If you do not allow these cookies you may not be called ICE. If organizational support is required or you have additional needs, please Contact FLETC Admissions. The seal is symbolic of DHS's mission to prevent attacks and protect Americans. "(4) The report stated that: [A] review of the files has, so far, revealed 125 cases that have been identified "as having something to do with BCCI." . We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by While his Customs application processed, Mazur continued to engross himself as an undercover operative, eventually completing the IRS Undercover Course. Classmates support you and become your close friends and partners over the course of your time together. Association of Customs and HSI Special Agents (ACHSIA) have done a phenomenal job of recovering and preserving historical documents such as: Additionally, the ACHSIA have complied their own historical summary pertaining to the The FBI has a wide jurisdiction and special agents can investigate crimes involving terrorism, financial fraud, counterintelligence, cyber crime, public corruption, civil rights, organized crime, white-collar crime, and violent crime. In another instance, an assistant offered to transfer Mazur to HQ with the enticement of a promotion, in the middle of trial prep! . . HSI Special Agent test prep course by Sgt. The banks were bought through individual names rather than BCCI because BCCI could not buy the banks and run them due to U.S. Although they are similarly (and confusingly) branded, ICE is composed of two distinct sub-components: Enforcement & Removal Operations (ERO) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). & "(45) In fact, the "time out" lasted for a full thirteen months, by the calculation of Tampa prosecutor Jackowski. As Mazur told the Subcommittee, the "time-out" consisted of leads that were not followed up, bank officers who were not interviewed and superseding indictments which were not issued. In 1996, Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Counterintelligence Officer/Special Agent Scott Carmichael became increasingly suspicious when DIA Analyst Ana Montes (DIA Podcast) left her post early during an international incident. 132. From early 1985 on, the CIA possessed and disseminate to other governmental agencies detailed and important information about BCCI's plans in the United States, and its secret ownership of First American. BCCI's lawyers, principally former federal prosecutors Lawrence Wechsler, Lawrence Barcella, and Raymond Banoun, dissatisfied with this result, decided to talk to others in the Justice Department to bring about a different result. Although Federal Soup is saying goodbye, we think youll like our sister publication, Government Executive at www.govexec.com. Bombing - 1995. small businesses). . With 18-months to prepare, Mazur meticulously developed his backstopping as if his life depended on it, because it did. Although HSI does not typically get lead espionage investigations, its Border Search authority is often invaluable to the US Govt. Both positions routinely wear lettering that state ICE. Genzman's argument that it was more important to convict the individuals than prosecute the bank was incorrect. I worked for him for years. Jackowski deserves significant credit for his work, but not for his testimony. 2023: All announcements require the full testing cycle. I mean, you are doing a grand jury. S Hrg. You website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site If you do not allow these cookies you may not be . Civilian Agent. language preference or login information. He recommends undercover agents study their targets, learn their every possible detail and develop an approach that finds things in common. Recalling the advice of Special Agent Joe Hinton, Mazur is adamant that UCs should develop their own legend to the extent possible as no one else is more invested in your own life than you. On September 9, 1988, one month before the sting operation against BCCI was scheduled to be taken down, Mazur, in his undercover role as drug-money launderer Robert Musella, had met with Amjad Awan, BCCI's personal banker to Panamanian General Manuel Noriega, at the Grand Bay Hotel in Miami, Florida, where he engaged in a conversation with Awan that was wired and recorded by Federal agents. When it comes to suitability, there are a few basic standards that apply across government you can find them in the Code of Federal Regulations at 5 CFR Section 731.202 but there are also some stricter, agency-specific suitability criteria that occasionally catch applicants off-guard. At border offices (i.e., Del Rio, San Diego), special agents can expect a fast paced environment responding to drug seizures, contraband interdiction, and human smuggling cases. In 1975, now expected in early 2023. This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and Homeland Security Investigations. However, since these cases involve our national security interests, no expense is spared. . In general, the C-Chase operation was a constant battle for support from a small segment of senior management and prematurely terminated, in Mazurs expert opinion. What is surprising is that a violation of these criteria can sometimes be mitigated at least in theory. privacy request at our Do Not Sell page. 24. Check out his podcast interview as well on Bought out by BCCI about 8 years ago . re-capture Make sure youve thoroughly investigated them before you invest your time and efforts in the application process. Ironically, the Colombian, far from being essential to the government's criminal cases against BCCI and Noriega, was never used by the government in either trial. Id. The "Long-term undercover should be a resource of last resort - a technique used when no other resources can reasonably get the job done. Over the past two years, the Justice Department's handling of BCCI has been criticized in numerous editorials in major newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the New York Times, reflecting similar criticism on the part of several Congressmen, including the chairman of the Subcommittee, Senator Kerry; the chief Customs undercover officer who handled the BCCI drug-money laundering sting, Robert Mazur; his superior at Customs, Commissioner William von Raab; New York District Attorney Robert Morgenthau; former Senate investigator Jack Blum, and, within the Justice Department itself, the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Dexter Lehtinen. To defend our country and safeguard its interests, OSI agents . The FBI has extensive counter-intelligence (CI) responsibilities & is typically involved in every And it might be far-fetched, it might sound stupid, but my assessment is, that we own a bank in washington . The Department simply can not testify on matters which are under investigation or subject to pending litigation.(130). Throughout that period, the Justice Department found itself in the apparently uncomfortable position of having to give the public impression that it was aggressively moving against BCCI, at a time when it was doing very little concerning the bank, and investigators and prosecutors involved in the Tampa case were no longer working on matters pertaining to BCCI. failed to inform the Subcommittee of Blum's alleged remarks, and first raised the allegations 30 months later, in interviews with Congressional staff and at the public hearing, some five months after Blum had made his public criticisms of Justice. In September 1991, the House Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice, issued a report detailing federal law enforcement's handling of allegations involving BCCI. Mazur remembers that during a 1988 meeting with a BCCI bank executive, he was present when a high-ranking officer received telephone notice that the president of Pakistan, Zia-ul-Haq was killed in plane crash, along with the U.S. At the time of Mattingly's testimony, the Federal Reserve had yet to be obtain the report it had been requesting from the Justice Department for 18 months. . Welcome, and we hope to see you again soon. ICE First, there were like to be few significant drug money launderers still using BCCI following its highly publicized indictment in October, 1988. involving biker gangs, violence and drugs; eventually led to a "dictator with a machete.". The FBI developed its own hiring requirements and is consequently categorized within the It is regarded as one of the most violent & deadly shootouts in FBI history. tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. The HSI led Intellectual Property Rights Center is world renown for fighting pirated & counterfeited goods. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org There's six banks. The shooting resulted in the deaths of FBI SAs Jerry Dove & Ben Grogan and injured five others. Eight of the victims were federal law enforcement personnel (Secret Service, US Customs (Now HSI), DEA, HUD). When the documents had been produced, few revealed anything about ongoing investigations. To this end, I invite you and any other appropriate Department of Justice officials to meet with me in Tallahassee on February 19, 1990.(73). ensure the proper functioning of our Following the taping, Blum had further contact with the Tampa investigators and prosecutors, providing further information over the course of a lengthy conference call. However, you I know Congressman Schumer sent staffers to Miami and to various districts on behalf of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime.(100). In practice however, the judge would be unlike to impose much more than the $2.5 million fine imposed against another bank in Puerto Rico the previous year. Special Agent Robert Williams died as the result of cancer that he developed following his assignment to the recovery efforts at the Fresh Kills landfill site following the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies, Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the The operation had been coordinated with law enforcement authorities in the UK and France who also conducted searches and made arrests.(25). Preferences menu of your browser. 5, Lehtinen testimony, p. 11. department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My . Unfortunately, he was later ostracized by jealous custom's managers and went on to finish his career with the DEA. Criminal Investigator Overview to capitalize on the "FBI Brand." In addition, a RICO case could have permitted the United States to achieve the critical objective for Operation C-Chase defined by Customs agents in March, 1988 -- establishing the corporate culpability of BCCI's involvement in the laundering of "literally hundreds of millions of dollars in drug proceeds," rather than the mere $14 million handled in connection with the sting. The other defense strategy is to accuse the undercover of having an identity crises and imply the undercover agent was so engrossed in the role, he/she had essentially crossed to the dark side. There was little recognition even as late as November 1991 by Jackowski or the other Tampa prosecutors that focusing attention on BCCI as a case study of global organized financial crime could have been more rewarding and more important than the narrower approach they adopted. (46), Mazur testified that among the things not followed up because of the resource crunch were criminal activity involving other BCCI officers and the subpoena of records which could have lead to additional indictments of others or broader, superseding indictments of BCCI. SA's working in border offices stood up numerous wiretaps and fed that intel to Mexico based investigators.
