A stalwart supporter of America’s Republican Party

A stalwart supporter of America’s Republican Party was today (Thursday) cleared of taking part in an attempted multi-million pound sting on finance houses.

New York banker Ronald Leeds, a senior figure in Republicans Abroad which raised funds for George W Bush’s Presidency campaign and company director Louis Reefer were acquitted of fraud charges following a six week trial.

The pair had taken a cheque for US dollars 150 million to bank Credit Suisse in a bid to raise investment funds.

Both maintained they had no idea the draft was forged – despite its authenticating stamp childishly being coloured in using felt tip pens.

The bogus order was presented at the Docklands offices of Credit Suisse by the two men who said they believed it was money owed to Reefer’s company Belfry Management Ltd from the global oil trade.

Both men told the jury they had been duped and only later realised they had handled a worthless forgery.

It was alleged at London’s Southwark Crown Court that they hoped to get a receipt from the bank – and then play on the finance house’s reputation to raise cash, showing they were worth the fortune allegedly owed by the Zurich Insurance Company in Illinois in the United States.

Leeds and Reefer – later found living modestly in South London on State handouts – were unsuccessful, despite presenting Credit Suisse with pages of impressive documentation and a timely ‘phone call to Zurich.

‘The prosecution case is that these two defendants intended to get a receipt from Credit Suisse which they could then take elsewhere to try and use as security to obtain funds from a third party, someone else,’ said Peter Walsh, prosecuting.

‘They hoped and intended to do that by falsely representing they were worth at least the amount of money on the cheque.

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The barrister explained any attempt to deposit the ‘worthless’ cheque into a bank account would be foiled by the coded numbers on the paper – and trigger computer alarms.

But he said the receipt could be used to ‘back up’ a pretence the pair were worth this ‘fantastic amount of money.

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Reefer, 53, of Flodden Road, Camberwell, se London, and Leeds, 61, of Fifth Avenue, New York, were cleared of a charge of possessing a false instrument with intent to deceive between on December 29, 1997 and possessing it between December 15, that year,
and April 1998, knowing it was false.

They arrived at Credit Suisse on December 29, 1997, an appointment being made through the bank in Zurich.

Mr Walsh said one of the documents intended to ‘impress’ and ‘legitimise’ the Credit Suisse transaction was full of spelling and punctuation errors.

He said it contained the ‘bland’ statement from a Russian: ‘We confirm that the funds are clean, clear, and free of criminal origin and hearby authorise you to ask our bank to confirm the same in writing if necessary.

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Despite it being an ‘important document’, the jury heard ‘funds’ was misspelt ‘fundds’ and several words were inappropriately started with a capital letter.

The document also said the origin of the money was trading in crude oil from Russia and Mexico to Singapore.

‘The prosecution say this sort of paperwork is bogus, it is simply designed to provide a notional justification for these two defendants having a cheque for such a huge amount of money,’ said Mr Walsh.

The jury heard the cheque was made out to Belfry Management Ltd – incorporated in the Seychelles just weeks earlier in September 1997, and Reefer being appointed a director just days earlier.

‘They must have had amazing success,’ said Mr Walsh.

‘Because here is a man living modestly in Camberwell appointed director of a company only itself a couple of months old, suddenly being paid dollars 150 million.

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Reefer described himself as a chartered accountant and financial advisor.

He said he once worked for international accountancy experts Price Waterhouse, although the crown said no records could later be found of such a position.

Leeds described himself as an investment banker and a former chairman of a ‘major’ New York investment bank, a member of the New York Stock Exchange, a man well versed in commerce and claimed to have just taken control of Countertrade Corp in America.

Mr Walsh said any money raised against the cheque was to be formerly split, according to yet another document, between Belfry and Countertrade.

He said the cheque was forged in Lagos, Nigeria, using ‘nothing more sophisticated than felt tip pens.

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The red, green and blue colours had been used to colour in a stamp on a photocopy of a genuine bank order.

Another error was to use two different cheque numbers from genuine cheques drawn on the Zurich Insurance Company account with the American Bank in Chicago on the one forgery.

The court heard genuine cheques bearing those numbers were later cashed for dollars 492 and dollars 18,684.

‘That cheque not only was an obvious forgery, but these defendants knew it was a forgery, not only by its appearance but by their connection with it,’ said Mr Walsh.

He said the defendants took advantage of the holiday season to arrive at Credit Suisse between Christmas and New Year, hoping it would be understaffed.

Leeds did most of the talking and when refused a receipt for the cheque dialed a Swiss number claiming Credit Suisse could talk to staff in Zurich.

Unfortunately, when he handed the phone to the employee, he found himself talking not to the bank, but an accomplice.

Finally, the pair left with the forged cheque, and a signed and dated photocopy of it.

‘That is all that employee was prepared to do despite Leeds’ pressure.

It is just a worthless piece of paper.

An acknowledged receipt of a piece of paper,’ said counsel.

‘The employee was in no way adding the reputation, integrity, the weight of Credit Suisse behind Belfry Management being entitled in some way to dollars 150 million.

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Trinidad-born Reefer, said he had also worked for shipping company P&O, Allied Dunbar, and a number of local authorities, before launching a series of his own companies which failed in the recession.

He admitted he was on state benefits for a time before becoming a director of Belfry Management.

He maintained that at the time he believed the cheque was genuine and owed to the company for oil deals.

Leeds, a joint chairman of Republicans Abroad, said he had a long stabnding relationship with Credit Suisse, told the court he had no idea the cheque was bogus and that reefer was to be a client.

He said the mistakes in the supporting documents did not bother him as they ‘were written by a Russian.

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He said he would have been more wary of the draft had he known it had been flown from Nigeria inside a book.

Leeds, who had a distinguished military career in America’s navy, said he was more concerned that the funds were not the proceeds of criminal money laundering.

He only concluded it was an ‘absolute forgery’ when FBI officers called at his home in Janaury 1998.

The American admitted had he known Reefer was claiming benefits ‘it would have rung alarm bells’ but at the time was impressed by his well-spoken and well-dressed client.

He said given such funds to manage, it should have been ‘a pot of gold’ for him.

ends