20000A
104-10326-10057
2025 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT OF 1992
MHFNO: 96-2985818
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FRP:
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CONF: EUR/BNL
INFO: EUDORECORD, EUR/LGL,
LIMITO, MDSX, ODPD,
PCS/CL, FILE (0/P)
96 2985818
ASP
PAGE 001
TOT:
262320Z JAN 96
DIRECTOR 615577
SECRET
STAFF
TO:
PRIORITY THE HAGUE.
262318Z DIRECTOR 615577
FROM: LIMIT EUR/BNL INFO EUR/LGL, PCS/CL
SLUGS:
SUBJECT:
WNINTEL RYBAT
TRACE RESPONSE ON DUTCH JOURNALIST
REF: THE HAGUE 13519 96 2762623
TEXT:
1. ACTION REQUIRED: NONE, FOR STATION BACKGROUND ONLY
RESPONSE TO REF QUESTIONS RE THE SHARING OF INFO WITH LIAISON WILL BE
PROVIDED IN A 
SEPARATE MESSAGE,
2. HQS BELIEVES SUBJECT TO BE IDENTICAL TO WILLIAM LEONARD
( (OLTMANS
)), (
DPOB 10 JUNE 1925, HUIZEN, THE NETHERLANDS)
ASSIGNED 
201-0155221 ON 27 FEBRUARY,
WHO WAS
1957, ON THE OCCASION OF A NAME
CHECK REQUEST AGAINST PNINFINITE FILES FROM NVGIFT/
OLTMANS 
WAS OSTENSIBLY A CORRESPONDENT FOR AN OBSCURE DUTCH WEEKLY
AT THE TIME,
PUBLICATION 
AT THE UNITED NATIONS IN NEW YORK. HIS REPUTATION AT THE
UN WAS SUCH 
THAT HE WAS OSTRACISED BY THE DUTCH DELEGATION AND FELLOW
DUTCH 
NEWSMEN FOR HIS OPENLY PRO-INDONESIAN PUBLIC STAND ON THE DUTCH
GUINEA 
QUESTION. HE ALSO CLAIMED TO WORK FOR AN UNKNOWN NEWS
SYNDICATE IN THE UNITED STATES, BUT NONE OF HIS COLLEAGUES COULD
CLAIM TO 
HAVE SEEN ANY OF HIS WRITINGS PUBLISHED. HIS MAIN INCOME
SEEMED 
TO HAVE BEEN DERIVED FROM PUBLIC LECTURES IN THE UNITED STATES
ON INTERNATIONAL 
POLITICS ESPECIALLY MATTERS TOUCHING ON ASIA IN
GENERAL, AND 
INDONESIA SPECIFICALLY. HE CLAIMED HE GREW UP IN
INDONESIA, AND THEREFORE KNEW THE AREA AND ITS "CONDITIONS" WELL.
ADDITION
, HE WAS CONSTANTLY SEEN WITH WHAT A WESTERN SOURCE WOULD
CALL "THE 
WRONG CROWD", AND HE HAD EXCELLENT CONTACTS WITH ALL THE
COMMUNIST 
DOMINATED COUNTRIES, INCLUDING CUBA AND WAS ON INTIMATE
TERMS WITH 
ELEMENTS SUCH AS THE GUINEANS, THE INDONESIANS, AND THE
EGYPTIANS.
'
IN
3.
ACCORDING TO DIRECTOR 243172, 12 JANUARY 1987, ONE OF THE
LAST ENTRIES IN OLTMANS' FILE, "OLTMANS HAS BEEN A THORN IN OUR SIDE
FOR A NUMBER OF 
YEARS. HE HAS HIGH LEVEL CONTACTS IN THE SOVIET
UNION. 
HE IS INDEPENDENTLY WEALTHY BY VIRTUE OF HIS FAMILY HAVING HAD
A VIRTUAL 
MONOPOLY ON THE QUININE TRADE AT ONE TIME. HE IS HIGHLY
INTELLIGENT 
BUT PECULIAR, AND WHETHER OR NOT HE WAS EVER IN THE PAY
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OF THE SOVIETS, HE CERTAINLY HAD BEEN A FERVENT SUPPORTER OF THEIR
CAUSES." THE FOLLOWING ARE HIGHLIGHTS TAKEN FROM SUBJECTS RATHER
LARGE HQS FILE.
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2
4. HE STUDIED BRIEFLY AT YALE UNIVERSITY AND WAS EXPELLED FOR
MISBEHAVIOR (NFI). FOR A SHORT TIME THEREAFTER, HE WORKED FOR UNITED
PRESS INTERNATIONAL AND "DE TELEGRAFF", A MAJOR DUTCH DAILY
NEWSPAPER, BUT WAS FIRED FROM BOTH. IN 1956, HE MARRIED AN AMERICAN
GROUND STEWARDESS, AND IN ON 10. JUNE 1958, HE WAS ADMITTED TO THE
UNITED STATES IN NEW YORK CITY AS A PRA, A STATUS WHICH HE HELD UNTIL
AT LEAST 1987. IN 1960, HE DIVORCED HIS WIFE, AND IN 1961, WAS
LIVING WITH A PHILIPINO MALE.
5. NUMEROUS FIELD REPORTS INDICATE THAT IN 1956, OLTMANS
ARRANGED AN INTRODUCTION FOR HIMSELF TO INDONESIAN PRESIDENT
((SUKARNO)) WITH WHOM HE THEN TRAVELED THROUGH EURPOPE IN 1956 AS
SUKARNO'S GUEST. HIS TRIP FROM INDONESIA TO THE U.S. IN FEBRUARY 1957
WAS PAID FOR BY THE INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT, AND ALL INDICTIONS WERE
THAT HE WAS BEING USED AS A TOOL BY THE INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT TO
CARRY ON PROPAGANDA IN THE U.S. AND AT THE UN. DURING THE PERIOD
1960-1961, HE SHUTTLED BETWEEN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES.
6. SUBJECT NEXT APPEARS IN OUR RECORDS IN 1968, WHEN HE
TELEPHONED THE DIRECTOR OF THE U.S. INFORMATION AGENCY (USIA) IN THE
HAGUE TO ADVISE THEM THAT HE WAS ANTI-AMERICAN AND TO GIVE THE USIA
INFORMATION ON ANTI-AMERICAN DUTCH GROUPS IN THE NETHERLANDS.
7. IN 1972, SUBJECT PLANNED TO MAKE A FILM ON ECOLOGY IN THE
FORMER SOVIET UNION AND VISITED THERE 23-26 JANUARY TO MAKE THE FINAL
ARRANGEMENTS. AT THIS TIME, THE DUTCH SERVICE CLAIMED THAT
O THAT 
OLTMANS
HAD A FIVE YEAR RETAÎNER FROM THE RUSSIANS AS AN OVERT PR MAN.
IS NO INDICATION IN THE FILE THAT THE FILM WAS EVER MADE.
THERE
8. IN MARCH AND APRIL 1977, OLTMANS GAINED A GREAT DEAL OF
PUBLIC ATTENTION IN THE U. S. AND THE NETHERLANDS. WHEN HE TESTIFIED
*BEFORE THE U. S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES<ASSASSINATIONS>COMMITTEE ON
*THE LATE GEORGE DE ((MOHRENSCHILDT))´S CONNECTION WITH<LEE HARVEY>
*< ( (OSWALD))>AND THE MURDER OF PRESIDENT<JOHN>F.<((KENNEDY)) .> IT HAD
LONG BEEN KNOWN THAT DE MOHRENSCHILDT, AS PART OF THE DALLAS
RUSSIAN-SPEAKING COMMUNITY, WAS CLOSE TO OSWALD. OLTMANS HAD LONG
BEEN CULTIVATING DE MOHRENSCHILDT AS A NEWS SOURCE AND FRIEND.
JANUARY, 1976, DE MOHRENSCHILDT WROTE OLTMANS THAT HE WAS PREPARING A
BOOK ON HOW HE (DE MOHRENSCHILDT) WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR OSWALD'S
*<ASSASSINATION>OF<KENNEDY.>
IN
9. EN MAY 1983, THE DUTCH SERVICE HAD A TELTAP (WHICH THEY
CONSIDERED HIGHLY SENSITIVE AS IT INVOLVED ONE OF THEIR OWN CITIZEN$)
ON OLTMANS WHO SEEMED TO REVEAL SOME INTERESTING TIDBITS SOME OF
WHICH MIGHT BE CONSIDERED GOSSIP, BUT WHICH MIGHT BE OF SERIOUS
INTEREST TO ANALYSTS WATCHING THE INTERPLAY OF HIGH LEVEL SOVIET
PERSONALITIES, PARTICULARLY WHEN HE TALKED TO HIS LEFTIST DUTCH
FRIENDS. THE QUESTION OF OLTMANS' PRA STATUS CAUSED HQS TO REQUEST
STANDDOWN ON FURTHER ELICITATION OF INFO DERIVED FROM THE DUTCH
SERVICE TELTAP ON OLTMANS UNTIL A REVIEW OF LEGAL ASPECTS COULD BE
MADE. IT BECAME HOS UNDERSTANDING THAT THIS TELTAP WAS BEING
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CONDUCTED BY THE DUTCH SERVICE FOR THEIR OWN PURPOSES AND THAT THEIR
INTERESTS WERE INDEPENDENT OF ANY NWBOLTON INTERESTS. SINCE INFO OF
INTEREST TO NWBOLTON WAS THE BYPRODUCT OF THE TELTAP, AND
NOT INFO CONCERNING OLTMANS HIMSELF, THE HAGUE STATION COULD CONTINUE
TO RECEIVE INFO OFFERED AND TO REQUEST ADDITIONAL AND MORE DETAILED
INFO CONCERNING SOVIET INTENTIONS WITHOUT SPECIFYING THE MANNER IN
WHICH IT WAS TO BE ACQUIRED. THE BASIS FOR THIS DECISION WAS THAT A)
OLTMANS HIMSELF WAS NOT THE SUBJECT OF NWBOLTON INTEREST AND
B) NWBOLTON WAS NOT PARTICIPATING IN THE TELTAP.
10. ON 16 JANUARY 1987, SAN FRANCISCO STATION ADVISED THAT
SUBJECT HAD BEEN ENGAGED IN BROKERING HIGH-LEVEL CONTACTS BETWEEN A
LARGE U.S. COMPUTER MANUFACTURING COMPANY AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION
IN AN EFFORT TO DEVELOP AND SUPPORT AND ENHANCED RUSSIAN
MICROCOMPUTER MANUFACTURING CAPABILITY.
11.
ON 22 SEPTEMBER 1987, FBIS MONITORED THE ACTIVITY OF
SUBJECT IN MARTINIQUE WHER HE WAS MEETING WITH SURINAMESE CITIZENS
AND ACCUSED FRANCE AND THE NETHERLANDS OF FAVORING THE SURINAME
REBELLION.
12.
OLTMANS NEXT APPEARS IN A PRESS RELEASE OF 20 MAY 1992 WHEN
HE SOUGHT REFUGE AT THE NETHERLANDS EMBASSY IN PRETORIA, SOUTH
AFRICA, AFTER HE WAS ALLEGEDLY ACCUSED BY SOUTH AFRICA'S SECRET
SERVICE OF BEING AN AGENT FOR NWBOLTON, SAYING HE HAD GONE TO THE
EMBASSY FOR "PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE: I FEEL UNSAFE HAVING BEEN
BRANDED A CIA AGENT". HE ALSO SAID THAT HIS APARTMENT HAD BEEN
BROKEN INTO AND BUGGEDAND MANY OF HIS PROJECTS HAD BEEN TORPEDOED
BECAUSE HE HAD BEEN BRANDED AN NWBOLTON AGENT.
13. CL REASON: 1.5 (C), DECL ON: X-1.
FILE: 201-155221. DECL OADR DRV HUM 4-82.>
ORIG: EUR/BNL (RICHSNC, 39188); AUTH: DC/EUR/BNL (O'DONOVAN); COORD:
EUR/LGL (FRED); REL: C/EUR/BNL. CL BY 0528417.
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