution of Femme titles through the adult-goods company [[Adam and Eve (company)|Adam and Eve]], with a line of vibrators. Her 1992 film *Revelations* she described as "my response to the right-wing attacks on the adult industry."[^2] According to the performer [[Annie Sprinkle]], she co-founded Club 90, a support group of adult film performers, in about 1985.[^1]
### Free Expression
In 1992 she founded, according to *Reason,* or was a founding member of, according to *The Suffolk Times,* [[Feminists for Free Expression]], a nonprofit that opposed censorship legislation and defended free speech in courts, on campuses and in the press.[^1][^2] Femme was founded, *Reason* noted, at the time [[Andrea Dworkin]] and [[Catharine MacKinnon]] were testifying to legislators that pornography was abusive by nature. Royalle wrote *How to Tell a Naked Man What to Do* (2004) and in 2014 received a doctorate in human sexuality from the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality.[^1][^2]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Young, Rachel. "Candida Royalle, feminist erotic filmmaker, dies in Mattituck at 64," *The Suffolk Times,* September 12, 2015. https://suffolktimes.archive.timesreview.com/2015/09/candida-royalle-feminist-pornographic-filmmaker-dies-in-mattituck-at-64/
[^2]: Brown, Elizabeth Nolan. "Feminist Porn Producer and Free-Speech Advocate Candida Royalle Dies," *Reason,* September 14, 2015. https://reason.com/2015/09/14/rip-candida-royalle/
[^3]: Internet Adult Film Database, "RC Hürsch," director credits *Lovers* (Femme Productions, 1993) and *Lovers 2* (Femme Productions, 1994). https://www.iafd.com/title.rme/id=b609e8df-4df6-46c4-8925-639ed9e91852

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10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Darby Lloyd Rains.md Normal file
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---
category: "Crime & Abuse Networks"
tags:
- Person
- AdultFilm
- RCHorsch
summary: "New York adult film actress of the 1970s, one of the industry's early performers, who appeared in R.C. Horsch's Erotic Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig."
location: "New York City"
relations:
- type: participant_in
with: "[[The Erotic Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig]]"
role: "performer"
fn: 3
created: 2026-09-23
updated: 2026-09-23
---
Darby Lloyd Rains, born Barbara in 1947 ("not 1948 as it says some places on the internet," she said), is a former adult film actress who was among the early group of New York performers of the 1970s with [[Marc Stevens]], [[Tina Russell]], [[Georgina Spelvin]] and [[Jamie Gillis]]; she played the lead in *Naked Came the Stranger* (1975).[^1][^2]
### Early Life
She grew up in [[Yorktown Heights, New York|Yorktown Heights]] in [[Westchester County, New York|Westchester County]]. Her father, from a musical family of the Pacific Northwest, had roles in Broadway productions of the 1950s including *[[Brigadoon]]* and *[[The Pajama Game]]*, toured with a male quartet, the Revelers, and later taught music at a local high school. With a friend she formed a singing duo, Cranberry, which recorded for [[Liberty Records]] with Joe Negroni of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers as producer; the record never had a real release.[^1] Her early films included *Sex U.S.A.* and *Dark Dreams* (1971).[^1] In February 1973 she appeared in *[[The Erotic Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig]]*, shot in [[Philadelphia]] by [[R.C. Horsch]].[^3][^4]
### Elizabeth Arrest
In 1974, she said, Stevens persuaded her to make a personal appearance at a new theater in [[Elizabeth, New Jersey]], the Liberty, which was showing *Lady on a Couch*; police arrested her, Stevens and a man named Allen under a local ordinance against exhibiting adult films. "I told the cops, 'We're not exhibiting anything!'" she said. The authorities, she said, released them on condition that they sign a document absolving the police of blame. She left New York in the late 1970s.[^2]
### Footnotes
[^1]: "NYC Starlets, Part 5: Darby Lloyd Rains, Why Do Fools Fall In Love? (Act 1)," *The Rialto Report,* February 2, 2025. https://www.therialtoreport.com/2025/02/02/darby-lloyd-rains/
[^2]: "NYC Starlets, Part 5: Darby Lloyd Rains, Why Do Fools Fall In Love (Act 2)," *The Rialto Report,* January 26, 2025. https://www.therialtoreport.com/2025/01/26/darby-lloyd-rains-2/
[^3]: West, Ashley. "Unknowing Ray Horsch, Episode 2: Performance," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 172, September 20, 2026 (republishing interviews recorded in 2013). https://www.therialtoreport.com/2026/09/20/ray-horsch-3/
[^4]: "How a pornographer's violent fantasies blurred fact and fiction as cops searched Olney house for missing women," *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* August 2, 2026. https://www.inquirer.com/news/a/raymond-eugene-horsch-olney-philadelphia-missing-women-history-20260802.html

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10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/David L. Paul.md
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@ -4,7 +4,22 @@ tags:
- Person
- BCCI
- CIA
summary: "Paul put CenTrust on a significant growth curve using brokered deposits, which he funneled into high-risk real estate loans, junk bonds, and offbeat investments."
summary: "Head of CenTrust Savings of Miami, whose failure cost 1.7 billion dollars; indicted with Ghaith Pharaon in 1992 over a BCCI debenture scheme and convicted of bank fraud in 1993 and 1994."
relations:
- type: head_of
with: "[[CenTrust Savings Bank]]"
role: "president and chief executive"
fn: 12
- type: partner_of
with: "[[Ghaith R. Pharaon]]"
role: "business associate"
fn: 11
- type: prosecuted
with: "[[United States Department of Justice]]"
reverse: true
start: 1992-02-28
end: 1994-02-10
fn: 13
---
David L. Paul was a real estate developer and owner of [[CenTrust Savings Bank]] of [[Miami]].[^1]
@ -21,6 +36,16 @@ Paul had extensive political contacts, giving $300,000 to Democratic politicians
In 1992, Paul and Pharaon were indicted together by the [[Department of Justice]] in Miami for the bond-swap conspiracy.[^10] His business practices and connections were scrutinized during the BCCI scandal, highlighting the intertwined nature of finance and politics.
### Pharaon and the Debentures
When Ghaith R. Pharaon disclosed on August 12, 1987, that he held 16.9 percent of CenTrust's common stock, Paul told journalists the next day that Pharaon was "one of my very close personal friends. He is probably one of the three of four closest personal friends Mrs. Paul and I have." The [[BCCI Kerry-Brown Senate Report|Kerry-Brown Senate Report]] described the arrangement by which Pharaon would sell CenTrust subordinated debentures, a BCCI branch would buy 25 million dollars of them "to deceive other investors as to their market value," and CenTrust would buy back any debentures BCCI had bought.[^11]
### Indictment and Conviction
On February 28, 1992, a federal grand jury in Miami returned a 22-count indictment against Paul, Pharaon and CenTrust's former executive vice president William Christopher Berry. It charged that Paul had conspired with a BCCI insider to arrange a phony securities purchase: BCCI bought about 27.7 million dollars of CenTrust debentures on May 24, 1988, and two months later a Connecticut real estate subsidiary of CenTrust bought them back at par for 25 million dollars though their market value had fallen to about 24.7 million, and Pharaon kept the 331,500 dollar difference. It also charged Paul and Berry with structuring a June 1988 securities deal with [[Lincoln Savings and Loan|Lincoln Savings]] to conceal from regulators that the transactions were linked. CenTrust had collapsed on February 2, 1990, at a cost to the federal government of 1.7 billion dollars.[^12]
After a trial in 1993 Paul was convicted on 68 of 69 counts concerning the diversion of 3.2 million dollars of CenTrust money to his own use, most of it for work on his mansion on La Gorce Island in [[Miami Beach, Florida|Miami Beach]]. On February 10, 1994, he pleaded guilty to the 29 remaining counts, which concerned dealings with Lincoln Savings, [[Michael Milken]]'s [[Drexel Burnham Lambert]] and BCCI. "This... represents the first conviction of a U.S. banker growing out of the worldwide BCCI investigations in this country," said the prosecutor, Allan Sullivan. United Press International noted that he had assembled a 30 million dollar collection of Old Masters paintings in CenTrust's executive suite.[^13]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 10.
@ -33,3 +58,6 @@ In 1992, Paul and Pharaon were indicted together by the [[Department of Justice]
[^8]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 218.
[^9]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 221.
[^10]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 221.
[^11]: Kerry, Senator John, and Senator Hank Brown. *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate.* December 1992, ch. 7, "BCCI in the United States: Later Acquisitions." https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/07later.htm
[^12]: "Former CenTrust CEO, two others indicted," United Press International, February 28, 1992. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/02/28/Former-CenTrust-CEO-two-others-indicted/5853699253200/
[^13]: "David Paul pleads guilty to remaining fraud charges," United Press International, February 10, 1994. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1994/02/10/David-Paul-pleads-guilty-to-remaining-fraud-charges/6187760856400/

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10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Georgina Spelvin.md Normal file
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---
category: "Crime & Abuse Networks"
tags:
- Person
- AdultFilm
- Broadway
- RCHorsch
summary: "Broadway performer who at 36 starred in The Devil in Miss Jones (1973), appeared in R.C. Horsch's Erotic Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig, and published a memoir in 2006."
relations:
- type: participant_in
with: "[[The Erotic Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig]]"
role: "performer"
fn: 2
created: 2026-09-23
updated: 2026-09-23
---
Georgina Spelvin is an American performer who appeared on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] in *[[The Pajama Game]]* and toured in musical productions through the 1950s and 1960s before starring, at 36, in [[Gerard Damiano]]'s *[[The Devil in Miss Jones]]* (1973), for which she had first been hired as the cook on the set; she had applied for that job because the anti-war film collective she had started needed money for the rent on its editing space.[^1] She lived and worked in [[New York City]] for two decades before moving to [[California]] in the mid-1970s, and in 2006 published a memoir, *The Devil Made Me Do It*.[^1]
In February 1973 she appeared in *[[The Erotic Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig]]*, shot in [[Philadelphia]] by [[R.C. Horsch]] and [[John Butterworth]].[^2][^3] The trade magazine *Take One* reported in the spring of 1973 that "Bob Sumner's Mature Films in New York followed up Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig (starring Ms. Spelvin) with High Rise."[^4]
### Footnotes
[^1]: West, Ashley. "Georgina Spelvin: The Devil, Miss Jones and the New York Years," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 11, May 19, 2013. https://www.therialtoreport.com/2013/05/19/georgina-spelvin/
[^2]: West, Ashley. "Unknowing Ray Horsch, Episode 2: Performance," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 172, September 20, 2026 (republishing interviews recorded in 2013). https://www.therialtoreport.com/2026/09/20/ray-horsch-3/
[^3]: "How a pornographer's violent fantasies blurred fact and fiction as cops searched Olney house for missing women," *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* August 2, 2026. https://www.inquirer.com/news/a/raymond-eugene-horsch-olney-philadelphia-missing-women-history-20260802.html
[^4]: Morthland, John. "Porn Films: An In-Depth Report," *Take One,* vol. 3, no. 6 (March-April 1973), pp. 11-15. https://archive.org/details/take-one-1973-03

52
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Ghaith R. Pharaon.md
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---
category: "BCCI Scandal"
alias:
- "Ghaith Pharaon"
tags:
- Person
- BCCI
@ -7,6 +9,36 @@ summary: "Pharaon launched himself into the construction business in Saudi Arabi
born: 1940-09-07
died: 2017-01-06
location: "Riyadh, Saudi Arabia"
relations:
- type: owned
with: "[[National Bank of Georgia]]"
start: 1978
end: 1987
role: "nominee for BCCI of 50 percent"
fn: 14
- type: owned
with: "[[Independence Bank of Encino]]"
role: "85 percent as fiduciary for ICIC Overseas"
fn: 15
- type: owned
with: "[[CenTrust Savings Bank]]"
start: 1987
role: "16.9 percent of common stock"
fn: 14
- type: partner_of
with: "[[David L. Paul]]"
role: "business associate"
fn: 17
- type: prosecuted
with: "[[United States Department of Justice]]"
reverse: true
start: 1992-02-28
fn: 17
- type: investigated
with: "[[Federal Reserve Board]]"
reverse: true
start: 1991-07-12
fn: 15
---
Ghaith R. Pharaon was a flamboyant [[Bank of Credit and Commerce International|BCCI]] front man and a [[Saudia Arabia|Saudi]] financier.[^1] He acquired [[Georgia National Bank]] and [[Independence Bank of Encino]], and was a shareholder in [[Attock Oil]], BCCI, and [[CenTrust Savings Bank]].[^2]
@ -22,7 +54,19 @@ He was involved in the sham purchase of CenTrust debentures, acting as a front f
Pharaon had extensive political connections, including with [[Jimmy Carter]], to whose charitable organizations he made donations.[^9] He was involved in lobbying efforts to keep CenTrust afloat, meeting with figures like [[M. Danny Wall]], then the nation's top thrift regulator.[^10]
Pharaon was indicted by the [[Department of Justice]] in 1992 for his role in the bond-swap conspiracy related to CenTrust and the secret ownership of [[Independence Bank of Encino]].[^11] He is described as fleeing from several indictments in the United States and is under investigation in [[Argentina]].[^12]
Pharaon was indicted by the [[Department of Justice]] in 1992 for his role in the bond-swap conspiracy related to CenTrust and the secret ownership of Independence Bank of Encino.[^11] He is described as fleeing from several indictments in the [[United States]] and is under investigation in [[Argentina]].[^12]
### National Bank of Georgia
According to the [[BCCI Kerry-Brown Senate Report|Kerry-Brown Senate Report]], BCCI owned 50 percent of the [[National Bank of Georgia]] from its ostensible sale to Pharaon in 1978, with Pharaon holding those shares as its nominee; the Federal Reserve concluded in 1991 that he had borrowed at least part of the purchase money, "with BCCI as his partner in the transaction from the beginning." In November 1981 he formed a holding company, GRP, Inc., renamed NBG Financial Corporation the next year, and agreed with BCCI that they would divide expenses equally and treat the bank as equally owned. In August 1983 he formed two further companies, Interedec (Georgia) N.V. of [[Curacao]] and Interedec (Georgia) of [[Nassau, Bahamas|Nassau]], stacked so that each held the one below; the report found that "the obvious purpose and intent of this series of holding companies... was to permit Pharaon and BCCI to sell or mortgage Pharaon's interest in NBG without regulators or creditors finding out." Pharaon Holdings Limited of Nassau then acquired his 50 percent interest without the notice to the Federal Reserve required by law. On January 1, 1985, he signed a secret "Memorandum of Deposit" pledging all the shares of NBG Financial to BCCI as collateral for his loans and giving BCCI "or its nominees" the right to vote them. In December 1986, in the words of the Federal Reserve's charges, "BCCI caused [[Credit and Commerce American Holdings|CCAH]] to agree to purchase the shares of NBG [Financial] from Pharaon for $220 million."[^13][^14]
### Independence Bank
BCCI officials selected the Independence Bank of Encino for secret acquisition in November 1984. Under a nominee agreement with BCCI's affiliate [[ICIC|ICIC Overseas]], set out in the [[Federal Reserve Board|Federal Reserve]]'s notice of July 12, 1991, Pharaon held 85 percent of its shares "as a fiduciary for ICIC Overseas" and 15 percent for himself. BCCI lent him 8.5 million dollars through his account at the [[Banque Arabe et Internationale d'Investissement]] in [[Paris]], which telegraphed the California authorities that he held deposits of that amount, and the remainder came from the [[First National Bank of Boston]] against a letter of credit from BAII counter-guaranteed by BCCI. The Federal Reserve found that he had made false statements to the [[Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation]] by concealing that he acted as nominee for BCCI, and moved to bar him, Abedi, [[Swaleh Naqvi]] and Kemal Shoaib from banking.[^14][^15] On July 29, 1991, it fined him 37 million dollars.[^16]
### CenTrust
Pharaon told the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] on August 12, 1987, that he had bought 16.9 percent of the common stock of CenTrust Savings of [[Miami]] and 24.4 percent of its Series One participating preferred stock, just under the 25 percent that would have meant legal control; the next day [[David L. Paul]] told journalists that Pharaon was "one of my very close personal friends." His CenTrust shares were likewise pledged to BCCI under a memorandum of deposit, and the report concluded that "at the very time that BCCI was under indictment in Tampa, Florida for money laundering, it had secretly acquired and controlled the largest S&L in Florida, CenTrust."[^14] On February 28, 1992, a federal grand jury in Miami indicted him with Paul and CenTrust's executive vice president William Christopher Berry: BCCI had bought about 27.7 million dollars of CenTrust debentures on May 24, 1988, CenTrust repurchased them two months later for 25 million dollars at par though their market value had fallen to about 24.7 million, and, according to the indictment, "the repurchase price was $331,500 greater than what BCCI had paid and Pharaon kept the difference." Attorney General [[William Barr]] called the indictment "another step in the Justice Department's effort to track down and prosecute allegations of crimes related to BCCI."[^17] On July 29, 1992, he was also named in the New York County indictment of [[Clark Clifford]], [[Robert Altman]], Abedi, Naqvi and [[Faisal Saud al-Fulaij]].[^18]
### Footnotes
@ -38,3 +82,9 @@ Pharaon was indicted by the [[Department of Justice]] in 1992 for his role in th
[^10]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 85.
[^11]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 221.
[^12]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 394.
[^13]: Kerry, Senator John, and Senator Hank Brown. *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate.* December 1992, ch. 6, "BCCI in the United States: Initial Entry." https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/06early.htm
[^14]: Kerry, Senator John, and Senator Hank Brown. *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate.* December 1992, ch. 7, "BCCI in the United States: Later Acquisitions." https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/07later.htm
[^15]: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, *In the Matter of Ghaith R. Pharaon, Agha Hasan Abedi, Swaleh Naqvi, and Kemal Shoaib,* Docket Nos. 91-037-E-I1 to I4, Notice of Intent to Prohibit, July 12, 1991. https://www.federalreserve.gov/supervisionreg/files/19910712.pdf
[^16]: Kerry, Senator John, and Senator Hank Brown. *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate.* December 1992, ch. 12, "BCCI and the Regulators." https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/12reg.htm
[^17]: "Former CenTrust CEO, two others indicted," United Press International, February 28, 1992. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/02/28/Former-CenTrust-CEO-two-others-indicted/5853699253200/
[^18]: "Clifford, Altman indicted in BCCI bank fraud," United Press International, July 29, 1992. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/07/29/Clifford-Altman-indicted-in-BCCI-bank-fraud/5122712382400/

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10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Ghassan Qassem.md Normal file
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---
category: "BCCI Scandal"
tags:
- Person
- BCCI
- AbuNidal
- Informant
- London
- 1980s
summary: "Manager of BCCI's Sloane Street branch in London who handled Abu Nidal's accounts and passed details of them to British and American intelligence."
location: "London, United Kingdom"
relations:
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Bank of Credit and Commerce International]]"
role: "manager, Sloane Street branch, London"
fn: 1
- type: informant_for
with: "[[MI5]]"
fn: 1
- type: represented
with: "[[Abu Nidal Organization]]"
role: "branch manager for its accounts"
fn: 1
created: 2026-09-23
updated: 2026-09-23
---
Ghassan Qassem was the manager of the Sloane Street branch in [[London]] of the [[Bank of Credit and Commerce International]] (BCCI), where he was given the accounts of the Palestinian terrorist [[Abu Nidal]] (Sabri al-Banna). While still at the bank he passed detailed information on those accounts to British and American intelligence, "apparently as a paid informant, according to press accounts based on interviews with Qassem," in the words of the [[BCCI Kerry-Brown Senate Report|Kerry-Brown Senate Report]], which called him "a key window on BCCI's support of terrorism."[^1]
### The Abu Nidal Accounts
By 1986, according to the Senate report, the information obtained about Abu Nidal's use of BCCI was detailed enough to be disseminated within the [[United States]] intelligence community. In July 1987, on the basis of Qassem's information, the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] prepared a report on the [[Abu Nidal Organization]] and its finances, declassified in 1991 at the request of Senator [[John Kerry]]'s subcommittee. It described the organization's commercial network as several businesses "created over the past seven years with the long-term goal of establishing legitimate trading enterprises in various countries," directed by its general manager and "principal agent in gray-arms transactions," Samir Hasan Najm al-Din (Samir Najmeddin), from offices in the [[INTRACO]] building in [[Warsaw]]. Najm al-Din "maintained a general account at a major West European Bank [BCCI in London] from which he transfers money to individual company accounts at local banks," held joint control of each company's accounts with its manager, and forwarded all major contracts to Sabri al-Banna for approval. After the material was disseminated, the Senate report states, the United States "coordinated efforts to shut down the financing of the activities exposed" through BCCI London, "with some success."[^1] Laurence Pope, the [[State Department]]'s associate coordinator for counter-terrorism, testified on the matter before the subcommittee.[^1]
### MI5
The journalist [[Lucy Komisar]] wrote that Abu Nidal, a BCCI client since 1981, held a 60 million dollar London account for arms and logistics, and that Qassem discovered that his best customer was the world's most wanted terrorist when he was shown Abu Nidal's photograph in the French magazine *[[L'Express]]*. By her account, BCCI headquarters told him: "Destroy it immediately, and go back to your branch, and don't you ever mention it to anyone, because the general manager has got enough problems without having to add any more." Qassem then alerted [[MI5]], which, Komisar wrote, traced payments from the BCCI account of a Syrian intelligence operative to the Abu Nidal agent who in 1986 had used his girlfriend in the unsuccessful attempt to smuggle a bomb aboard an Israeli airliner at [[Heathrow Airport|Heathrow]]; the British warned the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], "which apparently was not interested."[^2] The Senate report separately listed among BCCI's clients the brothers Manzur and Ghassan al-Kassar ("the Qassar brothers"), whom it described as associated with terrorism, arms trafficking and narcotics in connection with the government of [[Syria]] and with the supply of Eastern Bloc arms to the Nicaraguan [[Contras]].[^1]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Kerry, Senator John, and Senator Hank Brown. *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate.* December 1992, ch. 4, "BCCI's Criminality" (citing the *Financial Times,* November 13, 1991, p. 6; the testimony of Laurence Pope, S. Hrg. 102-350, pt. 3, p. 580; and "Abu Nidal's Terror Network," U.S. Department of State, S. Hrg. 102-350, pt. 3, pp. 640-641). https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/04crime.htm
[^2]: Komisar, Lucy. "BCCI's Double Game: Banking on America, Banking on Jihad." https://www.thekomisarscoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/BCCIs-Double-Game-Banking-on-America-Banking-on-Jihad-by-Lucy-Komisar.pdf

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10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Ian Shearer.md Normal file
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---
category: "Political Figure"
tags:
- Person
- NewZealand
- Politician
- Science
- RCHorsch
alias:
- Ian John Shearer
summary: "New Zealand National Party minister of science and technology, environment and broadcasting from 1981 to 1984, who opened the Chemical Technology Limited whey-to-alcohol plant at Temuka in April 1982."
died: 2021-06-01
location: "Hamilton, New Zealand"
relations:
- type: member_of
with: "[[Executive Council of New Zealand]]"
role: "Minister for the Environment and Minister of Science and Technology"
start: 1981-02-12
end: 1984-07-26
fn: 1
created: 2026-09-23
updated: 2026-09-23
---
Ian John Shearer (died June 1, 2021) was a [[New Zealand]] National Party politician who represented Hamilton East from 1975 to 1984. He was appointed Minister for the Environment and Minister of Science and Technology on February 12, 1981, taking the science portfolio from [[Bill Birch]], and Minister of Broadcasting on December 11, 1981. He resigned all three offices on July 26, 1984, after National's election defeat.[^1][^2][^3] The House of Representatives recorded his death on June 3, 2021.[^4]
### The Temuka Plant
In April 1982, on the same visit to Canterbury on which he opened the Dairy Science and Technology Conference in [[Christchurch]], Shearer opened "the whey-to-alcohol factory of Chemical Technology, Ltd, at Temuka," the plant of [[Chemical Technology Limited]], and said it would turn what twenty years earlier had been "poured down the throat of a pig" into alcohol and proteins.[^5] The company's American director, Dr Stanley Stokowski, was the fugitive [[R.C. Horsch]], who had entered the country in 1980 under a stolen identity.
### Footnotes
[^1]: *New Zealand Gazette,* February 12, 1981, Extraordinary, No. 14, p. 323 ("Dr the Honourable Ian John Shearer to be Minister for the Environment and Minister of Science and Technology"). https://gazette.howison.co.nz/nzg/1981/issue/14/page/323
[^2]: *New Zealand Gazette,* December 11, 1981 (gazetted December 14, 1981), Supplement, No. 149, p. 3780 ("Doctor the Honourable Ian John Shearer, to be Minister of Broadcasting"). https://gazette.howison.co.nz/nzg/1981/issue/149/page/3780
[^3]: *New Zealand Gazette,* July 26-27, 1984, Supplement, No. 130, p. 2912 ("Doctor the Honourable Ian John Shearer, of the Offices of Minister for the Environment, Minister of Science and Technology and Minister of Broadcasting"). https://gazette.howison.co.nz/nzg/1984/issue/130/page/2912
[^4]: New Zealand Parliament, Hansard, "Obituary: Dr Ian Shearer," June 3, 2021 ("Members, I regret to inform the House of the death on 1 June 2021 of Dr the Hon Ian John Shearer, who represented the Hamilton East electorate between 1975 and 1984"). https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20210603_20210603_08
[^5]: "Dr Shearer wants extra effort in biotechnology," *The Press* (Christchurch), April 23, 1982. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19820423.2.96.9

25
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/John Rutherford (New Zealand lawyer).md
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@ -29,24 +29,25 @@ John Gordon Rutherford was a [[Christchurch]] lawyer who set up [[Chemical Techn
### Stokowski
The company was incorporated on May 26, 1981, with Rutherford and [[Dorothy Verna Rutherford]], who shared his Christchurch address, as its directors, and its registered office at Ibis House, 183 Hereford Street, Christchurch.[^3] In July 1981 the government approved a licence for its whey distillery, the first commercial one in the South Island, and two regional development suspensory loans totalling 120,235 dollars were approved for it the same year.[^4][^5] In December 1981, as a director, Rutherford asked the Canterbury United Council to support ethanol as a replacement for tetraethyl lead in petrol and to seek removal of the tax on ethanol used as an octane booster.[^6] The plant was opened by the Minister of Science and Technology, [[Ian Shearer]], in April 1982.[^7]
The company was incorporated on May 26, 1981, with Rutherford and [[Dorothy Verna Rutherford]], who shared his Christchurch address, as its directors, and its registered office at Ibis House, 183 Hereford Street, Christchurch.[^3] The *New Zealand Gazette* notice of 1984 announcing that the company's debt to [[Westpac]] had been repaid and that its receiver would cease to act is signed "J. C. RUTHERFORD, Solicitor to the Company."[^4] In July 1981 the government approved a licence for its whey distillery, the first commercial one in the South Island, and two regional development suspensory loans totalling 120,235 dollars were approved for it the same year.[^5][^6] In December 1981, as a director, Rutherford asked the Canterbury United Council to support ethanol as a replacement for tetraethyl lead in petrol and to seek removal of the tax on ethanol used as an octane booster.[^7] The plant was opened by the Minister of Science and Technology, [[Ian Shearer]], in April 1982.[^8]
Rutherford told *[[The Press]]* in 1984 that he had contacted Stokowski "after reading American advertisements about new technology." A later [[New Zealand]] government investigation found that the [[New Zealand Department of Immigration|Department of Immigration]] had been "under some pressure" from the man's "proposed employer" to "make an early decision" on his application.[^1]
After Horsch left New Zealand on March 17, 1984, on a passport that police believed had been stolen in a burglary at [[Temuka]], Rutherford described him to *The Press* as "brilliant and hard working," "a brilliant chap" who "knew what he was about," and "a particularly smart fellow, a real toiler and an excellent family man." He conceded that his partner might have been living under a false identity and, according to the paper, believed that he "had had some sort of trouble in the [[United States]]; perhaps of the scale of being a draft dodger during the [[Vietnam War]]," while dismissing any suggestion that he was a spy. He said he had not heard from Horsch since his departure and that his business had not suffered: "As far as I am concerned, it is business as usual." He called the spy story "a romantic tale," said the [[New Zealand Security Intelligence Service|Security Intelligence Service]] had never approached him, and said he had last seen Horsch in early March, when the man had talked of leaving "for some months" and told him "his shares were worth nothing." Horsch, he said, "had a lot of trouble getting a beverage alcohol licence ... like a lot of Americans he did not appreciate the time things take here."[^1][^8] He told *The Press* that he had transferred an amphibian aircraft to the company to increase its assets and had flown once with Horsch to [[Lake Tekapo|Tekapo]], but that Horsch lacked the rating for solo landings on water: "He didn't have enough hours." [[Westpac]] put the company into receivership on May 22, 1984, and Rutherford arranged to pay the bank about 170,000 dollars.[^9] The aircraft was a Lake LA-4-200 Buccaneer amphibian, construction number 469, registration ZK-EDK, formerly the American N5012L, which had been assembled at Christchurch and registered in New Zealand in December 1974; it was registered to Chemical Technology Ltd on October 30, 1981, passed to Rutherford personally on June 19, 1989, and was cancelled from the register as exported in September 2009. A local aviation historian recalled it standing for years in "a very tired state" at the Simon Spencer-Bower airfield, where he photographed it in September 1988.[^10][^11] In October 1984 he said business was booming and that Horsch "did everything he said he was going to accomplish."[^12] By 1986 he was growing Jerusalem artichokes under quarantine on his farm at Moncks Spur on the [[Port Hills]] as a feedstock for the company.[^13]
After Horsch left New Zealand on March 17, 1984, on a passport that police believed had been stolen in a burglary at [[Temuka]], Rutherford described him to *The Press* as "brilliant and hard working," "a brilliant chap" who "knew what he was about," and "a particularly smart fellow, a real toiler and an excellent family man." He conceded that his partner might have been living under a false identity and, according to the paper, believed that he "had had some sort of trouble in the [[United States]]; perhaps of the scale of being a draft dodger during the [[Vietnam War]]," while dismissing any suggestion that he was a spy. He said he had not heard from Horsch since his departure and that his business had not suffered: "As far as I am concerned, it is business as usual." He called the spy story "a romantic tale," said the [[New Zealand Security Intelligence Service|Security Intelligence Service]] had never approached him, and said he had last seen Horsch in early March, when the man had talked of leaving "for some months" and told him "his shares were worth nothing." Horsch, he said, "had a lot of trouble getting a beverage alcohol licence ... like a lot of Americans he did not appreciate the time things take here."[^1][^9] He told *The Press* that he had transferred an amphibian aircraft to the company to increase its assets and had flown once with Horsch to [[Lake Tekapo|Tekapo]], but that Horsch lacked the rating for solo landings on water: "He didn't have enough hours." Westpac put the company into receivership on May 22, 1984, and Rutherford arranged to pay the bank about 170,000 dollars.[^10] The aircraft was a Lake LA-4-200 Buccaneer amphibian, construction number 469, registration ZK-EDK, formerly the American N5012L, which had been assembled at Christchurch and registered in New Zealand in December 1974; it was registered to Chemical Technology Ltd on October 30, 1981, passed to Rutherford personally on June 19, 1989, and was cancelled from the register as exported in September 2009. A local aviation historian recalled it standing for years in "a very tired state" at the Simon Spencer-Bower airfield, where he photographed it in September 1988.[^11][^12] In October 1984 he said business was booming and that Horsch "did everything he said he was going to accomplish."[^13] By 1986 he was growing Jerusalem artichokes under quarantine on his farm at Moncks Spur on the [[Port Hills]] as a feedstock for the company.[^14]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Leask, Anna. "Man linked to multiple missing women in US had fled NZ 40 years ago after posing as scientist," *The New Zealand Herald,* September 23, 2026 (quoting *The Press* of 1984 and the New Zealand immigration investigation report). https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/raymond-horsch-man-linked-to-philadelphia-house-of-horrors-lived-near-timaru-under-stolen-name/BVQSWBL3LZDL3GIXFEHHBFY6RY/
[^2]: "How a pornographer's violent fantasies blurred fact and fiction as cops searched Olney house for missing women," *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* August 2, 2026. https://www.inquirer.com/news/a/raymond-eugene-horsch-olney-philadelphia-missing-women-history-20260802.html
[^3]: New Zealand Companies Office, Companies Register, "Chemical Technology Ltd," company number 141090, accessed September 23, 2026. https://app.companiesoffice.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/141090
[^4]: "Ethanol plant at Temuka," *The Press* (Christchurch), July 15, 1981. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19810715.2.31
[^5]: "Impostor: immigration cleared of blame," *The Press* (Christchurch), October 3, 1984. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19841003.2.23
[^6]: "Ethanol study beyond council," *The Press* (Christchurch), December 11, 1981. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19811211.2.98
[^7]: "Dr Shearer wants extra effort in biotechnology," *The Press* (Christchurch), April 23, 1982. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19820423.2.96.9
[^8]: "Police look for U.S. chemist," *The Press* (Christchurch), June 6, 1984 (Press Association, Timaru). https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19840606.2.48
[^9]: "Where has 'Dr Stokowski' gone?," *The Press* (Christchurch), June 9, 1984. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19840609.2.9
[^10]: Paull, Dave. "Lake LA-4-200 Bucaneer ZK-EDK cancelled," *NZ Civil Aircraft* (blog), October 11, 2009 ("Chemical Technology Ltd of Christchurch became the listed owners on 30-10-1981 ... Ownership changed to John Rutherford on 19-06-89 ... cancelled for the NZ register as exported on 17-09-2009"). https://nzcivair.blogspot.com/2009/10/lake-la-4-200-bucaneer-zk-edk-cancelled.html
[^11]: Wise, David. New Zealand civil aircraft register, ZK-EAA to ZK-EHZ ("ZK-EDK 1 12/74 LA-4-200 Buccaneer 469 ex N5012L export cx 9/09"). https://www.flydw.org.uk/DWZKEAH.htm
[^12]: "Ethanol plant's business booms," *The Press* (Christchurch), October 4, 1984. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19841004.2.21
[^13]: "Jerusalem artichokes as dual-purpose crop?," *The Press* (Christchurch), February 14, 1986. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19860214.2.93.1
[^4]: *New Zealand Gazette,* May 31, 1984, No. 91, p. 1832, Company Notices (receivership of Chemical Technology Ltd, and the notice "All moneys owing to Westpac Banking Corporation Ltd. have been repaid and the receiver will cease to act when the normal formalities have been complied with. J. C. RUTHERFORD, Solicitor to the Company"; wording confirmed against the scanned page). https://gazette.howison.co.nz/nzg/1984/issue/91/page/1832
[^5]: "Ethanol plant at Temuka," *The Press* (Christchurch), July 15, 1981. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19810715.2.31
[^6]: "Impostor: immigration cleared of blame," *The Press* (Christchurch), October 3, 1984. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19841003.2.23
[^7]: "Ethanol study beyond council," *The Press* (Christchurch), December 11, 1981. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19811211.2.98
[^8]: "Dr Shearer wants extra effort in biotechnology," *The Press* (Christchurch), April 23, 1982. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19820423.2.96.9
[^9]: "Police look for U.S. chemist," *The Press* (Christchurch), June 6, 1984 (Press Association, Timaru). https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19840606.2.48
[^10]: "Where has 'Dr Stokowski' gone?," *The Press* (Christchurch), June 9, 1984. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19840609.2.9
[^11]: Paull, Dave. "Lake LA-4-200 Bucaneer ZK-EDK cancelled," *NZ Civil Aircraft* (blog), October 11, 2009 ("Chemical Technology Ltd of Christchurch became the listed owners on 30-10-1981 ... Ownership changed to John Rutherford on 19-06-89 ... cancelled for the NZ register as exported on 17-09-2009"). https://nzcivair.blogspot.com/2009/10/lake-la-4-200-bucaneer-zk-edk-cancelled.html
[^12]: Wise, David. New Zealand civil aircraft register, ZK-EAA to ZK-EHZ ("ZK-EDK 1 12/74 LA-4-200 Buccaneer 469 ex N5012L export cx 9/09"). https://www.flydw.org.uk/DWZKEAH.htm
[^13]: "Ethanol plant's business booms," *The Press* (Christchurch), October 4, 1984. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19841004.2.21
[^14]: "Jerusalem artichokes as dual-purpose crop?," *The Press* (Christchurch), February 14, 1986. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19860214.2.93.1

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10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Lindsay Smith.md Normal file
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---
category: "Intelligence & Government"
tags:
- Person
- NewZealand
- Intelligence
- NZSIS
- Military
- RainbowWarrior
- RCHorsch
alias:
- John Lindsay Smith
- Brigadier Lindsay Smith
summary: "New Zealand army brigadier who directed the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service from 1983 to 1991, including the 1984 Stokowski affair and the 1985 Rainbow Warrior bombing."
born: 1926-03-06
died: 2002-09-11
location: "Tauranga, New Zealand"
relations:
- type: head_of
with: "[[New Zealand Security Intelligence Service]]"
role: "director"
start: 1983
end: 1991
fn: 1
- type: member_of
with: "[[New Zealand Army]]"
role: "officer, retired as brigadier"
end: 1981
fn: 1
created: 2026-09-23
updated: 2026-09-23
---
John Lindsay Smith (March 6, 1926, to September 11, 2002) was a [[New Zealand]] army officer and, from 1983 to 1991, director of the [[New Zealand Security Intelligence Service]] (NZSIS).[^1][^2]
### Army
Born at Kumara, Westland, and raised in a working-class family in [[Christchurch]], Smith worked as an uncertified teacher at Haupiri, attended teachers' college in 1945, and took a BA at Canterbury University. He served with the occupation force in [[Japan]], in the [[Korean War]] in 1952 with the 16th Field Regiment of the Royal New Zealand Artillery, and in [[Borneo]] and [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]]; he later commanded the Army Field Force and the New Zealand force in Southeast Asia, and was Deputy Chief of General Staff in [[Wellington]] until he retired in 1981. He then worked as the government affairs adviser to BP New Zealand.[^1] The Vietnam War veterans' roll lists him as a major and his service number as 207087, and notes that he retired as a brigadier and received the MBE, the CBE, and, after his service as director of the NZSIS, the CMG.[^2]
### Security Intelligence Service
Smith succeeded Paul Molineaux as director in 1983, at a time of what his obituary called "some mistrust in the country about the scope and style of the service's covert operations." He described himself as "a pretty conventional sort of chap," kept his home telephone number listed, and said: "I'm the visible member of the organisation. That's what I'm meant to be." He cited the rule that the service was not to be involved with "the class of person engaged in lawful protest or dissent," saying, "You can't get anything clearer than that." In 1983 the New Zealand Party leader, [[Robert Jones]], alleged that the service had tried to infiltrate his party in Auckland.[^1]
In June 1984, asked whether the police search for the American known as Dr Stanley Stokowski, who had fled the country in March on a stolen passport, involved security grounds, Smith said he had no comment: "It is a matter for the police and for customs."[^3] The man was the fugitive [[R.C. Horsch]].
After the bombing of the [[Rainbow Warrior]] in [[Auckland]] harbour in July 1985, a briefing he wrote, later declassified, stated that Prime Minister [[David Lange]] "would have been well pleased if the French couple, once apprehended, were removed from New Zealand jurisdiction quickly," and that "once they chose to plead guilty and accepted their sentence, we were subjected to French political and economic pressures." He retired from the service in 1991 and was succeeded by Don McIver. He died aged 76 and was given a full military funeral in [[Tauranga]].[^1]
### Footnotes
[^1]: "Obituary: John Lindsay Smith," *The New Zealand Herald,* September 20, 2002. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/iobituaryi-john-lindsay-smith/MKZ33367T76UQ4HMATRFJYPYGY/
[^2]: New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Vietnam War veterans roll, "Maj John Lindsay Smith" (born March 6, 1926; died September 11, 2002; buried Pyes Pa Cemetery, Tauranga). http://web.archive.org/web/20250223075219/https://www.vietnamwar.govt.nz/veteran/maj-john-lindsay-smith
[^3]: "Police look for U.S. chemist," *The Press* (Christchurch), June 6, 1984 (Press Association, Timaru). https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19840606.2.48

12
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Masihur Rahman.md
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@ -15,7 +15,13 @@ Rahman was brought into United Bank by [[Agha Hasan Abedi]] and [[Swaleh Naqvi]]
After BCCI pleaded guilty to money laundering in January 1990, Rahman was placed in charge of an internal audit committee to verify the Price Waterhouse figures.[^6] His findings showed that the bank's books were in a shambles, with hundreds of millions of dollars loaned or transferred without paperwork, and hundreds of millions more simply disappeared.[^7]
Rahman was very nervous about discussing BCCI's affairs with the press due to threats to his family.[^8] He described a secret bank within the bank, International Credit and Investment Company Holdings (ICIC) in the [[Cayman Islands]], into which billions of dollars in deposits were improperly diverted.[^9]
Rahman was very nervous about discussing BCCI's affairs with the press due to threats to his family.[^8] He described a secret bank within the bank, International Credit and Investment Company Holdings ([[ICIC]]) in the [[Cayman Islands]], into which billions of dollars in deposits were improperly diverted.[^9]
### Testimony
Rahman and [[Abdur Sakhia]], BCCI's former general manager in [[New York City|New York]], were the two BCCI officials who testified before Senator [[John Kerry]]'s subcommittee in 1991; both had left the bank in 1990, when Abu Dhabi took active control and forced out members of the original Pakistani group who lacked close ties to the Al Nahyan family, and both had been threatened. His testimony is recorded in the subcommittee's hearing volume S. Hrg. 102-350.[^10] He described the bank's founding quarters in Abu Dhabi as "mess-type flats," its hierarchy as "Mr. Abedi at the very top, there was Mr. Naqvi who was like a chief operating officer... And then there was a big gap," and its internal secrecy: "I could see these Chinese walls were getting very, very watertight and we were always taught about humility and ego and anything that was slightly out of context was considered just an ego trip." Of Abedi he said: "I remember looking into his eyes and seeing God and the Devil balanced equally in them."[^11]
He told the subcommittee that the BCCI front man [[Mohammed Hammoud]], whom he called "a medium sized businessman," used two companies, Mid-Gulf and Rubstone, to buy shares of [[Credit and Commerce American Holdings]] on the bank's behalf, and described the parallel Cayman group, ICIC, as an organization that would "hold shares of the bank for the founder group."[^12][^13] He said the treasury losses of [[Syed Ziauddin Ali Akbar]] in 1985 were "equivalent to BCCI's entire capital."[^10]
### Footnotes
@ -28,3 +34,7 @@ Rahman was very nervous about discussing BCCI's affairs with the press due to th
[^7]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 83.
[^8]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 80.
[^9]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 82.
[^10]: Kerry, Senator John, and Senator Hank Brown. *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate.* December 1992, ch. 4, "BCCI's Criminality." https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/04crime.htm
[^11]: Kerry, Senator John, and Senator Hank Brown. *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate.* December 1992, ch. 3, "The Origin and Early Years of BCCI." https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/03hist.htm
[^12]: Kerry, Senator John, and Senator Hank Brown. *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate.* December 1992, ch. 15, "Mohammed Hammoud: BCCI's Flexible Front-Man." https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/15hammoud.htm
[^13]: Kerry, Senator John, and Senator Hank Brown. *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate.* December 1992, ch. 4, "BCCI's Criminality" (ICIC). https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/04crime.htm

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10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Philip Nordo.md Normal file
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---
category: "Law Enforcement & Legal"
tags:
- Person
- Police
- PoliceMisconduct
- WrongfulConviction
- Philadelphia
summary: "Philadelphia homicide detective fired in 2017 and convicted in 2022 of sexually assaulting witnesses and stealing reward money; dozens of his homicide cases were reviewed."
location: "Philadelphia, Pennsylvania"
relations:
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Philadelphia Police Department]]"
role: "homicide detective"
end: 2017
fn: 2
- type: prosecuted
with: "[[Philadelphia District Attorney's Office]]"
reverse: true
end: 2022-06-01
fn: 1
created: 2026-09-23
updated: 2026-09-23
---
Philip Nordo is a former homicide detective of the [[Philadelphia Police Department]], dismissed in 2017, who was convicted on June 1, 2022, of rape, sexual assault, indecent assault, official oppression, stalking and theft by deception, and sentenced in December 2022 to 24 and a half to 49 years in prison. The [[Philadelphia District Attorney's Office]] said its Conviction Integrity Unit had reviewed about 62 homicide convictions in which he was involved.[^1][^2]
### Conviction
A Philadelphia jury found Nordo guilty of sexually assaulting witnesses in murder cases. The theft count concerned reward money in the murder of the off-duty police officer Moses Walker, which Nordo obtained by falsely claiming that one of his victims had helped solve the case. District Attorney [[Larry Krasner]] called Nordo's conduct "jaw-dropping and deeply shameful for the criminal justice system" and said that his office had disregarded strong evidence of misconduct in 2005. Sentencing was set for August 5, 2022, before Judge Giovanni Campbell, and bail was revoked; the sentence of 24 and a half to 49 years was reported on December 16, 2022, the defense having asked for ten years. "This is a terrible abuse of position to coerce and to victimize other people," Krasner said.[^1][^2]
### Reviewed Cases
As of the verdict, according to the District Attorney's Office, five people wrongfully convicted of homicide in cases involving Nordo had been exonerated, two had received reduced sentences and charges, one had been granted a new trial, and four were awaiting rulings; a person wrongfully convicted of firearms offenses had been exonerated in 2017.[^1]
### Civil Suits
Civil-rights suits arising from his conduct include *Thomas v. Nordo*, No. 2:24-cv-04914 in the [[United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania|Eastern District of Pennsylvania]], filed on September 17, 2024, in which [[Jerome Brown]], counsel to [[Eugene Horsch]] and to [[R.C. Horsch]] in unrelated cases, is counsel of record.[^3]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Office of the Philadelphia District Attorney, "Former Homicide Detective Philip Nordo Accused of Sexual Assault, Theft Found Guilty on All Counts," press release, June 1, 2022. https://phillyda.org/news/former-homicide-detective-philip-nordo-accused-of-sexual-assault-theft-found-guilty-on-all-counts/
[^2]: "Former Philadelphia detective Philip Nordo sentenced to 24-49 years in prison," *CBS News Philadelphia,* December 16, 2022. https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/former-philadelphia-detective-philip-nordo-sentenced-to-24-49-years-in-prison/
[^3]: *Thomas v. Nordo,* No. 2:24-cv-04914 (E.D. Pa.), filed September 17, 2024, docket via CourtListener RECAP. https://www.courtlistener.com/?q=%22Thomas+v.+Nordo%22

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10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Richard Barclay Surrick.md Normal file
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---
category: "Law Enforcement & Legal"
tags:
- Person
- Judge
- FederalJudiciary
- DelawareCounty
- RCHorsch
alias:
- R. Barclay Surrick
- Barclay Surrick
summary: "Delaware County judge appointed to the federal bench by Bill Clinton in 2000 who presided over R.C. Horsch's 2009-2012 marijuana and firearms prosecution."
location: "Philadelphia, Pennsylvania"
relations:
- type: employed_by
with: "[[United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania]]"
role: "district judge"
start: 2000-06-05
fn: 1
- type: appointed
with: "[[Bill Clinton]]"
reverse: true
start: 2000-04-11
fn: 1
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Delaware County Court of Common Pleas]]"
role: "judge"
start: 1978
end: 2000
fn: 1
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Delaware County Public Defender's Office]]"
role: "chief, appellate division"
start: 1965
end: 1974
fn: 1
created: 2026-09-23
updated: 2026-09-23
---
R. Barclay Surrick (born 1937) is a judge of the [[United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania]], appointed by [[Bill Clinton]] in 2000. He presided over *United States v. Horsch*, No. 2:09-cr-00794, the prosecution of [[R.C. Horsch]] for cultivating marijuana and possessing firearms at his house in [[New Britain Township, Pennsylvania|New Britain Township]], and in 2012 sentenced him to 54 months.[^1][^2][^3]
### Career
Surrick was born in [[Media, Pennsylvania|Media]], in [[Delaware County, Pennsylvania|Delaware County]]. He took a B.A. at [[Dickinson College]] in 1960, a J.D. at the Dickinson School of Law in 1965, and an LL.M. at the [[University of Virginia School of Law]] in 1982. He was in private practice in Pennsylvania from 1965 to 1977 and at the same time headed the appellate division of the Delaware County public defender's office from 1965 to 1974. He sat on the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas from 1978 to 2000. Clinton nominated him on April 11, 2000, to the seat vacated by Lowell A. Reed Jr.; he was confirmed on May 24 and commissioned on June 5, 2000, and took senior status on February 1, 2011.[^1]
### United States v. Horsch
The case was filed on December 15, 2009, charging Horsch with manufacturing 100 or more marijuana plants, and a bench warrant issued the same day. [[Jerome Brown]] appeared for the defense in January 2010; the prosecutor was Assistant United States Attorney [[Elizabeth F. Abrams]], who filed notice of Horsch's prior drug convictions to enhance the sentence. On January 10, 2011, Horsch pleaded guilty to possessing 100 or more marijuana plants with intent to distribute, possessing a short-barreled shotgun in furtherance of drug trafficking, and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Surrick sentenced him on June 28, 2012, and resentenced him on July 3 to 53 months on the drug and felon-in-possession counts and a consecutive month on the shotgun count, and entered a final order forfeiting the Airy Avenue house on October 22, 2012.[^2][^3]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Federal Judicial Center, Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, "Surrick, R[ichard] Barclay." https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/surrick-richard-barclay
[^2]: *United States v. Horsch,* No. 2:09-cr-00794-RBS (E.D. Pa.), filed December 15, 2009; indictment (Doc. 1), order for bench warrant (Doc. 2), notices of appearance of Jerome M. Brown (Docs. 5 and 7), docket via CourtListener RECAP. https://www.courtlistener.com/?q=Horsch&type=r&court=paed
[^3]: *United States v. Horsch,* No. 2:09-cr-00794-RBS (E.D. Pa.), superseding indictment of January 26, 2010, information under 21 U.S.C. sec. 851 of December 23, 2010, change of plea of January 10, 2011, judgments of June 28 and July 3, 2012, and final order of forfeiture of October 22, 2012, docket via CourtListener RECAP. https://www.courtlistener.com/?q=Horsch&type=r&court=paed

30
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Swaleh Naqvi.md
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@ -8,6 +8,19 @@ summary: "Swaleh Naqvi was the chief operating officer of BCCI, taking over afte
born: 1933
died: 2019-09-07
location: "Agra, British India"
relations:
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Bank of Credit and Commerce International]]"
role: "chief executive"
fn: 1
- type: reported_to
with: "[[Agha Hasan Abedi]]"
fn: 10
- type: prosecuted
with: "[[Robert Morgenthau]]"
reverse: true
start: 1991-07
fn: 4
---
Swaleh Naqvi was the chief operating officer of [[Bank of Credit and Commerce International|BCCI]], taking over after [[Agha Hasan Abedi]]'s 1988 heart attack.[^1]
@ -21,6 +34,16 @@ Naqvi, along with Abedi, was indicted by [[Robert Morgenthau]], the Manhattan di
Naqvi had close ties with Abedi and was involved in many of the bank's illicit activities, including the use of nominees and offshore networks to conceal ownership and financial transactions.[^6] He was also involved in the meeting where [[Eugene Holley]] introduced [[Bert Lance]] to Abedi.[^7]
### Arrest and Extradition
Naqvi, a British subject who had served more than twenty years as Abedi's deputy, was arrested in [[Abu Dhabi]] in September 1991 and held there for nearly three years. On January 12, 1994, the [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] and the Abu Dhabi government agreed that American prosecutors would have access to BCCI witnesses and documents; under the arrangement, as United Press International reported it, the [[United States]] dropped a 1.5 billion dollar civil suit against Sheikh [[Zayed bin Sultan AL-Nahayan|Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan]], brought no criminal charges against him, and received 400 million dollars' worth of Abu Dhabi's shares in First American Bank. Naqvi was handed to American officials on May 7, 1994.[^8][^9]
### Plea and Sentence
On July 8, 1994, a federal judge in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] accepted his guilty plea to fraud, racketeering and conspiracy charges, in which he admitted responsibility for 255 million dollars in losses in the United States; Morgenthau opposed the agreement as too lenient.[^10] On October 19, 1994, Judge [[Joyce Hens Green]] sentenced him to eleven years for a racketeering conspiracy to control American banks secretly, including First American, and ordered him to pay 255 million dollars; with credit for the time he had spent in custody in Abu Dhabi, he was to serve about eight.[^9][^11]
In June 1994 the Abu Dhabi court trying BCCI's former executives had sentenced him in absentia. United Press International first reported "four sentences totaling 11 years" on nine counts, and later reported the sentence as fourteen years, the figure also given by the *American Banker*, which called it the longest imposed. An appeals court in Abu Dhabi declined to hear his appeal unless he attended in person.[^8][^9][^12] At [[Abbas Gokal]]'s trial at the [[Old Bailey]] in 1997 he was named as an absent co-conspirator.[^13]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 10.
@ -30,4 +53,9 @@ Naqvi had close ties with Abedi and was involved in many of the bank's illicit a
[^5]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 383.
[^6]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 143.
[^7]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 180.
[^8]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 393.
[^8]: Hussain, Thomas. "UAE jails and fines BCCI executives," United Press International, June 14, 1994. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1994/06/14/UAE-jails-and-fines-BCCI-executives/7650771566400/
[^9]: "Ex-BCCI chief faces jail in UAE," United Press International, October 20, 1994. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1994/10/20/Ex-BCCI-chief-faces-jail-in-UAE/7767782625600/
[^10]: "Ex-BCCI executive admits fraud, conspiracy," *The Baltimore Sun,* July 9, 1994. https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1994-07-09-1994190050-story.html
[^11]: "Former BCCI Executive Gets 11-Year Prison Sentence," Associated Press, *The Seattle Times,* October 19, 1994. https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19941019&slug=1936843
[^12]: "Abu Dhabi gives former BCCI execs prison sentences of up to 14 years," *American Banker,* June 1994. https://www.americanbanker.com/news/abu-dhabi-gives-former-bcci-execs-prison-sentences-of-up-to-14-years
[^13]: "On the trail of Gokal," *Accountancy Age,* May 23, 1997. https://accountancyage.com/1997/05/23/on-the-trail-of-gokal/

40
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Tina Russell.md Normal file
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@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
---
category: "Crime & Abuse Networks"
tags:
- Person
- AdultFilm
- RCHorsch
alias:
- Linda Marie Mintzer
summary: "Early 1970s New York adult film star, born Linda Marie Mintzer, author of the 1973 memoir Porno Star, who appeared in R.C. Horsch's Erotic Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig."
born: 1948-09-23
location: "New York City"
relations:
- type: spouse_of
with: "[[Jason Russell]]"
fn: 1
- type: participant_in
with: "[[The Erotic Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig]]"
role: "performer"
fn: 3
created: 2026-09-23
updated: 2026-09-23
---
Tina Russell (born Linda Marie Mintzer, September 23, 1948, in [[Williamsport, Pennsylvania]]) was an adult film performer who, for a short time in the early 1970s, was "the biggest name in adult films," in the words of *The Rialto Report*. Her 1973 memoir, *Porno Star,* was the first account of the New York adult film industry.[^1][^2]
### Career
She met John Sanderson, a local photographer, while at college in Williamsport, and moved with him to [[New York City]] in the late 1960s, where she enrolled at [[New York University]]. The couple began nude modeling to raise bail for a friend arrested for marijuana possession; after leaving college she modeled for sexually oriented photographs and performed in loops and live sex shows around [[Times Square]]. After a period in [[Peru]] they returned to New York as Tina and Jason Russell, and in films she often appeared with her husband.[^1][^2] She spoke of wanting to make what she called "pretty fuck films," with budgets large enough for directors to make artistic statements; after the success of *[[Deep Throat (film)|Deep Throat]]* and [[Linda Lovelace]] she was, in the *Rialto Report*'s account, "slowly forgotten."[^2] In February 1973 she appeared in *[[The Erotic Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig]]*, shot in [[Philadelphia]] by [[R.C. Horsch]].[^3][^4]
### Suffolk County Case
A filmmaker interviewed by *The Rialto Report* under the name "Jack Bravman" said that after the 1973 film *All in the Sex Family*, shot partly at the Patchogue Drive-In in [[Suffolk County, New York]], with [[Jamie Gillis]] and Tina and Jason Russell and photographed by [[Roberta Findlay]], police traced the production through the license plates of cars in the film and arrested the actors, crew, the distributor Hal Rosen and the owners of the locations at dawn, taking them to be arraigned at the Suffolk County courthouse. By his account the case "dragged on for years" and ended for him with a misdemeanor and a 500 dollar fine; he did not give Russell's outcome.[^5]
### Footnotes
[^1]: West, Ashley. "Tina Russell: The First 'Porno Star', Scrapbook of an Actress," *The Rialto Report,* August 14, 2016. https://www.therialtoreport.com/2016/08/14/porno-star/
[^2]: West, Ashley. "Tina Russell: Searching for the Lost Girl of Porn," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 62, August 21, 2016. https://www.therialtoreport.com/2016/08/21/tina-russell/
[^3]: West, Ashley. "Unknowing Ray Horsch, Episode 2: Performance," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 172, September 20, 2026 (republishing interviews recorded in 2013). https://www.therialtoreport.com/2026/09/20/ray-horsch-3/
[^4]: "How a pornographer's violent fantasies blurred fact and fiction as cops searched Olney house for missing women," *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* August 2, 2026. https://www.inquirer.com/news/a/raymond-eugene-horsch-olney-philadelphia-missing-women-history-20260802.html
[^5]: "Busted!" oral history of "Jack Bravman," *The Rialto Report,* March 25, 2018. https://www.therialtoreport.com/2018/03/25/jack-bravman/

14
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/William von Raab.md
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@ -5,14 +5,19 @@ tags:
- BCCI
- Banker
- CIA
summary: "William von Raab was the U.S."
summary: "Commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service during the C-Chase investigation of BCCI, whose agents recommended a RICO case against the bank that the Justice Department did not approve."
relations:
- type: head_of
with: "[[U.S. Customs]]"
role: "commissioner"
fn: 6
---
William von Raab was the [[U.S. Customs]] Commissioner.[^1]
He was involved in the [[Hashemi sting]] operation, which was designed to entrap individuals connected with [[Israel|Israeli]] intelligence arms sales to [[Iran]].[^2]
Von Raab, along with [[Rudolph Giuliani]], gave joint TV interviews on April 22, 1986, announcing the arrest of a "huge ring of terrorists" and "Merchants of Death" who were supposedly about to sell arms worth a billion dollars to [[Iran]]. [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] claims that von Raab and his associates had created the crime themselves.[^2]
Von Raab, along with [[Rudolph Giuliani]], gave joint TV interviews on April 22, 1986, announcing the arrest of a "huge ring of terrorists" and "Merchants of Death" who were supposedly about to sell arms worth a billion dollars to Iran. [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] claims that von Raab and his associates had created the crime themselves.[^2]
### Role in BCCI Scandal
@ -20,6 +25,10 @@ Von Raab headed the agency during the Tampa money-laundering investigations invo
After BCCI's Tampa conviction, von Raab thought the case was "enormously meaningful" and announced it publicly. He was told by his superiors to dampen his public enthusiasm.[^4] He later testified before the [[John Kerry|Kerry]] subcommittee that the [[Department of Justice]] had denied knowledge of the [[Ali Mirza]] tapes, which contained crucial information about BCCI's activities.[^5]
### RICO
The [[BCCI Kerry-Brown Senate Report|Kerry-Brown Senate Report]] recorded that "by March, 1988, high level Customs officials were reporting to Commissioner Von Raab that several BCCI officials were indictable under RICO." A Customs memorandum of April 6, 1988, stated the view of the [[United States]] Attorney's office in [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]] that "probative evidence exists to establish corporate criminality against BCCI as an institution," a recommendation repeated on May 10, 1988. In the fall of 1988, "for reasons that were never explained to the Customs agents," the Justice Department did not approve a RICO prosecution, and the case was brought on narrower money-laundering charges. The report named von Raab among the critics of the department's handling of BCCI.[^6]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 11.
@ -27,3 +36,4 @@ After BCCI's Tampa conviction, von Raab thought the case was "enormously meaning
[^3]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 25.
[^4]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 389.
[^5]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 54.
[^6]: Kerry, Senator John, and Senator Hank Brown. *The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate.* December 1992, ch. 8, "BCCI and Law Enforcement: The Justice Department and the U.S. Customs Service." https://irp.fas.org/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/08just.htm