In 1993, Wanta somehow was appointed Ambassador to Switzerland and Canada by Somalia, an East African nation ruled by a crooked military. He claimed the ambassadorship was a cover for arresting Rich. Wanta probably thought the diplomatic immunity would be a useful cover. AS it would develop, he was not to enjoy diplomatic immunity in Switzerland or the United States. He was also involved at that time in helping the Clinton administration route $250,000,000. Through the Children=s Relief Fund as part of an intended payment to the PLO and Israel for a peace agreement. The agreement did not go through, but it was called AUN Contract 4.@ He was also working with Rich on the project, but Rich seemed to be having troubles with the Israeli=s at that time. Rich was to redeem himself by handling the collection of money to contribute to the parties to the Oslo Accords, and Bill Clinton, at the request of the Israeli prime minister, pardoned him in 2001.
Deputy White House Counsel Vincent Foster supervise the transfer of funds and believed that security agencies were squirreling away some of it for themselves. FBI director sent Wanta to Switzerland to go to Switzerland to supervise the last steps and to arrest or neutralize Marc Rich on tax evasion charges when he was out of Swiss territory. The arrest was to occur while Rich was on a ferry from Lausanne to a French casino, but none of the three Office of Naval Intelligence snipers was able to get a clear shot.
Foster never made it to Switzerland and was found dead at Fort March Park in Virginia. Sessions had been removed one day before this, and he later speculated that he was fired so he could not look into the badly bungled investigation of Fosters= death. The National Reconnaissance Office should have satellite images of what happened at Fort March Park, but none have been produced. Daniel Porter, head of the agency, was later murdered.
Wanta was subsequently seized by Swiss authorities and jailed and questioned for 130 days. The mission Session gave him wa a set-up. He was carrying $18 billion worth of US Treasury instruments, which were seized. The chief Swiss prosecutor was also an officer of a Rich company. The Israeli government secured his release because he was head of a front company they owned. Wanta claimed to be “trustor” for US and Israeli black funds. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin secured his release and he was taken to New York City, where a judge released him. He was then taken to Wisconsin on charges he had not paid state income taxes since 1985. He claimed he ceased to be a resident in that year .
Wanta was accused of owning $14,000 in taxes for 1989 -1991. That figure would eventually be raised . Some of his claims about his activities seemed so fantastic that he was not permitted to hire his own attorney. John Chavez, the attorney selected for him, did not believe his story and initiated competency hearings. The Wisconsin papers ridiculed his claims and the judge said he was delusional but capable of standing trial. Due to health problems, he was eventually placed under house arrest. He paid a $90,000 bond but was not released, and in 1995 he was slapped with a gag order. Eventually he was permitted to hire Tom Henry, a former U.S. Attorney. He was sentenced to 22 years.. A friend paid the state $30,626.97 and all state charges were dropped. Meanwhile, his home was sold at a knocked-down price and he got none of the proceeds.
In 1997, he was released, and Bill Clinton subsequently pardoned him of pending federal charges. . On July 25, 2002 he was rearrested and held first in Chicago, and later under house arrest in Colorado. He was carrying large amounts of money and Treasury securities. When his attorney tried to visit him, he too was arrested, and the FBI said he too was carrying large amounts of money and securities. Henry was later released. It is likely that the FBI had been tipped off about their movements by Delbert Vreeland, whom the US considers a rogue former ONI agent. Henry admitted that they had hired him to help recover some of the money Wanta had left in abroad. Vreeland has admitted in an interview that AI switched sides.@ He had every reason to switch as the US wanted him extradited from Canada to face drug charges in Michigan, and he had preciously said that would have amounted to an informal death sentence.
Wanta had filed suite in the federal district court for Eastern Virginia to recover his commission. He sued George H.W. Bush, the Department of the Treasury, the CIA, and some other defendants. On April 15, 2003, Federal Judge Bruce Lee ruled that Wanta had a commission contract and that the facts he presented were largely accurate. However, it was held that Wanta could not collect for national security reasons. The court confirmed that Wanta was the trustor for these federal accounts.. According to Wanta, former Vice President Daniel Quayle arranged for him to be held under house arrest in Switzerland until 2016.
on the web site --MediaCorp news under the Business archives you'll find an article April 7, 2007 ,World Bank Shake-up looming: Wolfowitz. These are aritcles you never see in US news. But it does tell me that what the web site--worldreports.org-- about the Leo Wanta story says in its last article is pretty much true.
ReplyDelete