404-10134-40074] - . . a FAS, ae 8 October 1976 MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Security FROM : Curtis R. Rivers SUBJECT : Dade County Request for Agency Assistance Regarding the Death of Johnny Roselli 1. The following is provided for your information and pertains to an assessment of the information contained in Office of Security files relevant to the request from the Dade County Sheriff's Office pursuant to their investigation of the death of Johnny Roselli. 2. The Dade County Sheriff's representatives requested all Agency information pertaining to several Cuban nationals. A review of Office of Security indices in this regard dis- closed the following: a. Ramon Don Eestevez Dominquez--Office of Security records were negative. b. Rolando Masferrer Rojas--Covert (36 859) and overt (352 772) security files were located regarding Rolando Arcadio Masferrer (Rojas), aka: Roland Rojas Masferrer, a Cuban citizen born 12 January 1918 in Holguin, Cuba. Although limited national agency checks were conducted on Subject in January 1950, there is no indication that Masferrer was ever utilized by the Agency. He is a former Cuban senator and Cuban Communist Party member (expelled in 1945), a former con- mander for Batista's private army, and firmly anti-Castro. The two files contain numerous FBI reports regarding his activities in connection with an attempt to invade Cuba in 1960 and a subsequent effort to invade Haiti in 1967. © Masferrer and 75 of his followers were arrested in January 1967 in Marathon, Florida, while preparing for the invasion of Haiti. EZ IMPDET Oran CL BY 00 3 CRET B 7472
14-00000 “1966 he was of operational. interest to the D rey . ; . SEH Masferrer claimed that his Haiti invasion plot was approved by the U. S. Government (varying between the CIA and the FBI as the approving — agency). While the CIA approval ‘claim was untrue, Agency concern, at the time, centered around the possibility of unfavorable publicity and the compromise of sources and methods if the Agency was forced to disprove Masferrer's charges in court. A handwritten note in Masferrer's file revealed that he died in 1975 when his car was blown apart by a bomb in Florida. No further details regarding his death were contained in his subject files. Since Masferrer has never been affiliated with the Agency, despite his Claims, it is believed that Dade County officials should be referred to the FBI for information regarding Masferrer. c. Luciano Nieves--Office of Security files “contain only polygraph (IRD #72675) Sede ace regarding Luciano Nieves Mestre, date an of birth 6 October 1933, Santa Clara,-€fba, Nieves was, polygraphed on 4 Febryaty 1966 in Florida. Ttxwas developed that’ he was a Cuban national who had been arrested, tried, and sentenced to 20 years in” Cuba for allegedly being involved in an*Qnti-Castro plot. He was released in March-“1965 ter serving approxi- mately 16 monthS of his s@mtence and went to . i iefiv where he was of\interest to the In August 196 nited-States and in November 196 as contacted by Directorate of Operations (DDO) répresentatives. From November 1965 until approximately ary It is noted that the DDO maintains a 201 file (201-788521) regarding Subject and it is believed that the Office of Security would | have to defer any decision regarding the release of information concerning Nieves to the DDO.
14-00000 Was wbige, ¢ | Sepeey. ( d. Jose de La Torriente--Security records contain only sparse information provided by the Domestic Contact Service in 1970 ‘showing that->-——~ one Jose de La Torriente, not further identified, claimed to have worked for the CIA for many years, An attachment to a 1970 Domestic Contact Service memorandum containing details of Torriente's Claimed association with the Agency was not con- tained in Office of Security files. It is believed that a decision to release information regarding Torriente would have to be deferred to { the DDO. e. Jose Quintana-~-Office of Security records contain no information identifiable with Jose Quintana. f. Jaoquin Antonio Cortizo--Office of ' "Security records are negative. g. Manola Artimes--Security records contain yovert (611 523) and covert (210 838) files” ~) i sregarding Manuel Francisco Artime-Buesa. Artime- | . |uesa is a former Agency operational asset utilized by the DDO during the approximate | | { {period 1959-1963. Any decision regarding the a jrelease of information regarding Artime-Buesa or this present whereabouts should be deferred to the DDO. - ——" oo a h. AMLASH--Rolando Cubela (Secades), Agency }cryptonym--AMLASH, is the subject of the Office | of Security covert file 101 080. Cubela is a | rather celebrated Cuban national and operational } contact of the DDO mentioned throughout both of j the Senate Select Committee assassination reports | fAlthough Cubela is identified in the assassina- { tion reports as AMLASH and his identity has never ; been revealed by the Agency, his true identity : has been surfaced in several recent news articles.} All information on Cubela in the possession of i fthe Office of Security would fall within the j jpurview of the DDO, and it is believed that any ,; ‘decision to release information pertaining to CECI:
14-00000 : . \ ee ar i . : Se tt ee ho ; ; sone! Cubela should be deferred to the Latin America Division of the DDO. It should be noted that during their investigation, Senate Select Committee staffers reviewed Cubela's raw files | from both the DDO and the Office of Security. an me , et i. Dade County Sheriff's Office repre- sentatives requested the "names of the three Cubans mentioned in the Roselli testimony." “It is believed that the response to this ques- tion should be deferred to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence since the Office of Security does not have access to the Roselli testimony. 3. Additionally, the Dade County Sheriff's Office repre- sentatives ask for all Agency information pertaining to several individuals of unknown citizenships, but believed to be U. S. citizens. A review of the Office of Security indices in this regard disclosed the following: a. Fred Black--Office of Security records revealed only newspaper clippings contained in the Robert G. Baker subject file (260 273) showing that Fred B. Black, Jr., a consultant with North American Aviation, was a close friend and business associate of "Bobby" G. Baker. Black was mentioned repeatedly in the news media coverage of Senate investigations of Baker in the early 1960's. While Black's citizenship is undetermined, it is probable that he is a U. S. citizen. b, —Edward Morgan-{A covert security file (46 394)\was located regarding Edward Pierpont Morgan;~date and place of birth 28 May 1913, St. Louis, Missouri. Morgan, a U. S. citizen and former FBI agent from 1941-1945, was... granted a Covert Security Clearance on 2 Feb- ruary 1951 for use as a_"cut out' in connection with n tiati : oo rd
14-00000 aah the DDO. —— “ SeGHET . (Te Covert Security Clearance was amended and approved in March 1951 to include Morgan's use in providing covert legal support for’ opera- tions in the form of a "cut out", ‘legal advice, transmission of funds, and other assistance of a legal nature in connection with DDO projects. Since Subject may have been utilized by the DDO,! it is felt that any decision to release infor- mation regarding Morgan should be deferred to :_It is noted that while only the afore- mentioned subject file exists regarding Morgan, in his capacity as Robert A. Maheu's personal . attorney, Morgan is mentioned sporadically in the Maheu, Harvey, and Roselli files. In 1967 Maheu was interviewed and advised that he had - briefed Morgan regarding the details of his involvement in the Agency~sponsored Castro. assassination plots. Morgan's current asso- Ciation with Maheu, professional and/or personal, is unknown, Morgan is currently practicing law in the District of Columbia law firm of Welch and Morgan. c. Joseph Shimon--No Office of Security subject file exists regarding Joseph Shimon, aka: Joseph Shiman. However, he is mentioned in the Johnny Roselli file as a personal friend of Roselli. It is further noted in the Roselli file that Shimon knew Maheu, but the nature and extent of their official/social relationship is unknown. Shimon is described as a former District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Depart- ment (MPD) inspector who was discharged from the D.C. MPD as a result of a conviction involving wiretapping activities. 4. To date, no decision has been made as to the type and form of response to be made to the Dade County Sheriffts Office request, Additionally, a formal request. to the Office of
14-00000 Ce9 ae | ar ee) | hari soacacdll Security has not been received. Office of Security files have been searched and pertinent information reviewed. Pending a decision as to what form the response, if any, will-take, it is recommended that the Office of Security files containing information pertinent to the request be retained in a readily available status and no further action be taken at this time. Curtis R. Rivers. C3 Reg 9 rae | racer