William von Raab
William von Raab was the U.S.
William von Raab was the U.S. Customs Commissioner.1
He was involved in the Hashemi sting operation, which was designed to entrap individuals connected with Israeli intelligence arms sales to Iran.2
Von Raab, along with Rudolph Giuliani, gave joint TV interviews on April 22, 1986, announcing the arrest of a "huge ring of terrorists" and "Merchants of Death" who were supposedly about to sell arms worth a billion dollars to Iran. Ari Ben-Menashe claims that von Raab and his associates had created the crime themselves.2
Role in BCCI Scandal
Von Raab headed the agency during the Tampa money-laundering investigations involving the BCCI.1 He stated that the C-Chase sting operation, which led to the arrest of several BCCI bankers, was the most important money-laundering case in history.3
After BCCI's Tampa conviction, von Raab thought the case was "enormously meaningful" and announced it publicly. He was told by his superiors to dampen his public enthusiasm.4 He later testified before the Kerry subcommittee that the Department of Justice had denied knowledge of the Ali Mirza tapes, which contained crucial information about BCCI's activities.5
Sources
- Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 11. ↩
- Ben-Menashe, Ari. Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network. TrineDay, 1992. ↩
- Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 25. ↩
- Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 389. ↩
- Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 54. ↩
Local network
William von Raab's direct connections. Click any node to navigate, drag to pan, scroll (or pinch) to zoom. + 2‑hop expands the neighborhood one level further.