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Line 22: + + + + + − In 1991, Clifford's memoirs ''Counsel to the President'' (co-authored with Richard Holbrooke) were published just as his name was implicated in the unfolding [[Bank of Credit and Commerce International]] (BCCI) scandal. The bank, with Clifford as its chairman, was called [[First American Bankshares]] and became the largest in Washington. Robert Morgenthau, the district attorney in New York City, disclosed that his office had found evidence that the parent company of Clifford's bank was secretly controlled by BCCI. The district attorney convened a grand jury to determine whether Clifford and his partner, [[Robert Altman]], had deliberately misled federal regulators when the two men assured them that BCCI would have no control. + +
→BCCI
== BCCI ==
== BCCI ==
In 1991, Clifford's memoirs ''Counsel to the President'' (co-authored with Richard Holbrooke) were published just as his name was implicated in the unfolding [[Bank of Credit and Commerce International]] (BCCI) scandal. The bank, with Clifford as its chairman, was called [[First American Bankshares]] and became the largest in Washington. Robert Morgenthau, the district attorney in New York City, disclosed that his office had found evidence that the parent company of Clifford's bank was secretly controlled by BCCI. The district attorney convened a grand jury to determine whether Clifford and his partner, [[Robert Altman]], had deliberately misled federal regulators when the two men assured them that BCCI would have no control.
Jackson Stephens, a billionaire banker in Little Rock, Arkansas, and one of presidential candidate [[Bill Clinton]]'s main supporters, played a key role in setting up the illegal purchase of the American branch of the BCCI of two American banks.
Both First American National Bank, the largest bank in Washington DC, and Georgia National Bank, were purchased by BCCI front man and Stephens business associate Gaith Pharon. Stephens' family bank, the Worthern National Bank, extended a two million dollar loan to the 1992 Clinton presidential campaign.
Stephens was named in the court records as having brought Pharon together with Stephens' close friend Bert Lance. Lance was a former [[OMB]] nominee under President Jimmy Carter who was denied confirmation due to a banking scandal.
According to newspaper reports, BCCI founder Agha Hasan Abedi was introduced to Lance by Stephens. Stephens, Lance, and First American Bank director and longtime Democratic party power broker Clark Clifford all maintained that they did not know the group of Pakinstani and Saudi investors headed by Pharon, which they were dealing with, were actually fronting for BCCI.
Clifford's predicament worsened when it was disclosed he had made about $6 million in [[profits]] from bank stock that he bought with an [[unsecured]] [[loan]] from BCCI. A New York [[grand jury]] handed up indictments, as did the [[Justice Department]]. Clifford's assets in New York, where he kept most of his investments, were frozen.
Clifford's predicament worsened when it was disclosed he had made about $6 million in [[profits]] from bank stock that he bought with an [[unsecured]] [[loan]] from BCCI. A New York [[grand jury]] handed up indictments, as did the [[Justice Department]]. Clifford's assets in New York, where he kept most of his investments, were frozen.