[[John Cohen]] was a [[United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary|House Judiciary Committee]] 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 [[Drug Enforcement Administration|DEA]] and [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]], 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|FBI]] 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|FBI]], 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|Jose Londono]], [[Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela|Gilberto Rodriguez]], 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.