Changes

Stephens bought 9.3 percent of Worthen bank while Lippo purchased 9.4 percent. Lippo paid about $16 million for its share, and installed James Riady as a bank director in 1984. Stephens-Lippo continued to increase their share of Worthen stock, up to 36.7 percent.

Stephens bought 9.3 percent of Worthen bank while Lippo purchased 9.4 percent. Lippo paid about $16 million for its share, and installed James Riady as a bank director in 1984. Stephens-Lippo continued to increase their share of Worthen stock, up to 36.7 percent.

This union came about just as the [[Mena, Arkansas]], drug-and-arms trade was creating a vast local demand for money-laundering services. At the Asian end, with Mochtar Riady, Stephens purchased Seng Heng Bank in Macao, the "Oriental Las Vegas", where gambling is the primary source of government revenue. Stephens' Systematics supplied software to the Banco Nacional Ultramarino, the cashier and treasury bank of the Macao government and the bank that issues the local [[currency]]. Macao is located less than 40 miles from [[Hong Kong]], the center for [[heroin]] trade.

This union came about just as the [[Mena airport|Mena, Arkansas]], drug-and-arms trade was creating a vast local demand for money-laundering services. At the Asian end, with Mochtar Riady, Stephens purchased Seng Heng Bank in Macao, the "Oriental Las Vegas", where gambling is the primary source of government revenue. Stephens' Systematics supplied software to the Banco Nacional Ultramarino, the cashier and treasury bank of the Macao government and the bank that issues the local [[currency]]. Macao is located less than 40 miles from [[Hong Kong]], the center for [[heroin]] trade.

Stephens' principal motive in bringing BCCI to America was apparently to connect up his own financial institutions to a global system of money laundering--not only First American Bank, but those in Little Rock also. To avoid the type of [[SEC]] scrutiny involved in the Financial General takeover, [[Webster Hubbell]] was employed to draw up the charter for the [[Arkansas Development Finance Authority]] (ADFA). The structure for the laundry was then in place.

Stephens' principal motive in bringing BCCI to America was apparently to connect up his own financial institutions to a global system of money laundering--not only First American Bank, but those in Little Rock also. To avoid the type of [[SEC]] scrutiny involved in the Financial General takeover, [[Webster Hubbell]] was employed to draw up the charter for the [[Arkansas Development Finance Authority]] (ADFA). The structure for the laundry was then in place.