- há 2 dias
Robert Mazur spent years working undercover as a money launderer for the international underworld. He learned that when you follow the drugs, you get drug dealers and drug users, but when you follow the money, the path can lead anywhere.
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00:00:00Transcrição e Legendas Pedro Negri
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00:01:32As far as the banks were concerned,
00:01:35all money, criminal or not,
00:01:37was acceptable in the business
00:01:38of making money with money.
00:02:00Miami seems to have become paradise lost.
00:02:03There were 36 murders around unincorporated Dade.
00:02:07In a bloody 24-hour stretch,
00:02:08both Dade County and the city of Miami
00:02:10set new homicide records.
00:02:12Drugs and money,
00:02:14they go hand-in-hand in South Florida.
00:02:16Cocaine and marijuana sales through Miami
00:02:19generate so much money that smugglers live.
00:02:25At the start of the 80s,
00:02:26cocaine, the drug of choice for the wolves of Wall Street,
00:02:30flooded into America.
00:02:33Miami, the coastal city in Florida,
00:02:35which had formerly been the stronghold
00:02:37of contraband liquor during Prohibition,
00:02:39became the main gateway for this massive illegal trade.
00:02:43The Colombian cartels had been the major winners
00:02:46in the gang wars and took control of this lucrative market,
00:02:49leaving a trail of corpses in its wake.
00:02:52But there was always the same problem,
00:02:55how to hide the money.
00:03:02In sunny Florida,
00:03:04drug traffickers and money launderers
00:03:06were as plentiful as palm trees.
00:03:08To combat the problem,
00:03:10the IRS Intelligence Division
00:03:12partnered with U.S. Customs
00:03:14and a task force called Operation Greenback
00:03:17that went after drug money launderers.
00:03:25The customs officer Robert Mazur
00:03:27went to Florida on a mission
00:03:29to infiltrate the Medellin cartel
00:03:31controlled by Pablo Escobar.
00:03:35Robert Mazur carefully crafted a new identity
00:03:38to enable him to reach
00:03:39the highest circles of organized crime.
00:03:44I started walking around cemeteries
00:03:46looking for a date of birth similar to mine.
00:03:50Then I got the birth certificate,
00:03:52which would be the basis of my new identity.
00:03:56I got a driving license,
00:03:58opened several bank accounts
00:04:00with checkbooks, savings,
00:04:02and credit card accounts.
00:04:05Once I'd created my profile,
00:04:07just needed to identify some targets.
00:04:19After months of investigation,
00:04:21Robert Mazur, now known as Bob Moussala,
00:04:24used an informer to make contact
00:04:26with a Colombian stockbroker
00:04:28who was close to the cartels.
00:04:30Gonzalo Mora.
00:04:36Robert Mazur went all out to woo him.
00:04:39Trips in sports cars,
00:04:40high-class restaurants,
00:04:41flights by private jet.
00:04:44Gonzalo Mora was convinced
00:04:46that he was being introduced
00:04:47into high society
00:04:48and began to open up to him.
00:04:52Mora didn't waste much time
00:04:54in talking to me about the BNPE,
00:04:56the Black Market Pesos Exchange.
00:04:59The money from the drugs trade
00:05:01was placed in dollars
00:05:02at a foreign exchange agency in Miami
00:05:04and converted into pesos
00:05:06via one of the many exchange agencies
00:05:08in Colombia.
00:05:10In a further charm offensive,
00:05:12Robert Mazur dangled
00:05:14his international finance contacts
00:05:16in front of Gonzalo.
00:05:18Now the customs officer
00:05:20just needed to find
00:05:22the ideal establishment.
00:05:25As I cruised down
00:05:26Palm Lined Ashley Drive
00:05:28in downtown Tampa
00:05:29in a money green Mercedes 500 SEL
00:05:32provided by customs,
00:05:33a building containing
00:05:35the upscale offices
00:05:36of the Bank of Credit
00:05:37and Commerce International
00:05:38caught my eye.
00:05:40BCCI and large gold letters
00:05:42glittered from the second story
00:05:44and screamed of overseas accounts.
00:05:46So I called an officer
00:05:48and scheduled an appointment.
00:05:51A few days later,
00:05:52in a private conference room
00:05:53of that building,
00:05:54the vice president
00:05:55of the Tampa branch
00:05:56was grilling me
00:05:57about my business history
00:05:58and background.
00:05:59I explained that my associates
00:06:01in Colombia
00:06:02required absolute discretion
00:06:03and intended to send me
00:06:05funds periodically
00:06:06to invest for them
00:06:06in Florida real estate.
00:06:08The VP agreed
00:06:10to open an account for me.
00:06:12And he met with the bankers
00:06:15in Miami and said,
00:06:16hi there,
00:06:17you know,
00:06:18I'm a drug dealer,
00:06:19I've got a zillion dollars
00:06:21to launder,
00:06:22how can you help me?
00:06:23And they said,
00:06:24you know,
00:06:24welcome to the party,
00:06:26that's what we do
00:06:26for a living.
00:06:28And all of this case
00:06:30was beginning to develop.
00:06:34Customs officer
00:06:34Robert Mazur
00:06:35started to do business
00:06:36with BCCI,
00:06:38the Bank of Credit
00:06:39and Commerce International.
00:06:41The Pakistani bank
00:06:43had a carefully crafted image
00:06:44with glossy brochures,
00:06:46luxury offices,
00:06:47and subsidiaries
00:06:48all over the world,
00:06:49creating a perfect facade.
00:06:52Robert Mazur
00:06:53didn't know at this stage
00:06:54that BCCI,
00:06:56newly arrived in the U.S.,
00:06:57was a case study
00:06:59in fraudulent banking activity.
00:07:02So as to attract
00:07:04potential Colombian clients,
00:07:05the undercover agent
00:07:06studied the ins and outs
00:07:08of the bank's operations.
00:07:18Today I am sitting
00:07:20before God
00:07:23and before you all
00:07:26like a child.
00:07:29The place of humility
00:07:30comes in what we call
00:07:33the technology
00:07:34of the invisible.
00:07:39The founder
00:07:40and guiding light
00:07:41of the BCCI
00:07:43was a Pakistani financier,
00:07:45Agha Hassan Abedi.
00:07:47When the bank
00:07:48was first founded,
00:07:49it presented itself
00:07:50as a bank for the poor
00:07:51and for Muslims
00:07:52in what was then called
00:07:54the Third World.
00:07:56It was difficult
00:07:58for people
00:07:59to do banking.
00:08:00The access
00:08:01to financial services
00:08:03was not always
00:08:04freely available
00:08:05to minorities,
00:08:07migrant communities,
00:08:08lower income,
00:08:10and a lot of countries
00:08:13that couldn't get financing
00:08:14for trade
00:08:14and other activities
00:08:15very easily
00:08:16or in relatively good terms.
00:08:19So BCCI
00:08:20was meant to be
00:08:22a global,
00:08:23a genuinely global bank
00:08:26that would serve
00:08:29the underserved.
00:08:31Now, the way
00:08:32that bank
00:08:33was put together
00:08:34was really
00:08:35quite astonishing.
00:08:36Well, they created
00:08:37two corporations.
00:08:39One was incorporated
00:08:40in Cayman
00:08:41and the other one
00:08:43was incorporated
00:08:44in Luxembourg.
00:08:49Abedi founded BCCI
00:08:51in Luxembourg
00:08:52in 1972.
00:08:53The relatively recent
00:08:54tax haven
00:08:55had just adopted
00:08:56banking secrecy
00:08:57in order to revive
00:08:58its economy,
00:08:59which was under threat
00:09:00due to the decline
00:09:01of its mining industry.
00:09:03BCCI also established
00:09:05itself in the Cayman Islands.
00:09:07The chain
00:09:07of Paradise Islands,
00:09:09formerly a safe haven
00:09:10for pirates
00:09:10who went there
00:09:11to stash their treasure,
00:09:12is now a tax haven,
00:09:14a member of the Commonwealth,
00:09:15regulated by
00:09:16British banking laws,
00:09:17the ultimate gauge
00:09:18of stability
00:09:19for investors.
00:09:23The Cayman Islands
00:09:24also serve
00:09:25as a key hub
00:09:26for the cocaine trade,
00:09:27linking Colombia
00:09:28and Florida.
00:09:30The local authorities
00:09:31don't regulate
00:09:32currency exchange
00:09:32at all.
00:09:33Money deposited
00:09:34in dollars
00:09:35can be converted
00:09:36into pesos
00:09:37or Swiss francs,
00:09:38depending on
00:09:39where the money
00:09:39needs to hide.
00:09:42In 1975,
00:09:44in a mirror image
00:09:45of the Luxembourg operation,
00:09:47BCCI registered
00:09:48a new headquarters
00:09:49in the Caribbean tax haven.
00:09:52And Luxembourg
00:09:54lend money
00:09:54to buy the shares
00:09:55in Cayman.
00:09:57And he had Cayman
00:09:59lend the money
00:10:00to buy the shares
00:10:01in Luxembourg.
00:10:03There are now assets
00:10:04in both banks,
00:10:05so they were off
00:10:06to the races.
00:10:11Registering in tax havens
00:10:13was the first step.
00:10:14Now they needed
00:10:16to create entities
00:10:16in the world's
00:10:17biggest cities.
00:10:19BCCI opened
00:10:20its first offices
00:10:21simultaneously
00:10:21in Abu Dhabi,
00:10:23the hub for petrodollars
00:10:25at that time
00:10:25of oil crisis,
00:10:26and in London.
00:10:29But in the city,
00:10:30the lack of transparency
00:10:31of the financial background
00:10:33at BCCI
00:10:34worried the regulators,
00:10:35who refused to give it
00:10:37a full banking
00:10:37operating license.
00:10:39Never mind.
00:10:40Aga Hassan Abedi
00:10:41opened luxury offices
00:10:42a stone's throw
00:10:43from the Bank of England.
00:10:45BCCI's seal gleamed
00:10:46in the hallowed halls
00:10:47of finance.
00:10:48They were one of the
00:10:50most aggressive banks
00:10:51in terms of lending
00:10:52to developing countries,
00:10:54in terms of expanding
00:10:55international banking,
00:10:57and in terms of developing
00:10:58international private banking
00:11:00for very, very wealthy
00:11:03individuals,
00:11:03including government officials.
00:11:05So the game was
00:11:07that they had all these
00:11:08petrodollars showing up
00:11:10in deposits.
00:11:11What are we going
00:11:11to do with them?
00:11:12Well, they just opened
00:11:13the doors to anything
00:11:15that walked in,
00:11:17in terms of trafficking,
00:11:19in terms of drug dealing.
00:11:20he didn't really care
00:11:21what the sources
00:11:22of income were.
00:11:23So this became
00:11:26a real monster.
00:11:30At the end of the 70s,
00:11:32BCCI had 146 offices
00:11:34in 32 countries.
00:11:36It was one of the first
00:11:37to establish a presence
00:11:38in communist China.
00:11:40The great and the good
00:11:41were fascinated
00:11:42by the bank
00:11:43for the underserved.
00:11:45The chosen trophy target
00:11:46was former U.S. President
00:11:48Jimmy Carter,
00:11:48known for his activism
00:11:50on behalf of the Third World.
00:11:52At the beginning
00:11:53of the 80s,
00:11:54Abedi and Carter
00:11:54traveled to Africa together
00:11:56to finance humanitarian projects.
00:11:59What was Abedi doing
00:12:01when he hauled Carter
00:12:03all over Africa?
00:12:04He was trying to get
00:12:06these various governments
00:12:08to allow him to have
00:12:10unlimited banking licenses.
00:12:11He was making contact
00:12:14with high officials
00:12:15so that if there were
00:12:16bribes to be paid
00:12:17or anything to be done
00:12:18in the country,
00:12:19it would be done
00:12:20through his bank.
00:12:22And he was also
00:12:24promoting this idea
00:12:25to create an aura
00:12:28of invulnerability
00:12:30that this was the banker
00:12:32to the third world.
00:12:34So they looked like
00:12:37a very big success story.
00:12:44At the beginning
00:12:45of the 80s,
00:12:46BCCI opened its first
00:12:48American agencies
00:12:49in Miami and Tampa.
00:12:51Florida could barely cope
00:12:53with the money laundering needs
00:12:54of the drugs trade.
00:12:56It was at that precise moment
00:12:58that the undercover agent
00:12:59Robert Mazur
00:13:00opened a first account
00:13:01at BCCI
00:13:02to draw in
00:13:03his Colombian clients.
00:13:05As predicted,
00:13:07his target,
00:13:07Gonzalo Mora,
00:13:08fell into the trap
00:13:09and gave up the jewel
00:13:10in his address book.
00:13:11A man with expensive tastes,
00:13:13a great fan of Chagall,
00:13:15who was respectfully called
00:13:16the jeweler,
00:13:19Roberto Alcaino,
00:13:21one of Pablo Escobar's
00:13:23main money launderers.
00:13:28Alcaino had evaded
00:13:29U.S. Customs,
00:13:30the DEA,
00:13:30in the FBI.
00:13:32He was one of the main actors
00:13:33in the international drugs trade
00:13:35and several investigations
00:13:36had unsuccessfully targeted him.
00:13:42A meeting was set up
00:13:43at the Bonaventure Hotel
00:13:45in Los Angeles.
00:13:48When I arrived,
00:13:51Alcaino wasted no time
00:13:52telling me who he was.
00:13:53He spoke English
00:13:55with a faint Chilean accent.
00:13:57His confidence filled the room
00:13:59and he led the conversation
00:14:01as though he were
00:14:02conducting an orchestra.
00:14:05So tell me,
00:14:06what do you do?
00:14:07He asked me sharply.
00:14:10I walked him through
00:14:11my investment company,
00:14:12my costume jewelry chain,
00:14:14my brokerage firm.
00:14:17I told him I could push their dough profits
00:14:19through my mortgage company
00:14:20so that they could be returned to them
00:14:22as what looked like loan proceeds.
00:14:25It would not only bulletproof
00:14:26their financial affairs
00:14:27from the IRS,
00:14:28it would create camouflage
00:14:30for their real business.
00:14:33A series of meals
00:14:35and private meetings
00:14:36helped to convince
00:14:37Roberto Alcaino.
00:14:39The undercover agent
00:14:40Robert Mazur
00:14:41then opened a series of accounts
00:14:43at BCCI
00:14:44for the Medellin cartel.
00:14:46This is how the billions of dollars
00:14:48from the cocaine trade
00:14:49became mixed up
00:14:51with investments in Africa
00:14:52and with petrodollars
00:14:53in the Middle East.
00:14:59The first part was complete
00:15:00and the undercover agent
00:15:02Robert Mazur
00:15:03had penetrated
00:15:03the drug money networks.
00:15:09On the other side
00:15:10of the Atlantic,
00:15:11a magistrate was trying
00:15:12to do the same thing.
00:15:14In reverse.
00:15:28At the beginning of the Aedes,
00:15:31Sicily was in the throes
00:15:32of the worst mafia war
00:15:33in its history.
00:15:36Dead bodies were strewn
00:15:38through the streets of Palermo.
00:15:39The word mafia was whispered,
00:15:41but any investigations
00:15:43came to a dead end.
00:15:46Omerta reigned over Sicily,
00:15:49an island paralyzed by fear.
00:15:58A Palermo magistrate
00:16:00was on the verge
00:16:00of changing
00:16:01the destiny of Italy.
00:16:04Giovanni Falcone
00:16:05had been working
00:16:06on a corruption trial
00:16:07for several years.
00:16:11The city of Palermo,
00:16:13in the grip
00:16:13of a handful of developers,
00:16:15was an ugly concrete jungle.
00:16:17Giovanni Falcone
00:16:18targeted a highly visible
00:16:20entrepreneur,
00:16:21Rosario Spatula.
00:16:23This builder
00:16:24had the good fortune
00:16:24to own almost half
00:16:25the property market
00:16:26in the city
00:16:27and to be the biggest
00:16:28tax contributor in Sicily.
00:16:33Rosario Spatula
00:16:34started off
00:16:35as a street vendor
00:16:36selling milk,
00:16:36so he was from
00:16:38quite a lowly background
00:16:39and he got into trouble
00:16:40with the law
00:16:41because he even
00:16:42watered the milk down.
00:16:43And then suddenly
00:16:44he was at the head
00:16:45of a construction company
00:16:47that was winning
00:16:47big contracts
00:16:48and earning enormous sums.
00:16:51And it raised questions
00:16:53about how he managed
00:16:54to climb so high,
00:16:56so quickly.
00:16:57And Falcone said
00:16:58that it was because
00:16:59there was a whole
00:16:59mafia network behind him,
00:17:01links to politicians
00:17:02which gave him access
00:17:03to public contracts
00:17:05and to the huge sums
00:17:06of public money
00:17:07that was being spent
00:17:08on the south of Italy.
00:17:11In the scope
00:17:12of his investigation
00:17:13into Rosario Spatula,
00:17:14Giovanni Falcone,
00:17:16who specialized
00:17:16in compulsory liquidations,
00:17:18went to the Sicilian banks
00:17:19and went through everything,
00:17:21checks, debts,
00:17:22and transfers
00:17:22with a fine-toothed comb.
00:17:28As he followed the money,
00:17:29Falcone came across
00:17:30a connection between
00:17:31the clans in Palermo,
00:17:33Spatula,
00:17:34and one of the Sicilian
00:17:35mafia families
00:17:36in New York,
00:17:37the bridgehead in the U.S.
00:17:39for the heroin trade.
00:17:43I said to myself,
00:17:44look,
00:17:45if they've sold drugs
00:17:46in North America,
00:17:47they must have left
00:17:49traces of their dealings
00:17:50with the Sicilian banks.
00:17:53And that's what set me off
00:17:55on my first bank investigations.
00:18:01He looked for checks
00:18:03that had been issued,
00:18:04money that had been deposited,
00:18:06money transfers.
00:18:07He followed the money
00:18:08so he could show
00:18:09there were irregular dealings
00:18:11and that this money
00:18:12was being moved around
00:18:13because it wasn't intrinsically
00:18:15linked solely
00:18:15to the construction sector,
00:18:17to a legal activity.
00:18:25With help from
00:18:26the anti-mafia squad,
00:18:28Giovanni Falcone
00:18:28got together enough evidence
00:18:30at the end of 1982
00:18:31to convict the developer
00:18:33Rosario Spatula
00:18:34and 70 members
00:18:35of his associates
00:18:36of money laundering
00:18:37for the mafia.
00:18:42Giovanni Falcone relied heavily
00:18:44on a new law
00:18:45that had recently entered
00:18:46the Italian statute books,
00:18:47the Piola Torre law,
00:18:49a law that was written
00:18:51in blood.
00:18:54In March 1980,
00:18:56when the mafia war
00:18:57was at its height,
00:18:58a communist MP,
00:18:59Piola Torre,
00:19:00submitted an anti-mafia law
00:19:02to the Italian parliament.
00:19:03on April 30, 1982,
00:19:06he was assassinated.
00:19:08The day after his death,
00:19:09General Dalla Chiesa,
00:19:11an anti-terror expert,
00:19:12was appointed
00:19:13prefect of Sicily.
00:19:14He was assassinated
00:19:16in turn on September 3rd.
00:19:18The country was gripped
00:19:19by fear
00:19:20and politicians reacted
00:19:21to the public outcry.
00:19:23The Piola Torre law
00:19:24was voted in
00:19:25on September 29, 1982.
00:19:27The word mafia
00:19:29entered into
00:19:29the Italian penal code
00:19:30and Article 416
00:19:32codified the offense
00:19:33of belonging
00:19:34to a mafia organization.
00:19:36Today,
00:19:37it still remains
00:19:37a unique legal mechanism
00:19:38in the world of law.
00:19:42From September 29, 1982,
00:19:45we had a basic legal mechanism
00:19:47at our disposal
00:19:48which we hadn't had before
00:19:50and which allowed
00:19:51for a heavy sentence
00:19:53specifically linked
00:19:54to association
00:19:55with mafia-style criminals,
00:19:58but which also allowed us
00:20:00to hit the mafia
00:20:01where it hurts,
00:20:02namely,
00:20:03in their wallets.
00:20:05There was a real change
00:20:06in strategy
00:20:07by the Italian state
00:20:08with regard
00:20:09to its fight
00:20:09against the mafia.
00:20:14The Piola Torre law
00:20:15hit the mafia
00:20:16in Sicily financially,
00:20:17but the international
00:20:18financial networks
00:20:20of Cosa Nostra
00:20:20were unaffected.
00:20:24Giovanni Falcone
00:20:25turned to the
00:20:26American authorities
00:20:27and persuaded the FBI
00:20:29that transnational
00:20:30legal cooperation
00:20:31was the only way
00:20:32to hurt the mafia.
00:20:37We went to the United States
00:20:39on numerous occasions.
00:20:41Falcone felt at home
00:20:42in America.
00:20:44Falcone was a sort of
00:20:45superhighway linking
00:20:46the Italian
00:20:47and American justice systems
00:20:49against the mafia.
00:20:52Falcone gave a good impression
00:20:53of Italy.
00:20:54We had exported the mafia
00:20:56to America
00:20:56for over a century,
00:20:57but now Falcone
00:20:59was exporting
00:20:59anti-mafia methods.
00:21:02and the Americans
00:21:03and the Americans
00:21:05showed that they
00:21:06really appreciated
00:21:07this new collaboration
00:21:09and they were really
00:21:10willing to help us
00:21:12because they realized
00:21:13that it was in their
00:21:14best interests
00:21:15of their own fight.
00:21:23In New York,
00:21:24the Sicilian magistrate
00:21:26uncovered the famous
00:21:27Pizza Connection Network,
00:21:28named after the pizzerias
00:21:30where heroin was dealt.
00:21:33As the months went by,
00:21:35the anti-mafia squad
00:21:36and the FBI
00:21:37discovered that
00:21:38the Sicilian-American mafia
00:21:39moved their money
00:21:40in three ways.
00:21:42Simple bank transfers,
00:21:43via accounts managed
00:21:45by brokerage companies
00:21:47who sent the money
00:21:48towards shell companies
00:21:49abroad,
00:21:51and of course,
00:21:52in cash.
00:21:55Suitcases full of it
00:21:57were regularly transported
00:21:58on Swiss Air flights
00:21:59with the helpful assistance
00:22:01of some of the company's
00:22:02transit agents.
00:22:10Drug trade equals
00:22:12money laundering.
00:22:14It's unthinkable
00:22:15that the profits
00:22:16from the sale of narcotics
00:22:17reach their beneficiaries
00:22:18through legal channels.
00:22:21These tasks are entrusted
00:22:23to international finance experts
00:22:24who put themselves
00:22:26at the service
00:22:27of organized crime
00:22:28in order to transfer
00:22:29their illegal profits
00:22:30to welcoming countries
00:22:32such as tax havens.
00:22:33It's always difficult
00:22:35to track down
00:22:35these operations.
00:22:38Money laundering
00:22:39consists of cleansing
00:22:40the capital
00:22:41of its illegal source,
00:22:42and that requires
00:22:43broad cooperation
00:22:45between countries.
00:22:51That's when I started
00:22:53working on the mafia's money
00:22:54with Giovanni Falcone.
00:22:59At this stage,
00:23:01Carla Del Ponte
00:23:02wasn't yet a magistrate
00:23:03of the future
00:23:04international criminal court
00:23:05called on to judge crimes
00:23:07against humanity.
00:23:08She was a young prosecutor
00:23:09living in Tessin,
00:23:11the Italian-speaking part
00:23:12of Switzerland,
00:23:13helping Giovanni Falcone
00:23:14to open doors
00:23:15to the Swiss banks,
00:23:17protected by banking
00:23:18secrecy laws.
00:23:21Switzerland was a bit like
00:23:22the mafia's personal safe.
00:23:25They arrived in Switzerland
00:23:26sometimes with suitcases
00:23:28and they made their deposits.
00:23:30No one asked them
00:23:31where the money came from,
00:23:33if it was dirty money
00:23:34or not.
00:23:36Not at all.
00:23:37It was just money,
00:23:38and money has no smell.
00:23:50I asked the Swiss authorities
00:23:52if I could consult
00:23:52their documentation.
00:23:54Authorization was granted,
00:23:56but the three target accounts
00:23:58were immediately emptied.
00:23:59I continued my investigation
00:24:01and discovered
00:24:02that the money
00:24:03had been transferred
00:24:03to the account
00:24:04of a Panamanian company,
00:24:05which had divided the money
00:24:07between a bank in New York
00:24:08and one in Montreal.
00:24:11Then the dollars appeared
00:24:12in the account of a company
00:24:13based in Guernsey
00:24:14in Great Britain.
00:24:16And from there,
00:24:17they went back to Switzerland
00:24:18to a bank just next door
00:24:20to the first one.
00:24:22A new request for cooperation
00:24:24was sent to the Swiss authorities,
00:24:26which was once again authorized.
00:24:28Their incredible journey
00:24:29was finally ended
00:24:30by a Swiss prosecutor
00:24:31who decided to impound the funds.
00:24:35I decided to block the money.
00:24:37He gave me the trail
00:24:39which helped me find the money.
00:24:42We managed to get
00:24:43the bank's cooperation
00:24:44because they didn't like
00:24:46negative publicity
00:24:48and it was bound to get out
00:24:50at some point.
00:24:53So they said,
00:24:55we'll have to work
00:24:56with the legal authorities
00:24:57so that they didn't get caught
00:24:59with the money.
00:25:01In fact,
00:25:01they didn't want this money
00:25:03even though they had enjoyed
00:25:04the benefits of it
00:25:05for many years.
00:25:11Without the help
00:25:12of the magistrates
00:25:13and the Swiss authorities,
00:25:15I couldn't have carried out
00:25:16my instructions.
00:25:17Contrary to what you might think,
00:25:19Switzerland is one of the easiest
00:25:20countries to work with
00:25:22because it realized
00:25:23that mafia money
00:25:25meant that sooner or later,
00:25:26it would end up
00:25:27with mafia types
00:25:28and mafia methods
00:25:29in their own country.
00:25:34In Palermo,
00:25:36in his bunker
00:25:37under the courthouse,
00:25:38Giovanni Falcone
00:25:39was gathering together
00:25:40the pieces
00:25:41of an enormous jigsaw
00:25:42one by one.
00:25:45I remember Giovanni Falcone's office
00:25:48being literally covered
00:25:50in checks
00:25:51and copies of checks
00:25:52that he'd assembled.
00:25:54He was great at that.
00:25:56It wasn't the only thing
00:25:58he was good at,
00:25:59but that especially,
00:26:00great at piecing together
00:26:02relationships and contacts
00:26:04which flowed
00:26:05from the movement
00:26:05of these bank checks.
00:26:07And it was one
00:26:08of the turning points
00:26:09linked to what is now
00:26:10commonly called
00:26:11the Falcone method.
00:26:13to the middle of Falcone.
00:26:17The Falcone method,
00:26:19Segui Isoldi,
00:26:20or follow the money,
00:26:21is the key
00:26:22to the whole process.
00:26:24But Giovanni Falcone
00:26:25had an even more
00:26:26important insight.
00:26:27To his mind,
00:26:29it wasn't that
00:26:29there was a drugs mafia,
00:26:31a waste management mafia,
00:26:33extortion and prostitution.
00:26:35It was that the mafia
00:26:36operated as one single entity
00:26:38on an international level.
00:26:41One event
00:26:42was to prove him right.
00:26:45In 1983,
00:26:46Tomas de Boucheta,
00:26:48one of Cosa Nostra's
00:26:48men of honor
00:26:49and a major player
00:26:50in the drugs trade
00:26:51between Europe and America,
00:26:53was arrested in Brazil.
00:26:57I met Boucheta
00:26:58for the first time in Brazil.
00:27:00He'd just been arrested.
00:27:02The boss of two worlds
00:27:03gave evasive answers
00:27:04to the questions
00:27:05my Brazilian colleague
00:27:07asked him.
00:27:08Then he said to me,
00:27:10Your Honor,
00:27:11I would need more
00:27:12than one night
00:27:13to answer your questions.
00:27:17Then Boucheta
00:27:18said to me,
00:27:19quite frankly,
00:27:20I don't think
00:27:20that the Italian state
00:27:22really intends
00:27:22to fight the mafia.
00:27:24and I'm warning you,
00:27:26Your Honor,
00:27:27that you'll doubtless
00:27:28become famous
00:27:29after interrogating me.
00:27:31But they'll try
00:27:32to destroy you physically
00:27:33and they'll do
00:27:35the same to me.
00:27:37Don't forget
00:27:38that the account
00:27:38you're opening
00:27:39with Cosa Nostra,
00:27:40you can't ever
00:27:41close it again.
00:27:42Do you still
00:27:43want to question me?
00:27:47In July 1984,
00:27:49Tomaso Boucheta
00:27:50arrived at Palermo
00:27:51Airport in handcuffs.
00:27:53He would be questioned
00:27:54by Falcone
00:27:55for 45 days straight
00:27:56and would give him
00:27:57the missing pieces
00:27:58of the jigsaw.
00:28:03Boucheta provided us
00:28:04with a comprehensive account
00:28:06of the mafia's
00:28:07organizational structure.
00:28:10He explained
00:28:10the territorial divisions
00:28:11within the family.
00:28:12the hierarchical setup
00:28:15and the committee
00:28:16overseeing
00:28:17Cosa Nostra's
00:28:18illicit operations.
00:28:21His revelations
00:28:22essentially tore down
00:28:24the notorious wall
00:28:26of Omerta,
00:28:27shedding light
00:28:28on the true nature
00:28:30of the organization.
00:28:36Tomaso Boucheta
00:28:37was soon joined
00:28:38by other
00:28:39repentant criminals.
00:28:41Their revelations
00:28:42were really helpful.
00:28:43The money the mafia
00:28:44had accumulated
00:28:45was more than anyone
00:28:46could imagine.
00:28:48Cosa Nostra
00:28:49had never been
00:28:50so wealthy.
00:28:58In the United States,
00:29:00the customs official
00:29:01Robert Mazur
00:29:02noticed that the
00:29:03Colombian cartels
00:29:04had also increased
00:29:05their operations
00:29:06to an industrial scale.
00:29:09In one of our meetings,
00:29:10Roberto Alcaino
00:29:11talked about
00:29:12their New York operations
00:29:13launched into the numbers.
00:29:15Some of the big boys
00:29:16are coming here
00:29:17with 3,000 units,
00:29:18kilos of coke
00:29:19every 10 days,
00:29:20so let's say
00:29:219,000 units per month,
00:29:23around 50 tons a year.
00:29:25You're talking
00:29:25over $600,
00:29:26$700 million a year.
00:29:28So when you're talking
00:29:29about a profit
00:29:29of 40%
00:29:30from $600 million,
00:29:32you're talking
00:29:32about $240 million
00:29:34a year profit.
00:29:35$240 million
00:29:37in 1980
00:29:38is roughly
00:29:38$900 million
00:29:39in today's money
00:29:41just for the
00:29:42New York area.
00:29:44The income
00:29:45from the drugs trade
00:29:46was so high
00:29:47that there was
00:29:48always a need
00:29:48to find new ways
00:29:50of disposing
00:29:50of the money.
00:29:52Robert Mazur
00:29:53reported back
00:29:54to Alcaino
00:29:54what he had discussed
00:29:56with the director
00:29:56of the BCCI
00:29:57in Tampa, Florida.
00:30:01The director said to me,
00:30:03in the past,
00:30:04we've often helped
00:30:04clients transfer
00:30:05their funds
00:30:06to our subsidiary
00:30:07in Grand Cayman,
00:30:08but I don't recommend
00:30:08that anymore
00:30:09because there's been
00:30:10a treaty
00:30:11with the American
00:30:11tax authorities
00:30:12which allows Washington
00:30:14to obtain
00:30:15our bank statements.
00:30:18Now,
00:30:19we recommend
00:30:19that our clients
00:30:20place their money
00:30:21where the United States
00:30:21can't track it
00:30:23in our new subsidiary
00:30:25in Panama.
00:30:34Roberto Alcaino
00:30:35understood
00:30:36that having
00:30:36an American
00:30:37nominee in Panama
00:30:38to move
00:30:39the drug money
00:30:39around
00:30:40was a big advantage
00:30:41and a guarantee
00:30:42of invisibility.
00:30:45What's more,
00:30:46Panama was a country
00:30:47where the Colombian
00:30:48cartels already had
00:30:49a powerful
00:30:50logistical platform
00:30:51for moving cocaine
00:30:52to the United States.
00:30:54Geography
00:30:55and history
00:30:56would appear
00:30:57to prove
00:30:57Roberto Alcaino
00:30:58correct.
00:31:00Panama shares
00:31:01a border
00:31:01with Colombia
00:31:02and its canal
00:31:03links the Pacific
00:31:04and the Atlantic.
00:31:05It's also
00:31:06a key commercial
00:31:07gateway
00:31:07and a strategic
00:31:09pivot
00:31:09in power relations
00:31:10between the United
00:31:11States
00:31:11and Latin America.
00:31:18Panama
00:31:18was a creation
00:31:20of Wall Street
00:31:21and American
00:31:23business.
00:31:24End of story.
00:31:26Panama
00:31:26was part
00:31:27of Colombia.
00:31:30Panama's independence
00:31:31was declared
00:31:32in New York
00:31:33two days
00:31:33before it happened.
00:31:36Since independence
00:31:37in 1903,
00:31:38all foreign depositors
00:31:40were exempt
00:31:40from tax
00:31:41under Panama's
00:31:42banking laws,
00:31:43which had been
00:31:43dreamt up
00:31:44by attorneys
00:31:44on Wall Street.
00:31:46In Panama City,
00:31:47there was no control
00:31:48over financial transactions.
00:31:50The cornerstone
00:31:52of this system
00:31:53was Panama's
00:31:53strongman leader,
00:31:55former head
00:31:56of the Secret Service,
00:31:57General Manuel Noriega.
00:32:00Noriega had a finger
00:32:01in every pie.
00:32:02He was an ally
00:32:03of Washington
00:32:04in the fight
00:32:04against communist
00:32:05subversion
00:32:06in Latin America,
00:32:07a man who secretly
00:32:08worked for the CIA.
00:32:10He was also a man
00:32:12who had worked
00:32:12for several years
00:32:13hand-in-hand
00:32:14with the Medellin cartel.
00:32:16When the Reagan
00:32:17administration
00:32:17launched its
00:32:18great crusade,
00:32:19its war on drugs
00:32:21in the mid-'80s,
00:32:22Noriega was
00:32:23on the horns
00:32:23of a dilemma.
00:32:24He passed information
00:32:25to the DEA,
00:32:26the American Drug Agency,
00:32:28but in his own
00:32:29unique way.
00:32:34On the one hand,
00:32:35he's telling the U.S.,
00:32:38look at me,
00:32:38I'm going to help you
00:32:39with the drug traffickers.
00:32:41On the flip side,
00:32:43he's in effect
00:32:44helping the drug traffickers,
00:32:46and so it went.
00:32:50Noriega only informed
00:32:51the DEA about the enemies
00:32:53of the Medellin cartel.
00:32:55He encouraged Pablo Escobar
00:32:57to set up shell companies
00:32:58in the Bahamas
00:32:59and the Cayman Islands
00:33:00and to take out
00:33:01major shareholdings
00:33:02in two Panamanian banks.
00:33:04In Panama,
00:33:06Noriega's wealth
00:33:07and that of the Medellin cartel
00:33:09didn't go unnoticed
00:33:10by the BCCI.
00:33:14BCCI were among many banks
00:33:17that were pursuing
00:33:18Marlon Noriega
00:33:19as a client.
00:33:20He was someone
00:33:21who was working
00:33:22with the United States.
00:33:24Panama was an ally
00:33:26of the United States.
00:33:27Having a head of state's account
00:33:30is in fact
00:33:31a positive achievement
00:33:32from the point of view
00:33:34of the bank.
00:33:34There came a moment
00:33:35when Panama got into trouble
00:33:38because they were repatriating
00:33:40too much money
00:33:41to the U.S.
00:33:43So we were told
00:33:45that there was
00:33:46a meeting
00:33:46of the Panamanian bankers
00:33:49who wanted to figure out
00:33:51what to do
00:33:52about all of this cash
00:33:53that was flooding
00:33:54into the country
00:33:55so they could still
00:33:56do business
00:33:57with the Federal Reserve.
00:33:59And what they concluded
00:34:00was they had to sell
00:34:02the currency
00:34:02to the Swiss.
00:34:03And once a week
00:34:05there was a cargo flight
00:34:07from Panama City
00:34:08to Zurich
00:34:10loaded with American dollars
00:34:12coming from
00:34:13the drug traffickers
00:34:14in Panama.
00:34:18But Noriega
00:34:20was too important
00:34:21to the Americans
00:34:22and was untouchable.
00:34:23In the last years
00:34:24of the Cold War
00:34:25neighboring Nicaragua
00:34:27joined Cuba
00:34:28in the socialist camp.
00:34:30Ronald Reagan's America
00:34:31wanted to liquidate
00:34:33this regime
00:34:33at all costs
00:34:34so the CIA
00:34:36secretly financed
00:34:37the counter-revolutionary
00:34:38guerrillas
00:34:39the Contras.
00:34:40Noriega put his networks
00:34:42at the disposal
00:34:43of American intelligence.
00:34:46He cuts a deal
00:34:48with American
00:34:49intelligence people
00:34:51to be the supplier
00:34:53to the Contras.
00:34:56He's going to send
00:34:57them arms and ammunition
00:34:58even though
00:34:59it's prohibited
00:35:00under U.S. law
00:35:01he's going to
00:35:02take care of them.
00:35:04The bad news is
00:35:05he was also
00:35:07selling arms
00:35:08to the government
00:35:10so he's supplying
00:35:12both sides
00:35:13of the Civil War.
00:35:16Noriega was
00:35:17systematically engaging
00:35:18in a double game
00:35:19convinced that the Americans
00:35:21wouldn't take action
00:35:22against him
00:35:22and with good reason
00:35:24because the drug
00:35:25transportation networks
00:35:26were the same networks
00:35:28through which the CIA
00:35:29was arming the Contras
00:35:31in Nicaragua.
00:35:32God knows how much
00:35:34in the way of
00:35:36cash in, coke out,
00:35:38arms in, arms out.
00:35:41It was a center
00:35:43for every form
00:35:44of illegal business
00:35:45you can imagine.
00:35:50That is where also
00:35:51BCCI shows up
00:35:53as one of the banks
00:35:54that were used
00:35:55to finance this
00:35:56and the money
00:35:57would be laundered
00:36:00through the system
00:36:02of jurisdictions
00:36:03that would not
00:36:04open their books
00:36:05very easily
00:36:06or at all
00:36:07in order for the money
00:36:09to end up
00:36:10supporting the Contras.
00:36:16By helping to support
00:36:17the Nicaraguan Contras,
00:36:19the BCCI believed
00:36:20it had acquired
00:36:21respectability
00:36:22in the eyes
00:36:22of the Americans.
00:36:24And in further good news,
00:36:26the BCCI obtained
00:36:27a full banking
00:36:28operating license
00:36:29in the United Kingdom.
00:36:32Aga Hassan Abedi
00:36:34was riding the crest
00:36:35of a wave
00:36:35and enjoyed
00:36:36international recognition.
00:36:41In Italy,
00:36:43the invisible world
00:36:44was about to be
00:36:44dragged from the shadows
00:36:45and into the spotlight.
00:36:51In February 1986,
00:36:54the maxi trial
00:36:55of Cosa Nostra
00:36:56began in Palermo.
00:36:57After three years
00:36:59of investigation
00:36:59involving coordination
00:37:00with Switzerland
00:37:01and the United States,
00:37:03the anti-mafia squad
00:37:04had drawn up
00:37:05an indictment
00:37:058,000 pages long.
00:37:08The courtroom
00:37:08was an anti-missile bunker
00:37:10constructed within the prison.
00:37:12475 mafiosi
00:37:14were behind bars.
00:37:18Tommaso Bucetta,
00:37:20whose family
00:37:20had been decimated
00:37:21by the Corleone clan,
00:37:23was in the witness box
00:37:24for several days
00:37:25without a break.
00:37:26The mafioso
00:37:27also appeared
00:37:28in the other
00:37:28big Cosa Nostra trial,
00:37:30the Pizza Connection trial
00:37:31in New York.
00:37:33After 17 months
00:37:34of hearings,
00:37:35it was established
00:37:36that the mafia
00:37:37had imported heroin
00:37:38to the value
00:37:38of $1.6 billion
00:37:40into the United States.
00:37:43After these lengthy trials,
00:37:44Switzerland also followed suit.
00:37:49We had the Pizza Connection trial
00:37:51in Lugano,
00:37:52which was in fact
00:37:53one of the most difficult trials
00:37:55because we didn't have enough
00:37:57of a legal basis
00:37:58for linking the money
00:37:59to drugs.
00:38:01By that,
00:38:02I mean the responsibility
00:38:03of the fiduciaries
00:38:05or those that take care
00:38:06of all that money.
00:38:09We still managed,
00:38:11in part,
00:38:12to get convictions.
00:38:15But it was one
00:38:17of the hardest trials
00:38:18I've ever known
00:38:19to try to establish
00:38:21the legal arguments
00:38:22for money laundering.
00:38:26This unusual alliance
00:38:28between European
00:38:29and American judges
00:38:30resulted in an historic vote
00:38:32in 1986
00:38:33when Congress passed a law
00:38:35declaring drug money laundering
00:38:37a federal crime.
00:38:42We were able
00:38:43to confiscate the money,
00:38:45but above all,
00:38:46it enabled us
00:38:47to convict the suspects
00:38:48who managed this money,
00:38:51who were responsible for it.
00:38:55This was an extremely
00:38:56important aspect.
00:38:59This financial trail
00:39:00ended up with
00:39:01the criminalization
00:39:02of money laundering,
00:39:04the 86 law
00:39:05in the United States,
00:39:06and then the adoption
00:39:07of a similar policy
00:39:08from 88 onwards
00:39:10by the majority
00:39:11of OECD countries.
00:39:14We realized
00:39:15that tracking this money,
00:39:16this dirty money,
00:39:17was in effect
00:39:18a way of hitting
00:39:19the criminal organizations
00:39:21financially.
00:39:23but that also implied
00:39:24ending banking secrecy
00:39:26and convincing
00:39:27the tax havens
00:39:29that while their activities
00:39:31were legal
00:39:32in terms of
00:39:32their own sovereignty,
00:39:35they were also
00:39:36a channel
00:39:37for dirty money
00:39:38or activities
00:39:39at the very outer limit
00:39:41between legal
00:39:42and illegal activity.
00:39:45Where does tax optimization
00:39:47end and tax evasion
00:39:49begin?
00:39:50Just as we were
00:39:51putting anti-money laundering
00:39:53policies in place,
00:39:54there was a big increase
00:39:56in techniques
00:39:57that enabled
00:39:58this money laundering.
00:39:59permettre
00:40:00this blanchiment.
00:40:04There was an explanation
00:40:05for the big increase
00:40:06in money laundering,
00:40:08financial deregulation.
00:40:10On October 27, 1986,
00:40:13the London Stock Exchange
00:40:15launched the financial
00:40:16Big Bang.
00:40:19The market was totally
00:40:20computerized.
00:40:21The movement of capital
00:40:23was more liberalized
00:40:24than ever before.
00:40:25Foreign financial
00:40:26establishments
00:40:27were now authorized
00:40:28to trade in securities
00:40:29in the city.
00:40:32The world was changing
00:40:34from industrial capitalism
00:40:35to financial capitalism,
00:40:37in which banks
00:40:38and markets
00:40:38would move
00:40:39huge sums of money
00:40:40disproportionate
00:40:41to the real economy.
00:40:47This shift
00:40:48towards deregulation
00:40:49was the biggest
00:40:50ever seen
00:40:51in modern history
00:40:52and was the legacy
00:40:53Margaret Thatcher
00:40:54left to the world.
00:40:56The major financial
00:40:57centers of the world,
00:40:58London, Tokyo,
00:40:59New York,
00:41:00and Hong Kong,
00:41:01were permanently connected
00:41:02and the Stock Exchange
00:41:03would never sleep again.
00:41:09Ronald Reagan
00:41:10was not to be outdone.
00:41:12He accelerated deregulation
00:41:14by giving foreign
00:41:15investors access
00:41:16to U.S. treasury bonds.
00:41:19These bonds
00:41:20became the secure asset
00:41:21of the entire world.
00:41:23As they could be traded
00:41:25without risk at any time,
00:41:26these treasury bonds
00:41:28acted as an international
00:41:29currency for anyone
00:41:30who held them.
00:41:32The Thatcher-Reagan
00:41:33financial revolution
00:41:34benefited one major
00:41:36criminal organization
00:41:37at the heart
00:41:38of the banking system
00:41:39of the only country
00:41:40in the world
00:41:40where money seemed
00:41:41to print itself.
00:41:42the economic miracle
00:41:44that was
00:41:47Japan.
00:41:57In the mid-80s,
00:41:59Japan's success
00:42:00was admired
00:42:00and feared
00:42:01in equal measure.
00:42:03Japan was a country
00:42:04of savers
00:42:05and was the world's
00:42:06premier creditor country.
00:42:07Seven of the world's
00:42:09largest banks
00:42:09were Japanese
00:42:10and the largest
00:42:11of those,
00:42:12Nomura,
00:42:12was bigger than
00:42:13the top five
00:42:14American banks.
00:42:16Japan cornered
00:42:17the market
00:42:17in technological innovation,
00:42:19economic performance,
00:42:21banking power,
00:42:21and social cohesion.
00:42:23But, as with everything,
00:42:25there was a downside
00:42:26to this,
00:42:26which was excessiveness.
00:42:41On May 5, 1986,
00:42:44the Anagawa Kai,
00:42:45one of the main branches
00:42:46of Yakuza,
00:42:47the Japanese mafia,
00:42:48appointed as its chief
00:42:50and elderly man
00:42:51who had just been released
00:42:51from prison,
00:42:53Hishi Susumu.
00:42:54The ceremony
00:42:55was attended
00:42:56by politicians,
00:42:57TV stars,
00:42:58bankers,
00:42:59the bosses
00:42:59of big businesses,
00:43:01as well as
00:43:01by the main Yakuza families.
00:43:03At the height
00:43:04of the period
00:43:04of financial deregulation,
00:43:06a wave of property
00:43:07speculation swept over Japan
00:43:09and the Yakuza
00:43:10fully intended
00:43:11to benefit
00:43:11from the resulting
00:43:12property bubble.
00:43:14Hishi Susumu
00:43:15is credited
00:43:17as being the father
00:43:17of the modern-day Yakuza
00:43:20or of the Keizai Yakuza.
00:43:22Keizai Yakuza
00:43:23means economic,
00:43:24the economic Yakuza.
00:43:25He's the one who said,
00:43:26from now on,
00:43:27every Yakuza needs
00:43:28to get up in the morning
00:43:29and read the financial
00:43:30newspapers.
00:43:31The stuff about
00:43:32the Yakuza being
00:43:32samurai or ninja
00:43:34or firefighters,
00:43:36I think,
00:43:36is mostly bullshit.
00:43:37They've always been
00:43:38businesses,
00:43:39and they've always been
00:43:40businesses about
00:43:41helping themselves.
00:43:44In the midst
00:43:45of the speculative bubble
00:43:46that had Japan
00:43:47in its grip,
00:43:48the Yakuza chief,
00:43:49Hishi Susumu,
00:43:50invested heavily
00:43:51in property,
00:43:52in big companies
00:43:52listed on the stock exchange
00:43:54like Nippon Steel,
00:43:55and in a whole host
00:43:56of companies
00:43:57in Japan and abroad.
00:44:01Hishi Susumu
00:44:02was a gambler.
00:44:03I mean,
00:44:03he spent his whole life
00:44:04as a gambler.
00:44:05He once said,
00:44:06the Japanese stock market
00:44:07is like a casino,
00:44:09and if we wanted to,
00:44:11we could be the house,
00:44:12and the house always wins.
00:44:15The term Yakuza
00:44:17means a losing hand
00:44:18in a game of chance.
00:44:22The Yakuza originated
00:44:23from long lines
00:44:25of thieves
00:44:25and foreign minorities
00:44:26that were marginalized
00:44:28as street vendors
00:44:29and members
00:44:29of gambling dens.
00:44:32The Yakuza
00:44:32had always been
00:44:33close to power
00:44:34and had established
00:44:35themselves
00:44:36since the end
00:44:36of the war
00:44:37as a pro-fascist
00:44:38nationalist militia
00:44:40at the emperor's
00:44:41right hand.
00:44:41The Yakuza
00:44:42provide money
00:44:43and support
00:44:43to create Japan's
00:44:44leading political party.
00:44:46And the Yakuza,
00:44:47of course,
00:44:47help out the
00:44:47Liberal Democratic Party
00:44:48because the
00:44:49Liberal Democratic Party
00:44:50had a tacit agreement
00:44:51that we'll leave you alone.
00:44:52We won't have
00:44:53a crackdown on you.
00:44:54We won't have
00:44:54organized crime laws.
00:44:57The Yakuza
00:44:58have their place
00:44:58in society.
00:45:00They had their names
00:45:01on office doors.
00:45:03They published
00:45:04their own magazines.
00:45:05They were sort of
00:45:07an above-ground
00:45:08underground.
00:45:10Their revenue streams
00:45:11are construction,
00:45:14extortion,
00:45:15blackmail,
00:45:17bid rigging,
00:45:19real estate,
00:45:21evicting people
00:45:21from the property,
00:45:23fraud,
00:45:24and drugs.
00:45:27Hishi Susumu
00:45:28was the head
00:45:29of the Inakawa Kai,
00:45:30which had more
00:45:31than 10,000 members,
00:45:32and he used this
00:45:33to pressurize
00:45:34Nomura Bank
00:45:35to vouch for him
00:45:35in the world
00:45:36of business.
00:45:38In less than
00:45:39five years,
00:45:40the Yakuza boss
00:45:41had amassed
00:45:41an estimated fortune
00:45:42of $4 billion.
00:45:44He considered himself
00:45:45one of the leading lights
00:45:46of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
00:45:48He was now
00:45:49the Zytec Yakuza,
00:45:50the mafia financial wizard.
00:45:54Yakuza pay taxes.
00:45:57And, you know,
00:45:58the fact that that revenue
00:45:59may be legal
00:46:01or illegal,
00:46:03the tax agency
00:46:04is like,
00:46:04well,
00:46:05we got our taxes.
00:46:06They haven't violated
00:46:07the tax laws.
00:46:08I mean,
00:46:08that's crazy,
00:46:09but that's how
00:46:10it is in Japan.
00:46:11You don't need
00:46:12to launder your money.
00:46:14You just need
00:46:15to put it
00:46:15in the company
00:46:16bank account.
00:46:17Or if your company
00:46:18bank account
00:46:18is, you know,
00:46:19so suspect,
00:46:21you just funnel
00:46:22it to another.
00:46:23Like,
00:46:23Citibank got their asses
00:46:25kicked by the
00:46:25financial services agency
00:46:27several times
00:46:28because they just
00:46:29didn't care.
00:46:30For many years,
00:46:32Japanese banks
00:46:32knew that their
00:46:33customers were Yakuza.
00:46:35I mean,
00:46:35were Yakuza bosses
00:46:36and they don't care.
00:46:40They were speculating
00:46:42at the highest levels
00:46:43of Japanese investment.
00:46:46They were part
00:46:47of the high-tech
00:46:49companies emerging
00:46:50in Japan.
00:46:51They became
00:46:52a source of capital
00:46:53for other
00:46:55Japanese companies
00:46:56and this is
00:46:57from an industry
00:46:58of loan sharks.
00:46:59You have to understand
00:47:00what's happening here.
00:47:03The chamber
00:47:04of commerce
00:47:05of Japan
00:47:06was becoming
00:47:08increasingly criminalized.
00:47:10As the National Police
00:47:11Agency said,
00:47:12the Yakuza
00:47:12have infiltrated
00:47:13the stock markets
00:47:14and financial markets
00:47:15of Japan
00:47:16so much
00:47:17that it threatens
00:47:18the very basic
00:47:20economic foundations
00:47:21of our country.
00:47:22You know,
00:47:23organized crime
00:47:23is parasitical.
00:47:24It is not
00:47:26a force
00:47:26of production.
00:47:27It is taking
00:47:29away from production.
00:47:31It acts
00:47:31as an invisible tax.
00:47:35Susumu
00:47:36invested in
00:47:37Macau,
00:47:37Hong Kong
00:47:38and South Korea.
00:47:39The Mafia
00:47:40boss organized
00:47:41business trips
00:47:42in Latin America,
00:47:43stopped off
00:47:44at the carnival
00:47:44in Rio
00:47:45and was granted
00:47:46an audience
00:47:47with Manuel Noriega
00:47:48in Panama.
00:47:50He had
00:47:51wonderful political
00:47:52relations.
00:47:53The Inagalakai
00:47:54did businesses
00:47:55with the Bush family.
00:47:59At the end
00:48:00of the 80s,
00:48:01Susumu alone
00:48:02accounted for
00:48:02a quarter
00:48:03of the entire wealth
00:48:04accumulated
00:48:05by the Yakuza
00:48:05syndicates.
00:48:09But during
00:48:10her trip to Mexico
00:48:11in 1991,
00:48:12two dark clouds
00:48:13appeared.
00:48:14He was diagnosed
00:48:15with a brain tumor
00:48:16and when he returned
00:48:18to Japan
00:48:18confined to a wheelchair,
00:48:20the property
00:48:21bubble burst.
00:48:31At the same time,
00:48:32one event
00:48:33would be responsible
00:48:34for the loss
00:48:35of BCCI
00:48:36and its figurehead,
00:48:37Aga Hassan Abedi.
00:48:39At the end
00:48:40of the 80s,
00:48:41the biggest
00:48:41political scandal
00:48:42of the Reagan years
00:48:43erupted.
00:48:44Irangate.
00:48:45A senior officer
00:48:46of the Iranian
00:48:47Revolutionary Guard
00:48:48revealed to a Libyan
00:48:50newspaper how arms
00:48:51were being sold
00:48:52by Washington
00:48:53to Iran
00:48:53to finance
00:48:54the Contras
00:48:55in Nicaragua.
00:48:57Congress immediately
00:48:58opened an investigation.
00:49:00The attorney,
00:49:01Jack Bloom,
00:49:02was in charge
00:49:02of this investigation
00:49:03and he discovered
00:49:04in the piles
00:49:05of seized documents
00:49:06and confidential reports
00:49:07evidence linking
00:49:09Manuel Noriega
00:49:10and the BCCI.
00:49:11There was,
00:49:12in the end,
00:49:14a seizure
00:49:15of an incredible
00:49:16treasure trove
00:49:17of documents
00:49:18relating to
00:49:19the bank's activities
00:49:20and it was
00:49:22such a massive
00:49:23treasure trove
00:49:24that nobody
00:49:25could actually
00:49:26mine the whole thing
00:49:27to figure out
00:49:28all of the different
00:49:29criminal things
00:49:30that had gone on.
00:49:33The congressional inquiry
00:49:35was then entrusted
00:49:36to the New York
00:49:37prosecutor,
00:49:38Robert Morgenthau,
00:49:39son of Henry
00:49:40Morgenthau,
00:49:41one of the architects
00:49:42of the Glass-Steagall Act.
00:49:48New York is the
00:49:49financial capital
00:49:51of the world.
00:49:52On a quiet day,
00:49:54three and a half trillion
00:49:56dollars goes through here.
00:49:58So it's a natural place
00:50:00to loan a drug money
00:50:01because you can put
00:50:0210, 20,
00:50:0330 million dollars
00:50:05into that stream
00:50:06and it doesn't even
00:50:07make a blip
00:50:08on the computer screen.
00:50:10The inquiry into BCCI
00:50:12gave Robert Morgenthau
00:50:13a major problem.
00:50:14The Republican administration
00:50:16was doing everything
00:50:17it could to sweep
00:50:18the affair
00:50:18under the carpet.
00:50:20But Morgenthau
00:50:21had an ace
00:50:21in his hand.
00:50:22Robert Mazur's
00:50:23undercover operation
00:50:24was reaching
00:50:25its conclusion.
00:50:26In Florida,
00:50:27the customs officer's
00:50:28work was about
00:50:29to result
00:50:29in an historic haul.
00:50:30Robert Mazur
00:50:31had become very close
00:50:32to members
00:50:33of the Medellin cartel
00:50:34and the bosses
00:50:35of the BCCI.
00:50:36And when he organized
00:50:37his fake wedding,
00:50:38he naturally invited
00:50:40all his new friends.
00:50:43In the billowing
00:50:44white canopy
00:50:45of a tent on the lawn,
00:50:46a scarlet carpet
00:50:48divided 250 chairs
00:50:49leading to an altar
00:50:50decorated with roses
00:50:52from Columbia.
00:50:54Dozens of Boston ferns
00:50:56sat atop
00:50:57the Greek columns
00:50:58offering privacy
00:50:59for the ceremony.
00:51:02Dozens of condos
00:51:03laid in wait,
00:51:04stocked with wine
00:51:05and spirits,
00:51:07all on the government's tab.
00:51:12Around 50 American agents
00:51:14were among the guests,
00:51:16posing as friends
00:51:17and family members.
00:51:21The net was closing in.
00:51:28During the ceremony,
00:51:29all the guests
00:51:31were arrested.
00:51:32Among them,
00:51:33Roberto Alcaino,
00:51:35Pablo Escobar's
00:51:36money launderer,
00:51:37as well as
00:51:37nine senior managers
00:51:39of the BCCI.
00:51:43It was the first
00:51:44big money laundering
00:51:45scandal since
00:51:46the introduction
00:51:47of the law
00:51:47in 1986.
00:51:51Robert Morgenthau
00:51:52was able to make use
00:51:53of this spectacular
00:51:54raid to close
00:51:55the BCCI file.
00:51:57In July 1991,
00:51:59the bank was
00:52:00officially shut down,
00:52:01a major first
00:52:02in the history
00:52:03of finance.
00:52:07So, on Friday afternoon,
00:52:10after the closure
00:52:11of the markets,
00:52:12the Bank of England,
00:52:14Federal Reserve,
00:52:16the Institut Monétaire
00:52:17Luxembourgeois,
00:52:18took a coordinated action
00:52:20and closed BCCI globally.
00:52:25The BCCI left behind
00:52:27a debt of $20 billion.
00:52:29Its bankruptcy resulted
00:52:30in more than 3,000
00:52:32legal proceedings
00:52:32throughout the world.
00:52:34BCCI tells you
00:52:35something about
00:52:36how the world works.
00:52:38It became a mirror
00:52:40of global evil.
00:52:42It showed us
00:52:43how the good
00:52:45and the bad,
00:52:46the big business
00:52:47and the small,
00:52:48intelligence services,
00:52:50crooks,
00:52:52kleptocrats,
00:52:53legitimate organizations,
00:52:56businesses,
00:52:57all interfaced,
00:52:58interacted
00:52:59in this world.
00:53:01But what it tells you
00:53:02is that many others
00:53:03are contributing
00:53:05and we haven't touched them,
00:53:07we have not investigated them.
00:53:09By simply going after
00:53:11one facilitator
00:53:13and taking out
00:53:14only some of the
00:53:16responsible players,
00:53:17because some of the big players
00:53:18did not have to answer
00:53:20for what they did.
00:53:24following the fall of the Berlin Wall
00:53:26and the collapse
00:53:27of the Soviet Union,
00:53:29Manuel Noriega went from
00:53:30being a major player
00:53:31in the Cold War
00:53:32to being somewhat
00:53:33of an embarrassment
00:53:34for the United States,
00:53:35a relic from another era.
00:53:37It was time
00:53:38to get rid of him.
00:53:40Noriega was reduced
00:53:41to silence
00:53:41and kept the BCCI's secrets.
00:53:44But the bank
00:53:45harbored further secrets still.
00:53:47It was a CIA bank,
00:53:49it was a KGB bank,
00:53:51it was a Mossad bank,
00:53:53it was an Iranian bank,
00:53:55it was, you name it,
00:53:57everybody discovered
00:53:59that this was a very useful
00:54:03tool because, boy,
00:54:05they'd do anything for you
00:54:06and all you had to do
00:54:07was ask and pay the fee.
00:54:17The BCCI played a major role
00:54:19in Secret Service operations
00:54:21throughout the Cold War.
00:54:23And as the congressional inquiry
00:54:25started by Jack Bloom revealed,
00:54:27one of the main actors
00:54:28miraculously managed
00:54:29to slip through the net.
00:54:33Kamal Adam,
00:54:34the architect
00:54:35of the Saudi Secret Services,
00:54:37had been involved
00:54:38in vast criminal networks
00:54:39since the creation
00:54:40of the BCCI.
00:54:42Kamal Adam was for a long time
00:54:44in the service of the CIA
00:54:46and being well-connected
00:54:47in Washington,
00:54:48was able to organize
00:54:49the BCCI's purchase
00:54:51of an American bank.
00:54:52He was also a major shareholder
00:54:55in a London-based company
00:54:56that laundered money
00:54:57for the Colombian cartels.
00:55:01The CIA intended
00:55:03to protect this man
00:55:04who had the ear
00:55:05of the major leaders
00:55:06in the Middle East
00:55:06in the same way
00:55:08in the same way
00:55:08they protected anyone
00:55:09who was working
00:55:09in the interest
00:55:10of the Americans.
00:55:12During the inquiry
00:55:13into the BCCI,
00:55:14Kamal Adam was never troubled
00:55:16by the authorities.
00:55:17To go after him
00:55:18would be to go against
00:55:19the national interest.
00:55:23So not full justice
00:55:24was done even in this case.
00:55:26But by removing BCCI,
00:55:29by removing some of the players
00:55:32that contributed to this,
00:55:34we simply smashed the mirror
00:55:36that we were looking into it.
00:55:37It gave us the impression
00:55:39that the evil disappeared,
00:55:41but all we did was
00:55:42we broke the mirror
00:55:44that was telling us about it.
00:55:51I returned home.
00:55:53I'd changed.
00:55:54My marriage had suffered.
00:55:56My children didn't recognize me.
00:55:59A few weeks earlier,
00:56:00in Regine's in Miami,
00:56:02my BCCI contact
00:56:04who'd drunk quite a lot
00:56:05of scotch asked me,
00:56:07Bob, do you know
00:56:09who the biggest money launderer
00:56:10in the United States is?
00:56:12Who?
00:56:13I shrugged, smiling.
00:56:16The Federal Reserve Bank.
00:56:18They know that in Colombia
00:56:20any citizen can exchange
00:56:22their U.S. dollars
00:56:23for Colombian pesos.
00:56:24No questions asked.
00:56:26The people at the Federal Reserve
00:56:28see this river of hundreds
00:56:29of millions in U.S. dollars
00:56:31being shipped to them
00:56:32from Colombia.
00:56:33They know what generates
00:56:34that cash.
00:56:35The Federal Reserve takes that
00:56:37because it's good economics
00:56:38for this country's banking system.
00:56:41The American so-called
00:56:42war on drugs is a sham.
00:56:44I was floored.
00:56:46Later research conferred
00:56:47my BCCI contact's claim
00:56:49and I had never felt
00:56:50more betrayed.
00:56:51If this was true,
00:56:52why were we risking our lives?
00:56:57In Japan,
00:56:58after the financial bubble burst,
00:57:00speculative euphoria
00:57:02gave way to recession
00:57:03and to a less rosy future.
00:57:06Hundreds of billions of yen
00:57:08had evaporated.
00:57:10Losses were estimated
00:57:11at 16% of national wealth,
00:57:14the same amount
00:57:15that it had cost Japan
00:57:16to rebuild after the war.
00:57:18The Yakuza were held responsible
00:57:20for this crisis
00:57:21due to their exploitation
00:57:22of the Japanese financial system.
00:57:24In 1991,
00:57:26an anti-Yakuza law
00:57:27was enacted.
00:57:29Every branch was identified
00:57:30region by region.
00:57:33The idea was
00:57:34to ostracize them
00:57:35from society.
00:57:37From then onwards,
00:57:38it became necessary
00:57:39to certify
00:57:39that you weren't a Yakuza
00:57:41in order to live
00:57:42your daily life.
00:57:43The bell had tolled,
00:57:45and the godfather
00:57:47of godfathers,
00:57:48Hishi Susumu,
00:57:49died a ruined man.
00:57:57In Sicily,
00:57:58the long judicial process
00:58:00arrived at its conclusion.
00:58:03In 1992,
00:58:04the appeal court
00:58:05confirmed the convictions.
00:58:09Cosa Nostra decided
00:58:10that its pact
00:58:11with its allies
00:58:11in the heart
00:58:12of the Italian state
00:58:13was at an end.
00:58:16Salvatore Lima,
00:58:17the mayor of Palermo,
00:58:18the vital link
00:58:19between Cosa Nostra
00:58:20and his Christian Democrat Party
00:58:22was gunned down
00:58:23in the street.
00:58:29Ci si è chiesti
00:58:31in queste ultime ore,
00:58:32ma c'è ancora speranza
00:58:33per Palermo?
00:58:34Lei poc'anzi diceva
00:58:35che non serve fare
00:58:37dell'antimafia
00:58:38superficiale
00:58:39di facciata.
00:58:40Ma certamente
00:58:41che c'è speranza.
00:58:42La mafia
00:58:42non è affatto
00:58:43invincibile,
00:58:44è un fatto umano
00:58:46e come tutti
00:58:47i fatti umani
00:58:48ha un inizio
00:58:49e avrà anche
00:58:50una fine.
00:58:51Giovanni Falcone
00:58:53changed my life
00:58:54on two occasions.
00:58:56He changed my life
00:58:58when he came into it
00:58:59but he also changed it
00:59:01when he left it.
00:59:03Even today,
00:59:04I still really miss him.
00:59:09On May 23rd, 1992,
00:59:12Giovanni Falcone
00:59:14was assassinated.
00:59:19Two months later,
00:59:21on July 19th,
00:59:22the judge,
00:59:23Paolo Borsalino,
00:59:24was also assassinated.
00:59:30Giovanni Falcone
00:59:31was just 53 years old,
00:59:33Paolo Borsalino,
00:59:3452.
00:59:37They were young.
00:59:38They could have done
00:59:39so much more for us.
00:59:42but the mafia decided
00:59:43that the time
00:59:44had come
00:59:45to silence them
00:59:46and they were silenced.
00:59:55People usually die
00:59:57because they're on their own
00:59:58or because they've
00:59:59bitten off more
01:00:00than they could chew.
01:00:02They often die
01:00:03because the right partnerships
01:00:04aren't in place,
01:00:05because there isn't
01:00:06enough support.
01:00:07In Sicily,
01:00:09the mafia goes after
01:00:10public servants
01:00:11that the state
01:00:12doesn't succeed
01:00:13in protecting.
01:00:19The arrest
01:00:19of one of
01:00:20Cosa Nostra's bosses,
01:00:21Tottorina,
01:00:22in 1993,
01:00:24signaled the end
01:00:25of the all-powerfulness
01:00:26of the mafia
01:00:27on the island.
01:00:30Giovanni Falcone
01:00:31and the anti-mafia squad
01:00:33had given Italy
01:00:34a bit of respite.
01:00:37The end of the Cold War
01:00:39also brought hope
01:00:40of a new world.
01:00:43A hope
01:00:44that was to be
01:00:45short-lived.
01:00:47Faced with the creation
01:00:48of a new world order,
01:00:49the major powers
01:00:50went for the easy choice
01:00:52of globalization.
01:00:55Russia and China
01:00:56were intent
01:00:56on preserving
01:00:57their spheres of influence,
01:00:59and in order
01:01:00to counter American power,
01:01:02they would have to create
01:01:03a strategy
01:01:03of unprecedented alliances.
01:01:06for criminal organizations,
01:01:08this meant
01:01:09the opening up
01:01:10of new territories
01:01:11and new markets.
01:01:13In the numerous
01:01:14financial transactions
01:01:15occurring in a millisecond,
01:01:16dirty money
01:01:17would become
01:01:18harder than ever
01:01:18to trace.
01:01:20The banks,
01:01:21the main players
01:01:22in moving money about,
01:01:23would become
01:01:24the servants
01:01:24of shady finance.
01:01:26The era
01:01:27of white-collar
01:01:29organized crime
01:01:30had begun.
01:01:33We'll be right back.
01:01:36We'll be right back.
01:02:05We'll be right back.
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