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Of considerable significance is the fact that, at the time that with Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos and the so-called Marcos gold. Jardine, Emett & Chandler—the firm of Boston insurance brokers Indeed, so trusted was he that Marcos had him fronting for two mentioned earlier—issued its letter on behalf of MidAval, seeking "eclipsed" Marcos accounts—one in the name of Etablissement collateral instruments, it was owned by Jardine Matheson Mabari with the private Swiss bank of Lombard Odier & Cie, and Limited. Meanwhile, Jardine Resources Limited, with an address the other in the name of Etablissement Gladiator at COGES in the Isle of Man, was a business entity used by Rolf van Rooyen Corraterie Gestion SA, Geneva. Of interest, too, is the fact that for collateral trading programme and other activities. The Isle of | Sir Henry Keswick is reported to have been responsible for "lift- Man also boasted a branch of Jardine Fleming Bank Limited. ing" Munk to a new career, although he also received patronage Jardine Matheson Limited, originally formed over 170 years from Australia's now-deceased multi-billionaire businessman Sir ago, created a fortune from the China opium business. Since that Peter Abeles.** time it has diversified enormously and remains the family fiefdom Sir Peter received considerable attention in Jonathan Kwitny's of the Keswick family, descendants of the firm's co-founder, excellent book, The Crimes of Patriots, because of his alleged William Jardine. The Keswick clan, in addition to having had Mafia connections and close association with Bernie Houghton family members awarded the chairmanship or directorship of such and Michael Hand in the CIA drug smuggling laundry, the Nugan notable international companies as Hongkong & Shanghai Bank, Hand Bank—which also arranged to ship gold bullion surrepti- Rio Tinto Zinc and Samuel Montagu (the London merchant bank tiously for Marcos. that was part of the Midland Bank Group, itself now owned by At this point, it is worth reminding readers that Brigadier- HSBC), i: able to boast having had family members as the General Erle Cocke—whom I referenced earlier concerning his head of Bri s Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) and decades- affidavit detailing his knowledge and involvement in Project long membership of the Court of the Bank of England. Hammer—was reported by Kwitny to be a key player in the Rio Tinto Zinc (RTZ) was founded in 1873 by Hugh Matheson, Nugan Hand Bank. And Project Hammer is said to be a general the co-founder of Jardine Matheson. In 1995, RTZ acquired a continuation of Nugan Hand Bank activity. minority ownership in Freeport McMoRan. Anglo American (which has long had very close ties with RTZ), together with De Beers, is the fiefdom of the Oppenheimer family, which owns a significant . . piece of Lonrho. These three inter- Brigadier-General Erle Cocke twined conglomerates dominate the was reported by Kwitny to be a precious metals and mining world: amongst achieving other notable key player in the Nugan Hand accomplishments. For example, the A A Oppenheimers' Minorco holding Bank. And Project Hammer is company is believed to be the single | Said to be a general continuation largest investor in the United States. of Nugan Hand Bank activity. Minorco, founded in 1981, was quick to obtain an interest in America's then biggest bank, MARITIME FINANCING The ties that bind are kept hidden from public view. Activities such as the one we have been discussing are made to operate on an "arms length" basis to confuse and also to ensure deniability. Following these subter- ranean and diverse threads can easily perplex the investigator, and patience and persistence are required to arrive at the reality that is hidden behind all the smoke and mirrors. The story of Puffin Investments is a case in point. During a number of extensive tele- phone interviews with the Canadian, Citibank, whose CEO, Walter Barrie Wamboldt, it was hinted that Wriston, together with Citibank's prin- it would be worthwhile to look into cipal attorney, Robert Clare, a partner of the powerful law firm of the activities of an Alan Shepherd and a firm of his called Puffin Shearson & Sterling, both accepted invitations to sit on the Investments. Readers will remember that Barrie Wamboldt was Minorco board.” involved with Project Hammer and had worked with General According to the authors of the book Dope, Inc., the Keswick Cocke and Paul Green to recover Project Hammer funds. family controls a substantial part of the world's narcotics trade and Puffin Investment Company Limited, a Bahamas company, was uses HSBC, the bank it is said to control, to "provide centralized owned by Old Harrovian Alan Shepherd, who had connections to rediscounting facilities for the financing of the drugs trade".”" the British royal family resulting from generous donations he How true this is remains unknown to this writer, but it is known made to the Royal Windsor Horse Show, of which he was vice that Li Ka-shing—the Chinese billionaire who owns a 3% stake in president. In March 2001, Shepherd and Puffin Investments were Jardine Matheson Limited and has sat on the board of HSBC— involved in a High Court action initiated by the Financial Services has been accused of being a member of Chinese intelligence as Authority—the government watchdog—for enticing investors to well as being associated with the narcotics trade.” Indeed, the put up money for a "sham" investment trading programme. latter allegation arose repeatedly during my investigation of According to the Sunday Express newspaper, reporting on the Project Hammer, while the use of HSBC as an "authorised six- court case, up-front fees paid by investors on the promise of mas- point laundry" was also mentioned. Meanwhile, the description sive returns were not repaid.“ of "centralized rediscounting facilities" referenced by the authors A week later, on 1 April 2001, the Sunday Express carried a of Dope, Inc. is suggestive, to this writer at least, of collateral further report detailing a lawsuit against Alan Shepherd, his trading techniques. American wife Sherry and previous Conservative Party "grandee" Such connections are almost endless, it seems. Take, for exam- Sir Edward du Cann, who was the former Chairman of City mer- ple, the rise to fortune of Peter Munk, Chairman of Barrick Gold chant bank Keyser Ullman. Sir Edward was earlier involved in which was formed in Toronto, Canada, in 1983, with the majority Tradeswind, an arms trading company in which he was a director stake being held by the Saudi royal family middleman and arms with Tiny Rowland of Lonrho fame and the Egyptian, Ashraf dealer, Adnan Khashoggi. Khashoggi had long been associated Marwan—known as "Dr Death". Earlier in his career, du Cann with Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos and the so-called Marcos gold. Indeed, so trusted was he that Marcos had him fronting for two "eclipsed" Marcos accounts—one in the name of Etablissement Mabari with the private Swiss bank of Lombard Odier & Cie, and the other in the name of Etablissement Gladiator at COGES Corraterie Gestion SA, Geneva. Of interest, too, is the fact that Sir Henry Keswick is reported to have been responsible for "lift- ing" Munk to a new career, although he also received patronage from Australia's now-deceased multi-billionaire businessman Sir Peter Abeles.** Sir Peter received considerable attention in Jonathan Kwitny's excellent book, The Crimes of Patriots, because of his alleged Mafia connections and close association with Bernie Houghton and Michael Hand in the CIA drug smuggling laundry, the Nugan Hand Bank—which also arranged to ship gold bullion surrepti- tiously for Marcos. At this point, it is worth reminding readers that Brigadier- General Erle Cocke—whom I referenced earlier concerning his affidavit detailing his knowledge and involvement in Project Hammer—was reported by Kwitny to be a key player in the Nugan Hand Bank. And Project Hammer is said to be a general continuation of Nugan Hand Bank activity. was reported by Kwitny to be a key player in the Nugan Hand Bank. And Project Hammer is said to bea general continuation of Nugan Hand Bank activity. 34 = NEXUS Brigadier-General Erle Cocke www.nexusmagazine.com OCTOBER — NOVEMBER 2003