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Cohen believed that the PROMIS software was stolen because it could be modified to track money laundering and could function as an active information-gathering and money-moving program within the international banking system, specifically mentioning CHIPS and SWIFT systems. |
John Cohen was a United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary investigator involved in the PROMIS Software Scandal investigation. Prior to this role, he served as a Los Angeles police officer, where he worked on international narcotics conspiracies with the DEA and Federal Bureau of Investigation, gaining knowledge of Southeast Asian heroin and the rise of Latin American cartels.[1]
Cohen believed that the PROMIS software was stolen because it could be modified to track money laundering and could function as an active information-gathering and money-moving program within the international banking system, specifically mentioning CHIPS and SWIFT systems. He suspected a narcotics connection to this capability, noting the irritation among law enforcement professionals regarding the intelligence agency-drug dealer connection.[1]
In early 1992, Cohen began communicating closely with Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Thomas Gates, who had been in contact with Danny Casolaro before Casolaro's death. In October 1992, Cohen and Gates learned about Michael Riconosciuto's statement to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which corroborated Cohen's suspicions about money laundering and the theft of PROMIS. Riconosciuto's statement implicated Robert Booth Nichols, Glenn Shockley, Jose Santacruz Londono, Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, and Michael Abbell in a network of illicit financial activities.[1]
Cohen's investigation, like others into the PROMIS Software Scandal, was reportedly shut down when it began to uncover high-level organized crime, drug, and money laundering connections.[1]
Footnotes
[1] Seymour, Cheri. The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.