MITCHELL LIVINGSTON WERBELL III INVOLVEMENT WITH "FRIENDS OF ABACO".
Originator: CIA
From: DAVID A. PHILLIPS
To: DIR FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
Document date: 1974-06-27 00:00:00
Document type: PAPER - TEXTUAL DOCUMENT

# DOCID-32372635

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JFK ASSASSINATION SYSTEM

IDENTIFICATION FORM

AGENCY

INFORMATION

AGENCY

: CIA

RECORD NUMBER : 104-10256-10060

RECORD SERIES

: JFK

AGENCY FILE NUMBER

: 80T01357A

DOCUMENT

INFORMATION

AGENCY ORIGINATOR : CIA

FROM : DAVID A. PHILLIPS

TO

: DIR FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

TITLE

: MITCHELL LIVINGSTON WERBELL III INVOLVEMENT WITH

"FRIENDS OF ABACO".

DATE

PAGES

06/27/1974

SUBJECTS : JFK ASSASSINATION

WERBELL-ABACO

DOCUMENT TYPE : PAPER

CLASSIFICATION

: SECRET

RESTRICTIONS

1A 1P

CURRENT STATUS

RELEASED IN PART PUBLIC - RELEASED WITH DELETIONS

DATE OF LAST REVIEW

: 06/22/04

COMMENTS

JFK46: F20: 20040322-1061514

Released under the John F. Kennedy

Assassination Records Collection Act ol

1 992 (44 USC 2107 Note]. Case#:NW

B5990 Date: 11-01-2021

[R] - ITEM

IS

RESTRICTED

104-10256-10060

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WARNING NOTICE

SENSITIVÈ INTELLIGENCE SOURCES AND METHODS INVOLVED

27 JUN 1974

ME:IORANDUM FOR:

Director

Federal Bureau of Investigation

ATTENTION

SUBJECT

: Intelligence Division

: MITCHELL LIVINGSTO? WERBELL, III

Reference is made to your Bureau's File No.

MI 105-21352, Subject as above, and your Bureau's

reporting on

Subject's involvement with the "Abaco

Independence Movement" (AIM) in the Commonwealth of

the Bahamas.

2.

For your information only, three forner employees

of this Agency were contacted in June 1974 by representatives

of a group called "Friends of Abaco," a group

allegedly

advocating

the

secession of the island of Abaco fron tha

Commonwealth

of the Bahanas.

Contact was initiated by

Mitchell Livingston VERBELL

III, an international arms

dealer, and a naturalized Lithuanian named Nichael OLIVER,

both of whon attempted to involve the forner Agency

employees in the Abaco Independence Movement (AIM), of

which your Bureau is familiar. The three former employees

contacted are:

a. John

Patrick MULDOON

DPOB: 25 August 1937, Washington, D. C.

Retired from this Agency on 20 March 1972 .

Address at time of retirement:

4305 Kentbury Drive

Bethesda, Maryland

CLASSIFIED BI 010116.

EXEIPT FROM GENERAL DECLASSIFICATION

SCHEDULE OF E.0. 11652 EXEMPTION CATEGORY 5B (2). IMPOSSIBLE

TO DETERMINE DATE OF AUTO LATIC DECLASSIFICATION.

SAMCISMISIE

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Theodare John ROUSSOS

DPOB: 14 July 1919, Washington, D. C.

Retired: 31

July 1970

Address at time of retirement:

2918 Hardy Avenue

wheaton, Maryland

Note:

ROUSSOS

was rehired on a contract

basis in February 1971.

His contract

was terminated Septenber 1973.

c .

Walter Joseph MACKEN

DPOB: 13 December 1937, Omaha, Nebraska

Separated: 31 October 1973

Address at time of separation:

2609 N. Potomac

Arlington, Virginia

3.

Michell Livingston VERBELL III, the principal

owner of the arms manufacturing firm befense Systems

International

and an international arms dealer, has been

encouraging a group of Bahanian citizens on the island

of Abaco who seel to secede from the Bahamian Commonwealth.

In this affair WERBELL has been collaborating with

group based in Miami called the "Friends of Abaco."

Active in the Friends of Abaco is Michael OLIVER, a wealthy

land developer residing at 2089 El Rancho Drive, Carson City,

Nevada.

OLIVER, a naturalized U.S. Citizen, was born

Moses OLITSKI on 11 Decenber 1928 in Lithuania.

4.

in encouraging persons in Abaco to seel:

independence of Nassau, OLIVER's apparent motive is to

establish a prototype government based on principles of

tree enterprise expounded in a paperback book which he

has authored

called "A New Constitution for a New Country"

(Fine Arts Press, Reno, Nev. = 1968) .

WERBELL, on the

other hand, has privately expressed a desire to establish

a tourist mecca on Abaco to include hotels, recreation

facilities and gambling casinos. Officials of Holiday

International, a Baltimore firm specialized in recreation

and health spas, have been briefed by WERBELL and OLIVER

recently on the Abaco movement. Robert A. C. HAMILTON,

13th Lord of Belhaven and Stenton and a nomber of the

SLORD/SENSITIVE

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ASTER/SENSITIVE

Friends of Abaco, on 10 June 1974 sponsored a resolution

in behalf of the Abaco Independence Movement on the floor

of the British House of Lords,

following conversations

with WERBELL in Washington in

late May.

5.

Despite the seeming innocence of the enterprise,

however, we have observed that WERBELL, in particular, '

has made a concerted effort to involve

persons formerly

affiliated with this Agency in

the activities of the

Friends of Abaco in support of Abaco's independence.

occasions, involving at least two forner

officers of this organization, MULDOON and ROUSSOS cited

above, WERBELL has introduced

them as presumably active

Agency officials in such a fashion as to imply, according

to the persons involved, that either this Agency or the

United States Government supports the ains of the

Friends of Abaco.

6. Most recently, WERBELL has proposed to both

economic terns.

The study would include interviews with

citizens on Abaco prior to

an alleged plebiscite"

independence to take place

in Abaco on 28 June 1974.

To be included in the investigation is research on the

probable reaction in the United Nations Organization to

a petition fron political groups

in Abaco for support on

independence, notably any parallels to be found in

precedents such as the Biafra

secession from Nigeria.

7. Andrew SI. GEORGE, a nationally known frce-lance

writer, has becone

active in WERBELL's organization and

claims to be preparing an

article on WERBELL and the

Abaco movement tor publication in True Magazine.

SI. GEORGE has participated in the several meetings that

VERBELL, OLIVER and their associates have had with the

two retired Agency officers, Mr. John MuLdood anu

Mr. Ted ROUSSOS.

3

SEGREY GUISITE

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ti's

777

• In default of the collaboration of

either

MULDOON OF ROUSSOS, WERBELL and OLIVER have hired

Walter Joseph MACKEN, a former Agency friend of both

MULDOON and ROUSSOS.

9. John MULDOON is currently employed as the

Washington representative of the firm Security consultants

International, a subsidiary of the Atlanta (Ga.) detective

agency, Central Investigative Agency. ROUSSOS is not

employed.

FOR THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS:

/s/ David A. Phillips

David A. Phillips

CIRA-0371-74

SECRET /SENSIDNE

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