First American Bank was a bank based in [[Washington, D.C.]], which became secretly owned and controlled by the [[Bank of Credit and Commerce International|BCCI]].[^1] ### Acquisition and BCCI Control First American Bank was acquired by Middle Eastern investors connected with BCCI in 1981, following the acquisition of [[Financial General Bankshares]].[^1] [[Clark Clifford]] and [[Robert Altman]] served as BCCI's chief American counsel and later as chairman and president of First American Bank, respectively.[^1] They were instrumental in concealing BCCI's secret ownership through a network of nominees and fraudulent loans.[^2] BCCI used nominees to secretly purchase shares in [[Credit and Commerce American Holdings|CCAH]], the holding company that owned First American Bank.[^3] The bank's assets grew significantly, but it also faced deepening financial woes due to a disastrous real estate portfolio.[^4] ### Legal and Regulatory Scrutiny The [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] issued a report in 1986 stating that BCCI had owned First American Bank since 1982.[^1] The [[Federal Reserve Board]] later fined BCCI $200 million for illegally acquiring control of First American Bank, along with [[National Bank of Georgia]] and [[CenTrust Savings Bank]].[^1] In July 1992, Clifford and Altman were indicted by a [[New York]] grand jury on charges of bribery and fraud related to their involvement with BCCI and First American Bank.[^1] ## Footnotes [^1]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 8-14. [^2]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, pp. 192-194. [^3]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 141. [^4]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 134.