Iran-Contra Jury Indicts Poindexter, North, Two Others

A federal grand jury Wednesday indicted Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, retired Rear Adm. John M. Poindexter and two others for conspiracy to defraud the United States and theft of government property in the Iran-Contra scandal.

Poindexter, President Reagan’s former national security adviser, and North, a White House aide on Poindexter’s staff, were accused of secretly supporting Nicaragua’s rebels with profits from U.S. arms sales to Iran.

North, who could be sentenced to 85 years in prison if convicted on all counts, and Poindexter, who faces a potential 40 years’ imprisonment, were also charged with obstructing Congress and making false statements to cover up their alleged conspiracy.

Secord and Hakim Charged

The sweeping 23-count indictment also accused retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord and his business colleague, Albert A. Hakim, of taking part in the alleged conspiracy. Secord and Hakim were charged with exploiting the Iran arms sales for purposes of helping to secretly support the Nicaraguan rebels and personally enriching themselves.

The conspirators obstructed lawful government functions “by deceitfully and without legal authorization organizing, directing and concealing” a program to finance Contra military and paramilitary operations during a period when Congress had restricted such covert actions, the indictment said.

Lawrence E. Walsh, the independent counsel who has been overseeing the Iran-Contra investigation for 15 months, said the indictment constitutes “an interim report” by the grand jury, which has “not finished” and will return to work on Monday.

Although Walsh refused to say whether additional people are likely to be charged, the indictment cited “others known and unknown to the grand jury” as having taken part in the alleged conspiracy.

President Comments

Hours before the indictments, Reagan, asked if he still believed no laws had been broken in the Iran-Contra affair, said: “I have no knowledge of anything that was broken. . . . From all of the investigation and everything else, we don’t know where that money came from and we don’t know who had it and we don’t know where it went.”

North, reacting to the indictment at the office of his lawyer, Brendan V. Sullivan Jr., displayed the same kind of patriotic reaction that the bemedaled Marine showed repeatedly during nationally televised congressional hearings on the Iran-Contra affair. He called the grand jury’s action “sad for our country.”

Declaring that he was caught in a bitter dispute between Congress and the President over foreign policy, North said it is “a shame that the new battleground . . . will be a courtroom.”

Denying that he had committed any crime, North said he faces enormous personal and financial costs. But he added: “I will never give up, we will win, I just cannot tell you how soon.”

Poindexter’s lawyer, Richard W. Beckler, said: “Obviously my client will be vigorously asserting a plea of not guilty. I feel confident he will be vindicated down the line.”

Hakim’s lawyer, N. Richard Janis, said that he expects “lengthy legal proceedings” and that his client will plead not guilty to the “unfair and unwarranted charges.”

Secord, appearing on ABC-TV’s Nightline program, called the indictments “crazy.”

“There’s going to be no plea. We’re going to defend this case successfully, and I think the IC (independent counsel) is going to be looking very silly very soon.”

Congress’ Prohibition

The grand jurors charged that the conspiracy began in late spring or early summer of 1985 and extended at least to December, 1986. During most of that time, U.S. agencies involved in intelligence work were barred by Congress from providing military supplies to the Contras and from helping to plan or execute their military operations.

North, as deputy director for political-military affairs of the National Security Council, was depicted by the indictment as the central player in the alleged conspiracy, using such aliases as William Goode and Mr. Green.

The four defendants were accused of depriving the government “of the honest and faithful services of employees free from conflicts of interest, corruption and self-dealing by deceitfully using the influence and position” of Poindexter and North to generate funds for Secord and Hakim.

They allegedly did so with the understanding that Secord and Hakim, top officers of a company called Stanford Technology Trading Group International, would evade government accountability and place the funds at the disposal of Poindexter and North for projects they designated, including the military support of the Contras.

Substantial Profits Cited

From January to June of 1985, Secord and Hakim sold the Contras assorted military equipment, deriving substantial profits that they concealed by establishing foreign corporations with Swiss bank accounts, the grand jurors alleged.

By mid-1985, North, Secord, Hakim and others began an “Enterprise” to support military and paramilitary operations by the Contras and to conduct various other covert actions, according to the indictment.

Hakim, in coordination with North and Secord, allegedly provided a clandestine financial infrastructure for the Enterprise by using the foreign corporations and Swiss bank accounts already under his control, supplemented by additional bank accounts.

By late 1985, North had advised Poindexter, then Reagan’s deputy national security adviser, of “aspects of the Enterprise’s operation,” according to the indictment.

Among other things, the indictment alleged that the Enterprise had purchased aircraft and recruited pilots and crews to airlift supplies to the Contras, and that it had arranged that a military airfield and warehouse in El Salvador, described in the indictment only as “Country A,” be available for the Contras’ use.

CIA Assistance Claimed

In 1985 and 1986, North and others assisted the Contras in opening a southern front in the guerrilla war against the Nicaraguan government by secretly obtaining the assistance of a CIA official stationed in Costa Rica, the indictment alleged. It added that land was acquired and an airstrip built to deliver military weapons to the southern front.

North was also accused of using a tax-exempt organization to raise $3.2 million for the Enterprise and of transferring some of the funds to corporate bank accounts under his control in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland.

Two principals in that fund-raising operation, Carl R. (Spitz) Channell and Richard R. Miller, pleaded guilty last year to tax charges and are cooperating in the grand jury’s investigation.

From late 1985 to 1986, Poindexter, North, Secord and Hakim exploited and corrupted the secret program to sell arms to Iran to help release American hostages by diverting millions of dollars in profits to Enterprise bank accounts, according to the indictment. The money was to be spent, with Poindexter’s approval, for purposes designated by North, Secord and Hakim, including buying military weapons and supplies for the Contras.

Negotiations With Iran

As an example of the alleged diversion, the indictment detailed North’s January, 1986, negotiations with an Iranian representative for the delivery of 1,000 TOW missiles at a price of $10,000 apiece, for a total of $10 million.

The CIA sought only $6,000 per missile. And North and Secord transmitted only $3.7 million to the CIA--$3,700 per missile--and kept the rest for the Enterprise, the indictment said.

The funds were deposited in the same bank account that was being used to finance the Contra resupply operation, the indictment charged.

Besides using some of the surplus funds for Contra supplies, Secord and Hakim transferred some of the funds to Swiss investment accounts under their control “for their personal benefit,” the grand jurors alleged.

Additional Charges

North and Poindexter were also charged with obstructing Congress and making false statements to various investigators, including Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III, to conceal the conspiracy’s efforts.

North was additionally charged with obstructing a presidential inquiry, obstructing justice, removing, falsifying and destroying official documents, conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service, receiving an illegal gratuity--a $13,800 home-security system provided by Secord--and converting $4,300 in traveler’s checks for personal purposes.

The charge involving destruction of documents was related to testimony to the congressional Iran-Contra committees last year that North shredded stacks of papers shortly before he was fired from the White House on Nov. 25, 1986.

The $13,800 security system that was mentioned in the indictment was also the subject of the congressional hearings. North told the committees that he allowed the system to be installed because he and his family had been the targets of threats by Abu Nidal, a Middle East terrorist whom North described as the “foremost assassin in the world today.”

THE IRAN-CONTRA INDICTMENTSOLIVER L. NORTH

Position

Marine lieutenant colonel who served on the staff of the White House’s National Security Council.

Background

A Naval Academy graduate, North, 44, was a Vietnam War hero who joined the NSC in 1981, eventually taking over responsibility for arms sales to Iran and supplying the U.S-backed Contras with arms despite a congressional ban on such actions.

Charges

Conspiracy to defraud the United States and commit offenses against the U.S. government by diverting, “without legal authorization,” funds from the Iranian arms sales to supply the Contras. Theft of government property. Wire fraud. Obstruction of Congress. False statements. Obstruction of a presidential inquiry. Concealing, removing, mutilating, obliterating, falsifying and destroying official documents. Receipt of an illegal gratuity. Obstruction of justice. Conversion of traveler’s checks.

JOHN M. POINDEXTER

Position

Rear admiral and White House national security adviser from December, 1985, to November, 1986, when he was allowed to resign.

Background

Claimed complete responsibility for authorizing the diversion of Iran arms sales profits to the Contras without the knowledge of President Reagan. A career Navy man who graduated first in class from the Naval Academy, Poindexter, 51, joined the White House as military assistant to Reagan’s first NSC adviser, Richard V. Allen.

Charges

Conspiracy to defraud the United States and to commit offenses against the U.S. government. Theft of government property. Wire fraud. Obstruction of Congress. False statements.

RICHARD V. SECORD

Position

Arms dealer chosen by Oliver L. North to direct the arms sales and covert support for the U.S.-backed contras fighting against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua.

Background

An Air Force major general, Secord, 55, was a West Point graduate who rose to near the top of the Pentagon before retiring under a cloud in 1983 after being linked to renegade-CIA agent Edwin Wilson. With his background in Air Force arms sales to about 60 countries, he became an private arms merchant. Working with former CIA and military associates, Secord established a network of shell companies and Swiss bank accounts to provide aid for the Contras.

Charges

Conspiracy to defraud. Theft of government property. Wire fraud. Conspiracy to pay illegal gratuities. Payment of an illegal gratuity to North. Offer of an illegal gratuity.

ALBERT A. HAKIM

Position

Iranian-American business partner of Secord.

Background

Exiled from Iran after the 1979 revolution that toppled the shah, Hakim, 51, was the middleman for the financial transactions of the Iran arms sales and helped engineer diversion of funds to the Contras to supply them with weapons. Hakim, who had represented U.S. companies in Tehran during the shah’s regime, set up Stanford Technology in Switzerland in 1974 to run his operations.

Charges

Conspiracy to defraud. Theft of government property. Wire fraud. Conspiracy to pay illegal gratuities. Offer of an illegal gratutity to North.