vault backup: 2026-10-15 14:01:13
This commit is contained in:
parent
70fb85249f
commit
ef6dbe44ac
67 changed files with 3030 additions and 862 deletions
|
|
@ -8,18 +8,25 @@ category: "Private Organization"
|
|||
summary: "El Al is the Israeli national airline that played a role in the covert arms shipments and financial transactions described by Ari Ben-Menashe in his account of Israeli-American intelligence cooperation."
|
||||
start: 1948
|
||||
location: "Tel Aviv, Israel"
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-15
|
||||
---
|
||||
El Al is the national airline of [[Israel]]. It played a role in various covert operations and financial transactions detailed by [[Ari Ben-Menashe]].
|
||||
|
||||
In January 1979, El Al was one of the last airlines to operate flights into [[Tehran]] before the airport closed, facilitating the departure of 48 [[Israel|Israeli]] aircrews who flew out F-14 jets from [[Iran]].[^1]
|
||||
In January 1979, El Al was one of the last airlines to operate flights into [[Tehran]] before the airport closed, facilitating the departure of 48 Israeli aircrews who flew out F-14 jets from [[Iran]].[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
In April 1980, El Al was involved in the transport of tires sold to [[Iran]], with a payment of $14,000 made to El Al for freight and insurance. The tires were flown from [[Israel]] to [[Vienna]] via El Al, then transferred to [[Iran Air]] by [[Israel|Israeli]] embassy personnel.[^1]
|
||||
In April 1980, El Al was involved in the transport of tires sold to Iran, with a payment of $14,000 made to El Al for freight and insurance. The tires were flown from Israel to [[Vienna]] via El Al, then transferred to [[Iran Air]] by Israeli embassy personnel.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
In October 1980, El Al was used to transport [[Israel|Israeli]] personnel from [[Tel Aviv]] to [[Orly Airport]] in [[Paris]] for a top-secret meeting concerning the hostage release and arms deals. Later, electronic equipment acquired through a New York operation was usually flown by the [[Israel|IDF]]'s weekly Boeing 707 flight from [[New York City]] to [[Tel Aviv]], or by El Al cargo, before being transferred to [[Tehran]] via Argentinean charters.[^1]
|
||||
In October 1980, El Al was used to transport Israeli personnel from [[Tel Aviv]] to [[Orly Airport]] in [[Paris]] for a top-secret meeting concerning the hostage release and arms deals. Later, electronic equipment acquired through a New York operation was usually flown by the IDF's weekly Boeing 707 flight from [[New York City]] to Tel Aviv, or by El Al cargo, before being transferred to Tehran via Argentinean charters.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
In 1986, El Al was the target of a "black" propaganda operation orchestrated by [[Rafael Eitan|Rafi]] to discredit [[Syria]]. [[Nezar Hindawi]] was tasked with planting explosives on an El Al plane, with the intention of causing a public incident. The plot was foiled by [[Israel|Israeli]] security. Hindawi's girlfriend, Ann-Marie Murphy, was unwittingly used in the plot, and an [[Israel|Israeli]] security man, disguised as a cleaner, passed her the parcel containing the explosives in the [[Heathrow Airport|El Al]] departure lounge.[^1]
|
||||
In April 1986 a bomb was found in the luggage of an Irish woman boarding an El Al flight from [[Heathrow Airport]] to Israel, and the Jordanian citizen [[Nezar Hindawi]] was convicted at the [[Old Bailey]] of attempting to place it aboard the aircraft.[^2][^3] The 2011 High Court judgment records that the device was packed into a bag given to her by Hindawi, that she did not know what it contained, and that the aircraft carried 375 people.[^3] Howe told the House of Commons that the plot had official Syrian involvement, and Reagan credited Heathrow security with preventing the attack.[^4][^5] Ari Ben-Menashe wrote in 1992 that the operation was an Israeli "black" propaganda operation orchestrated by [[Rafael Eitan|Rafi]] to discredit [[Syria]], that an Israeli security officer passed the parcel to the girlfriend in the El Al departure lounge, and that Israeli security foiled the plot.[^6]
|
||||
|
||||
In 1988, El Al's first-class lounge at [[Heathrow Airport]] was the meeting place for [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] and [[David Ivry]], director general of [[Israel|Israel]]'s Ministry of Defense, to discuss the sale of C-130s to [[Iran]].[^1]
|
||||
In 1988, El Al's first-class lounge at Heathrow Airport was the meeting place for Ari Ben-Menashe and [[David Ivry]], director general of Israel's Ministry of Defense, to discuss the sale of C-130s to Iran.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. Sheridan Square Press, 1992 (TrineDay reprint, 2015).
|
||||
[^2]: Official record on the April 17, 1986 attempt and the October 24, 1986 conviction: [2011] EWHC 830 (QB), April 1, 2011, paras 1, 5 to 6. https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/qb/2011/830
|
||||
[^3]: Same judgment, para 5 (bag, timing device, 375 people on board). https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/qb/2011/830
|
||||
[^4]: HC Deb 24 October 1986 vol 102 cc1504-14, "Anglo-Syrian Relations," statement by Sir Geoffrey Howe. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1986/oct/24/anglo-syrian-relations
|
||||
[^5]: Ronald Reagan, "United Kingdom-Syria Diplomatic Relations," statement, October 24, 1986, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/research/speeches/102486e
|
||||
[^6]: Ari Ben-Menashe, *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network* (Sheridan Square Press, 1992; TrineDay, 2015), pp. 121 to 124.
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ relations:
|
|||
start: 1992
|
||||
fn: 1
|
||||
created: 2026-09-23
|
||||
updated: 2026-09-23
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-15
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The Hong Kong Chinese Bank was a bank in [[Hong Kong]] in which the family of [[Jackson Stephens]] of [[Little Rock, Arkansas|Little Rock]] held an interest until about 1987, when they exchanged it for the shares of [[Mochtar Riady]]'s family in [[Worthen Bank]]. The bank then became part of the Riadys' [[Lippo Group]], which sold it to [[CITIC Ka Wah Bank]] in 2001.[^1][^2]
|
||||
|
|
@ -46,11 +46,15 @@ The Stephens and Riady families had formed [[Stephens Finance Ltd.]] in Hong Kon
|
|||
|
||||
Citing sources of 1995 and 1996, the committee reported that Lippo owned 59 percent of the Hong Kong Chinese Bank, "a banking and finance firm with $2.3 billion in assets," and 70 percent of [[Hong Kong China Limited]], "a property investment and development firm with $1.2 billion in assets."[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
Senate testimony in July 1997 described the bank's ownership in the same period. The witness, [[Thomas R. Hampson]], testified that [[Stephen Riady]] ran [[Lippo Limited]] and the Hong Kong Chinese Bank, and that in spring 1997 Stephen Riady announced that the bank would be renamed the Lippo China Resources Bank, "to reflect that China Resources is now an equal partner with Lippo in the bank."[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
### Sale to CITIC Ka Wah
|
||||
|
||||
On October 31, 2001, CITIC Ka Wah Bank agreed to buy the Hongkong Chinese Bank for about 4.2 billion Hong Kong dollars in cash, about 1.4 times its book value. The bank then had 25 branches and total assets of about 20 billion Hong Kong dollars, and was the principal operating subsidiary of the listed HKCB Bank Holdings, whose majority shareholder, Lippo CRE (Financial Services), held 58.78 percent and had indicated that it would vote for the sale. Lippo CRE was a joint venture between Lippo China Resources, controlled by the Riady family's Lippo Group, and China Resources Enterprise, which the *[[South China Morning Post]]* described as "the locally listed arm of the mainland foreign trade ministry's China Resources Holdings"; China Resources Enterprise also held 5.84 percent of HKCB Bank Holdings directly. CITIC Ka Wah was 55.24 percent controlled by [[CITIC Group|CITIC]], "the mainland's largest investment company under the control of the State Council." The sale excluded HKCB Bank Holdings' brokerage and fund-management businesses, and required the approval of the [[Hong Kong Monetary Authority]].[^2]
|
||||
On October 31, 2001, CITIC Ka Wah Bank agreed to buy the Hongkong Chinese Bank for about 4.2 billion Hong Kong dollars in cash, about 1.4 times its book value. The bank then had 25 branches and total assets of about 20 billion Hong Kong dollars, and was the principal operating subsidiary of the listed HKCB Bank Holdings, whose majority shareholder, Lippo CRE (Financial Services), held 58.78 percent and had indicated that it would vote for the sale. Lippo CRE was a joint venture between Lippo China Resources, controlled by the Riady family's Lippo Group, and China Resources Enterprise, which the *[[South China Morning Post]]* described as "the locally listed arm of the mainland foreign trade ministry's China Resources Holdings"; China Resources Enterprise also held 5.84 percent of HKCB Bank Holdings directly. CITIC Ka Wah was 55.24 percent controlled by [[CITIC Group|CITIC]], "the mainland's largest investment company under the control of the State Council." The sale excluded HKCB Bank Holdings' brokerage and fund-management businesses, and required the approval of the [[Hong Kong Monetary Authority]].[^2] Lippo Limited's annual report for 2001 gives the agreement as made in October 2001 between Hongkong Chinese Limited (formerly The HKCB Bank Holding Company Limited) and CITIC Ka Wah Bank Limited for the entire issued share capital of the bank and its subsidiaries at 4.2 billion Hong Kong dollars, completed on January 17, 2002. In the same month Lippo China Resources agreed to buy from China Resources Enterprise its remaining 50 percent of Lippo CRE (Financial Services) Limited and about 5.84 percent of Hongkong Chinese Limited for about 1.8 billion Hong Kong dollars, also completed on January 17, 2002.[^4]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, *Investigation of Political Fundraising Improprieties and Possible Violations of Law,* H. Rept. 105-829, 1998, vol. 2, footnotes 6, 14 and 115-117. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt829/html/CRPT-105hrpt829-vol2.htm
|
||||
[^2]: "Citic Ka Wah snares HKCB." *South China Morning Post,* November 1, 2001. https://www.scmp.com/article/361790/citic-ka-wah-snares-hkcb
|
||||
[^3]: Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167, 1998, chapter "John Huang's Years at Lippo," including the testimony of Thomas R. Hampson, July 15, 1997. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/1-13.htm
|
||||
[^4]: Lippo Limited, *Annual Report 2001,* Chairman's Statement, pp. 3 to 4. https://www.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2002/0509/226/EWF102.pdf
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -1,52 +1,222 @@
|
|||
---
|
||||
aliases:
|
||||
- Lippo
|
||||
- Lippo Group
|
||||
category: "Private Organization"
|
||||
tags:
|
||||
- Organization
|
||||
- LippoGroup
|
||||
- MochtarRiady
|
||||
- JamesRiady
|
||||
- StephenRiady
|
||||
- JohnHuang
|
||||
- WorthenBank
|
||||
- StephensInc
|
||||
- ChinaResources
|
||||
- CampaignFinance
|
||||
- BCCI
|
||||
summary: "Indonesian banking and property conglomerate of the Riady family, partner of the Arkansas Stephens family from 1978 and employer of John Huang, whose California bank pleaded guilty to campaign finance counts in 2001."
|
||||
- Meikarta
|
||||
summary: "Indonesian banking and property conglomerate of the Riady family, partner of the Arkansas Stephens family from 1977 and employer of John Huang, whose California bank pleaded guilty to campaign finance counts in 2001."
|
||||
location: "Jakarta, Indonesia"
|
||||
created: 2026-09-21
|
||||
updated: 2026-09-23
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-15
|
||||
relations:
|
||||
- type: owned
|
||||
with: "[[Hong Kong China Limited]]"
|
||||
role: "70 percent"
|
||||
fn: 4
|
||||
role: "70 percent (1995-96 figure)"
|
||||
fn: 21
|
||||
- type: owned
|
||||
with: "[[Hong Kong Chinese Bank]]"
|
||||
role: "59 percent (1995-96 figure)"
|
||||
fn: 21
|
||||
- type: partner_of
|
||||
with: "[[Stephens Inc.]]"
|
||||
start: 1977
|
||||
role: "Stephens Finance Ltd. (1978); Worthen Bank (1983)"
|
||||
fn: 2
|
||||
- type: partner_of
|
||||
with: "[[China Resources]]"
|
||||
start: 1992
|
||||
role: "15 percent of the Hong Kong Chinese Bank; LippoLand rescue"
|
||||
fn: 20
|
||||
- type: funded
|
||||
with: "[[Democratic National Committee]]"
|
||||
start: 1992
|
||||
end: 1993
|
||||
role: "contributions through Hip Hing Holdings, San Jose Holdings and Toy Center Holdings"
|
||||
fn: 18
|
||||
- type: investigated
|
||||
with: "[[Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
start: 1997
|
||||
role: "1996 federal campaign finance investigation"
|
||||
fn: 3
|
||||
- type: prosecuted
|
||||
with: "[[Campaign Financing Task Force]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
start: 2001
|
||||
role: "LippoBank pleaded guilty to 86 misdemeanor counts; James Riady pleaded guilty to a felony and agreed to pay 8.61 million dollars"
|
||||
fn: 38
|
||||
- type: investigated
|
||||
with: "[[Corruption Eradication Commission]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
start: 2018
|
||||
role: "Meikarta permit bribery case; house search October 18, 2018"
|
||||
fn: 42
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The Lippo Group is the banking, insurance, and property conglomerate of [[Mochtar Riady]] of [[Indonesia]] and his son [[James Riady]]. A Senate committee dated its business relationship with [[Stephens Inc.]] of [[Little Rock, Arkansas|Little Rock]] to 1977, and a House committee to a meeting between Mochtar Riady, [[Jackson Stephens]], and [[Witt Stephens]] in 1976.[^1]
|
||||
The Lippo Group is the banking, insurance, and property conglomerate of [[Mochtar Riady]] of [[Indonesia]] and his son [[James Riady]]. Minority views appended to the 1998 [[Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs|Senate]] report dated its business relationship with [[Stephens Inc.]] of [[Little Rock, Arkansas|Little Rock]] to 1977, and the [[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform|House committee]] dated the first meeting between Mochtar Riady and [[Jackson Stephens]] and [[Witt Stephens]] to 1976.[^1][^2]
|
||||
|
||||
### Structure
|
||||
|
||||
In July 1997 the Senate committee heard testimony from [[Thomas R. Hampson]], an investigator who advises American corporations on international acquisitions and joint ventures. Hampson described the group as a "multi-billion dollar confederation of companies controlled by the Riady family of Indonesia," which had grown over three decades from a retail banking base into banking, finance, insurance, property development, and manufacturing in Indonesia, [[China]], and the [[United States]].[^3] Mochtar Riady was chairman. In the testimony, [[Stephen Riady]] ran [[Lippo Limited]] and the [[Hong Kong Chinese Bank]], and James Riady ran the Indonesian Lippo Bank and [[Lippo Land]], a company building two new cities on the outskirts of [[Jakarta]].[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
Over the five years before 1997 the group moved its strategic center from Indonesia to the People's Republic of China, and its principal mainland partner was [[China Resources]]. Hampson testified that China Resources "is widely reported to be a corporate agent of economic and political espionage serving the government of China," and that intelligence officials had confirmed in the press that the Chinese intelligence establishment was heavily involved in its operation.[^3] The minority views listed American partners of the group, among them First Union Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and a 1995 cable television venture in mainland China between Lippo, a Malaysian real estate firm and a company chaired by [[Pat Robertson]].[^4] In spring 1997 Stephen Riady announced that the Hong Kong Chinese Bank would be renamed the Lippo China Resources Bank, because China Resources had become an equal partner in it.[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
### Arkansas
|
||||
|
||||
The two families formed [[Stephens Finance Ltd.]] in [[Hong Kong]] in 1978 and both bought into [[Worthen Bank]] in 1983. About 1987 the Riadys exchanged their Worthen shares for the Stephens interest in the [[Hong Kong Chinese Bank]] and turned to [[California]], where they had bought the [[Bank of Trade (Los Angeles)|Bank of Trade]] and renamed it [[LippoBank]]. [[John Huang]] was the group's chief representative in the [[United States]]. In April 1993 [[C. Joseph Giroir]], former managing partner of the [[Rose Law Firm]], incorporated the [[Arkansas International Development Corporation]] with Lippo capital to develop joint ventures, and a second company of the same name followed in 1995. According to the [[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform|House Government Reform and Oversight Committee]], the Riadys paid Giroir between 350,000 and 600,000 dollars a year. [[Mark Middleton]], a former aide to President [[Bill Clinton]], also went to work for the group. Giroir helped draw up the list of those invited to the [[Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation]] meeting in [[Jakarta]] in 1994, among them [[Webster Hubbell]], to whom the Lippo company [[Hong Kong China Limited]] had paid 100,000 dollars that June. The House committee also found that the head of the group paid the college tuition of Hubbell's daughter.[^1]
|
||||
The Riadys' American connection began in Little Rock in the mid-1970s. Mochtar Riady was looking into buying the share of [[Bert Lance]] in the [[National Bank of Georgia]] in 1976. That purchase fell through, but the Stephens brothers and Riady formed a friendship, and in 1978 the two families established [[Stephens Finance Ltd.]] in [[Hong Kong]].[^1] By 1983 Riady and Stephens had both invested in [[Worthen Bank]] in Little Rock. James Riady came to intern at the Stephens investment bank and later returned to help with the Worthen joint venture, which set up an international trade division. [[John Huang]] followed him from Hong Kong, first as executive vice president under James Riady at Stephens Finance and then as vice president for the Far East at Worthen.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
The House committee wrote that the Riadys met then-Governor [[Bill Clinton]] in Little Rock and financially supported his gubernatorial campaigns through the 1980s.[^1] They also developed a relationship with [[C. Joseph Giroir]], a Worthen partner and an attorney at the [[Rose Law Firm]].[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
The Riadys left Worthen after the bank suffered a 1986 defalcation and regulators reviewed its assets. The House committee wrote that "the Riadys traded their interest in the Worthen Bank for the Stephens' interest in the Hong Kong Chinese Bank, and also traded their interests in other joint ventures."[^5] James Riady and Huang stayed in Little Rock until about 1987, when the Riadys sold their Worthen shares and turned to [[California]] and a bank they had bought in [[San Francisco]]. They then established the [[Bank of Trade (Los Angeles)|Bank of Trade]] in [[Los Angeles]], which became [[LippoBank]].[^5] Huang was the group's chief representative in the United States.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
In April 1993 Giroir and Lippo formed the [[Arkansas International Development Corporation]] (AIDC) with Lippo capital. Giroir testified that the Lippo Group advanced him 50,000 dollars as the company's initial capitalization. A second company of the same name was incorporated in late 1995. According to the House committee, the Riadys paid Giroir between 350,000 and 600,000 dollars a year in salary and bonuses, and a Lippo subsidiary paid his salary each time.[^6] In late 1995 Giroir hired [[Mark Middleton]], a special assistant to President Clinton until February 1995, whom the Riady-funded AIDC retained at 12,500 dollars a month from July 1995. Middleton invoked his Fifth Amendment right when the House committee subpoenaed him.[^7]
|
||||
|
||||
Riady and Giroir drafted a list of people to be invited to the [[Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation]] meeting in Jakarta in 1994, and the list included [[Webster Hubbell]], then under investigation by the Whitewater independent counsel. The list was sent from the Lippo Group to Huang, who was then at the [[United States Department of Commerce|Commerce Department]], and the White House later came into possession of it.[^8]
|
||||
|
||||
### Webster Hubbell
|
||||
|
||||
Hubbell resigned as associate attorney general in April 1994. On June 23, 1994, Riady, Huang, and the Little Rock lawyer [[Mark Grobmyer]] met President Clinton at 10 a.m. Riady had breakfast with Hubbell before the meeting and lunch with him after it.[^9] In a letter dated June 27, 1994, Hubbell wrote to David T. Yeh, director of [[Hong Kong China Limited]], a Lippo-controlled company: "I am pleased to provide my consultant services to your company." The letter offered a fee of 100,000 dollars a year payable in quarterly installments. The same day Hong Kong China Limited wired 99,985 dollars into Hubbell's account in Washington.[^10] The House committee wrote: "The hiring occurred around the same time as John Huang finally was approved for a position at the Department of Commerce."[^9]
|
||||
|
||||
Hubbell pleaded guilty in December 1994 to tax evasion and mail fraud related to his work at the Rose Law Firm. He was relieved of most of his consulting work only after he had been paid more than 700,000 dollars by friends and associates of the President, according to the House committee.[^9] The Independent Counsel placed the consulting fees at approximately 450,010 dollars from fifteen of the seventeen clients between April 8 and the end of 1994, and found insufficient evidence of a quid pro quo relating to Hubbell's cooperation with the Independent Counsel.[^11] Hubbell invoked the Fifth Amendment when the committee sought his testimony on the Lippo payments, and Riady and Huang did not cooperate with the committee on the matter.[^9] After his plea Riady came to Washington, called Hubbell's office and met him, and asked whether he could help. Hubbell told the Independent Counsel's interviewers that he told Riady he was worried about his children's education and that an education trust fund had been set up. He asked Riady to contribute 25,000 dollars, which he described as one year's expenses for his daughter at [[Davidson College]]. Riady contributed 12,500 dollars through Giroir. Hubbell later asked Giroir whether Riady would send the remaining 12,500 dollars, and received word that Riady would contribute no more.[^12] The Independent Counsel recorded that none of the Lippo-related documents Hubbell produced showed substantive work for Lippo, and that Hubbell recalled telephoning [[Nancy Hernreich]] at the White House on more than one occasion to help members of the Riady family gain admission.[^12]
|
||||
|
||||
### Access to the Clinton White House
|
||||
|
||||
James Riady visited the White House compound on at least 20 occasions between April 1993 and September 1996, according to Secret Service entry records. John Huang visited more than 95 times between March 1993 and October 1996. The House committee could not determine the purpose of most of those visits, because Huang invoked the Fifth Amendment.[^13] The Office of Counsel to the President kept a file titled for the Lippo Group in 1996, now held at the Clinton Presidential Library.[^14]
|
||||
|
||||
Mochtar Riady wrote to Clinton shortly after the inauguration advocating, among other things, most-favored-nation trade status for China. The letter thanked Clinton "for the personal time he spent with the Riady family on Inauguration day 1993." Clinton approved most-favored-nation status for China in May 1993 and de-linked it from human rights in 1994.[^15]
|
||||
|
||||
In October 1993 Huang wrote to [[Jack Quinn]], chief of staff to Vice President [[Al Gore]], thanking him for meeting in the White House with [[Shen Jueren]], chairman of China Resources. Quinn told the House committee that he had no recollection of meeting Shen Jueren. The committee wrote that Huang and Riady also organized a meeting between Gore and Shen Jueren, and the Senate report stated that Gore "may have met" him.[^16][^17] Earlier, in January 1993, Huang had written to [[Ron Brown]] asking for a meeting with Mochtar Riady. In September 1993 Huang and Mochtar Riady asked Brown to meet Shen Jueren.[^16]
|
||||
|
||||
At the 1993 APEC summit in [[Seattle]], James Riady accompanied a group of Indonesian businessmen and Arkansas businessmen. According to the House committee, Clinton met [[Soeharto]] with James Riady present, over the objection of White House staff.[^8]
|
||||
|
||||
### Campaign contributions, 1992 and 1993
|
||||
|
||||
The Senate committee identified contributions to the [[Democratic National Committee]] paid from Lippo funds and routed through [[Hip Hing Holdings]], [[San Jose Holdings]], and [[Toy Center Holdings]]. Juliana Utomo, who worked for Hip Hing and San Jose from 1988 to 1996, testified that Huang made all decisions about political contributions and approved requests to the Lippo Group in Jakarta for operating funds.[^18] Hip Hing gave 50,000 dollars to the DNC Victory Fund on August 12, 1992. Huang requested reimbursement from Jakarta in an August 17, 1992 memorandum, and a wire from LippoBank Jakarta arrived several weeks later. In 1992 Hip Hing lost 482,395.33 dollars, and Utomo testified that the shortfall was covered by funds transferred from Jakarta.[^18]
|
||||
|
||||
Hip Hing and Toy Center Holdings each gave 15,000 dollars to the DNC on September 23, 1993, and San Jose Holdings gave 15,000 dollars on September 27, 1993.[^18] The Senate committee stated that a foreign-owned subsidiary may make legal contributions only from U.S. profits, and quoted a Federal Election Commission advisory opinion of June 1992: "The domestic subsidiary of a foreign corporation may make political contributions even though it receives subsidies from its foreign parent if the contributions are made from domestic profits."[^19] Separately, the committee identified 465,000 dollars in 1992 contributions from James and Aileen Riady to the DNC and Democratic state parties. Riady declined the committee's invitation to explore them when its staff were in Indonesia, and the committee wrote: "The legality of these contributions remains in doubt."[^18]
|
||||
|
||||
The Senate report stated that the Department of Justice had not pursued these apparent violations, and that the department "may have allowed the statute of limitations to lapse on at least one of the illegal contributions identified."[^18]
|
||||
|
||||
### China Resources and the Hong Kong banks
|
||||
|
||||
In late 1992 China Resources bought 15 percent of the Hong Kong Chinese Bank. The House committee described China Resources as "a Chinese Government owned company which is a joint venture partner with the Lippo Group," and wrote that it later "infused the failing LippoLand with tens of millions of dollars, effectively bailing the Riady family out of a precarious financial situation."[^20] Since 1993 the Lippo Group and China Resources had entered into dozens of joint ventures in the People's Republic of China.[^20]
|
||||
|
||||
The committee, citing sources of 1995 and 1996, reported that Lippo owned 59 percent of the Hong Kong Chinese Bank, with 2.3 billion dollars in assets, and 70 percent of Hong Kong China Limited, with 1.2 billion dollars in assets.[^21] In October 2001 [[Hongkong Chinese Limited]] (formerly the HKCB Bank Holding Company Limited), a listed subsidiary of Lippo China Resources, agreed to sell the entire issued share capital of the Hongkong Chinese Bank and its subsidiaries to [[CITIC Ka Wah Bank]] for an aggregate consideration of 4.2 billion Hong Kong dollars. The sale was completed on January 17, 2002. In the same month Lippo China Resources agreed to buy from [[China Resources Enterprise]] its remaining 50 percent of Lippo CRE (Financial Services) Limited, the holding company of Hongkong Chinese Limited, and about 5.84 percent of Hongkong Chinese Limited, for about 1.8 billion Hong Kong dollars; that purchase also completed on January 17, 2002.[^22] CITIC Ka Wah Bank was controlled by the Chinese state investment company [[CITIC Group|CITIC]], and the seller's parent was majority owned by Lippo CRE (Financial Services), a joint venture of the Riadys' Lippo China Resources and China Resources Enterprise.[^23] The unclassified answers the CIA sent Senator [[Robert Bennett]] on November 3, 1997 to the question "What relationship do the Riadys have with CITIC?" stated: "We cannot provide an unclassified response that answers this question. A classified response has been provided to the Office of Senate Security."[^24]
|
||||
|
||||
In 1991 Huang had been sent to [[Beijing]] to negotiate with China Resources over a joint Lippo proposal to buy the Hong Kong branch of the [[Bank of Credit and Commerce International]].[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
### BCCI Hong Kong
|
||||
|
||||
"Through the end of 1991, it seemed likely that Indonesia's Lippo Group would take over" the Hong Kong subsidiary of the [[Bank of Credit and Commerce International]], two reporters for [[The Wall Street Journal]] wrote, "paying out as much as forty cents on the dollar. (The plan was scuttled in February 1992, when Hong Kong investigators discovered previously unrecorded claims of $145 million against the bank.)" They added: "The Riadys are very close to Stephens: together they controlled Stephens's Worthen Bank of Little Rock, [[Arkansas]]; one of them even lived in Little Rock for a few years."[^2]
|
||||
"Through the end of 1991, it seemed likely that Indonesia's Lippo Group would take over" the Hong Kong subsidiary of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, two reporters for [[The Wall Street Journal]] wrote, "paying out as much as forty cents on the dollar. (The plan was scuttled in February 1992, when Hong Kong investigators discovered previously unrecorded claims of $145 million against the bank.)" They added: "The Riadys are very close to Stephens: together they controlled Stephens's Worthen Bank of Little Rock, [[Arkansas]]; one of them even lived in Little Rock for a few years."[^25]
|
||||
|
||||
### Prosecution
|
||||
### Bank Central Asia and Liem Sioe Liong
|
||||
|
||||
The companies [[Hip Hing Holdings]], [[San Jose Holdings]], and [[Toy Center Holdings]] were used in 1992 and 1993 to pass money from Jakarta to the [[Democratic National Committee]]. Huang pleaded guilty on August 12, 1999. On January 11, 2001, James Riady agreed to plead guilty to a felony and pay 8.61 million dollars, and LippoBank to 86 misdemeanor counts for contributions made from 1988 to 1994. The charge listed transfers from foreign Lippo companies to Huang's account in Hong Kong in 1990 and 1991, to the group's American subsidiaries from August 1992 to September 1993, and in cash to a Lippo executive in Hong Kong until May 1994. LippoBank had been sold to [[First Banks America]] about March 1, 2000.[^1][^3]
|
||||
In 1975 Mochtar Riady partnered with the Indonesian businessman [[Liem Sioe Liong]] (Sudono Salim) and took charge of [[Bank Central Asia]], which then had one office and 27 employees. He recalled in a 2011 profile that BCA was Indonesia's largest private bank when he separated from Liem; the profile dates his banking career to 1959 through 1990.[^26] The Senate minority views stated that John Huang became general manager of Bank Central Asia in New York in the summer of 1988, and that although the bank was not part of the Lippo Group, the Riadys "were large investors in Bank Central Asia and, according to Huang, they managed it."[^27] Mother Jones reported in January 1997 that the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette had found Worthen Bank extended at least 14 million dollars in loans to companies owned by Liem Sioe Liong, "another Indonesian billionaire who had been instrumental in Riady's rise," and that the Comptroller of the Currency had investigated Worthen in 1985 over preferential loans to companies owned by the Riadys and the Stephenses. The same article described Liem as a business partner of President [[Suharto]] and recorded that the columnist [[William Safire]] had raised the possibility that Mochtar Riady had connections to Chinese intelligence.[^28] In February 1996 [[Antonio Pan]] asked Jack Ho to contribute 25,000 dollars to the Democratic National Committee, assured him he would be reimbursed, and delivered to him 35 travelers checks of 1,000 dollars each issued by Bank Central Asia and purchased in Indonesia. The House committee wrote that it had questions about whether Pan and Charlie Trie received this money from the Lippo Group.[^29]
|
||||
|
||||
### Banks
|
||||
### LippoBank
|
||||
|
||||
In late 1992, according to the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, [[China Resources]], "a Chinese Government owned company which is a joint venture partner with the Lippo Group," bought 15 percent of the Hong Kong Chinese Bank, and it later "infused the failing LippoLand with tens of millions of dollars, effectively bailing the Riady family out of a precarious financial situation." The committee, citing sources of 1995 and 1996, reported that Lippo owned 59 percent of the Hong Kong Chinese Bank, with 2.3 billion dollars in assets, and 70 percent of Hong Kong China Limited, with 1.2 billion dollars in assets.[^4] In 2001 CITIC Ka Wah Bank, controlled by the Chinese state investment company [[CITIC Group|CITIC]], agreed to buy the Hongkong Chinese Bank for about 4.2 billion Hong Kong dollars; the seller's parent was majority owned by Lippo CRE (Financial Services), a joint venture of the Riadys' Lippo China Resources and China Resources Enterprise.[^5]
|
||||
James Riady owned 99 percent of LippoBank California, a federally insured institution headquartered in Los Angeles with less than one hundred million dollars in assets. The Senate committee described the bank as having chronic asset-quality and management problems and numerous cease and desist orders from the [[Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation]]. James Riady served as its chief executive from 1986 to 1988 and moved back to Jakarta some time before 1990.[^30]
|
||||
|
||||
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's records for LippoBank show a bank chartered in [[San Francisco]] on November 15, 1961 as the Bank of Trade of San Francisco, renamed Bank of Trade on November 13, 1984, moved to [[Los Angeles]] on October 31, 1989, renamed Lippo Bank on January 18, 1990, moved back to San Francisco on March 26, 1998, and merged into the First Bank of California on May 31, 2000.[^6]
|
||||
The bank's chief executive insisted in deposition testimony that the relationship with the Lippo Group was limited to a licensing agreement that allowed the bank to use the Lippo name. A former chief executive testified that the bank was part of the Lippo Group, and another former chief executive told committee staff that it was under the direct control of Indonesia-based Lippo executives. The committee found that the bank listed itself as part of the group in its promotional materials, that its chief executives attended bi-annual Lippo Group meetings in Jakarta, and that it received an annual budget for community and political affairs from the group in Jakarta.[^30]
|
||||
|
||||
The FDIC's records show a bank chartered in San Francisco on November 15, 1961 as the Bank of Trade of San Francisco. It was renamed Bank of Trade on November 13, 1984, moved to Los Angeles on October 31, 1989, and renamed Lippo Bank on January 18, 1990. It moved back to San Francisco on March 26, 1998 and merged into [[First Bank of California]] on May 31, 2000.[^31]
|
||||
|
||||
### Huang's Commerce Department years
|
||||
|
||||
The Senate committee found that Huang was issued three top secret clearances in succession. The Commerce Department's Office of Security granted an interim top secret clearance on January 27, 1994, on a records check alone, while Huang was still vice chairman of the Lippo Bank and six months before his first day at Commerce on July 18, 1994. The Office of Personnel Management reached a favorable determination on a full investigation on October 18, 1994, and the final clearance followed seven days later. It was withdrawn on January 25, 1996. A third, a top secret consulting clearance, was granted by the Defense Industrial Security Clearance Office on December 14, 1995, in connection with an unsuccessful effort to make Huang a consultant to the department while he worked at the Democratic National Committee, and was not removed until December 1996.[^32] The committee attributed the interim clearance to a 1993 Commerce policy under which all political appointees received interim clearances without a showing of need to know ("everybody gets one"), and found no evidence that Huang saw classified material before joining the department.[^32]
|
||||
|
||||
Between October 1994 and November 1995 Huang received 37 one-on-one briefings from [[John Dickerson (CIA)|John Dickerson]] of the Commerce Department's Office of Intelligence Liaison, who "was in fact an employee of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) detailed to OIL" and was "posing as a Department of Energy official." His cover was rolled back in 1997 after press coverage of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, and he then testified as an acknowledged CIA employee.[^32] The head of the office, [[Robert Gallagher]], and Dickerson decided between themselves to focus Huang's briefings on greater China as a "safety net," without consulting his personnel file.[^32] Dickerson estimated that he showed Huang 10 to 15 pieces of intelligence per briefing, or 370 to 550 in all, mostly raw field reporting. Huang could not keep notes, and Dickerson destroyed the material after each session. Fifteen field reports carry Dickerson's transcription of Huang's comments, three of them marked "MEM DISSEM," which a CIA witness described as reflecting "an exceptionally sensitive bit of information or an exceptionally sensitive source." Huang also signed receipts for 12 finished intelligence reports, and received 25 to 100 classified and unclassified cables on each pick-up from the department's communications center.[^32]
|
||||
|
||||
Questioned in hypotheticals, Dickerson stated that if the CIA had information on economic issues facing Taiwan and China, on investment opportunities in China, or on action by China to assure continuing Taiwanese investment there, he might have made it available to Huang.[^32] Under Secretary [[Jeffrey Garten]], whose office had walled Huang off from China policy, testified that he did not know of the briefings and called the "indiscriminate nature of the way the intelligence was passed around" "clearly a mistake."[^32] The majority wrote that Huang had ample opportunity to mishandle classified information, "including significantly a secret office across the street from Commerce at Stephens Inc.," and that this, together with his contacts with Lippo, "raises the threshold question of whether Huang passed along classified information to those who should not have received it." It added: "The Committee is unable to answer the question to its satisfaction."[^32] A footnote in the same chapter cited a Washington Post report of November 14, 1997 by [[Bob Woodward]] that "reliable but unconfirmed" FBI reporting indicated Huang had passed a classified document to the Chinese government while at Commerce.[^32]
|
||||
|
||||
The committee also found that while at Commerce, Huang used a separate office across the street at Stephens, including its telephone and facsimile facilities, and frequently received packages there. "No one at Commerce" knew that he had such an office, the committee wrote.[^32] Call records showed approximately 232 calls between Huang and the Lippo Bank during his 18 months at Commerce, at least 29 calls or faxes to Lippo's Indonesian headquarters, 61 calls to the Lippo consultant [[Maeley Tom]] and 72 calls to Giroir. Huang's compensation from Lippo for 1993 and 1994 exceeded 750,000 dollars, including a severance payment made through Hip Hing Holdings. On September 13, 1995, Huang, James Riady, Giroir and [[Bruce Lindsey]] met President Clinton in the Oval Office, where Huang or Riady asked for his transfer from Commerce to the Democratic National Committee, and the president agreed.[^33] The Senate committee recorded that LippoBank's chief executive, [[Per Lee]], found most calls to Huang from the bank had been placed by a secretary who had once worked for James Riady, who said she was relaying messages for him.[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
The minority views stated that Huang received oral briefings 37 times in 14 months, averaging about 20 minutes each, and that documents were shown to him but not left with him. In an exchange quoted there, Dickerson told Senator [[Richard Durbin]] that he had "no personal knowledge that he did anything in an unauthorized manner in the handling of this classified information," and Gallagher said he had "never been presented with any evidence to prove or disprove" that Huang misused it. The minority also stated that Stephens "has a business relationship with the Lippo Group that dates back to 1977."[^2]
|
||||
|
||||
### Intelligence questions
|
||||
|
||||
The Senate committee's majority wrote that it had "learned from recently-acquired information that James and Mochtar Riady have had a long-term relationship with a Chinese intelligence agency." The report described the relationship as "based on mutual benefit," with the Riadys receiving help in finding business opportunities in exchange for large sums of money, and stated that the agency "seeks to locate and develop relationships with information collectors, particularly persons with close connections to the U.S. government."[^34] The report noted that the CIA and FBI edited the public statement that [[Fred Thompson]] made on July 8, 1997 about a Chinese plan to influence U.S. elections before its release.[^35]
|
||||
|
||||
The minority views, in the response by Ranking Minority Member [[John Glenn]], stated that the majority's conclusions about the Riadys' ties to Chinese intelligence rested primarily on public proceedings. They said the non-public information received by the committee "supports the conclusion that the Riady's business dealings may have involved a relationship with a Chinese intelligence entity," but that it "does not support the implication that the Riadys were involved in foreign spy or other similar intelligence activity."[^36]
|
||||
|
||||
The CIA's unclassified answers of November 3, 1997 to questions from Senator Bennett, printed with his additional views to the Senate report, stated that the agency "as a matter of regular practice reports to senior US policymakers on Chinese activities, including attempts to influence US policy." On James Riady's ties to Beijing officials the CIA answered from press reporting that Lippo had 17 of its 138 subsidiaries and 13 of its 30 affiliates incorporated in China, "almost all of these joint ventures with local, regional, and central governments," and about 2 billion dollars of interests in the Riadys' ancestral province of Fujian. It added that in January 1994 the Lippo Group and the State of Arkansas sponsored five Chinese government officials, four from the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and one from the China Friendship Service, to visit the United States, and that the group named Huang as its contact person. The questions on the Riadys' relationship with CITIC and on the CIA's advice to the Federal Reserve on a China Construction Bank licensing application drew classified responses delivered to the Office of Senate Security.[^24]
|
||||
|
||||
### Plea agreements
|
||||
|
||||
On August 12, 1999, Huang pleaded guilty in federal court in Los Angeles to a felony violation of campaign finance laws. The charged conspiracy lasted from approximately 1992 through June 1994, and the government alleged that Huang arranged approximately 156,000 dollars in illegal contributions from Lippo Group overseas to Democratic and Republican committees. He was sentenced to one year of probation, 500 hours of community service, and a 10,000 dollar fine, and was directed to keep cooperating with the investigation.[^37]
|
||||
|
||||
On January 11, 2001, the [[Department of Justice]]'s [[Campaign Financing Task Force]] announced that James Riady would pay "a record $8.6 million in criminal fines" and plead guilty to a felony charge of conspiring to defraud the United States by reimbursing campaign donors with foreign corporate funds. The plea agreement also covered LippoBank California, which would plead guilty to 86 misdemeanor counts charging its agents, Riady and Huang, with illegal foreign contributions from 1988 through 1994.[^38] The Department described the fine as "the largest sanction imposed in a campaign finance matter in the history of the United States." Riady agreed to surrender to the court despite the absence of an extradition treaty between the United States and Indonesia, to perform 400 hours of community service, to waive his right to seek reentry to the United States for two years except at the government's request, and to be barred from directing future campaign contributions in U.S. elections.[^38]
|
||||
|
||||
The information described the reimbursement mechanisms. Contributions made by Huang and LippoBank employees from 1988 through 1991 were reimbursed, between May 1990 and July 1991, with wires from a foreign Lippo entity into Huang's account in Hong Kong. Contributions made by Huang from August through October 1992, shortly after Riady pledged $1 million in support of Arkansas Governor Clinton's presidential campaign, were reimbursed with wires to an account Riady maintained at LippoBank, and the money was then distributed to Huang in cash. Contributions by Lippo entities in the United States from August 1992 through September 1993 were reimbursed by wires from foreign Lippo entities. Contributions by a Lippo executive from October 1992 through May 1994 were reimbursed in cash in Hong Kong. Contributions from January 1993 through February 1994 were reimbursed through a "fictitious 'bonus'" paid to Huang by a foreign Lippo entity.[^38]
|
||||
|
||||
The release stated that the unlawful conduct occurred before LippoBank's acquisition by [[First Banks America|First Bank's America, Inc.]] on or about March 1, 2000, and that First Bank's America had no involvement in it.[^38]
|
||||
|
||||
### Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Singapore after 2001
|
||||
|
||||
Lippo China Resources Limited is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under stock code 156. Its August 2023 board announcement named Dr. Stephen Riady as chairman and Mr. Brian Riady as an executive director.[^39] Stephen Riady was a director of Lippo China Resources from 1992, and in the 2011 annual report of [[OUE Limited]] he was recorded as chairman of Lippo Limited since 1991. The same report lists Lippo Limited, Lippo China Resources, and Hongkong Chinese Limited as companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, and Auric Pacific Group Limited as a company listed in Singapore, of which he became a director in 1997.[^40] Stephen Riady was appointed executive chairman of OUE on March 9, 2010, and had been an executive director since November 30, 2006.[^40]
|
||||
|
||||
### Meikarta
|
||||
|
||||
On October 15, 2018 the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested Billy Sindoro, an operational director of the Lippo Group, at his residence after naming him a suspect in bribery over the permits for Meikarta, the group's flagship township in Cikarang, [[Bekasi]]. The KPK stated that Lippo consultants and an employee who had allegedly bribed the Bekasi regent, [[Neneng Hasanah Yasin]], had testified that they acted on Sindoro's instructions, and that the bribe money totaled 513 million rupiah and 90,000 Singapore dollars. Sindoro had been convicted of bribery in a broadcast monopoly case in 2009.[^41] The KPK searched the house of James Riady on October 18, 2018 and questioned him as a witness. After a nine-hour session on October 30, 2018, he said that he personally did not know anything about the alleged bribery and was not involved in the case.[^42][^43]
|
||||
|
||||
On March 5, 2019 the Bandung Corruption Court sentenced Sindoro to three and a half years in prison and a fine of 100 million rupiah (two months in default), against a prosecution demand of five years. The indictment stated that the Lippo group ordered Sindoro to handle permits for the project on 438 hectares in Cibatu, South Cikarang, and that he gave Neneng a total of 16 billion rupiah and 270,000 Singapore dollars, with more to other officials. The court also convicted three Lippo employees and consultants: Henry Jasmen P. Sitohang (three years), and Fitradjadja Purnama and Taryudi (one and a half years each).[^44] On May 29, 2019 the same court sentenced Neneng to six years and a fine of 250 million rupiah, against a demand of seven and a half years, and four Bekasi officials to four and a half years each.[^45]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, *Investigation of Political Fundraising Improprieties and Possible Violations of Law,* H. Rept. 105-829, 1998, vol. 2. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt829/html/CRPT-105hrpt829-vol2.htm ; Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, *Investigation of Illegal or Improper Activities in Connection with 1996 Federal Election Campaigns,* S. Rept. 105-167, 1998.
|
||||
[^2]: Truell, Peter, and Larry Gurwin. *False Profits: The Inside Story of BCCI, the World's Most Corrupt Financial Empire*. Houghton Mifflin, 1992.
|
||||
[^3]: Department of Justice, "James Riady Pleads Guilty, Will Pay Largest Fine in Campaign Finance History for Violating Federal Election Law," press release 01-17, January 11, 2001.
|
||||
[^4]: House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, *Investigation of Political Fundraising Improprieties and Possible Violations of Law,* H. Rept. 105-829, 1998, vol. 2, footnotes 6 and 115-117. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt829/html/CRPT-105hrpt829-vol2.htm
|
||||
[^5]: "Citic Ka Wah snares HKCB." *South China Morning Post,* November 1, 2001. https://www.scmp.com/article/361790/citic-ka-wah-snares-hkcb
|
||||
[^6]: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, BankFind Suite, institution history for certificate 18453 (Lippo Bank), queried September 23, 2026. https://api.fdic.gov/banks/history?filters=CERT:18453&limit=50
|
||||
[^1]: House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, *Investigation of Political Fundraising Improprieties and Possible Violations of Law,* H. Rept. 105-829, vol. 2, 1998, Part A, "The Riady Family and John Huang: Access and Influence with the Clinton White House," section I and footnotes 4 through 9. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt829/html/CRPT-105hrpt829-vol2.htm
|
||||
[^2]: Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167, 1998, Minority Views of Senators Glenn, Levin, Lieberman, Akaka, Durbin, sections "John Huang" and "Huang's use of the Stephens office." https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/4-4.htm
|
||||
[^3]: Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, *Investigation of Illegal or Improper Activities in Connection with 1996 Federal Election Campaigns,* S. Rept. 105-167, 1998, chapter "John Huang's Years at Lippo," including the testimony of Thomas R. Hampson, July 15, 1997. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/1-13.htm
|
||||
[^4]: Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167, 1998, Minority Views, section "Background on the Lippo Group," footnotes 28 and 29. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/4-4.htm
|
||||
[^5]: House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, H. Rept. 105-829, vol. 2, 1998, Part A, section I, footnotes 14 and 15, citing the deposition of Arthur Vernon Weaver (August 11, 1997) and the deposition of C. Joseph Giroir before the Senate committee (April 30, 1997). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt829/html/CRPT-105hrpt829-vol2.htm
|
||||
[^6]: House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, H. Rept. 105-829, vol. 2, 1998, Part A, section III, "Arkansas International Development Corporation," footnotes 55 through 60, citing the deposition of C. Joseph Giroir (April 30, 1997). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt829/html/CRPT-105hrpt829-vol2.htm
|
||||
[^7]: House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, H. Rept. 105-829, vol. 2, 1998, Part A, section III, "Mark Middleton," footnotes 62 through 66, and the notice of Mark Middleton's invocation of the Fifth Amendment (February 27, 1997) cited there. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt829/html/CRPT-105hrpt829-vol2.htm
|
||||
[^8]: House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, H. Rept. 105-829, vol. 2, 1998, Part A, section IV.B, "1993 APEC Meeting in Seattle," and section IV.C, "1994 APEC Meeting in Jakarta," footnotes 121 through 134. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt829/html/CRPT-105hrpt829-vol2.htm
|
||||
[^9]: House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, H. Rept. 105-829, vol. 2, 1998, Part A, section III, "Webster Hubbell," footnotes 91 through 104. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt829/html/CRPT-105hrpt829-vol2.htm
|
||||
[^10]: Independent Counsel, *Final Report of the Independent Counsel In Re: Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan Association,* vol. 3, part C, "Webster L. Hubbell's Billing Practices and Tax Filings," pp. 28 to 29, footnotes 153 through 156, citing the letter from Webster Hubbell to David T. Yeh (June 27, 1994) and the NationsBank account summary. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-ICREPORT-MADISON/pdf/GPO-ICREPORT-MADISON-3-2.pdf
|
||||
[^11]: Independent Counsel, *Final Report of the Independent Counsel In Re: Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan Association,* vol. 3, part C, "Webster L. Hubbell's Billing Practices and Tax Filings," the passage on consulting income from seventeen employers and the quid pro quo finding. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-ICREPORT-MADISON/pdf/GPO-ICREPORT-MADISON-3-2.pdf
|
||||
[^12]: Independent Counsel, *Final Report of the Independent Counsel In Re: Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan Association,* vol. 3, part C, pp. 33 to 35, footnotes 177 through 192, citing the interview of Webster Hubbell (June 25, 1999), the letter of Hubbell to James Riady (December 12, 1994) and Lippo Group documents HIC 017051 through HIC 017243. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-ICREPORT-MADISON/pdf/GPO-ICREPORT-MADISON-3-2.pdf
|
||||
[^13]: House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, H. Rept. 105-829, vol. 2, 1998, Part A, section IV.A, "General Contacts," footnotes 106 and 107, citing White House Workers and Visitors Entry System records. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt829/html/CRPT-105hrpt829-vol2.htm
|
||||
[^14]: Clinton Presidential Library, Office of Counsel to the President, "Lippo Group" collection, finding aid 2008-0825-F, Box 13, Clinton Digital Library item 98486. https://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/98486
|
||||
[^15]: House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, H. Rept. 105-829, vol. 2, 1998, Part A, section IV.A, footnotes 82 through 88, including the Mochtar Riady letter (White House Document Production EOP 003036-003039). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt829/html/CRPT-105hrpt829-vol2.htm
|
||||
[^16]: House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, H. Rept. 105-829, vol. 2, 1998, Part A, section IV.A, footnotes 113 through 120, including the letter from John Huang to Ronald H. Brown (January 7, 1993), the letter from John Huang to Ronald H. Brown (September 10, 1993), and the deposition of Jack Quinn (November 4, 1997). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt829/html/CRPT-105hrpt829-vol2.htm
|
||||
[^17]: Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167, 1998, chapter "John Huang's Years at Lippo," citing the letter from John Huang to Jack Quinn (October 7, 1993) and the White House Communications Agency audio tape of September 27, 1993. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/1-13.htm
|
||||
[^18]: Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167, 1998, chapter "John Huang's Years at Lippo," section "Lippo and Riady Political Contributions," footnotes 24 through 37, including the testimony of Juliana Utomo (July 15, 1997) and the Hip Hing Holdings, San Jose Holdings, and Toy Center Holdings exhibits. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/1-13.htm
|
||||
[^19]: Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167, 1998, chapter "John Huang's Years at Lippo," footnote 36, quoting Federal Election Commission Advisory Opinion 1992-96 (June 26, 1992). https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/1-13.htm
|
||||
[^20]: House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, H. Rept. 105-829, vol. 2, 1998, Part A, section IV.A, footnotes 115 through 118, quoting the testimony of Thomas R. Hampson (July 15, 1997) and the letter from John Huang to Ronald H. Brown (September 10, 1993). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt829/html/CRPT-105hrpt829-vol2.htm
|
||||
[^21]: House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, H. Rept. 105-829, vol. 2, 1998, Part A, footnote 6, citing *Indonesian Enterprise* (1995) and *The Washington Times* (October 24, 1996). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt829/html/CRPT-105hrpt829-vol2.htm
|
||||
[^22]: Lippo Limited, *Annual Report 2001,* Chairman's Statement, pp. 3 to 4 (Hongkong Chinese Limited, agreement with CITIC Ka Wah Bank Limited of October 2001, completion on January 17, 2002; Lippo China Resources acquisition of the remaining 50 percent of Lippo CRE (Financial Services) Limited). https://www.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2002/0509/226/EWF102.pdf
|
||||
[^23]: "Citic Ka Wah snares HKCB." *South China Morning Post,* November 1, 2001. https://www.scmp.com/article/361790/citic-ka-wah-snares-hkcb
|
||||
[^24]: Central Intelligence Agency, letter of David P. Holmes to Senator Robert F. Bennett (November 3, 1997) and attached unclassified answers to questions 1, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 18, printed in Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167, 1998, Additional Views of Senator Robert Bennett. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/3-37.htm
|
||||
[^25]: Truell, Peter, and Larry Gurwin. *False Profits: The Inside Story of BCCI, the World's Most Corrupt Financial Empire.* Houghton Mifflin, 1992.
|
||||
[^26]: Tan, Fergus. "Banker, empire builder: The story of Mr Mochtar Riady." fergustan.net, 2011. http://www.fergustan.net/banker-empire-builder-the-story-of-mr-mochtar-riady/
|
||||
[^27]: Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167, 1998, Minority Views, section on John Huang's early career, footnotes 16 and 17. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/4-4.htm
|
||||
[^28]: Mother Jones, "Riady or not?," January 1997. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/1997/01/riady-or-not/
|
||||
[^29]: House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, H. Rept. 105-829, vol. 2, 1998, footnotes 441 and 442 (Bank Central Asia travelers checks Nos. 109 3255 610 009 through 043; letter of Christopher M. Curran for Bank Central Asia, July 20, 1998). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt829/html/CRPT-105hrpt829-vol2.htm
|
||||
[^30]: Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167, 1998, chapter "John Huang's Years at Lippo," section "LippoBank California," footnotes 5 through 10, including the testimony of Harold R. Arthur (July 15, 1997), the deposition of James Per Lee (May 2, 1997), and the memorandum of interview of James A. Alexander (July 7, 1997). https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/1-13.htm
|
||||
[^31]: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, BankFind Suite, institution history for certificate 18453 (Lippo Bank), queried October 15, 2026. https://api.fdic.gov/banks/history?filters=CERT:18453&limit=50
|
||||
[^32]: Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167, 1998, chapter "John Huang at Commerce." https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/1-14.htm
|
||||
[^33]: Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167, 1998, chapter "John Huang at Commerce," section on Huang's contacts with Lippo employees, offices and consultants, and the September 13, 1995 Oval Office meeting; chapter "John Huang's Years at Lippo" on Huang's 1993 to 1994 compensation and the Hip Hing Holdings severance payment (Exhibit 3). https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/1-14.htm
|
||||
[^34]: Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167, 1998, chapter "The China Connection: Summary of the Committee's Findings Relating to Efforts of the People's Republic of China to Influence U.S. Policies and Elections," section "James and Mochtar Riady." https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/2-18.htm
|
||||
[^35]: Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167, 1998, chapter "The China Connection," footnote 19, stating that the CIA and FBI edited Senator Thompson's July 8, 1997 statement on the China plan before its public disclosure. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/2-18.htm
|
||||
[^36]: Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167, 1998, "Response to Majority Report," Part 9, by Ranking Minority Member John Glenn. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/6-9.htm
|
||||
[^37]: Department of Justice, "John Huang Pleads Guilty to Violating Federal Campaign Finance Laws," press release, August 12, 1999. https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/1999/August/357crm.htm
|
||||
[^38]: Department of Justice, "James Riady Pleads Guilty, Will Pay Largest Fine in Campaign Finance History for Violating Federal Election Law," press release 01-17, January 11, 2001. https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2001/January/017crm.htm
|
||||
[^39]: Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, filing by Lippo China Resources Limited (Stock Code 156), announcement dated August 18, 2023. https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2023/0818/2023081800921.pdf
|
||||
[^40]: OUE Limited, *Annual Report 2011,* Board of Directors, biography of Dr. Stephen Riady. https://oue.com.sg/doc/annual-reports/OUE_AR2011.pdf
|
||||
[^41]: Jakarta Post, "Lippo Group executive arrested in Meikarta bribery case," October 16, 2018. https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/10/16/lippo-group-executive-arrested-in-meikarta-bribery-case
|
||||
[^42]: Jakarta Post, "KPK to question James Riady over Meikarta case," October 19, 2018. https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/10/19/kpk-to-question-james-riady-over-meikarta-case
|
||||
[^43]: Jakarta Post, "James denies involvement in Meikarta case," October 31, 2018. https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/10/31/james-denies-involvement-meikarta-case
|
||||
[^44]: Jakarta Post, "Lippo executive Billy Sindoro sentenced to 3.5 years in Meikarta case," March 5, 2019. https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/03/05/lippo-executive-billy-sindoro-sentenced-to-3-5-years-in-meikarta-case
|
||||
[^45]: Jakarta Post, "Neneng gets six years for taking bribes in Meikarta project," May 30, 2019. https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/05/30/neneng-gets-six-years-for-taking-bribes-in-meikarta-project
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -20,18 +20,24 @@ relations:
|
|||
- type: owned
|
||||
with: "[[Lippo Group]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
fn: 3
|
||||
fn: 4
|
||||
- type: prosecuted
|
||||
with: "[[Department of Justice]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
start: 2001-01-11
|
||||
fn: 2
|
||||
created: 2026-09-23
|
||||
updated: 2026-09-23
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-15
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
LippoBank was a California state-chartered commercial bank affiliated with the [[Lippo Group]] of [[Mochtar Riady]] and [[James Riady]] of [[Indonesia]]. It was chartered in [[San Francisco]] in 1961 as the Bank of Trade of San Francisco and took the name Lippo Bank in [[Los Angeles]] in January 1990. In January 2001 James Riady agreed to plead guilty on its behalf to 86 misdemeanor counts charging that its agents, Riady and [[John Huang]], had made illegal foreign campaign contributions from 1988 through 1994.[^1][^2]
|
||||
|
||||
### Control of the bank
|
||||
|
||||
The Senate committee reported that James Riady owned 99 percent of LippoBank California, a small California-chartered bank with less than one hundred million dollars in assets. The committee described chronic asset-quality and management problems and numerous cease and desist orders from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and it found that the bank consistently generated losses. Riady served as its chief executive from 1986 to 1988 and moved back to Jakarta some time before 1990.[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
Whether the bank was part of the Lippo Group was disputed in the record. Its chief executive, James Per Lee, insisted in deposition testimony that the relationship was limited to a licensing agreement allowing the bank to use the Lippo name. A former chief executive, Harold R. Arthur, testified that the bank is part of the Indonesia-based Lippo Group. Another former chief executive, James A. Alexander, stated in a memorandum of interview that the bank was under the direct control of Indonesia-based Lippo executives.[^3] The committee wrote that Per Lee's position "is simply not tenable on the facts," and listed as its grounds that the bank appeared as part of the group in its promotional materials and in the date book carried by Per Lee, that its chief executives attended bi-annual Lippo Group meetings in Jakarta, that Per Lee's appointment was announced in the Lippo Group newsletter for senior executives, and that the bank received an annual budget for community and political affairs directly from the group in Jakarta.[^3] The committee concluded that calling the LippoBank offices in Los Angeles, which John Huang did hundreds of times after he entered government service, "was the functional equivalent of calling Jakarta."[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
### Charter History
|
||||
|
||||
The records of the [[Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation]] for the bank (certificate 18453), a state-chartered bank that was not a member of the [[Federal Reserve System]], show the following changes:[^1]
|
||||
|
|
@ -43,7 +49,7 @@ The records of the [[Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation]] for the bank (certi
|
|||
- March 26, 1998: main office moved back to San Francisco.
|
||||
- May 31, 2000: merged, without assistance, into the First Bank of California, which survived.
|
||||
|
||||
The [[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform|House Government Reform and Oversight Committee]] reported that when the Riadys left [[Worthen Bank]] in [[Little Rock, Arkansas|Little Rock]] about 1987 they "focused their attention on a bank they previously had purchased in San Francisco, California. Soon thereafter they established the Bank of Trade in Los Angeles, which later became LippoBank." Huang's résumé was among the documents LippoBank produced to the committee. The committee found that the Lippo Group's American operations were generally unprofitable, and that while many in the group's hierarchy wanted unprofitable operations closed, others argued that "LippoBank California was important 'strategically,' in order to have a presence in the United States," and prevailed.[^3]
|
||||
The [[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform|House Government Reform and Oversight Committee]] reported that when the Riadys left [[Worthen Bank]] in [[Little Rock, Arkansas|Little Rock]] about 1987 they "focused their attention on a bank they previously had purchased in San Francisco, California. Soon thereafter they established the Bank of Trade in Los Angeles, which later became LippoBank." Huang's résumé was among the documents LippoBank produced to the committee. The committee found that the Lippo Group's American operations were generally unprofitable, and that while many in the group's hierarchy wanted unprofitable operations closed, others argued that "LippoBank California was important 'strategically,' in order to have a presence in the United States," and prevailed.[^4]
|
||||
|
||||
### Plea
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -55,4 +61,5 @@ The benefits the contributions were meant to secure for the group and "defendant
|
|||
|
||||
[^1]: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, BankFind Suite, institution history for certificate 18453 (Lippo Bank), queried September 23, 2026. https://api.fdic.gov/banks/history?filters=CERT:18453&limit=50 ; https://api.fdic.gov/banks/institutions?filters=CERT:18453
|
||||
[^2]: U.S. Department of Justice. "James Riady Pleads Guilty, Will Pay Largest Fine in Campaign Finance History for Violating Federal Election Law." Press release 017, January 11, 2001. http://web.archive.org/web/20140715142633/http://www.justice.gov:80/opa/pr/2001/January/017crm.htm
|
||||
[^3]: House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, *Investigation of Political Fundraising Improprieties and Possible Violations of Law,* H. Rept. 105-829, 1998, vol. 2. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt829/html/CRPT-105hrpt829-vol2.htm
|
||||
[^3]: Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, S. Rept. 105-167, 1998, chapter "John Huang's Years at Lippo," section "LippoBank California" and footnotes 5 through 8 (testimony of Harold R. Arthur, July 15, 1997; deposition of James Per Lee, May 2, 1997; memorandum of interview of James A. Alexander, July 7, 1997; deposition of David Sugita, May 16, 1997). https://irp.fas.org/congress/1998_rpt/sgo-sir/1-13.htm
|
||||
[^4]: House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, *Investigation of Political Fundraising Improprieties and Possible Violations of Law,* H. Rept. 105-829, 1998, vol. 2. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-105hrpt829/html/CRPT-105hrpt829-vol2.htm
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ summary: "Nongovernmental research institute at George Washington University, fo
|
|||
start: 1985
|
||||
location: "Washington, D.C."
|
||||
created: 2026-09-22
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-12
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-15
|
||||
relations:
|
||||
- type: founded
|
||||
with: "[[Scott Armstrong]]"
|
||||
|
|
@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ Its electronic briefing books have published the planning record of the 1964 cou
|
|||
|
||||
In 1998 the Archive's Electronic Briefing Book No. 8, "Chile and the United States: Declassified Documents Relating to the Military Coup, September 11, 1973," by Peter Kornbluh, appeared on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the coup in [[Chile]].[^43] Electronic Briefing Book No. 33, "New Information on the Murders of U.S. Citizens [[Charles Horman]] and [[Frank Teruggi]] by the Chilean Military," was published on June 30, 2000, under Kornbluh as project director.[^44]
|
||||
|
||||
In November 2023 the Archive posted documents on the confessions of [[Michael Townley]], an agent of [[DINA]], including a letter in which Townley wrote in March 1978: "I accuse the government of Chile of my death." Townley was turned over to the FBI on April 8, 1978.[^45] In October 2024 it published documents on the assassination of General [[Carlos Prats]] and [[Sofía Cuthbert]] by a car bomb in [[Buenos Aires]].[^46] In 2025 the Archive's posting *Chile in Their Hearts* challenged the theory that Charles Horman was targeted because he "knew too much."[^47] An editor's note added to the 2000 posting states that "new information has emerged casting doubt on the theory that the U.S. had a role in Charles Horman's death or that he was killed because he had stumbled across evidence of U.S. involvement in the Chilean coup."[^44]
|
||||
In November 2023 the Archive posted documents on the confessions of [[Michael Townley]], an agent of [[DINA]], including a letter in which Townley wrote in March 1978: "I accuse the government of Chile of my death." Townley was turned over to the FBI on April 8, 1978.[^45] In October 2024 it published documents on the assassination of General [[Carlos Prats]] and [[Sofía Cuthbert]] by a car bomb in [[Buenos Aires]].[^46] In 2025 the Archive's posting *Chile in Their Hearts* challenged the theory that Charles Horman was targeted because he "knew too much."[^47] The May 7, 2025 posting presents fifteen documents on the deaths of Horman and Frank Teruggi that were assembled for John Dinges's 2025 book. It includes the embassy cable of September 25, 1973 that the Chilean judge [[Jorge Zepeda]] cited as evidence of foreknowledge, which the Archive reproduces with a note that the cable was dated eight days after Horman was taken from his home.[^47] An editor's note added to the 2000 posting states that "new information has emerged casting doubt on the theory that the U.S. had a role in Charles Horman's death or that he was killed because he had stumbled across evidence of U.S. involvement in the Chilean coup."[^44]
|
||||
|
||||
In 2016 the Archive published documents on the editing of the [[Rockefeller Commission 1975|Rockefeller Commission]] report by the Ford [[White House]], including handwritten edits by [[Dick Cheney]] to the commission's draft and the removal, on White House orders, of the report's entire 86-page section on CIA plots to assassinate foreign leaders.[^48] In October 2025 the Archive published the Top Secret transcripts of [[Sidney Gottlieb]]'s testimony to the [[Church Committee]], given in closed hearings held October 15 to 18, 1975, together with declassified CIA memoranda on [[Project MKUltra|MKULTRA]]. The transcripts had been classified Top Secret at the time and were released through FOIA.[^49]
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
Loading…
Add table
Add a link
Reference in a new issue