Released under the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1997 (44 USC 27107 Hote). DATE: 11-14-2017 JFK Assassination System Date: 6/1/2015 Identification Form Agency Information AGENCY: FBI RECORD NUMBER: — 124-90154-10124 RECORD SERIES: HQ AGENCY FILE NUMBER: — CR 162-1-202-67 Document Information ORIGINATOR: SEE TITLE FROM: _. [Restricted] TO: TITLE: [Restricted] DATE: 00/00/0000 PAGES: 14 SUBJECTS : MICHAEL MCLANEY [Restricted] DOCUMENT TYPE: PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT CLASSIFICATION: Secret RESTRICTIONS: 1B; 1C; 4 CURRENT STATUS: —Withhold DATE OF LAST REVIEW: — 10/30/1998 OPENING CRITERIA: INDEFINITE COMMENTS : MEMO v9.1 DoclId: 32340095 Page 1
Releaséd ander the John F Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 19927 (44 USC 2107 Hote} a DATE: 11-Ya~: 2017 : : ma e CROmey our Ref: SF.52/5 Poa 8 ee f “ a : » wr oe ee PLE h \ a: a ; fey 9th February, 1967. "9 Per b I, pn 4 ct wwe fi as fo pharnit- wa /,. hey ; You will recall that. on 30th December, 1966, I forwarded ra) to you a memorandum based on information received from the Bahamas /, Police (Special Branch = Supt. Gregory Bentley in charge) via - my Headquarters as well as from my opposite number in Jamaica. = * ‘26 As” paragraph 7/7 thereof indicates, we were most anxious that no action be taken by you to prejudice either the source ae of subsequent investigation in the Bahamas; we are grateful for your co-operation in this respect. We did, however, ask = you to let us have details of any records you had relating to. ‘ [ those mentioned in the report. Such records as were available you kindly forwarded to us on 5th January, and since that time I have made oral requests for further information relating to McLANEY, and for a further attempt to be made to check the name ‘ Nt David PROBINSKI, referred to earlier as PROVINSKI. . Jl i) . i 3. As indicated at the time, the material I passed to ii you emanated from a source whose reliability had then to be . * established; the same state of uncertainty regarding the source pertains today. As you will appreciate, the report as it Te stands indicates that the P.L.P. in their. recent election Xe campaign in the Bahamas expected to derive appreciable. assistance” : from the U.S. contacts named in the report, some of whom (such ; as PROBINSKT) seem to be concerned (unexceptionally) With the Civil Rights movement and others, such as Michael McLANEY: perhaps with organised crime syndicates. In the event, the oy election passed off without violence, but this may have been due more to the fact that the P.L.P. (unexpectedly) won the : election than to any other factor; even though the allegations | of arms trafficking made in-the report cannot be confirmed, there Y i ~ % %. Os MH . 7- 20- EEX 4 fs A LA 4) Og S ME S roa 72) A Li a Oo <— poe ©. DEC is reason to believe (based on what the F.B.I. Field Office in Miami has passed to the Bahamas Police in recent months - para 8 of my note refers) that the P.L.P. (if so disposed) could have laid their hands on sufficient firearms to make their point. tee L . 4 h. - ‘The result of the elections was that the P.L.P. came to sg, > power, and L.O, PINDLING (para 2(d) of my note) is now Prime a r Nise pe Minister. While investigations in the Bahamas have by no ~ | “i means confirmed the entire story as recorded in my letter of a ves 30th December, it is nevertheless a fact that since the election f Css McLANEY has been seen in and around a Bahamian Minister's office ad and-this,naturally gives rise to concern on the part of the. Governo “and also the Commonwealth Office in London as to the i exte to which those named in my note of 30th December, may : _, vhave cceeded in ingratiating themselves with the P. L.P. ~ | qgweaders for purposes which, to say the least, are most unlikely va to be conducive to good government. Se re | Passer de % io) ~ & .y ~~ S a ™ \ . So ane yu e- 3 4
DATE; 11- 14- 2017 a . os ~ AN ets $ on CONE! a: 5 Lo -~-2- ~ . Ww uf Be ‘The question of the extent to which Mr. PINDLING and his ministers should be advised against maintaining associations with undesirable clients such as McLANEY not only raises problems of dissemination, but also (and perhaps even more important) the extent to which it would be wise to base an approach solely on the contents of the unconfirmed report sent to you on 30th December. 6. If I may say so, my own view has been from the outset that your expert assistance should have been enlisted in an attempt to get to the bottom of this report, particularly as it contains suggestions that U.S. citizens may have been | engaged in unlawful activities within your jurisdiction, I am-glad to say that this view has now been accepted; accordingly I have been instructed to approach you on behalf of the British Government departments concerned, as well as my own Service, and to request that you would be so good as to consider mounting an investigation of those named in the report, inc]luding the - interviewing (where possible) of those concerned, with a view | to assisting us to determine its reliability. Te In an attachment to this letter, I attach additional information relevant to the original report which I have re- ceived from the Bahamas, and. may I say not only how much your collaboration at this stage would be welcomed by us, but also that my services are always at your disposal, should clarification of any point be required. we have been at pains throughout to avoid publicity of any kind, and for this reason none of the suspects have been questioned in the Bahamas itself. You should know that the source of the report in question was in fact James HAWTHORNE, and while we see no reason why he should not be questioned in due course, we do venture to suggest that care should be taken to avoid giving him any reason to think that you are aware of his role as a source of Special Branch Bahamas, and that perhaps he should not be approached until after some of the others con- cerned have been seen, and have provided (at least notionally) collateral on which to base the approach to HAWTHORNE himself. I believe that at the moment HAWTHORNE, McLANEY and PROBINSKI are all in the Bahamas. \ 8. In view of the delicacy of the matter under reference, | ] Go Since drafting the above, I have also heard that on 6th February, a Mr. Peloquin of the Department of Justice - visited the Bahamas, and indeed spoke to Mr. PINDLING about . the undesirable aspects of the characters of McLANEY (whom he said was 'in.trouble' with the Internal Revenue Service), PROBINSKI (a bankrupt, who had kept a house of prostitution), } and one 'Tex' McCRARY, whom Mr. Peloquin said had been in /touch ... Dockd: 32340095 Page 3 a? rr: ’ a) Released “under the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1997 (44 USC 2107 Noteyy
ee oe ee ‘ — Releatetrimiter" the von FL Kemedy Assassination Records Collection Act oF 1992 (44 1 DATE: 11-14-2017 “es om ° touch with him last week in Washington, and had indicated that Mr. PINDLING wished to have information about McLANEY and PROBINSKI. As a result of his visit to the Bahamas, Mr. Peloquin has agreed to supply full dossiers on McLANEY, PROBINSKI, McCRARY and CHESLER to the Governor, through the .- - Consul General. : 10. Mr. Peloquin is no doubt keeping you informed of his anterest in this matter, although I myself did not hear of his ‘plan to go to Nassau until after he had returned. I under- stand that Mr. Peloguin is aware of my contacts with you on this matter; I accept that he may well be in a position to supply the Bahamas with information from U.S. agencies other than the F.B.I. (with which I have no contact) but notwithstanding what Mr. Peloquin may have on record, and the channel to the Bahamas he has established (through the U.S. Consul General) it still seems to me to be right to present you now with all the facts as I know tham, and to invite you.to pursue some active enquiries in order to get to the bottom of the | ‘HAWTHORNE! story. 41. Amongst the enclosures to this letter will be found a somewhat fuller version of the source material included in our mS note of 30th December 1966. tz 3 oO ~ | i Docld: 32340095 Page 4 . ' : o / Hotey.
‘Released under KT “2107 Hote) - Me dy Assassina . stion Act—of 1999 -Tat HSC y DE =F701F - : : { (" INFORMATION [ Fam Wl couiry khan, fees ) De ; fhe following is a summary of the information which has | been receif | up to 16 DEC 66. The oui )4s engaged in the -activitids..f the uS and Bahamian citizex.2 concerned, and the ‘Special Branch assessment of the source ts that he is thought _to be reliable and that the 4nformation is probably true. ww, @), A group of American citizens named Michael “ J... MCLANRY, Lavid PROVINSKY, Duke JORDAN, [W4lldam 1. BANDLEY): Samued BRENTON, James HAWTHORNE, Drees 0A: . SPTRO, % BESSINGER (ph), and ? VINN have cc . agreed to give financial and other assistance + to the pip, in return for gambling concessions Lo - -after the PLP form the Wovernment. MCLANEY 48 =... |: -. ‘the Leader of the group. Soa Lt pb) HAWTHORNE will leave for EUROPE pm. on i6 DEC 06. “to arrange for the purchase of some 1,500 smalh ' “SS arms and ammunition to. be used oy the PLP in yo an armed insurrection, planned to take place oo “ should the pip tose the Election at the polls.e MCLANEY has arranged for purchase funds to be 2 “made available at the EXCHANGE & INVESTMENT _ ne! J. BANK, 45 -PIERRE FATIO, GENEVA» where a person  -. | ~ -named Louis POLIAR is to’ be contacted. The: | ok arms are to be purchased in BELGIUM, and | Coe -. shipped from ANTWERP to a port which has not» ac dant “yet been decided, butthe ultimate destination .: -- ' may be. TREASURE CAY in the Hahamase nr -..@) Should the pLp not obtain a majority of seata -  . -: > at the Election, McLANEY is determined that «© °©  .#- Ji ' the armed insurrection will start, irrespective — Lot of the .then poLicy of the PLP Leaders. wetted d) An unidentified’ contact of McLANEY's, who is a Mea --"yesident of NEW YORK, has promised to ioan a we ta “i twin é€ngine aeropiane and piLot to the PLP for + ... campaign purposes.e. The same person promised — ~. 25,000 (g or § 7?) to the PLP campaign fund | when he me@ET{DBENGREA NEW YORK recently. ~ DoclId: 32340095 Page 5
Released under the /HATE: 11-14-2017 an rs 2. Geneva 5 London _ SOLOMON, government defeated at January 1967 elections. for coming forward was desire to be on the right side in the -event of trouble, and to gain standing with U.B.P. in hope of’ obtaining new gambling concession. - Investmen plone .Louis¥ROLLAR, who was it seems to have been some kind of contact man with access to supvlies of arms in Brussels, which would be shipped later to the Bahamas (possibly Treasure Cay) via Antwerp. of credit, and added that in any case no arms were available in | Belgium because stocks had been bought up by King Hussein of © ; Investment Bank. was established in 1959, .There are six Swiss dire¢tors, lth January refers. of either HAWTHORNE or POLLAR having been in Switzerland up to Jordan. be: | ; 1966. | Wie latter oO . 6th January, but on 9th January, it was reporte . an American citizen with large sums at his disposal was due to arrive there that day; in fact he did not arrive. meantime a check had been made of Belgium immigration records for details of any visit there (December/January 1967) by HAWTHORNE, with negative results. HAWTHOR . story he gave as at paragraph 3 above. claimed to have flown to Europe from Nassau on 19th December accompanied by an English girl, whom he had met in Bahamas on | 46th December, and went straight to Geneva; he claims to have returned from Europe to Nassau on 4th January 1967, via Bermuda . | and Miami, . passenger to London on BOAC Flight BA 672 from Nassau on 19th December. doh Ff. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 (44 USC 2107 Hote} oy ORO gem tony, Earns Rae Few! Sie ~ SECRET Ni ; ad - James Russell HAWTHORNE/Lou POLLAR ae ‘ Subject of your memorandum 454,02 dated January 1967; this indicates that he has-an extensive record of violent crime. Introduced to Special Branch Bahamas, through Roy. former Minister for Communications and Works in U.B.P. Apparent motive Early in January 1967, HAWTHORNE claimed to have been to to collect a letter of credit from the Exchange and Bank, 15 Pierre Fatis, and to have handed this over to _ POLLAR, according to HAWTHORNE refused the. letter .- | Enquiries in Switzerland revealed that the Exchange and and moved to Geneva in and one American. The ( is Benjamin {WHEELER of Miami - your memorandum 15403 of . | No trace could be found in Swiss records brs | LAR , - ¢ that Lo oy In the At this stage, an opportunity was taken of questioning NE about his movements with a view to verifying the On 7th January, he It is confirmed that HAWTHORNE was in fact a There is no record of any onward journey from on HAWTHORNE's part. HAWTHORNE alleged that he stayed — in London at the Carlton Towers Hotel; the result of a check on this statement is awaited from London. t QUOT eS te eros podya: 32340095 Page ?f
ReLeaged ‘under the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1997 (44 USC 27107 Hote}. “ DATE: 11-14-2017 ~ , , aa LU : ™ = cL & 6. It is not -without interest that HAWTHORNE is the subject of an exclusion order in London; he clearly slipped through the’ Immigration control at London Airport; Furthermore, according to Interpol, he was sentenced to two years imprisonment in ‘absentia in 1961: for fraud. He married a Belgian girl in London in December 1960. \ 7. HAWTHORNE also alleges that when in London in December/ January 1967 he saw "quite a lot" of a man named WESTON "a . _ person of substance and high level contacts". He added that “ WESTON had had a very satisfactory interview with Wallace GROVES in Freeport, Bahamas involving a land transaction worth 424 million dollars. WESTON has not yet been identified. 8. HAWTHORNE also said on 7th January, that the arms dealer he had met in Geneva was not POLLAR after.all, but. an unnamed West German; it was this man who refused to do business with him. He told Special Branch Bahamas that he (HAWTHORNE) would be seeing McLANEY for frank instructions on 7th January (i. e. prior to the Bahamas elections). 9. Regarding Lou -POLLAR referred to above, a delicate source © reports that a U.S. citizen named Lou POLLER who lives in Miami, . is an even larger shareholder of the Exchange and Investment Bank m of Geneva than Benjamin WHEELER. It was this man who was due. 'to reach Geneva on 9th January, but did not arrive; WHEELER informed the Bank of POLLER's delay by telephone. POLLER is said to have two addresses in Miami - one being Biscayne Avenue, and the other Ireland Terrace, Corablue (? sic). It is believed by those concerned with the bank in Switzerland, that POLLER is a man undoubtedly capable of any shady deal. Have you any record of POLLER please? Bocld: 32340095 Page 63
h. | popra: 32340095 Page 9 ‘Released under the jehn-F-Kennedy-Assassinatic / pate: Ma-14 9944 Michae wotaney SO f- Th wes Samuel¥RECE i pa Lav Tex McCRARY AU le -, we and others. / ~ Subject of your memorandum No.15400 dated 5th January 2. It is reported that since the recent advent of power of © the P.L.P. McLANEY is a frequent visitor to the Ministry of Tourism office, and is negotiating for a lease in his own name of offices to be used by the P.L.P. in Bay Street, Nassau. 3- One of McLANEY's associates in Nassau who has been seen visiting Mr. PINDLING's Office is Samuel RICE, described as an attorney from Florida (Fortlauderdale); he is known to act for Samuel BENTON who has been declared a prohibited immigrant in the Bahamas (see also your memorandum No.15401 dated 4th January 1967). . Have you any record of this man please? I apologise — for the dearth of personal particulars. .” he RICE arranged for the following aircraft to be made available for use~by the P.L.P. in its election campaign:- | (a) Cessna 206 - N°3436 L - piloted by one Len*ReSSMAN, \ carrying credit card in name of Meray Carol sBEAZLE \ c/o American Aviation Corporation, Tameana \ Airport, Florida. (b) Beech Queenair, registered as N.1100Q, owned by - 'Telectron (associated with, or subsidiary of 7 Metalab «fsubject of your memorandum No.1540 dated kth January 1967). - . (c) Helicopter belonging to Adventure Helicopter Corporation piloted by one Paul. .WOODS. 5. Regarding paragraph , one Harol@WENSEN, a U.S. aircraft pilot who has beén living in the Bahamas for some years, where he has been employed by the Bahamas Tractor and Equipment, Co. Ltd., told Special Branch that prior to the elections a pilot: friend of his who works for the Crescent (?). Aircraft Company - of Fort Lauderdale, had told him of an approach by a man named William SKILLINGS (owner of a Fort Lauderdale public relations firm and at one time P.R.O. at Riley Aeronautics). This approach. had to do with hiring a helicopter for use by the P.L.P. subseqnently there was a meeting attended by SKILLINGS and Sam RICE (see above), PINDLING, John Ward EVANS, Vice President of Riley Aeronautics who lives at 9941 S.W. 66 Street, Miami, one George NEESMITH (phonetic) of Crescent Airlines, and one Joseph A. WHITCOMBE, of whom we have no further particulars. -" /EVANS 2... ‘' 7 h
| 4 . wet . : \ -2- volvements in the past with ‘American Intelligence’ 6. | A fourth aircraft involved was a D.Cc.3 owned by the Carolina Aircraft Corporation leased to one Carl BOY of Fort Lauderdale, and piloted by one, Chase ENDERSON. -EVANS and NEESMITH are rumoured in the Bahamas to have had in- Ye “Any likely record of any of the individuals mentioned in paragraphs 5 and 6 which you may be able to produce would be appreciated. . . a . ; s . me . Pacld?32340095 Page 10 . alu . ,
Released under th Wonn F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 (44 USC 2107 Rte) L DATE: 11 -2017 a a 4 - . - ‘ > é Ley ee ee SI he David AROBINSKY o : , a ge to Referred to in my earlier letter-—ds David PROVINSKY; your memorandum No.15405 dated 4th January 1967, said that PROVINSKY was no trace in your records, on the basis of the particulars sent to you. 2. I understand that PROBINSKY is said to be about h6 years of age. On 71th January 1967, a newspaper in Jamaica said that a 46 year old American named PROBINSKY had managed the P.L.P's campagin after "having been active in Civil Rights activities in the United States". 3. Currently in Nassau, he is reported to be a close contact of both Michael McLANEY and "Tex" McCRARY. \4 Docl#+32340095 Page 11