Bank of Credit and Commerce International

The Bank of Credit and Commerce International, 1972-1991, discussed at length by Senator John Kerry and Senator Hank Brown in The BCCI Affair: A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate.

In 1991, then New York District Attorney Robert Morgenthau described BCCI as "one of the biggest criminal enterprises in world history." 


 * Journalists David Sirota and Jonathan Baskin, writing for Washington Monthly, published an article titled 'Follow the Money', which chronicled Kerry's work against BCCI. In their article, Sirota and Baskin state, "As Kerry's subcommittee discovered, BCCI catered to many of the most notorious tyrants and thugs of the late 20th century, including Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, the heads of the Medellin cocaine cartel, and Abu Nidal, the notorious Palestinian terrorist. According to the CIA, it also did business with those who went on to lead al Qaeda. And BCCI went beyond merely offering financial assistance to dictators and terrorists: According to Time, the operation itself was an elaborate fraud, replete with a 'global intelligence operation and a Mafia-like enforcement squad.'"

"BCCI handled the banking transactions relating to the Pakistani nuclear programme and the Iran-contra illegal arms deals." 

"It was not merely BCCI's deception that permitted it to infiltrate the United States and its banking system. Also essential were BCCI's use of political influence-peddling and the revolving door in Washington". 

Philanthropy
The bank established the Third World Foundation in London, which published the widely circulated Third World Quarterly and paid special attention to the promotion of the Urdu language and literature through the Urdu Markaz located in London.

Critical Books

 * Rachel Ehrenfeld, Evil Money. Encounters along the Money Trail, 1992, Harper Business.
 * Peter Truell, Larry Gurwin, False Profits. The Inside Story of BCCI, the world’s most corrupt financial Empire, 1992, Houghton, Mifflin Company, Boston, New York. (book referred to by Peter Dale Scott)
 * James Ring Adams and Douglas Frantz, A Full Service Bank. How BCCI stole billions around the world, Simon & Schuster Inc., New York.
 * Jonathan Beaty & S. C. Gwynne, The Outlaw Bank. A wild ride into the secret heart of BCCI, 1993, Random House, New York.
 * Nick Kochan & Bob Whittington, Bankrupt. The BCCI Fraud, 1991, Victor Gollancz Ltd., Londres, ISBN 0-575-05279-1
 * John K. Cooley, Unholy Wars. Afghanistan, America and International Terrorism, 1999, Pluto Press, Londres, Sterling (Virginie).
 * Lucy Komisar, "BCCI's Double Game: Banking on America, Banking on Jihad," in A Game As Old As Empire, 2007, Berrett-Koehler, San Francisco.

SourceWatch Resources

 * Bert Lance
 * Bush Dynasty
 * Clark M. Clifford
 * First American Bank
 * Adnan Khashoggi
 * Ghaith Pharaon
 * Government-industry revolving door
 * Iran/Contra scandal
 * James Addison Baker III
 * nuclear weapons
 * Richard Helms
 * Castle Bank