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20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/GeoMiliTech Consultants Corp..md

@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ The Hartford Courant reported that Singlaub and Studley arranged a private shipm
 
 ### The Barcella opinion
 
-The Courant reported that the shipment was cleared by a legal opinion from [[E. Lawrence Barcella, Jr.]], then an assistant United States attorney in Washington. Barcella said that someone in government came to him, that he contacted the State Department's Office of Munitions Control and the Justice Department's office of internal security, that "I orally passed that back to the person that had made the request of me," and, asked why the person came to him, that there was "a very logical reason that is none of your business." The United States attorney, [[Joseph diGenova]], said he never authorized any such opinion.[^1] In a deposition taken by the New Haven lawyer [[William M. Bloss]] in 1991, Studley said the shipment was "approved in writing by the justice department before we shipped it" and "Larry Barcella signed it"; her lawyer, [[Frank Koszorus Jr.]], said he was "not at all certain that she was ever issued a written opinion."[^1] Studley was not called to testify before the congressional committees.[^1]
+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 someone in government came to him, that he contacted the State Department's Office of Munitions Control and the Justice Department's office of internal security, that "I orally passed that back to the person that had made the request of me," and, asked why the person came to him, that there was "a very logical reason that is none of your business." The United States attorney, [[Joseph diGenova]], said he never authorized any such opinion.[^1] In a deposition taken by the New Haven lawyer [[William M. Bloss]] in 1991, Studley said the shipment was "approved in writing by the justice department before we shipped it" and "Larry Barcella signed it"; her lawyer, [[Frank Koszorus Jr.]], said he was "not at all certain that she was ever issued a written opinion."[^1] Studley was not called to testify before the congressional committees.[^1]
 
 ### Werner Glatt and the Graham deposition
 
@@ -110,13 +110,15 @@ Graham Exhibit 2 contains a letter on GeoMiliTech letterhead, addressed "Dear Bi
 
 Committee counsel stated in the Graham deposition that Lieutenant General Robert Schweitzer was hired by GeoMiliTech in late August or early September 1986, was interviewed by Singlaub, met North with Singlaub on or about December 2, 1986 on company matters, and left in early 1987; Graham said he had no role in the hiring and that Studley had come to have little confidence in Schweitzer's advice. Counsel also asked Graham about efforts by [[Ray Cline]] in 1987 to obtain CIA contracts for the company, which Graham said he knew nothing of.[^2] [[Charles Allen]], who became National Intelligence Officer for Counterterrorism in October 1986, was asked whether he discussed with Schweitzer his employment with "Geomilitech Consultants Corporation" or Schweitzer's efforts to obtain covert procurement contracts for it; he answered no to both.[^17]
 
-Graham Exhibit 3 holds Studley's papers on the Pia Vesta, a vessel loaded with arms and seized at the [[Panama Canal]] in 1986, including notes of conversations with Dan Cummings and David Duncan; the notes state that Duncan had been to the White House and met a person named Vince at the NSC, and that General [[Manuel Noriega]] had agreed to release the shipment.[^18] A letter to the House committee's assistant counsel [[Kenneth Ballen]] dated April 28, 1987, from the Washington firm of [[Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey|Finley, Kumble]] on the "Barbara F. Studley/GMT" matter, refers to a telephone conference between Ballen and [[Paul L. Perito]] and encloses Studley's memorandum on North.[^19] 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 worked.[^1] The April 28, 1987 letter on the Finley Kumble letterhead closes with Koszorus's name above the enclosure notation.[^20]
+Graham Exhibit 3 holds Studley's papers on the Pia Vesta, a vessel loaded with arms and seized at the [[Panama Canal]] in 1986, including notes of conversations with Dan Cummings and David Duncan; the notes state that Duncan had been to the White House and met a person named Vince at the NSC, and that General [[Manuel Noriega]] had agreed to release the shipment.[^18] A letter to the House committee's assistant counsel [[Kenneth Ballen]] dated April 28, 1987, from the Washington firm of [[Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey|Finley, Kumble]] on the "Barbara F. Studley/GMT" matter, refers to a telephone conference between Ballen and [[Paul L. Perito]] and encloses Studley's memorandum on North.[^19] 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 worked.[^1] The April 28, 1987 letter was signed by Frank Koszorus Jr., whose typed name appears beneath the signature, and carries the notations "Enclosure" and "cc: Charles M. Kerr, Esq."[^20]
 
 ### The Miami bank transfers, 1986 and 1987
 
 The [[Miami Herald]] reported in June 1987 that Louis Petrillo, president of [[Bayshore Bank of Florida]], 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; the newspaper said the sum was nearly all of the bank's net worth that year, that federal authorities including Iran-Contra independent counsel [[Lawrence Walsh]] had begun investigating, and that the company acknowledged helping arrange arms supplies for the rebels. Studley told the newspaper the case involved private banking matters and refused to discuss details; Petrillo said he had no knowledge of any arms deals and left because the bank was changing hands.[^21]
 
-The [[Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation]]'s news release of August 7, 1987 states that Bayshore Bank of Florida, with total assets of $40.4 million, was closed that day by Florida State Comptroller [[Gerald Lewis]], that the FDIC was named receiver, and that its insured deposits were transferred to [[Eagle National Bank of Miami]].[^22] Petrillo pleaded guilty in September 1994 to misapplication of funds and bank fraud and in March 1995 was sentenced to one year in prison, five years' probation and $2 million in restitution; American Banker reported that he had issued letters of credit of more than $2 million in 1986 and 1987 to GeoMiliTech without his bank's knowledge, that he asserted in court that he acted in conjunction with the Central Intelligence Agency, and that the United States attorney's office in Miami said the claims were "discounted in court."[^6] [[Frank Bovenkerk]] and [[Michael Levi]] write that the $2 million covered two bad checks written by Studley and that she tried and failed to sell about 20 percent of the company's stock to raise it.[^23]
+The [[Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation]]'s news release of August 7, 1987 states that Bayshore Bank of Florida, with total assets of $40.4 million, was closed that day by Florida State Comptroller [[Gerald Lewis]], that the FDIC was named receiver, and that its insured deposits were transferred to [[Eagle National Bank of Miami]].[^22] 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 of more than $2 million in 1986 and 1987 to GeoMiliTech without his bank's knowledge, that he asserted in court that he acted 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."[^6] [[Frank Bovenkerk]] and [[Michael Levi]] write that the $2 million covered two bad checks written by Studley and that she tried and failed to sell about 20 percent of the company's stock to raise it.[^23]
+
+A bank director, [[Matthew Bradley]], said that the board had been told by bank executives about three weeks earlier that Petrillo had made questionable transfers on GeoMiliTech's behalf, and that payments that "exceeded his limits" had gone unpaid.[^21] The Herald reported that federal law limits an unsecured loan to one borrower to 15 percent of a bank's net worth.[^21] American Banker reported that Petrillo diverted $53,000 for his personal use while at [[Florida National Bank]] and at Bayshore.[^6] [[Gerald J. Tobin]], a Miami lawyer who said he lost $100,000 when the bank failed, told American Banker that if Petrillo's CIA claims were true, the government should compensate the 235 holders of Bayshore stock.[^6] 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]].
 
 ### Durrani-case depositions, 1991
 
@@ -147,7 +149,7 @@ In its September 9, 1991 objection to Arif Durrani's second request for document
 [^17]: Deposition of Charles E. Allen, Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, Appendix B, vol. 1 (Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0228), examination on Robert L. Schweitzer and "Geomilitech Consultants Corporation."
 [^18]: Graham Exhibit 3 (Studley papers on the Pia Vesta, with notes of conversations with [[Dan Cummings]] and [[David Duncan]]), in the Graham deposition, Appendix B, vol. 12 (Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0234).
 [^19]: Letter from the firm of Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey, Washington, to Kenneth Ballen, Assistant Counsel, House Select Committee, April 28, 1987, "Re: Barbara F. Studley/GMT," in the Graham deposition exhibits, Appendix B, vol. 12 (Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0234).
-[^20]: Letter of April 28, 1987 on the Finley Kumble letterhead; signature block as indexed in the 1988 published volume of the report, p. 1040.
+[^20]: Letter of April 28, 1987 on the Finley Kumble letterhead, Appendix B, vol. 12, printed p. 1040 (Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0234, https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152840_0234); typed name "Frank Koszorus, Jr." beneath the handwritten signature.
 [^21]: "Newspaper says banker involved in loans for Contra arms," United Press International, June 10, 1987, reporting the Miami Herald. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/06/10/Newspaper-says-banker-involved-in-loans-for-Contra-arms/9700550296000/
 [^22]: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 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
 [^23]: Frank Bovenkerk and Michael Levi, eds., *The Organized Crime Community* (Springer, 2007), p. 22.