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10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Barbara Studley.md
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@ -32,8 +32,8 @@ relations:
- type: represented
with: "[[Frank Koszorus Jr.]]"
reverse: true
start: 1991
fn: 1
start: 1987
fn: 11
- type: represented
with: "[[Paul L. Perito]]"
reverse: true
@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ Byron reported a July 29, 1984 memorandum from Carbaugh to Studley about a canno
In 1985 Studley and Singlaub arranged a private shipment of Soviet-bloc rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers to the contras, which the Courant put at $5 million and which ran from [[Poland]] to [[Honduras]], with the money moved through Swiss banks, according to Singlaub's 1987 testimony.[^1] Graham recommended the arms broker [[Werner Glatt]], whom he described as a sheep farmer and arms trader with farms in Virginia and Scotland, to Studley as an honest broker. Counsel put the arms transaction in May 1985 with delivery in July, and Graham agreed it was early in 1985.[^2]
The Courant reported that the legal opinion clearing the shipment was given by [[E. Lawrence Barcella, Jr.]], then an assistant United States attorney in Washington. Barcella said that "somebody in the government came to me," that he checked with the Office of Munitions Control at the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] and the Justice Department's office of internal security, that he "orally passed that back to the person that had made the request of me," that he did not know Studley at the time, and that he did not remember signing anything. The United States attorney, [[Joseph diGenova]], said he never authorized any such opinion.[^1] In her 1991 deposition, as the Courant quotes it, Studley answered "Larry Barcella signed it" when asked who in the [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] approved the shipment.[^1] She also said the shipment was "approved in writing by the justice department before we shipped it" and called it "Absolutely legitimate."[^1] Her lawyer, [[Frank Koszorus Jr.]], said he was "not at all certain that she was ever issued a written opinion."[^1] The Courant reported that Barcella left the United States attorney's office in June 1986 and went into private practice in Washington "initially at the same firm where Koszorus, Studley's lawyer, worked," and that he said he did not know Koszorus before joining it. The April 28, 1987 letter to the House committee on Studley's matter, on the letterhead of [[Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey|Finley, Kumble]], closes with Koszorus's name above the enclosure notation.[^1][^11]
The Courant reported that [[E. Lawrence Barcella, Jr.]], then an assistant United States attorney in Washington, had given a legal opinion clearing the way for the shipment. Barcella said that "somebody in the government came to me," that he checked with the Office of Munitions Control at the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] and the Justice Department's office of internal security, that he "orally passed that back to the person that had made the request of me," that he did not know Studley at the time, and that he did not remember signing anything. The United States attorney, [[Joseph diGenova]], said he never authorized any such opinion.[^1] In her 1991 deposition, as the Courant quotes it, Studley answered "Larry Barcella signed it" when asked who in the [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] approved the shipment.[^1] She also said the shipment was "approved in writing by the justice department before we shipped it" and called it "Absolutely legitimate."[^1] Her lawyer, [[Frank Koszorus Jr.]], said he was "not at all certain that she was ever issued a written opinion."[^1] The Courant reported that Barcella left the United States attorney's office in June 1986 and went into private practice in Washington "initially at the same firm where Koszorus, Studley's lawyer, worked," and that he said he did not know Koszorus before joining it. The Courant's account is of 1992. The earlier April 28, 1987 letter to the House committee's assistant counsel, from Koszorus on the letterhead of [[Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey|Finley, Kumble]], encloses a copy of the memorandum from Studley's file regarding North.[^11]
On October 30, 1985, Studley sent a memorandum to Lt. Col. [[Oliver North]] reporting a telephone call from a source identified only as "W." The memorandum stated that a man named [[Mario Dellamico]], described as working for an arms dealer named [[Ron Martin]], had asked for the company's help in selling Martin's arms to the Contras and had been refused, since it would be against "their law." It closed with the sentence "General John K. Singlaub has been advised of this information."[^12]
@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ Graham gave a different account. He testified that after the ship arrived Studle
The Miami Herald reported in June 1987 that the president of [[Bayshore Bank of Florida]], Petrillo, had resigned, that the bank was being sold, and that he had transferred a total of $2 million of bank funds on behalf of GeoMiliTech during 1986. The debts were unsecured, were supposed to be repaid within weeks, and remained outstanding, and the sum was nearly all of the bank's net worth that year. The newspaper reported that Petrillo left just as federal authorities, including Iran-Contra independent counsel [[Lawrence Walsh]], began investigating the transactions, and that the company acknowledged helping arrange arms supplies for the rebels. A bank director, Dr. Matthew Bradley, said the board was told of the questionable transfers about three weeks earlier. Studley told the Herald that the case involved private banking matters and refused to discuss the details. Petrillo said he had no knowledge of any arms deals, that he had left the bank solely because it was changing hands, and "There is no money missing."[^4]
Bayshore Bank of Florida, with total assets of $40.4 million, was closed on August 7, 1987 by Florida State Comptroller [[Gerald Lewis]], and the [[Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation]] was named receiver; the FDIC transferred its insured deposits to [[Eagle National Bank of Miami]], which paid a $625,000 premium and bought $10.8 million of its assets.[^14] Petrillo pleaded guilty in September 1994 to misapplication of funds and bank fraud and was sentenced in March 1995 to one year in prison, five years' probation and $2 million in restitution. American Banker reported that he had issued letters of credit totaling more than $2 million in 1986 and 1987 to GeoMiliTech without his bank's knowledge, that he asserted in court that his actions were taken in conjunction with the Central Intelligence Agency, and that the United States attorney's office in Miami said the claims were "discounted in court."[^5]
Bayshore Bank of Florida, with total assets of $40.4 million, was closed on August 7, 1987 by Florida State Comptroller [[Gerald Lewis]], and the [[Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation]] was named receiver; the FDIC transferred its insured deposits to [[Eagle National Bank of Miami]], which paid a $625,000 premium and bought $10.8 million of its assets.[^14] Petrillo pleaded guilty in September 1994 to misapplication of funds and bank fraud and was sentenced to one year in prison, five years' probation and $2 million in restitution, as American Banker reported on March 31, 1995. American Banker reported that he had issued letters of credit totaling more than $2 million in 1986 and 1987 to GeoMiliTech without his bank's knowledge, that he asserted in court that his actions were taken in conjunction with the Central Intelligence Agency, and that [[Willie Fernandez]], a spokesman for the United States attorney's office in Miami, said of the claim: "All that stuff was discounted in court."[^5] The article states that Petrillo committed his crimes first at [[Florida National Bank]] and then at Bayshore, and attributes to the United States attorney's office the statement that the firm headed by Studley "was in the business of advising foreign clients on purchasing military equipment."[^5] UPI, reporting the Herald, said that the company lists retired Maj. Gen. Singlaub as an adviser.[^4] The banker Louis F. Petrillo is a different man from Dr. Louis Petrillo, a New York psychologist named in the Justice Department's 1993 report on the death of [[Danny Casolaro]].
[[Frank Bovenkerk]] and [[Michael Levi]] write that the $2 million covered two bad checks written by Studley, that Petrillo gave her a $1.5 million cashier's check from the bank, and that she tried but failed to sell about 20 percent of the company's stock to raise the $2 million.[^15] The Wall Street Journal Index for 1987 lists state regulators closing Bayshore Bank of Florida, with an overdue GeoMiliTech loan among the bank's problems.[^16] In December 1991 Byron wrote that, according to published reports, federal prosecutors in Miami had recently opened an investigation into Studley's involvement in the bank matter.[^6]
@ -102,13 +102,13 @@ The Post article does not name the consulting company. The torpedo sale in the r
Byron reported that Studley denied in the August 1991 deposition that she knew Durrani and denied that she had shipped weapons to Iran, and that she declined several requests for interviews for his article. Byron also reports that Holly B. Fitzsimmons, the assistant United States attorney in the Durrani case, said she herself had seen nothing to indicate Studley was not telling the truth.[^6] Koszorus denied that either Studley or the company had any involvement with Iran, and declined to identify the company's place of business, a spokesman, or the nature of its work.[^6] The Courant placed the deposition in the fall of 1991.[^1] The filing's certification names the defense counsel as William B. Bloss of New Haven; the Courant names him as William M. Bloss.[^1][^20]
In the Graham deposition, counsel asked whether Graham had met "her attorney, Mr. Perito," and Graham answered that the one he knew was Perito.[^2] A letter of April 28, 1987, on the letterhead of Finley, Kumble in Washington, to the House committee's assistant counsel [[Kenneth Ballen]], captioned "Re: Barbara F. Studley/GMT," refers to a telephone conference between Ballen and [[Paul L. Perito]] and encloses a memorandum from Studley's file regarding North.[^11]
In the Graham deposition, counsel asked whether Graham had met "her attorney, Mr. Perito," and Graham answered that the one he knew was Perito.[^2] A letter of April 28, 1987, on the letterhead of Finley, Kumble in Washington, to the House committee's assistant counsel [[Kenneth Ballen]], captioned "Re: Barbara F. Studley/GMT," refers to a telephone conference between Ballen and [[Paul L. Perito]] and encloses a memorandum from Studley's file regarding North.[^11] A Paul Perito, described by the *Washington Post* in July 1991 as a name partner of [[Laxalt, Washington, Perito & Dubuc]] and head of its white-collar litigation group, moved that month to the Washington office of [[Paul Hastings|Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker]]; the firm had been formed in January 1988 by partners of Finley Kumble's Washington office.[^21][^22] Koszorus signed Paul Hastings's registration papers for the Hungarian embassy in March 1993.[^23]
Byron wrote in December 1991 that GeoMiliTech was still doing business but was not listed in the Washington, D.C. telephone directory.[^6] The Courant reported in May 1992 that Studley was not called to testify before Congress and that attempts to reach her through Koszorus had been unsuccessful.[^1] American Banker's March 1995 account of the Petrillo sentencing describes her as the head of GeoMiliTech.[^5]
### The Ora Group account and Ben-Menashe
The former Israeli intelligence officer [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] writes that a 1985 contra arms deal brokered through GeoMiliTech was itemized at $3,242,000 paid to the [[Ora Group]], against $5 million that the company's own books showed received from the American side, a gap of about $1.76 million that Ben-Menashe says was never explained to him.[^21] Byron reported that a former top official of the company, whom he did not name, said that Studley and the company had tried to export arms to Iran and that the effort was aided by [[Ariel Sharon]], then Israel's defense minister.[^6]
The former Israeli intelligence officer [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] writes that a 1985 contra arms deal brokered through GeoMiliTech was itemized at $3,242,000 paid to the [[Ora Group]], against $5 million that the company's own books showed received from the American side, a gap of about $1.76 million that Ben-Menashe says was never explained to him.[^24] Byron reported that a former top official of the company, whom he did not name, said that Studley and the company had tried to export arms to Iran and that the effort was aided by [[Ariel Sharon]], then Israel's defense minister.[^6]
### Footnotes
@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ The former Israeli intelligence officer [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] writes that a 1985 c
[^8]: Mark Phythian, ed., *Under the Counter and Over the Border: Aspects of the Contemporary Trade in Illicit Arms* (Springer, 2013), p. 65.
[^9]: *Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Contras* (National Security Archive, 1987), p. 444.
[^10]: Graham Exhibit 2, letter from John K. Singlaub to William J. Casey on GeoMiliTech letterhead, 1919 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 300, Iran-Contra Affair, Appendix B, vol. 12 (Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0234). Committee counsel dates the letter to August 1986.
[^11]: Letter from Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey, Washington, to Kenneth Ballen, Assistant Counsel, House Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran, April 28, 1987, Re: Barbara F. Studley/GMT, Memorandum re Oliver North, Iran-Contra Affair, Appendix B, vol. 12 (Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0234). The signature block, as indexed in the 1988 published volume of the report (p. 1040), reads "Koszorus, Enclosure cc: Charles M. Kerr, Esq."
[^11]: Letter from Frank Koszorus Jr., Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey, Washington, to Kenneth Ballen, Assistant Counsel, House Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran, April 28, 1987, Re: Barbara F. Studley/GMT, Memorandum re Oliver North, Iran-Contra Affair, Appendix B, vol. 12 (Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0234, https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152840_0234), printed p. 1040. Handwritten signature above the typed name "Frank Koszorus, Jr."; "Enclosure"; "cc: Charles M. Kerr, Esq."
[^12]: Memorandum from B. F. Studley to Lt. Col. Oliver North, October 30, 1985 (Graham Exhibit 1), Iran-Contra Affair, Appendix B, vol. 12 (Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0234).
[^13]: Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, ch. 15, "The Diversion," p. 269 (HathiTrust full view, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ssd?id=txu.059173017837367;seq=293).
[^14]: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, "FDIC Transfers Insured Deposits of Bayshore Bank of Florida, Miami, Florida," news release PR-139-87, August 7, 1987. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/press-releases-federal-deposit-insurance-corporation-7031/fdic-transfers-insured-deposits-bayshore-bank-florida-miami-florida-641646
@ -132,4 +132,7 @@ The former Israeli intelligence officer [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] writes that a 1985 c
[^18]: Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, minority views, p. 550 (HathiTrust full view, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ssd?id=txu.059173017837367;seq=574).
[^19]: Benjamin Weiser, "Singlaub Suggested an Earlier Fund Diversion," *Washington Post*, March 20, 1987. CIA CREST document CIA-RDP90-00965R000707040014-2, https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp90-00965r000707040014-2
[^20]: Government's Objection to Arif Durrani's Second Request for Production of Documents, *United States v. Arif Durrani*, D. Conn., B-90-090 (TFGD) and B-86-59 (TFGD), September 9, 1991, pp. 7, 12. CIA CREST document 0001474388. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/0001474388
[^21]: Ari Ben-Menashe, *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network* (Sheridan Square, 1992). Index entry "GMT" at p. 155. Sole source for the itemization of $3,242,000 and the $5 million figure.
[^21]: Sharon Walsh and Saundra Torry, "Washington, Perito Law Firm Losing Additional Attorneys; Name Partner Among Those Leaving," *The Washington Post*, July 20, 1991. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1991/07/20/washington-perito-law-firm-losing-additional-attorneys/0a7d8d2e-2958-4283-9860-874855bd0ca6/
[^22]: In re Washington, Perito & Dubuc, 154 B.R. 853 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. June 2, 1993), statement of facts, paragraphs 1 to 3 and 19. https://static.case.law/br/154/cases/0853-01.json
[^23]: U.S. Department of Justice, Foreign Agents Registration Act, registration 4772, Exhibit B, March 1, 1993. https://efile.fara.gov/docs/4772-Exhibit-AB-19930301-D1Y3N102.pdf
[^24]: Ari Ben-Menashe, *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network* (Sheridan Square, 1992). Index entry "GMT" at p. 155. Sole source for the itemization of $3,242,000 and the $5 million figure.