Robert Chasen

Robert Chasen was a former FBI agent and Commissioner of Customs in Washington D.C. from 1969 to 1977. He later became Executive Vice President of Wackenhut Corporation from 1981 onwards, and a senior consultant at their Florida facility. He was also a member of the board of directors for Wackenhut Corporation.¹

Involvement with Wackenhut and Controversies

Chasen supervised the Wackenhut Corporation's Indio facility from Coral Gables, Florida. He confirmed the "horrendous properties" of a "virus" he encountered at the Indio facility, stating that Wackenhut Corporation was "running amuck." He claimed that Robert Booth Nichols and Peter Zokosky attempted to sell biological warfare technology (developed in cow uteri) through Wackenhut Corporation, using Robert Frye as a front man. Chasen alleged that Frye went behind his back in facilitating this project, and when Chasen learned of it, he shut it down. Due to the projects underway at the Cabazon Indian Reservation, Chasen chose not to visit the property directly, instead meeting with Indio executives in Palm Springs.¹

Chasen was evasive on the subject of PROMIS, despite his background suggesting he would be knowledgeable about it. He had worked in the same department as Peter Videnieks at Customs for at least three years, yet claimed not to know him. He also stated that Wackenhut Corporation had "run a check" on Robert Booth Nichols and could not learn anything about his background, which bothered Chasen. He believed Nichols worked for the CIA and was a "slippery guy," expressing surprise that Frye and Dick Wilson were "dazzled" by Nichols for so long.¹

Michael Riconosciuto was introduced to Chasen as a "specialist engineer in weapons." Chasen acknowledged the biological technology introduced by Nichols and Zokosky, stating it was presented as something that could "create anything from chicken soup to long range missiles." He halted the project immediately upon learning its properties, describing it as "the kind of thing your mind erases."¹

Chasen felt an affinity with Arthur Welmas, Chairman of the Cabazon Indian Reservation, due to his wife being part Cherokee. He sympathized with their situation and expressed a desire to protect them, suggesting he may have protected them by shutting down the Wackenhut Corporation's biological virus and vaccine development proposal to the Army on the Cabazon reservation.¹