Ron Rewald

Ronald Rewald (September 24, 1942 – December 2017) was a Hawaii investment advisor, professional football player and self-described CIA agent who was convicted of wire fraud and mail fraud in 1985.

Football career According to Rewald, he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then spent a year working for the CIA monitoring underground anti-government activity at the University of Wisconsin–Madison before leaving the CIA and attending Marquette University, where he played football. There is evidence that this was a fabrication and that he only attended Milwaukee Area Technical College.

Rewald's football skills did attract interest from professional teams in the National and American Football Leagues. He signed with the Cleveland Browns in 1965 and trained with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1966. In 1965 Rewald played halfback for the West Allis Racers in the Central States Football League while on a one-year leave of absence from the Chiefs.

After his football career ended, Rewald became president of a sporting goods store in Wisconsin called College Athletic and expanded the business across Illinois, Minnesota and Ohio before selling the franchise and moving to Hawaii with his wife and five children.

Bishop, Baldwin, Rewald, Dillingham and Wong In 1978 Rewald established an investment firm in Hawaii called "Bishop, Baldwin, Rewald, Dillingham and Wong". The firm's name incorporated the names of Rewald and his partner Sunlin Wong along with the names of three prominent kama'aina who had no connection with the business: Charles Reed Bishop, Henry Alexander Baldwin and Benjamin Dillingham. (As the firm was not a chartered bank it was not eligible for FDIC insurance.)

In 1983, the Internal Revenue Service began an investigation of Rewald when his firm's false FDIC insurance claims were discovered. On July 29, 1983, Rewald attempted suicide at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel, allegedly because the media was on the verge of exposing his background. Rewald used money from new investors to pay interest to earlier investors, all the while siphoning off funds to pay for his lavish lifestyle.

Trial Rewald presented a surprising defense, claiming that his business had been a front for the Central Intelligence Agency. In 2010, Rewald lived in Los Angeles and worked as director of operations for the APA talent agency in Beverly Hills.