U.S. Accuses 52 Firms of Aiding Iraqi Operations

WASHINGTON —  The Bush Administration, seeking to strengthen compliance with the global arms and financial embargo against Iraq, Monday made public the names of 52 firms and 37 individuals that it says have acted, or are acting, as agents and fronts for the Baghdad government.

The firms and individuals are part of an international operation through which Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein built his war machine and possibly embezzled his nation’s wealth, officials charged.

“We want this network exposed, and we want it neutralized,” said Deputy Treasury Secretary John E. Robson. “Worldwide cooperation will help eliminate this network.”

Only two U.S. firms were on the list, and their operations were previously frozen by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Beginning immediately, it will be illegal for any U.S. firm or individual to do business with those named Monday by the Treasury Department. Each violation carries criminal penalties of up to $1 million, civil fines up to $250,000 and prison sentences up to 12 years.

Officials refused to provide details about the firms and individuals on the list or to offer an estimate of the value of the assets involved. In some cases, they said, those on the list may not have violated U.S. law.

Both U.S. companies named are reportedly connected with Anees Mansour Wadi, an Iraqi national and Beverly Hills businessman who was expelled from Britain last September.

Matrix-Churchill Corp., an Ohio subsidiary of a British firm with ties to Wadi, was shut down by U.S. Customs agents in September. Its assets were seized as part of an investigation into illegal arms dealing. Less than two weeks ago, the U.S. government also seized control of Bay Industries Inc., an engineering consulting firm that Wadi operates in Century City.

Matrix-Churchill was not listed in the Cleveland telephone directory. No one answered repeated calls to Bay Industries.

The other firms on the Treasury Department’s list appear to be a widely varied mix, ranging from an Italian sewing machine firm to a British air conditioning company to banks, shipping companies, airlines and insurance firms.

More than half are British, but other non-U.S. companies are in Jordan, Egypt, Italy, India, Honduras, Brazil, Germany, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates. Little information was available on the 37 individuals named, but their locations span a similarly wide range of nations outside the United States. Wadi and his wife, Shamsaban al-Hayderi, were not on the list of individuals.

At least half the firms and people, Robson said, were involved in purchasing arms or equipment that could be used to make weapons.

The Treasury Department also released a list of 160 merchant vessels that it said were owned, registered or controlled by the government of Iraq or by persons acting on its behalf.

The U.S. government has no power over the firms that are located outside this country, other than forbidding Americans from doing business with them. However, the Administration is hopeful that other nations who were part of the anti-Iraq alliance also will join the effort to put the squeeze on these operations, said R. Richard Newcomb, director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

“While this action may lack the spectacular drama of Operation Desert Storm, it represents an important companion effort by the United States to bring stability to the region,” Robson said. “It will disrupt the ability of Saddam Hussein or a successor to employ this network to rebuild Iraqi’s military capacity or to divert funds that rightfully belong to the Iraqi people for other nefarious purposes or personal gain.”

For all the tough rhetoric, however, the Bush Administration and its predecessors have been under sharp criticism for the role that they may have played in making it possible for Iraq to build the world’s fourth-largest military machine.

Between 1985 and 1990 alone, the Commerce Department approved $1.5 billion in exports of American high technology to Iraq--sometimes over the objections of the Pentagon.

For much of that time, the United States tilted in favor of Iraq in its 1980-88 war with Iran.

Robson said publication of the list was only “the first step in a series of steps.”

In addition to putting “a quarantine sign . . . some sort of scarlet letter,” on those firms and individuals, the Administration hopes that it will spark further investigation into others who might be operating on behalf of Iraq, he explained.

“Our investigation is a continuing one, and we expect it to go on,” Robson said. “We are off to a good start, but there are many more cases that are under investigation.”

In putting together the list, Newcomb said, his office shared information with other countries, including Kuwait, utilized a wide range of law enforcement agencies and pursued tips it received from informants.

He added that his office applied a number of criteria in determining which firms were controlled by or acting on behalf of Iraq’s government.

FIRMS ON BUSH’S LIST

Firms listed by the Administration as agents and fronts for the Baghdad government. Headquarter cities are listed where available.

U.S.:

* Bay Industries Inc., Santa Monica

* Matrix Churchill Ltd., Cleveland

BRITAIN:

* Admincheck Ltd., London

* Advanced Electronics Development Ltd., London

* Archi Centre I.C.E. Ltd., London

* Archiconsult Ltd., London

* Associated Engineers

* A.T.E. International Ltd., London

* Atlas Air Conditioning Co. Ltd., London

* Atlas Equipment Co. Ltd., London

* A.W.A. Engineering Ltd., London

* Dominion International

* Endshire Export Marketing

* Euromac Ltd.

* Falcon Systems

* Geodesigns

* Investacast Precision Castings Ltd., London

* I.P.C. International Ltd.

* I.P.C. Marketing Ltd.

* Iraqi Allied Services Ltd.

* Iraqi Freight Services Ltd.

* Iraqi Reinsurance Co.

* Keencloud Ltd.

* Meed International Ltd., London

* PMK/QUDOS

* Rajbrook Ltd.

* Reynolds and Wilson

* Sollatek

* Technology and Development Group Ltd., London

* T.E.G. Ltd., London

* T.M.G. Engineering Ltd., London

* T N K Fabrics Ltd.

* U.I. International

IRAQ:

* Al-Arabi Trading Co. Ltd., Baghdad

* Iraqi Airways

* Rafidain Bank, Baghdad

* Whale Shipping Ltd., Basra

JORDAN:

* The Arab Petroleum Engineering Co. Ltd., Amman

* Arab Projects Co. S.A. Ltd., Amman

* Petra Navigation & International Trading Co. Ltd., Amman

EGYPT:

* Arab Trans Trade Co. S.A.E., Alexandria

* Unimas Shipping, Alexandria

OTHERS:

* Al-Rafidain Shipping Co. Bombay, India

* Banco Brasileiro-Iraquiano S.A., Rio de Janeiro

* Euromac European Manufacturer Center SRL, Monza, Italy

* Euromac Transporti International SRL, Monza, Italy

* Iraqi State Enterprise for Foodstuffs Trading, Colombo, Sri Lanka

* Iraqi State Enterprise for Maritime Transport, Bremen, Germany

* Iraqi Trade Center, United Arab Emirates

* Pandora Shipping Co. S.A., Honduras

* S.M.I. Sewing Machines Italy S.P.A.

* Trading & Maritime Investments, Honduras