Pincus Green

Pincus Green (born July 5, 1934) is an American oil and gas commodities trader. In 1983 Green and his business partner Marc Rich were indicted on charges of tax evasion relating to illegal trading with Iran, including deals that were done while the Ayatollahs were holding Americans hostage in Tehran. At the time, it was the largest tax-fraud case in US history. In order to avoid prosecution, Green and Rich fled the United States and moved to Switzerland. However, in 2001 Green and Rich received a controversial presidential pardon from President Bill Clinton, which prompted fierce public criticism as well as a bipartisan Congressional investigation.

Early life

Green was born to an Orthodox Jewish family, the seventh of eight children, and raised in Flatbush, Brooklyn. His father was a distributor of confectionery. As a youth, Green attended Jewish parochial schools but dropped out of high school to support his family when he was 16.

Career

In 1953, at the age of 17, he got a job working the mailroom at the commodity trading firm, Philipp Brothers. In 1954, Philipps hired Marc Rich in the mailroom and they soon became friends. Both quickly advanced in the company and eventually became top traders in Europe especially in oil trading, Rich in Spain and Green in the Philipps' office in Zug. In 1974, they left Philipp Brothers to form their own company, Marc Rich AG, headquartered in Zug, Switzerland.

Indictment and pardon

In September 1983, a federal grand jury in New York returned a 51-count indictment against Marc Rich, Pincus Green, and their companies. A superseding indictment adding an additional 14 counts for a total of 65 was filed in March 1984. It included a variety of serious charges such as evading taxes on more than $100 million in revenues, mail and wire fraud, racketeering and trading with an enemy, Iran, during the Iranian hostage crisis. Green along with his partner Marc Rich, were indicted by U.S. Attorney and future mayor of New York City Rudolph Giuliani. Then they sold the U.S. affiliate of Marc Rich AG (renamed Clarendon Ltd) to Alec Hackel, a partner to Green and Rich. U.S. legal authorities determined that the sale was false and froze the assets of the company, which hurt Marc Rich AG's. In 1984, Clarendon paid the U.S. government $150 million to settle tax charges and Marc Rich AG's trading volume recovered. The three partners divided their responsibilities with Rich trading oil, Hackel trading metals and minerals, and Green responsible for shipping, finance, and administration.

Green received a presidential pardon along with Rich, from United States President Bill Clinton in 2001. The pardon was sharply criticized, with the ''New York Times'' calling it "a shocking abuse of presidential power". An investigation by ''Salon'' found "an extraordinary tale of international influence peddling and wheeling and dealing" behind the pardon, and ''Time'' magazine noted that the pardon of Rich and Green "sparked an investigation into whether it was bought by the hefty donations Rich's ex-wife, Denise, had given to the Clintons and the Democrats." The announcement of the pardon led to an investigation by the US Attorney's Office in New York and the FBI and it also prompted the Congressional House Government Reform Committee to launch a bipartisan investigation, and in May 2002 the committee issued a report which stated:

It has been reported that Green has been in retirement since he underwent heart surgery in late 1990.

In 2005, his net worth was estimated by Forbes magazine at US$1.2 billion.

See also

* List of people pardoned or granted clemency by the president of the United States

Other reading

*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Pincus
1936 births
Living people
American billionaires
American financiers
American people convicted of tax crimes
American white-collar criminals
Clinton administration controversies
American commodities traders
20th-century American Jews
Fugitive financiers
People pardoned by Bill Clinton
20th-century American businesspeople
21st-century American Jews