REWALD OPERATION SIMILAR TO NUGAN HAND LTD. CASE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00494R001100690074-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 3, 2010
• Sequence Number: 74
• Publication Date: September 23, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2010/08/03: CIA-RDP90-00494RO01100690074-0
HONOLULU STAR BULLETIN
23 September 1983
Rewa Id
Sirntior'to Nuci~
.,.,HandLtd.. Case
By Charles Memminger ALTH
-7 1
OUGH there are individu? !"
Star-Bulletin Writer als who were involved with both ACCORDING.t TO news reports
`1v Frank.Nugan and Ronald Rewald,. inthe ? anal li eet Journal and
Officials involved in'the`investi and other officials said the National_1-lea a newspaper
gallon of Ronald Rewald's bank they police know of no direct canner in Australia,' lanes, d and Nugan
Pad ;,previrruy run an
s milarit an wereeruck byRewald the tion between the two operations.
operation and that of Australian But because Rewald's rise coin investment-type state p special
7 -r izing in eltersetate speculation
financial entrepreneur Frank ceded with the highly. publicized
Nugaa, fall.of Nugan Hand in 1980, some and tax shelters.
Like Rewald's, Nugan's.empire, observers believe Rewald's Rewald chose- 4o start his
built around Nugan Hand Inc., company might have been a company 'with partner Sunlin
evolved rapidly and established "copycat' of Nugan's operation.??yromo ? an _-ishd real estate.
offices around the world. -Nu an Although Bishop, Baldwin, Re- -,company undald. loo, started his
offered investors high returns gon? wald, ' Dillingham & Wong. was company underasdifferent name,
their.ninvestents and used for- formed in 1978, it really began to chCMI anged and later:
mer military est and CIA officials as grow after 1980. changed it to Bishop. Baldwin,
corporateaofficers .and consult- Anthony Granito. head of the Rewald, Dillingham & .Wong.
ants. police department's white-collar After opening the.-bank in the
After:?tiie news media began re. crime unit, said police are aware Cayman 1slands,Nugan Hand Inc.
Porting about Rewald's troubled . of the similarities between the ?expces innA` Ara mural opening 4
company, he attempted suicide. rt`Do operations, but also have offices rgentina, Chile, Tai-
When Ntian's o found no direct connection be-:. wan, 1 alaysia,' nnurope,
a2 Operation came -tween the two. Kong, "-li,a,San Francisco and
under the scrutiny of .govern- liong
:-
ment investigators, Nugan killed But. Granito'said, "We are not other points, `around the 'world.
himself. going to say' there -is not a con:: Rewald opened branches in many
In both cases, hundreds of nection yet.". of the same poations.
investors were out millions of dal The FBI apparently investigat- ,Investors poured millions into
Lars. ed a possible link between the Nugan Hand Bank through the 22
The natural question for offi? two enterprises. Special agent offices around the world, based
cials in Hawaii investigating Re Howard. Dare said the FBI was percent. ceil, much nt. - mreturns of than least 15
vial s was wail n Rewald in had aware' 'of Nugan Hand-and - Prevailing t the t the
any coah with Nugan Hbad could find no connection be-.- wai'offer rate at the time. Re
Ltd., whether he used the Austra- tween that and Rewald's' opera- s 2 to. investors locally
lian company as a model for his lion," was 20 percent. operation or whether it was Hayes said he got an eerie feel after it La st l s epsed ff ct ?
merely a coincidence tRe- Ong reading about Nugan Hand aftter it had established an office
mere ise and fall was that
similar Bank and the rest of Nugan's to fell it wasj the pr c s of
wald*s to Franke and a operations because of the similar. es t fell, it era. in the process a
"There are so many parallels, it sties to the Rewald case. ?. tablishing o> 'lees in New Zc-
is difficult to imagine they are ' To understand Hayes'~reaction, land and Possihl}? Australia.
just coincidental, said Thomas one first has to be familiar with Much of. red success was
Hayes, trustee of Rewald's bank- 4lvtigan's o . due 'to the e credjbih ibility of its offi
rupt company, Bishop, Baldwin, Peration and the paralcers and consulants.' including
p~ leis to Rewald s company, former- hi;h?ranking military offi.
Rewald. Dillingham 8 Wong. j Nugan, described as a frenetic . secs-
However, Hayes said he has young lawyer, formed his bank in
found no investors or consultants - 1976 w'ith' Michael Jon Hand, a
common to both companies. former Green Beret who had
handled some CIA operations in
Laos after the Vietnam War. ,C01~VZTF.~
Approved For Release 2010/08/03: CIA-RDP90-00494RO01100690074-0
 Approved For Release 2010/08/03: CIA-RDP90-00494RO01100690074-0
When Rewald was found near
THESE INCLUDED: Frank Nugan and Ronald Re-
death. in a Waikiki hotel room. wald shared a common
-Adm. Earl P. fates. former is suicide note referred to his pers
to
chief war planner and policy alleged service to his country, ity trait other than their desire e t
peo
maker for the C.S. Pacific Com- which led. to speculation that he run international corporat
mand in Ila'\aii. who was presi- ',might. have been doing some and associate with powerful erful peo-
dent of the Cayman Islands bank. intelligence work.-- pie. They also both liked to speed
-Retired Army Gen. Ed Black, Events following Nugan's sui- moneyon themselves.. =
Nugan ev, -in known to sped
a lia%\aii resident. who was presi- -c?ide and -Rewald's attempted sui- n
money m manic style," accord
dent of Nucan Hand Inc.'s Hawaii aide are-similar
.
off ice. within hours of the discovery
-Retired Air Force Gen. Le- of Nugan's'.body , company insid-
Roy ,1. Manor. chief of staff for ers' began ransacking the offices
the I'C U.,.,:f:., /?.._'----I --
h
5500,000 to remodel his lavit
waterfront home, hauling in said
to make a beach. Shortly before
reportedly ran Nugan Hands company files. A similar scene his death, he had arranged 30
Manila office. : ; took place in Rewald's office, but { buy a $2.2 million estate.
-William Colby. formerly head the records later were turned According to. court testimony..
of the CIA. who worked for .over to the court'.:.;,, : ? Rewald spent . up to $250,000 'Ala
Nugan Hand in a variety of post I month for his.. personal expenses,'
tions, including running the . THE. AUSTRALIAN' :.equivalent including the upkeep of bis many
Nugan Hand office in Panama. l of- a . bankruptcy trustee quickly _ polo ponies, his two ranches agti
Gen. Black,. when interviewed took over Nugan. Hand in an at- -''his $1 million Kuliouou home.
recently, said herknew of no con-- ;tempt -to -recover company assets,
{
nection between Nugan Hand but it appeared that:ttie, investors .. :T.HERE IS a big ~iifferenee b
and Rewald's company. He said ..,bad been, part.af.a.-swindle that ,tweed" he .two; tnezi lad;;Lh t
amounted to' some., 550.? million soperations,
the Nugan off ce here never real :Bishop, Baldwin, Rewti; billing ?-Authorities do have.Rewal
-
-Iv opened._ .-- . files and key people 'in Rewalds
He said h had met Rewald .ham L, Wong also was forced into'` operation, such as Wong. are
several times socially, but never bankruptcy and a trustee was a-- parently -cooperating with invesG-
was approached to be a consult- pointed. It was 'discovered that gators. And : unlike .:Nugan; RE-
ant or asked to invest in Rewald's $12 million in investors' money wald still is around to?talk if .Je:
company. _ was missin ever wants to.
Rewald, however, did court '. As the nvestigation of Nugan Because of-all this,- people vtl
military and ofCIA officials h
_
r? - __- I--- -
tl
e
the CIA office here when 'Nugan
Hand collapsed, eventually be-
came a consultant to Rewald and
donned a disguise and slipped otit.happened to the millions of:' d4
of the country. He ,has not bean tars invested in it.`
.. in' ested in his company. Gen. Ar- In contrast, '?as - investigatols: mains a mystery.
nold Braswell, the recently closed in on Rewald's company,'
tired commander of Pacific Air Sunlin Wong, company resident
Forces. was ,considering joining -resigned and 'began: tell ng what
Rewald's company. Retired Gen. he knew to a federal grand jury.
Hunter Harris also had close ties Rumors of CIA involvement,
to .Rewald and was considering, drug smuggling and gun running
becoming a consultant swirled in the wake -of Nugan
DESPITE THE Nugan Hand's Hand's collapse. 'But -government
apparent healthy financial ap- officials said any possible espio-
pearance,-it was only a year after page activities had nothing to do
the bank was formed that prob- with the apparent swindle of
-- -._r. --_~--------
police began investigating the "If the CIA or any other mist,
possible involvement by Nugan Bence organization had intendeti
and Hand in' heroin trafficking. to use Nugan Hand as a cover for
By 1978. questions about the covert operations, it was a clumsy
company's business dealings and attempt and one would have 0-
financial stability had surfaced. pected a more professonal effort
That year Nugan and his brother from an intelligence organiz`a-
w?ere charged with fraud con- tion,' a government report said.;'
cerning the activities of a Nugan- U.S. JUDGE lviartin Pence
owned corporation...
That spooked investors and by made a somewhat similar remark
1979 Nugan was trying frantically about Rewald's CIA connection's.
to keep the bank and other relat- 'In issuing a hurt-order sealing
ed companies afloat.- some classified documents found
On Jan. 27, 1980. Nugan was In Rewald's files, Pence wrote:
found shot to death in his Mer- Rewald, through his contacts
cedes on a deserted road outside
of Sydney. The death was official.
Iy classified a?suicide. In his pock-
et was found the business card of
lawyer William Colby. That card
focused attention on the possibli-
tN. that Nugan Hand might have
been involved with the CIA.
with members and former mem-
bers of the CIA, considered hitii-
self a more important, undis-
closed private associate of the
'CIA organization than he was ih
fact. This judge saw nothing In
the documents to indicate that
any of Rewaid's slight involve-
ments with intelligence activities
explained any of the financial ac-
tions of this company)."
Approved For Release 2010/08/03: CIA-RDP90-00494RO01100690074-0