---
aliases:
- Frederick B. Lacey
- Frederick Bernard Lacey
born: 1920-09-09
category: Law Enforcement & Legal
created: 2026-09-22
died: 2017-04-01
location: Newark, New Jersey
relations:
- end: 1985
  fn: 1
  role: judge
  start: 1979
  type: member_of
  with: '[[Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court]]'
- fn: 3
  start: 1992
  type: investigated
  with: '[[Brent Scowcroft]]'
- fn: 3
  start: 1992
  type: investigated
  with: '[[Lawrence Eagleburger]]'
- fn: 2
  start: 1954
  type: prosecuted
  with: '[[Albert Anastasia]]'
summary: New Jersey prosecutor and federal judge, one of the Foreign Intelligence
  Surveillance Court's first judges, whom William Barr named in 1992 to review the
  BNL-Iraq case and who cleared the Justice Department.
tags:
- Person
- Judge
- FISACourt
- BNL
- Iraqgate
updated: 2026-09-23
---

Frederick Bernard Lacey was born in Newark, [New Jersey](/places/new-jersey/), on September 9, 1920, the son of the city's police chief, and studied at Rutgers and Cornell Law School; he served in the Naval Reserve from 1942 to 1946. As an assistant U.S. attorney in New Jersey he led the case that sent Albert Anastasia to prison for income-tax evasion in 1954. [Richard Nixon](/people/richard-nixon/) made him U.S. attorney for New Jersey in 1969; he prosecuted Newark's mayor, Hugh Addonizio, Jersey City's mayor, Thomas Whalen, the Hudson County boss John V. Kenny and Mafia figures, and with his successor, Herbert Stern, convicted three dozen officials within four years. Nixon appointed him a district judge in 1970; he served until 1986 and sat on the Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals from 1978 and on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court from 1979 to 1985. After retiring he joined LeBoeuf, Lamb, Leiby and MacRae, served as special master over the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and in 2006 was federal monitor of Bristol-Myers Squibb over the drug Plavix. He died in Naples, Florida, on April 1, 2017.[^1][^2]

### The BNL Investigation

Attorney General [William Barr](/people/william-barr/) declined to seek an independent counsel in the [Banca Nazionale del Lavoro](/events/bnl-scandal/) affair and on October 16, 1992, appointed Lacey special counsel; he reported 54 days later. He wrote: "I find Judge Shoob's specific charges against the USAO to be inaccurate," rejecting the criticisms of Judge [Marvin Shoob](/people/marvin-shoob/). Of [Brent Scowcroft](/people/brent-scowcroft/) and [Lawrence Eagleburger](/people/lawrence-eagleburger/), he wrote: "It is clear that, while at [Kissinger Associates](/organizations/kissinger-associates/), Scowcroft and Eagleburger came into contact with [BNL](/organizations/banca-nazionale-del-lavoro/) management. I have seen nothing, however, to suggest that they knew of BNL-Atlanta's wrongful loans to Iraq or influenced the prosecution of this matter." The second part of the report was classified.[^3] According to *The Village Voice,* the report dismissed the allegations as "arrogant nonsense," while Lacey acknowledged that he could not determine "who at Justice saw what and when" and was "unable to penetrate with any precision where responsibility lay."[^4] Representative [Henry B. Gonzalez](/people/henry-b-gonzalez/), chairman of the [House Banking Committee](/organizations/house-banking-committee/), told the House on January 21, 1993, that "from the start it was apparent that Judge Lacey was nothing more than a lackey," called the report "the Lacey Job," and said that "at best" it was a whitewash.[^5]

[^1]: Federal Judicial Center, "Lacey, Frederick Bernard," Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges. https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/lacey-frederick-bernard
[^2]: Historical Society of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, "Frederick Bernard Lacey." https://www.historynjdc.org/judges/judicial-biographies/frederick-bernard-lacey ; "'French Connection' Judge Dies at 96," Associated Press, via *Governing,* April 2017.
[^3]: Lacey, Frederick B. "The Banca Nazionale del Lavoro Investigation: Report of the Independent Counsel," reproduced in House Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs, Serial No. 103-95, 1993, pp. 514-15. https://archive.org/details/testimonyofforme1994unit
[^4]: "Will We Ever Learn the Truth About Iraqgate?" *The Village Voice,* reprinted November 2, 2020.
[^5]: Gonzalez, Henry B. "Update on BNL Investigation," *Congressional Record,* House, January 21, 1993. https://irp.fas.org/congress/1993_cr/h930121-bnl.htm