-Caveat Lector-
Fugitive Rich, Partner Got Bolivia Citizenship
By RICHARD SISK
New York Daily News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON ollowing the trail blazed by Butch Cassidy and the
Sundance Kid, pardoned wheeler-dealer Marc Rich and partner
Pincus Green first found haven in Bolivia when they went on the
lam, a former prosecutor said yesterday.
Rich and Green "became citizens of Bolivia. They had a trading
office down there," said former Assistant U.S. Attorney Morris
Weinberg.
The assertion about Bolivia by Weinberg, the one-time lead
prosecutor in the massive criminal tax fraud case against Rich
and Green, raised the question of whether former President Bill
Clinton may have relied on false information in the petitions of
pardon for the two commodities traders.
In their separate petitions, Rich and Green, both 66 and living
in Switzerland, made no mention of Bolivian citizenship. Rich
listed himself as a citizen of Spain and Israel, while Green
claimed Swiss, Spanish and Israeli citizenship.
Weinberg said Rich and Green hit on Bolivia, where Wild West
outlaws Cassidy and Sundance fled at the turn of the 20th
century, to gain quick citizenship as a hedge if they had to
fight extradition back to the U.S. when they went on the run in
the early 1980s.
"They needed some quick cover" while seeking citizenship
elsewhere, said Weinberg, who will be one of the first witnesses
next week when the House Oversight Committee begins hearings on
the 176 pardons and commutations Clinton granted on his last day
in office.
Adding to the confusion, State Department spokesman Richard
Boucher said yesterday that Rich was still considered a U.S.
citizen.
Although Rich at various times has said he renounced his U.S.
citizenship, Boucher cited a December 1991 ruling by the 2nd
Circuit Court of Appeals that "Rich had failed to show the
necessary intent to abandon his U.S. citizenship."
Boucher said, "We have found no records or information that would
contradict that court's findings."
U.S. citizenship could pose a costly problem for Rich, who might
be liable for millions in back income taxes while a fugitive.
His main lawyer has flip-flopped on the citizenship question.
On NBC-TV's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, lawyer Jack Quinn said of
Rich: "He is a U.S. citizen. He has his passport."
But Quinn spokesman Peter Mirijanian said yesterday that Quinn
misspoke and Rich "is not a U.S. citizen. He is a citizen of
Israel and Spain, as stated in the pardon petition."
When asked about Rich's possible Bolivian citizenship, Mirijanian
at first said, "We're not clear on that." He called back to say
Rich "may have been" a Bolivian citizen at one time and he was
unsure whether Rich still was.
A spokesman for the Bolivian Embassy said he did not know whether
Rich and Green had ever been, or still were, Bolivian citizens.
Meanwhile, in addition to the House hearings, the Senate
Judiciary Committee has set a hearing for Wednesday on the Rich
pardon. Among those invited to testify were Mayor Giuliani, who
was the federal prosecutor in the Rich case, and Denise Rich, the
fugitive financier's ex-wife.
Original Publication Date: 2/1/01
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Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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