Face of a Killer

Author’s Note: Fact or Fiction

While the body of this novel, and each character within, is a work of fiction, many of the events were inspired not only from my own experiences working as a forensic artist and police officer, but also from documented history, some of it decades old, just as the book portrays.

Although my fictional bank is known as BICTT, the inspiration for this international financial institution came from the real life Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), which was known in federal law enforcement circles as the Bank of Crooks and Criminals. BCCI was a major international bank founded in Pakistan in 1972, which eventually operated four hundred branches in more than seventy countries, with dozens of shell companies, and offshore banks with assets totaling more than twenty-five billion dollars.

In 1991 BCCI became the focus of the biggest banking scandal in history, with thirteen billion dollars still unaccounted for, and allegations of a “black network” division- still in operation after the bank’s closure-responsible for mafia-like tactics, be it extortion, kidnapping, and, by some accounts, even murder. Investigators found that BCCI was AUTHOR’S NOTE 381 set up specifically as a conduit for a number of illegal operations, such as terrorism funding, arms trafficking, drug money laundering, sale of nuclear technology, bribery of public officials (which explains how the bank managed to stay under the radar for so many years), and tax evasion.

Buying and selling global intelligence through the bank was a natural by-product, because the bank held the skimmed national treasuries and funds of some of the world’s most notorious leaders, such as Saddam Hussein and Manuel Noriega, as well as funds from numerous countries’ intelligence agencies. The National Security Council used BCCI to funnel money for the Iran-Contra deals, and the CIA maintained accounts in BCCI for covert operations. Investigators were told that the Defense Intelligence Agency maintained a slush-fund account with BCCI, apparently to pay for clandestine activities.

BCCI attempted to infiltrate the U.S. banking industry by secretly buying three U.S. banks, including First American Bankshares, whose chairman was former U.S. Defense Secretary Clark Clifford. BCCI’s de facto ownership and “nominee” shareholder arrangement meant that BCCI itself remained invisible to U.S. banking regulators.

For a time, perhaps.

That much money can’t be moved without raising some questions, and eventually the New York District Attorney’s office pressed an investigation, as did Senator John Kerry’s Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations. But Kerry’s probe into BCCI was hindered at every turn by the Justice Department, who refused to turn over documents and even blocked the deposition of a key witness. Some believe the bribes and intelligence connections of BCCI were one reason that the Justice Department seemed less than cooperative. Others speculate that the Justice Department was merely covering up for various U.S. governmental agencies’ ties to BCCI, especially with the allegations that BCCI had funneled millions to bribe top U.S. officials (for at least ten years before the bank’s downfall).

Imagine running across a little black book that held all the 382 Author’s Note records showing which U.S. officials and major corporation heads were bribed to facilitate the bank in its operations. That would certainly shake up a few individuals, and send them running to cover their tracks. And who knows what happened to all the money still unaccounted for, or if some other enterprising crook has pocketed some of that money, or opened up a new bank to fill the void left by BCCI’s departure. Whatever the real truth is, Senator Kerry’s subcommittee report and other scholarly articles and books on BCCI make for some interesting reading. It certainly fueled my imagination.