From: jmk@cbnews.cb.att.com (joseph.m.knapp)
Subject: BNL Scandal
Organization: AT&T
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1992 00:33:51 GMT


Here is the chronology given by the New York Times, 10/10/92:

Late 1985 - Iraq asks the Atlanta branch of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro to
handle its applications for Department of Agriculture loans.

Aug. 4, 1989 - Acting on a tip about irregularities in loans to Iraq, the
FBI raids the bank's Atlanta office, seizing thousands of records and
shutting down the operation.

Aug. 2, 1990 - Iraqi forces invade Kuwait. They are driven out by Allied
forces in the Persian Gulf war in January and February 1991.

Feb. 28, 1991 - Christopher Drogoul, head of the bank's Atlanta branch, is
indicted for making more than $5 billion in unauthorized loans to Iraq and
other countries, and receiving $2.5 million in bribes.

June 2, 1992 - Mr. Drogoul pleads guilty to 60 of 347 counts of conspiracy
and fraud. The judge in the case calls for the appointment of a special
prosecutor.

July 30 - A letter from Robert M. Gates, Director of Central Intelligence,
to Representative Henry B. Gonzales, Democrat of Texas, is made public.
The letter takes exception to Mr. Gonzales' assertions that the CIA had
not cooperated fully with Federal prosecutors investigating the Italian
bank's Atlanta bank.

Sept. 14 - Representative Gonzales quotes, on the House floor, from a July
1991 classified letter he received from the CIA, indicating that the agency
had knowledge that the bank's officials in Rome were aware of the bank
fraud before an indictment in February 1991.

Sept. 17 - The CIA provides the Justice Department with a classified letter
of questions and answers about CIA's knowledge of the bank fraud scheme.
The agency states that its information is public knowledge and fails to
mention any classified reports.

Sept. 19 - Trying to dispel accusations that the Bush Administration had
concealed information, the Justice Department announces that it will
release intelligence documents concerning the CIA's knowledge of Banca
Nazionale activities to the judge in the Atlanta bank fraud case.

Sept. 29 - Leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee, in a letter to
Mr. Gates, suggest that the agency misled the Justice Department, Federal
prosecutors and the Federal judge in the bank case.

Oct. 1 - The Justice Department asks that the plea agreement with Mr.
Drogoul be withdrawn, setting the stage for a trial. The Atlanta Federal
judge trying Drogoul's case says he will disqualify himself, and later
remarks that prosecutors "may have been blocked by agencies with political
agendas from developing a full picture of this affair."

Oct. 6 - The CIA acknowledges that it had given incorrect and incomplete
information on the bank to the Justice Department and Federal prosecutors,
but maintains it was an innocent error, saying there was "no attempt to
mislead anyone or cover up anything." Senator David L. Boren, Democrat of
Oklahoma, head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, again accuses the
CIA of misinforming officials.

Oct. 7 - Mr. Gates orders the CIA's inspector general to investigate the
agency's statements to the Department of Justice and the Federal judge and
prosecutors. Senator Boren suggests that the Justice Department may also
have been involved in a cover-up.

Oct. 8 - CIA officials tell Congress that they deliberately misinformed
prosecutors in Atlanta about how much the agency knew about the bank case,
but say the Justice Department urged them to do it.

---
Joe Knapp    jmk@cbvox.att.com
Newsgroups: alt.politics.elections,talk.politics.misc,tx.politics