Bruce Rappaport

Baruch "Bruce" Rappaport (February 15, 1922 – January 8, 2010) was an international banker and financier.

Early life Rappaport was born in Mandatory Palestine, to Russian-Jewish/Ukrainian-Jewish parents who built a cement business in their new homeland. After a fraud scheme with a local criminal was exposed, he fled Israel, acquired several passports and settled in Switzerland. In Geneva, he founded the Société Générale de Surveillance and the Swiss-Israel Trade Bank, allegedly with the help of Gideon Persk, brother of Shimon Peres and Mossad agents. In 1959, he founded International Maritime Services and International Maritime Supplies Company Limited, and built a global shipping and trading empire in partnership with the Greek shipping family Kulukundis. He was registered as a citizen of Panama, Costa Rica, Israel and Switzerland.

Antigua Bruce Rappaport was involved in banking, industry, and politics on the island of Antigua.

Swiss American Bank In April 1983, Rappaport formed Swiss American Bank Ltd., later renamed Global Bank of Commerce, Ltd., and became the first licensed bank in Antigua governed by the International Business Corporations (IBC) Act of 1982.

In the 1990s, United States government authorities accused Swiss American Bank and the Swiss American National Bank, which were both located in Antigua, of money laundering proceeds from illicit drug profits. The lawsuit stemmed from a plea agreement with John E. Fitzgerald, who admitted to laundering $7,000,000 through numerous shell corporations and eventually deposited the funds in Swiss American Bank. Swiss American Bank, instead of returning the money to the United States Government, paid $5 million to the government of Antigua and Barbuda and deposited $880,000 into a bank account held at the Bank of Bermuda. Lester Bird, the former Prime Minister of Antigua, later told the US government, "We can't get you the records, they were destroyed in the hurricane".

On March 1, 2006, the government of Antigua and Barbuda brought legal action against its former prime minister Lester Bird, Bruce Rappaport, and other defendants. The lawsuit contended that Swiss American Bank, Bruce Rappaport, and others misappropriated over $41,000,000.

West Indies Oil Company (WIOC) In 1980, a Rappaport controlled company by the name of National Petroleum Ltd purchased 440,000 shares of the West Indies Oil Company (WIOC) for $6,000,000 from the country of Antigua. The deal was negotiated by the former prime minister of Antigua, Lester Bird.

On May 30, 2010, the government of Antigua and Barbuda, using a $68 million loan from the Venezuelan firm, PDVSA, repurchased all of the shares to WOIC from National Petroleum Ltd

Rappaport provided the financing, and the land on Antigua, for the melon farm that was used to funnel the weapons from Israel to Colombia via Antigua.

Ambassador to Israel and Russia On December 3, 1997, Bruce Rappaport was appointed as Antigua and Barbuda's ambassador to the country of Russia.

Desalinization plant In 2006, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda (GOAB), sued many former government officials and Bruce Rappaport. The suit alleged that Bruce Rappaport embezzled $14 million via his role in re-negotiating the desalinization plant. The cable states,

In February 2009, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda announced a settlement agreement. Bruce Rappaport agreed to repay $12 million of the embezzled funds.

Bank of New York In 1982, Rappaport filed the required paperwork to declare his 7.5% ownership of Bank of New York.

On August 19, 1999, the Bank of New York (BoNY) admitted to co-operating with an investigation into a $10 billion money-laundering operation. Bruce Rappaport was a focus of the investigation and also his other bank, Bank of New York-InterMaritime, a Swiss bank that conducted a large amount of Russian business. Allegedly, his Bank of New York-Inter Maritime had money laundered money from Benex which had ties to Semion Mogilevich. In addition to Bruce Rappaport, another Bank of New York (BoNY) employee, Natasha Kagalovsky, who is married to Konstantin Kagalovsky, was a focus of investigations.

Bank of New York-InterMaritime His Bank of New York-InterMaritime and the 1966 founded Inter Maritime Bank -Bank of New York, Geneva were closely involved in the ownership of the Vyborg port and shipyard prior to Ilya Traber with support from Alexander Dobrovinsky gaining ownership of the facilities in 1994.

In 1990, Rappaport met with Mikhail Gorbachev who supported Rappaport's subsequent efforts in the modernization of 30 Soviet shipyards.

In 1994, the Bank of New York (BoNY) in which Rappaport held its largest stake was assisted by Rappaport's Inter-Maritime Bank (IMB), Geneva through their joint venture the Bank of New York Inter-Maritime to give BoNY's chairman J. Carter Bacot contacts for access to Russia.

His Inter Maritime Bank -Bank of New York, Geneva had no branch in Antigua.

Rappaport was also the person who allegedly controlled bank accounts which received $10 million for the Contras. Swiss authorities told the Iran/Contra Committees that the $10 million had disappeared, and was found to have "mistakenly" gone to a Swiss businessman, who then returned the money after the Iran/Contra affair was discovered. Press accounts contended that the businessman was Rappaport.

Indonesia During the early 1970s, General Ibnu Sutowo, signed numerous oil-tanker charter deals with Bruce Rappaport to provide oil transport for Pertamina.

In April 1977, General Ibnu Sutowo was placed under house arrest for his dealings with Rappaport. Rappaport was accused of price gouging and bringing Pertamina, and Indonesia, to bankruptcy.

Iraq–Jordan pipeline scandal During the 1980s, James McKay, an independent prosecutor, was appointed to investigate alleged financial improprieties by Edwin Meese while he was attorney general. As part of this investigation, McKay looked into Meese's involvement in a Bechtel pipeline deal in the Middle East. The pipeline was to extend from Iraq to Jordan and was negotiated by Edwin Meese, Shimon Peres, Bruce Rappaport, Robert C. McFarlane, and others.

During the investigation, Bruce Rappaport was offered immunity from prosecution as long as he did not perjure himself. Rapport later refused to attend his deposition for fear "he might not remember everything accurately".

Rappaport's alleged role was to bribe Israeli officials in the Shimon Peres government and ensure that portions of the $1 billion project were funneled to the Israeli Labor Party. Later, in 2006, Peres was investigated for an illegal $100,000 campaign contribution from Rappaport.

Philanthropy Bruce and his wife Ruth Rappaport contributed to the establishment of the Technion's Faculty of Medicine building (est. 1979), named the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, and founded the Technion's Rappaport Research Institute.

In Geneva, Rappaport gave millions of dollars to Jewish and non-Jewish organizations, including orphanages, day care centers, research institutes and hospitals in the United States, Israel and elsewhere. His wife, Ruth Rappaport, was the co-president of the Geneva branch of the Women's International Zionist Organization.