---
category: BCCI Scandal
summary: In February 1978, Vaez submitted a report on the BCCI that characterized
  it as a bank dangerously out of control.
tags:
- Person
- BCCI
---

Joseph E. Vaez was an officer in the [Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)](/organizations/office-of-the-comptroller-of-the-currency/).[^1]

### Role in BCCI Investigation

In February 1978, Vaez submitted a report on the [BCCI](/organizations/bank-of-credit-and-commerce-international/) that characterized it as a bank dangerously out of control.[^1] He was sent with a team of auditors to examine the books of Bank of America, which held 30 percent of BCCI's shares.[^2] His memo provided a detailed summary of BCCI's operations, noting its explosive growth, lack of lending limits, and undocumented loans.[^2]

Vaez's report concluded that BCCI's practices were glaringly obvious as far back as 1978. The report also highlighted that money was disappearing into "unsecured borrowings" in [ICIC](/organizations/icic/) in the [Cayman Islands](/places/cayman-islands/), and that bad or questionable loans constituted three and a half times BCCI's capital.[^3]

Despite the significance of his report, the OCC claimed to have "lost" the memo. When Vaez later agreed to provide a copy from his own files, the OCC refused to let investigators have it, only releasing it after a congressional subpoena.[^2]

[^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. 12.
[^2]: Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. *The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI*. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 381-382
[^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. 137.