Report Details Andrew Young Debt at BCCI

NEW YORK —  The Bank of Credit & Commerce International forgave a $150,000 loan to former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young’s dormant consulting firm, freeing him from $32,000 in annual interest and principal payments, a newspaper reported in today’s editions.

Young told the New York Times in an interview that he viewed the debt forgiveness as late payment of $50,000 in annual retainer fees BCCI had promised in oral agreements while he was Atlanta’s mayor.

A former congressman and U.N. ambassador, Young is quoted as saying the agreement on the consulting fees to his firm Andrew Young Associates was made by BCCI’s founder Agha Hassan Abedi, a Pakistani financier.

Neither he nor his firm performed any services for the fees other than to be on call as consultants, Young told the paper.

The debt forgiveness was payment for BCCI’s having had “the right to call on us if they wanted to or needed to,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.

The article said federal investigators confirmed that they are investigating the circumstances of the debt as part of an inquiry into BCCI’s Georgia connections.

It quotes investigators as saying that they have no evidence that Young did anything illegal.

BCCI was shut down around the world in July by banking regulators and charged with massive fraud. It has been linked to prominent political figures around the world.