203:, who were in trouble with the SEC. When his company began to experience financial difficulty, no "white knight" was willing to get involved. Vesco saw his chance and began a protracted battle to assume control of the company, opposed by Cornfeld and others. Cornfeld was jailed 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 associated with the mess, receiving money from one party or the other for their endorsement. Among the accusations against Vesco were that he parked funds belonging to IOS investors in a series of
450:, the TV film featured the even more portly ex private eye enjoying sedate retirement as a gourmet restaurateur and fishing charter boat captain until he is lured by a still fetching old flame (from his presumably less obese post World War II army days) back into hefty gumshoe action to solve the murder of her husband, a retired CIA agent turned country horse breeder. Cannon winds up chasing down an expat financier similar to Vesco (played by
179:. He quit engineering school during his early twenties to work for an investment company. With an $ 800 stake, Vesco began matching buyers and sellers in the aluminum market until he eventually acquired a portion of the profits of a floundering aluminum plant. By 1965, he could borrow enough money to acquire
454:) along a still warm trail from Costa Rica back to the US after he finds out the murder victim had stumbled on a plot among other retired CIA agents to smuggle the fugitive back into the US following plastic surgery, where he had assumed a new identity as the dead man's inconspicuous neighborly horse vet.
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maintain control of his 26 percent of ICC stock, but, with five outstanding indictments for securities fraud against him, he could not return to the United States. It was not until 1981 that ICC had completely become free of Vesco's control, after paying almost $ 12 million to him and his family.
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said he had been taken into custody "under suspicion of being a provocateur and an agent of foreign special services," or intelligence agencies. However, he was formally charged with "fraud and illicit economic activity" and "acts prejudicial to the economic plans and contracts of the state." During
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Among the charges that emerged during the 1970s, the SEC accused Vesco of embezzling $ 220 million from four different IOS funds. During 1973, Vesco fled to Costa Rica. Shortly before his departure, hoping to end the SEC investigation into his activities, Vesco routed substantial contributions
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During 1982 he relocated to Cuba, a country that could provide him with treatment for his painful urinary tract infections and would not extradite him to the U.S. Cuban authorities accepted him on the condition that he not become involved in any financial deals. He married Lidia
Alfonso Llauger.
218:
During
February 1973, with criminal charges against him imminent, Vesco used the corporate jet to flee to Costa Rica along with about $ 200 million worth of IOS's investments, according to SEC allegations. Vesco would continue to wage a legal battle from Costa Rica and the Bahamas to try to
325:
by
Fairclough (a.k.a. Edward Burlington). On Vesco's orders, Fairclough was drugged and kidnapped whilst at The Pink Pussycat Club on Delancy Street in Nassau. He awoke on Vesco's yacht but managed to force the yacht back to shore and escaped after having stolen a revolver from one of Vesco's
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government was in power. Each of these countries accepted him, hoping that his great wealth would finance local development projects. However, this worked badly for everybody involved, although Vesco was reputed to have stolen more than $ 200 million, and appeared several times on the
399:
1996 the Cuban government sentenced Vesco to 13 years in prison on charges resulting from the scandal. He was scheduled for release during 2009, when he would have been 74 years old. Vesco's wife Lidia was convicted on lesser charges and was released during 2005.
215:, and that he broke into a Swiss bank vault to obtain shares. These allegations are unproven, as Vesco fled the country and spent the next fifteen years relocating between countries that lacked extradition treaties with the United States.
183:(ICC). Through aggressively hostile expansions and debt-financed takeovers of other businesses he increased ICC quickly. By 1968 the company owned an airline and several manufacturing plants, and Vesco had shares totaling
333:
and establish it as a sovereign state. The Costa Rican government refused his attempt to return during 1978, while
Rodrigo Carazo was President. During 1982 Vesco tried again to return to Costa Rica, but President
380:, and the Cuban government agreed to provide laboratory facilities and doctors to conduct the trials. Results from the studies were claimed to be positive. In Cuba, Vesco joined forces with rogue former
154:
in 1989. During the 1990s he was indicted by the Cuban government for "fraud and illicit economic activity" and "acts prejudicial to the economic plans and contracts of the state" in 1996.
368:
During the 1990s, Vesco became involved once again with Donald Nixon after Nixon went to Cuba seeking to partner with the government in conducting clinical trials on a substance called
127:(December 4, 1935 – November 23, 2007) was an American criminal financier. After several years of risky investments and dubious credit dealings, Vesco was alleged to have committed
830:
317:) investigated these ties. Despite Vesco's fall-out with Pindling, he still maintained a golden gated mansion staffed by armed guards situated North East of Nassau close to
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Another fictionalized version of Vesco was featured in the 1980 movie, "The Return of Frank Cannon." Intended as a possible reboot pilot for the canceled detective series
391:
On or about May 31, 1995, Vesco attempted to defraud Nixon and Raúl Castro, and Cuban authorities seized control of the project and arrested Vesco, his wife, and Terpil.
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Vesco reportedly died of lung cancer in
November 2007 and was buried at Colon Cemetery in Havana. However, reports of his death have been disputed as his associate
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In Costa Rica, Vesco donated $ 2.1 million to
Sociedad Agricola Industrial San Cristobal, S.A., a company initiated by President
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article termed Vesco "the undisputed king of the fugitive financiers." After settling in Cuba during 1982, Vesco was charged with
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Vesco was the son of a
Detroit autoworker. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, where he grew up and attended, and then quit,
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to create an autonomous country and having a national law in Costa Rica made to protect him from extradition. A 2001
433:. The fictionalized Vesco is shown to have faked his own death in Cuba in 2007 and to be in pursuit of a legendary
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286:. Figueres' constitutional term ended during 1974. Vesco remained in Costa Rica until 1978, when President
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were the subject of CIA investigations. It is believed that Bill
Fairclough (ostensibly working for
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Anreder, S.S. (1978) "Vesco's legacy: International
Controls Corp. hopes to live it down,"
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to re-elect Nixon. As counsel to
International Controls Corporation, New Jersey lawyer
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Vesco was notorious throughout his life, attempting to buy a Caribbean island from
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Burgess, W.H. (1982) "The remarkable recovery of the company Vesco left behind,"
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283:
536:"Robert Vesco, the Fugitive Financier, Goes on Trial in Cuba on Fraud Charges"
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167:, five months before, although it has been suggested that he faked his death.
686:"Frank Terpil: How a CIA spy went rogue to court the world's worst dictators"
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or TX, which he claimed boosted the immune system. Vesco introduced Nixon to
266:. While Vesco fled the country, Stans, Mitchell, and Sears were indicted for
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where one of his yachts was moored as noted in the autobiographical journal
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Vesco was also investigated for a secret $ 200,000 contribution made to the
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290:(1978–1982) repealed what was popularly referred to as the "Vesco Law."
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388:, and they offered their network of contacts to the Cuban government.
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Vesco was sentenced to 13 years in jail by Cuba. In November 2007 the
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While in Antigua Vesco tried unsuccessfully to buy the sister island
515:
429:, titled "Robert Vesco (No. 9)", in which he is portrayed by actor
611:"Sears Is Suspended as a Lawyer For Transmitting '72 Vesco Gift"
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A fictionalized version of Vesco is featured prominently in a
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305:
While in Nassau in the seventies, Vesco's business ties with
282:. Figueres passed a law to guarantee that Vesco would not be
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investigation by living in a number of Central American and
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Vesco was indicted during 1989 on drug smuggling charges.
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reported that he had died of lung cancer at a hospital in
655:. March 4, 1999, in Spanish. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
726:Eisenhauer, A.L., Moore, R. and Flood, R.J. (1976)
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195:In 1970, Vesco began a successful takeover bid for
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476:"A Last Vanishing Act for Robert Vesco, Fugitive"
342:He lived in Nicaragua for a while, while the
262:to intercede on his behalf with SEC chairman
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754:. Great Britain: Dolman Scott (Publishers).
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353:list of the wealthiest people in the world.
831:American businesspeople convicted of crimes
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741:"Robert Vesco: 'The Whale in the Puddle'"
715:Vesco: From Wall Street to Castro's Cuba.
752:Beyond Enkription - The Burlington Files
609:Sullivan, Joseph F. (October 1, 1976).
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211:address that was later associated with
133:U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
131:fraud. He immediately fled the ensuing
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801:Fugitives wanted by the United States
639:. February 9, 1976. Retrieved 5/3/08.
293:During 1978 Vesco relocated first to
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791:20th-century American businesspeople
253:Committee to Re-elect the President
826:American people convicted of fraud
394:At the time of Vesco's arrest the
213:Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands
181:International Controls Corporation
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816:American people imprisoned abroad
542:August 2, 1996. Retrieved 5/3/08.
474:Lacey, M. and Kandell, J. (2008)
672:February 2008. Retrieved 5/3/08.
569:Vesco, His Rise, Fall and Flight
516:"Know Your Fugitive Financiers!"
482:. May 3, 2008. Retrieved 5/3/08.
197:Investors Overseas Service, Ltd.
821:Prisoners and detainees of Cuba
811:Deaths from lung cancer in Cuba
747:on Vesco in Costa Rica), p. S9
670:Conde Nast Portfolio magazine.
649:"Denuncian protección a Vesco"
557:. April 17, 1978. p. 9, 16-18.
518:, Slate.com. Retrieved 5/3/08.
247:delivered the contribution to
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806:American expatriates in Cuba
586:September 7, 1981. p. 34-35.
786:Businesspeople from Detroit
582:(1981) "Life after Vesco,"
251:, finance chairman for the
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177:Cass Technical High School
750:Fairclough, Bill (2015).
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728:The Flying Carpetbagger.
631:"Learning to love exile"
498:, CNN. Retrieved 5/3/08.
496:"Stalking Robert Vesco"
232:through Nixon's nephew
44:Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
439:Spanish treasure fleet
396:Cuban Foreign Ministry
268:obstruction of justice
207:, one of which had an
357:Nixon scandal, Pt. II
315:Coopers & Lybrand
87:Lidia Alfonso Llauger
836:Michigan Republicans
796:Fugitive financiers
739:Dyer, Dery (2006).
599:May 1982. p. 31-32.
540:The New York Times.
255:. Vesco had wanted
713:Herzog, A. (2003)
666:"Rogue on the Run"
616:The New York Times
597:Management Review.
566:Herzog, A. (1987)
534:Rohter, R. (1996)
494:Herzog, A. (1986)
415:In popular culture
205:dummy corporations
18:American fraudster
664:Rosen, J. (2008)
653:La Nación Digital
573:Retrieved 5/3/08.
376:and his brother,
338:denied his entry.
323:Beyond Enkription
187:50 million.
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55:(2007-11-23)
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781:2007 deaths
776:1935 births
452:Arthur Hill
431:Stacy Keach
423:episode of
378:Raúl Castro
274:"Vesco law"
191:IOS scandal
139:countries.
770:Categories
458:References
384:operative
344:Sandinista
284:extradited
129:securities
101:conspiracy
68:Occupation
37:1935-12-04
584:Barron's.
437:from the
435:shipwreck
209:Amsterdam
171:Biography
148:Slate.com
137:Caribbean
71:Financier
696:March 6,
554:Barron's
370:trixolan
114:13 years
79:Deceased
629:(1979)
331:Barbuda
326:guards.
299:Antigua
144:Antigua
111:Penalty
99:Fraud,
758:
733:
720:
447:Cannon
350:Forbes
295:Nassau
84:Spouse
756:ISBN
731:ISBN
718:ISBN
698:2016
309:and
185:US$
50:Died
31:Born
382:CIA
301:.
228:to
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