Richard St. Francis
Connecticut businessman and TransCapital employee involved in C-130 aircraft sales to Iran and indicted alongside Ari Ben-Menashe.
Richard St. Francis was a businessman from Connecticut who worked for TransCapital Corporation, a firm licensed to sell computer hardware used for the PROMIS program. He was involved in arms deals, particularly concerning the sale of C-130 aircraft to Iran.1
In April 1989, St. Francis was involved in a deal to sell three C-130s to Tehran, working with Joseph O'Toole and Mike Timpani. This deal was intended to be a go-between for Israel and Iran. He was also the person who brought the mysterious "Lettner" (later identified as John Lisica, an undercover U.S. Customs Service agent) to Kennedy Airport to meet Ari Ben-Menashe, as part of a sting operation.1
St. Francis was arrested in April 1989 and later indicted for conspiracy to defraud the United States, cover up illegal dealings, and attempt to sell three planes to Iran in violation of federal laws. He was a co-defendant with Ari Ben-Menashe in the trial, though his case was later severed.1
Sources
- Ben-Menashe, Ari. Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network. TrineDay, 1992. ↩
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