[[Australia]] is a country and continent in the Southern Hemisphere. It is mentioned in connection with [[Nugan Hand Bank]], which was an [[Australia|Australian]] bank co-founded by [[Michael Hand]] and [[Frank Nugan]]. This bank reportedly laundered profits from drug trafficking in the [[Golden Triangle]] and financed subversive paramilitary activities in Southeast [[Asia]]. The bank collapsed in 1980, $5 billion in debt, and [[Michael Hand]] disappeared from [[Australia]].[^1] [[Michael Hand]] reportedly fled [[Australia]] under a false identity on June 14, 1980, on a flight to [[Fiji]]. He was allegedly helped to escape by an American code-named "Charlie," identified as a former member of the [[United States Army Special Forces|U.S. Special Forces]] and ex-[[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] operative. [[Michael Riconosciuto]] claimed to have handled money transfers for Hand when he fled [[Australia]].[^1] [[Brian Toohey]], a top [[Australia|Australian]] journalist, reported in his *The Eye* magazine in 1991 that [[Michael Hand]] had a postal drop in Washington State, and his wife was reportedly living with him there.[^1] [[Robert Booth Nichols]] also listed [[Australia]] as one of his residences.[^1] --- ## Footnotes [^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.