MEMO:DADE COUNTY REQUEST FOR AGENCY ASSISTANCE REGARDING THE DEATH OF JOHNNY ROSELLI
Originator: CIA
From: RIVERS, CURTIS R.
To: DIRECTOR OF SECURITY
Document date: 1976-10-08 00:00:00
Document type: PAPER - TEXTUAL DOCUMENT

# DOCID-32358277

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Date: 11/01/99

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JFK ASSASSINATION SYSTEM

IDENTIFICATION FORM

AGENCY INFORMATION

AGENCY

RECORD NUMBER

RECORD SERIES

AGENCY FILE NUMBER

CIA

104-10109-10174

JFK

80T01357A

DOCUMENT INFORMATION

ORIGINATOR :

CIA

FROM

RIVERS, CURTIS R

TO : DIRECTOR OF SECURITY

TITLE : MEMO: DADE COUNTY REQUEST FOR AGENCY ASSISTANCE

REGARDING THE DEATH OF JOHNNY ROSELLI

DATE: 10/08/76

PAGES : 6

SUBJECTS : ROSELLI, JOHNNY

DOCUMENT TYPE : PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT

CLASSIFICATION : SECRET

RESTRICTIONS : 1B

CURRENT STATUS: RELEASED WITH DELETIONS

DATE OF LAST REVIEW : 06/21/97

OPENING CRITERIA :

COMMENTS : JFK40:F7 1997.06.21.12:36:20:250031: FILE ORIGINAL

NOT FOUND. THIS COPY RECONSTRUCTED FROM DUPLICATE

(104-10122-10375) LESS ROUTING SHEET.

Heleased under the John F. Kennedy

Assassination Records Collection Act of

1992 (44 USC 2107 Note). Case#:NW

55924 Date: 10.26.2021

CLASSIFIED

ATTACHMENT

[R] - ITEM IS RESTRICTED

NW 65924 Docld:32358277 Page 1

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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.

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 com-

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.

SSGRET.

EZ IMPDET

CL BY 007472

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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 vas untrue,

Agency concern, at the time, centerca around the

possibility of unfavorable publicity and the

compromise of sources and methods if the Agency

waS

Iorced 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.

details regarding his death vere

No further

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

2o entomaticials

regarding Masferrer.

C.

Luciana Nieves--Office of Security files

contain

information

regarding Luciano Nieves Nestre, date and place

O1 birth 6 October 1933, Santa Clara, Cuba.

Nieves was

on 4 February 1966 in

Florida. It was 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 anti-Castio plot.

He was

released in March

1965 after serving approxi-

mately. It months of his sentence and went to

Spain briefly where he was of interest to the

Madrid Station.

In August 1965 he entered the

United States and in November 1965 was contacted

by Directorate of Operations (DDO) representatives.

From November 1965 until

approximately January

1966 he was of operational interest to the DDo.

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 infornation concerning Nieves to the DDO.

2.

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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 ClA 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.

Manola Artimes--Security records contain

overt (611

523). and covert. (210. 838).. files

regarding Manuel Francisco Artime-Buesa.

ArtIme-

Buesa is a former Agency operational asset

utilized by the DDO during the approximate

period 1959-1963. Any decision regarding the

release of information regarding Artime-Buesa or

his present whereabouts should be deferred to the

DDO.

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

the Senate Select Committee assassination reports.

Although 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

the Office

of Security would fall within the

purview of the DDO, and it is believed that any

decision to release information pertaining to

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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.

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

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, JI., a consultant

with North American

Aviation, was a close

friend and business associate of "Bobby" G.

Baker.

Black was mentioned repeatedly in the

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

"cut out'" in connection

with negotiations for the School of Advanced

International Studies and John Hopkins University.

SECRET

110405

Dould:

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The 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

the DDO.

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 Sheriff's Office

request. Additionally, a formal request to the Office of

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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

6

SECRET

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