Former Defense Secretary Clark Clifford, a pillar of the Democratic establishment and an adviser to presidents as far back as Truman, was indicted along with his law partner by a federal grand jury Wednesday in the BCCI scandal.
The Justice Department announcement was coupled with the disclosure in New York City that Clifford and colleague Robert Altman were indicted by a New York state grand jury in the same alleged conspiracy.The three-count federal indictment accused Clifford and Altman of enriching themselves through secret "sweetheart" loans and other agreements with BCCI.
Officials said Clifford and Altman concealed important information from the Federal Reserve Board about the efforts of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International to expand their operations in the United States.
FBI officials said the cooperative investigation by state and federal authorities is one of the largest white-collar criminal investigations ever conducted.
Clifford and Altman acted as BCCI's principal lawyers in this country. They also were chairman and president, respectively, of First American Bankshares, Washington's biggest bank holding company.
BCCI, with operations in 70 countries, collapsed last year amid allegations of arms smuggling, drug money laundering and financing of terrorists.
Assistant Attorney General Robert Mueller also announced that two key figures in the BCCI scandal have pleaded guilty to charges in the case and are expected to be major witnesses against Clifford and Altman.
Sheik Kamal Adham, a Saudi businessman, and his accountant, Sayed Jawhary, pleaded guilty Monday in New York State Supreme Court, Mueller said.
Adham, a former head of Saudi intelligence, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor violation of New York banking law and agreed to pay $105 million in fines, Plato Cacheris said. The attorney said Adham won't be sentenced to jail.