Stanford Technology Trading Group International (STTGI) was a
shell company
A shell corporation is a company or corporation with no significant assets or operations often formed to obtain financing before beginning business. Shell companies were primarily vehicles for lawfully hiding the identity of their beneficial ...
founded by
USAF
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
Major General
Richard V. Secord
Major General Richard Vernon Secord (July 6, 1932 – October 15, 2024) was a United States Air Force officer who worked in covert operations. Early in his military service, he was a member of the first U.S. aviation detachment sent to the Vi ...
and Iranian arms dealer
Albert Hakim
Albert A. Hakim (July 16, 1936 - April 25, 2003) was an Iranian-American businessman and a figure in the Iran-Contra affair.
Born into an Iranian Jewish family, Hakim attended California Polytechnic Institute for three years, beginning in 1955. ...
, and a cornerstone of what was informally known as the "Enterprise", a complex web of for-profit business entities and non-profit
front organization
A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy ...
s created by Secord and Hakim to facilitate sales of arms to
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
, transfers of arms to the
Nicaragua
Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
n
Contras
In the history of Nicaragua, the Contras (Spanish: ''La contrarrevolución'', the counter-revolution) were the right-wing militias who waged anti-communist guerilla warfare (1979–1990) against the Marxist governments of the Sandinista Na ...
, as well as side dealings that benefited the Enterprise's principals in various ways.
Anatomy of the Enterprise
Key people
*
Thomas G. Clines
Thomas Gregory Clines (August 18, 1928 – July 30, 2013) was an American covert operations officer for the Central Intelligence Agency, and a prominent figure in the Iran-Contra Affair.
Background
Clines served in the 1950–1953 Korean War, and ...
, ''aka'' "C. Tea". Earned $883,000 for his services to the Enterprise.
Walsh, Chapter 11
/ref>
* Willard I. Zucker, financial manager of the Enterprise's Swiss bank accounts.
Business and non-profit entities involved
* Compagnie de Service Fiduciaires (CSF)
* National Endowment for the Preservation of Liberty (NEPL)
See also
* The Channel-Miller Operation
References
Iran–Contra affair
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