---
category: "Private Organization"
summary: "Nugan Hand Bank was an Australia bank co-founded by Michael Hand and Frank Nugan, along with officials of the Central Intelligence Agency-owned Air America. It was described as a primary CIA operation in the Pacific area.[^1]"
start: 1973
end: 1980
location: "Sydney, Australia"
---
[[Nugan Hand Bank]] was an [[Australia|Australian]] bank co-founded by [[Michael Hand]] and [[Frank Nugan]], along with officials of the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]-owned Air America. It was described as a primary CIA operation in the Pacific area.[^1]

The bank reportedly laundered profits from drug trafficking in the [[Golden Triangle]]. These laundered profits, in in turn, financed subversive paramilitary activities in Southeast [[Asia]]. The bank collapsed in 1980, $5 billion in debt, and [[Michael Hand]] subsequently disappeared.[^1]

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### Footnotes

[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.