Robert Vesco: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:49, 12 May 2005

Revision as of 22:45, 25 May 2005

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In 1970 Vesco emerged as a possible savior of the failing [[Switzerland|Swiss]] investment firm [[Investors Overseas Services]] (IOS), a firm that invested funds for overseas Americans (and Americans looking to avoid U.S. scrutiny or taxes) in a variety of [[mutual funds]]. The founder of IOS, a man named [[Bernhard Cornfeld|Bernie Cornfeld]], had run into trouble with the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] and when his firm ran into financial difficulty, no large, reputable 'white knight' was willing to get involved.

Vesco saw his chance, and entered in a protracted battle to assume control of the company, opposed by Cornfeld and others. The battle quickly got nasty; Cornfeld was thrown in jail in Switzerland and Vesco was accused of looting the company of hundreds of millions of dollars. Many prominent figures in global business, finance, and royalty were tied to the mess, receiving money from one party or the other for support. Among the accusations againagainst Vesco were that he parked funds belonging to IOS's investors in a series of [[dummy corporation]]s, one of which had an [[Amsterdam]] address that was later linked to [[Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands]], and that he broke into a Swiss bank vault to obtain shares. He also befriended [[Donald Nixon]], nephew of US president [[Richard Nixon]]. These charges will likely never be proven, as Vesco went on the lam, fleeing to Latin America and spending the next fifteen years hopping between countries that lacked extradition treaties with the United States.

In hopes of shutting off the SEC investigation into his activities, Vesco routed illegal contributions to [[Richard Nixon]] through his nephew, [[Donald Nixon]]. The story was soon revealed and Vesco was in bigger trouble than before. Among the charges that emerged in the years after [[Watergate]], the SEC accused him of embezzling $220 million from 4 different mutualIOS funds and he was accused of [[cocaine]] trafficking. Vesco fled to [[Costa Rica]].

In Costa Rica, Vesco donated $2.1 million to company of president [[Jose Figueres]]. Figueres even passed a law to guarantee that Vesco would not be [[extradition|extradited]]. Vesco still hired a number of bodyguards.