2.1 KiB
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In April 1989, O'Toole was involved in a deal to sell three C-130s to Tehran, working with Richard St. |
Joseph O'Toole was a former United States Air Force colonel whose last job was in procurement, including liaison with the Central Intelligence Agency. After his retirement in 1978, he became managing director of the aircraft sales division of FXC International in Santa Ana, California.1
FXC International was approached by the Central Intelligence Agency to open an aircraft division to broker secret sales of aircraft worldwide on behalf of the United States government. Since Israel already had relations with FXC International, it was used to "paper" United States equipment in what might have been perceived as illegal sales, allowing the Central Intelligence Agency to monitor these transactions.1
Joseph O'Toole was involved in negotiations to sell Chile F-5Es to Iran through Singapore, believing at the time that this sale had United States government authorization, specifically from Robert Gates. He was asked to act as a broker and buy the planes from Chile on behalf of Israel, which would put an United States stamp of approval on the deal.1
In April 1989, Joseph O'Toole was involved in a deal to sell three C-130s to Iran, working with Richard St. Francis of TransCapital Corporation and Mike Timpani. This deal was intended to be a go-between for Israel and Iran, but it was ultimately cut out. Joseph O'Toole was later indicted for conspiracy to sell C-130s to Iran in violation of the United States Arms Export Control Act, though his case was severed from Ari Ben-Menashe at their request, as he had cooperated with the government in setting up Ari Ben-Menashe.1
Footnotes
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Ben-Menashe, Ari. Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network. Sheridan Square Press, 1992 (TrineDay reprint, 2015). ↩︎