-Caveat Lector-
February 5, 2001
Pardoned Rich still in legal jeopardy
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Billionaire financier Marc Rich, a fugitive from justice for 17
years until his Inauguration Day presidential pardon by Bill
Clinton, is under investigation by Swiss authorities in
connection with suspected money-laundering violations.
While House and Senate committees in the United States prepare to
hold hearings this week on the controversial Rich pardon, Swiss
officials confirmed yesterday that their investigators also have
focused on the former fugitive.
Swiss authorities said they want to know if Mr. Rich's trading
firm, known as Marc Rich & Co., failed to control and verify the
origin of large cash transactions in accordance with Swiss
money-laundering laws. The firm, located in Zug, Switzerland, is
required under legislation passed last year to adhere to strict
banklike reporting guidelines when handling large sums of money.
The Swiss probe, first reported by the Associated Press in
Geneva, resulted in threats yesterday from Mr. Rich to move his
multimillion-dollar operation out of Switzerland. The threats
were dismissed by Swiss officials, who said Mr. Rich was "free
to relocate to wherever he pleases. . . . We're not impressed
at all when we hear threats."
Mr. Rich, who fled to Switzerland after his 1983 indictment in
the United States in what federal prosecutors described as the
biggest tax-fraud case in U.S. history, has argued through his
attorneys that his commodities trading firm should be exempt from
newly instituted Swiss regulations because the company operates
differently than banks.
The argument has been rejected by Swiss authorities who
steadfastly refused to extradite Mr. Rich to the United States
because Switzerland does not recognize tax evasion as a crime.
Since the Jan. 20 pardon, several newspapers in Switzerland have
questioned the propriety of that country's continued support of
the former fugitive. Mr. Rich is listed by a Swiss financial
monthly magazine as having a personal wealth of about $1.2
billion.
Mr. Clinton has taken "full responsibility" for the pardon and
has denied that it was politically motivated. He told reporters
last week in New York the pardon was decided "on the merits" and
that he had handled it "in what I thought was the most
appropriate way."
The Rich pardon was among 140 Mr. Clinton signed less than two
hours before leaving office.
Questions have been raised over possible connections between the
pardon and Mr. Rich's ex-wife, songwriter Denise Rich, who
donated $1.3 million to the Democratic Party, including Mr.
Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. Mrs. Rich
personally lobbied the president for the pardon and donated more
than $7,000 worth of furniture for the Clintons' New York home.
House and Senate investigators are trying to determine how Mr.
Clinton reached the decision to grant the pardon. They want to
know if Mr. Clinton's last-minute pardon was based on improper
motives; if law enforcement authorities were consulted; and if
any regulations governing the lobbying of the president were
violated.
Mark Corallo, spokesman for the House Government Reform
Committee, which will begin hearings into the Rich pardon on
Thursday, yesterday stopped short of saying whether the Swiss
money-laundering inquiry would be incorporated into the
congressional probe. However, he stressed that Mr. Rich's
finances were of concern to the committee.
"The committee intends to look into all of Mr. Rich's financial
transactions as they may relate to his criminal conduct," Mr.
Corallo said.
Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who will chair
the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, has threatened to call
Mr. Clinton to testify, along with Mrs. Rich and her
ex-husband's attorney, Jack Quinn, the former Clinton White House
counsel who also lobbied the president for the pardon. The
Senate's hearings begin on Wednesday.
Mark Levine, former chief of staff to Attorney General Edwin
Meese III, said Congress has a "legitimate legislative oversight
function" to investigate Mr. Rich's finances.
"For those who say we need to get the Clinton administration
behind us, I would remind them that the biggest tax cheat in this
country's history was granted a pardon by one of the most corrupt
presidents in history," he said. "We are either a nation of laws
or we're not."
Mr. Rich fled the country after his indictment on charges of
racketeering, tax evasion and violating federal energy
regulations for trading oil with Iran while Americans were being
held hostage in that country. He was accused of diverting $70
million in illegal profits to Swiss banks from the resale of
crude oil.
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Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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