Bruce Aitken is a

radio host A radio personality is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host (North American English), radio presenter (British English) or radio jockey. Radio personali ...

and the author of the book ''Mr Clean - Cash, Drugs and the CIA: The True Story of a Master Money Launderer'', in which he writes about

laundering money Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds into ...

in the 1970s and 1980s.

Biography

Aitken grew up in

Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey Hasbrouck Heights (pronounced HAZ-brook /ˈhæz.bɹʊk/) is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 12,125, an increase of 283 (+2.4%) from the 2010 census ...

. He graduated from

Hasbrouck Heights High School Hasbrouck Heights High School is a comprehensive four-year public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Hasbrouck Heights and Teterboro in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone high ...

in 1963 and played as pitcher for the

Florida Southern Moccasins baseball The Florida Southern Moccasins (also shortened to Florida Southern Mocs) are the athletic teams that represent Florida Southern College, located in Lakeland, Florida, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Moccasins compete as members of ...

team, graduating from Florida Southern in 1967. He moved to

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

in 1969, during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, to work for

American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...

. He later moved to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. In 1989, he was arrested in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and sent to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on money-laundering and

drug-trafficking The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types ...

charges. He was later sentenced to five years in jail and served less than one as part of a

plea bargain A plea bargain, also known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. These concessions can include a ...

. Aitken has broadcast his religious-themed radio show ''The Hour of Love'' since 2004. In an article for the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong's ''The Correspondent'' magazine in August 2020, he wrote of the show: “On the radio programme, real letters from inmates are received and read live into the public realm.” Speaking of his broadcast work to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' in 2017, Aitken said: “Maybe I do it for my own personal penance.”

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aitken, Bruce Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American radio hosts Florida Southern Moccasins baseball players Hasbrouck Heights High School alumni People from Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey Writers from Bergen County, New Jersey American people convicted of money laundering American drug traffickers