Changes

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.<ref>http://fas.org/irp/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/06early.htm </ref>

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.<ref>http://fas.org/irp/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/06early.htm </ref>

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, and the U.S. Justice Department opened its own investigation. Clifford's assets in New York, where he kept most of his investments, were frozen.  

The "Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations United States Senate" led by Senators John Kerry and Hank Brown noted that a key strategy of "BCCI's successful secret acquisitions of U.S. banks in the face of regulatory suspicion was its aggressive use of a series of prominent Americans," Clifford among them.<ref>[http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/ The BCCI Affair], A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, 102d Congress 2d Session Senate, December 1992.</ref> Clifford, who prided himself on decades of meticulously ethical civic conduct, summed his predicament up when he told a reporter from the ''New York Times'', "I have a choice of either seeming stupid or venal."  Indictments against Clifford had been set aside because of his failing health.

The "Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations United States Senate" led by Senators John Kerry and Hank Brown noted that a key strategy of "BCCI's successful secret acquisitions of U.S. banks in the face of regulatory suspicion was its aggressive use of a series of prominent Americans," Clifford among them.<ref>[http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1992_rpt/bcci/ The BCCI Affair], A Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, 102d Congress 2d Session Senate, December 1992.</ref> Clifford, who prided himself on decades of meticulously ethical civic conduct, summed his predicament up when he told a reporter from the ''New York Times'', "I have a choice of either seeming stupid or venal."  Indictments against Clifford had been set aside because of his failing health.