Iranian officials received pay-offs, papers show
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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from December 1986.
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Albert Hakim, 50, described himself in court documents as a wheelerdealer whose Tehran firm was hired by about 20 international corporations before the Shah of Iran was overthrown in 1979.
Hakim's statements came in depositions made in a lawsuit filed by Olin Corp., in February 1977 in State Superior Court. Olin withdrew the suit in February 1985, indicating that a settlement had been reached.
Olin's attorney William Werfelman said the company would not comment on the terms of the settlement. ment.
After leaving Iran in 1978, Hakim said in a deposition that he became President of Stanford Technology Corp., a California-based firm that manufactures and markets security and intelligence systems and devices.
He said he has permanent residency status in the United States.
Hakim's name has surfaced in the developing controversy over the chaunneling of money from the sale of arms to Iran to the contra rebels fighting the leftist government of Nicaragua.
Hakim's business partner, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord, is under criminal investigation in connection with two Swiss bank accounts that may have been used in the diversion scheme, according to Justice Department and Swiss officials, who refused to be identified.
A White House official, also demanding anonymity, said FBI agents handling the probe have asked questions about Hakim, who apparently first met Secord when the general was the U.S. Air Force liaison with the Iranian Air Force in Tehran in the late 1970s.
In the lawsuit suit, Olin accused Hakim and a former employee, Raul Castells, of skimming about 800,000 dollars in commissions that Olin paid to Hakim or his Tehran company, MultiCorp International, Ltd.
Court papers show that Olin paid Hakim or his company more than 4.5 million dollars in commissions between 1973 and 1975 for helping Olin secure three contracts worth 34.5 million dollars with the Iranian military. The deals involved the sale of ammunition and the construction of two ammunition plants and related facilities.
Hakim and his lawyers said Hakim used the Olin money in part to pay off Iranian military officers and others to obtain the business for Olin.
Hakim said he used at least one Swiss bank account to make the payoffs.
Those receiving them, directly or indirectly, included the commander-in-chief of the Iranian Air Force and the head of the Military Industries Organization, an Iranian purchasing agency, court papers show.
