CIA Front Company Research Thread

Recently, while researching another topic I came across several companies that have an interesting history and have been involved in questionable deals. Several of them have apparent ties to the CIA, and appear to be successors to other CIA companies.

Goals: To discover CIA front companies
Secondary Goals: CIA renditions & how above is involved

Purpose: To determine the status of previously known CIA front companies, and successors of disbanded companies.

Guidelines: Spend as much time as you are comfortable with researching your assigned companies, and we'll see where we are led from there.

Team Leader: Zaphod58

Team Members: LoganCale, Picklewalsh, looking4truth, S1lv3r4d0

Companies to be initially investigated:

AeroTurbine INC
Southern Air
Great West Financial Corporation/Washington Mutual/Citigroup
Wells Fargo/First Security Bank of Utah

[Mod Edit]
Other companies are open and fair game.

[edit on 19-7-2007 by ADVISOR]

[edit on 9-8-2007 by ADVISOR]

AeroTurbine INC is a small company based in Miami Florida that sells engines and aircraft parts. According to their website, they employ 100 people. This is distinctly at odds with their aircraft list, and the images of their facilities on Google Earth. They are based near the Miami International Airport and have 150,000 square feet of offices there.

The three main offices of AeroTurbine Inc are:

CEO: Nicolas Finazzo
COO: Robert B. Nichols
Secretary: Amanda B. Cutler

The company has been the registered owners of 49 aircraft between 1999 and 2005. They exported 5 of them between 2000 and 2005, to Venezuela, Brazil, and France. It appears that they are using the majority of them to strip for parts and engines. Interestingly enough, there is one DC-8-71(F) that is parked in storage that has a valid registration as of the current date. What makes this particular plane interesting is that it was previously owned by a known CIA front company, Southern Air Transport.

In April of 2006, AeroTurbine INC was bought by the AerCap Group of Ireland. The three main officers will remain in place. Shortly after this deal, AeroTurbine deregistered 43 of their remaining 44 airplanes with the FAA. It is unknown why these planes were still showing valid registrations as it appears that they were in the process of being or were already stripped for parts. There are verified pictures of several of these planes destroyed in the Airline Storage Facilities at Roswell or in the Mojave.

Planes registered to AeroTurbine INC:

N Number- North America Registration Number with the FAA
c/n - Construction Number

N Number C/N Type Registered Deregistered Fate
N105WP 46095 DC-8-73 12/19/2002 05/16/2006
N132NK 47202 DC-9-31 04/19/2000 05/17/2006
N14524 47539 DC-9-32 12/03/1999 05/31/2000 Exported to Venezuela
N16804 49246 DC-9-82 10/21/2003 05/16/2006
N17557 47424 DC-9-32 11/10/1999 05/17/2006
N420EA 47689 DC-9-51 01/22/2003 05/16/2006
N443RR 443 A310-324 10/14/2004 05/16/2006
N460DN 46066 DC-8-71(F) 06/09/2005 05/16/2006
N468AT 19074 737-222 02/16/2000 04/13/2000 Exported to France
N500MH 45812 DC-8-71(F) 04/12/2004 05/16/2006
N507AU 23382 737-3B7 08/05/2003 05/17/2006
N54333 20460 727-231 05/07/1999 08/03/1999
N562AU 23550 737-301 12/15/2003 05/17/2006
N578PE 21661 727-243 03/05/2002 10/24/2002 Exported to Brazil
N64315 20048 727-231 02/20/1999 03/26/1999
N679HA 47662 DC-9-51 02/25/2003 05/17/2006
N69523 47520 DC-9-32 03/08/2000 05/17/2006
N70542 47535 DC-9-32 11/03/1999 07/14/2000 Exported to Venezuela
N709HA 47764 DC-9-51 02/26/2003 05/16/2006
N728A 46081 DC-8-72 02/14/2005 05/16/2006
N791FT 46045 DC-8-73(F) 11/18/2004 05/17/2006
N795FT 46103 DC-8-73(F) 12/11/2003 10/05/2005 Exported to Brazil
N801GP 46039 DC-8-73(F) 06/19/2003 05/16/2006
N806AT 47379 DC-9-32 04/19/2000 05/17/2006
N806ME 48032 DC-9-81 01/24/2006 05/16/2006
N8076U 45941 DC-8-71(F) 08/25/2003 05/17/2006
N8084U 45974 DC-8-71(F) 04/12/2004 05/17/2006
N8085U 45975 DC-8-71(F) 04/12/2004 05/17/2006
N8087U 45977 DC-8-71(F) 04/12/2004 Valid Former SAT DC-8
N809AT 47322 DC-9-32 03/29/2000 05/16/2006
N813AT 47318 DC-9-32 04/20/2000 05/16/2006
N815AT 47443 DC-9-32 03/29/2000 05/17/2006
N8177U 45983 DC-8-71(F) 11/21/2003 05/16/2006
N824BX 45946 DC-8-71(F) 05/19/2004 05/16/2006
N827AT 47846 DC-9-32 03/21/2000 05/17/2006
N827BX 45971 DC-8-71(F) 05/19/2004 05/17/2006
N827US 48049 DC-9-81 07/27/2004 05/16/2006
N849AL 45849 DC-8-71(F) 06/09/2005 05/17/2006
N860AT 22981 767-204 10/28/2004 05/16/2006
N861AT 22692 767-277 12/02/2004 05/17/2006
N862AT 22695 767-277 02/25/2005 05/16/2006
N863AT 22696 767-277 03/31/2005 05/16/2006
N864AT 22980 767-204 05/31/2005 05/16/2006
N911UA 25255 737-522 07/14/2005 05/16/2006
N915UA 25382 737-522 06/15/2005 05/16/2006
N926UA 26648 737-522 03/25/2005 05/16/2006
N931UA 26656 737-522 02/25/2005 05/16/2006
N996GE 45996 DC-8-71(F) 10/25/2004 05/16/2006
N997GE 45997 DC-8-71(F) 10/25/2004 05/17/2006

Sources:
www.aeroturbine.com...
www.aercap.com...
registry.faa.gov...
ccfcorp.dos.state.fl.us...

Another company that my uncle worked in during WW2 was USAID...a CIA front.

Southern Air Transport (SAT) was an air freight line founded in 1947 and soon became a subsidiary of Pacific Corporation, a managing corporation for the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) proprietary airline network. Until its disbandment in 1998, SAT operated as both a legitimate cargo line and a CIA front used for weapons and drug smuggling.

SATs involvement with the CIA came to public attention on October 5, 1986, when a C-123 operated by them was shot down over Nicaragua after completing an airdrop of weapons to the Contras. The only surviving member of the crew, Eugene Hasenfus, having disobeyed orders and taken a parachute on board, was captured shortly after, thus exposing the CIA’s weapon smuggling operation.

On October 1, 1998, Southern Air Transport filed for bankruptcy and was disbanded. Over the span of their operations, they had flown over 55 aircraft, a list of which is forthcoming. Shortly after SAT was disbanded, the just-recently appointed President, Thomas Gillies, founded a new airline along with former employees of SAT, Southern Air, which appears to be a direct continuation of Southern Air Transport.

Sources
en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...
www.infomine.com...
www.namebase.org...
www.ruudleeuw.com...

I'm relatively new here,but I've gotten 'scholar' status from Advisor,and I haven't participated in a project yet. I like the theme of this project, and it has a clearly defined goal. I would like to join this team if you're accepting new people and the project is still active. I'll check back here soon. feel free to U2U me.
Thanx-
Cosmo

[edit on 8/7/06 by cosmo dag]

What im going to attempt to do in this post is not point fingers, but merely show the connection between the CIA, the government and Citigroup and let you make your own decisions with the rest of information in this thread.

Alot of Citigroup/Citicorps Board has been, over the years, ex-CIA. And not good guys either. Lets take for example John Deutch.

Mr.Deutch, who served on many government committees and also Departments during the 70's and 80's, was the first Jewish Director of CIA for a yr and a half. In that time he appointed Nora Slatkin as executive director of cia and also took home classified information on laptop hard drives and pcmcia hard drives, a big nono plus, left his laptop connected to the internet unsecured with all that information for hours on end. Remember Nora, we will come back to her. Mr.Deutch was many times been criticized for using his position to not only stifle the investigation against him, but to limit his punishment. Reference Wen Ho Lee who was ran through the ringer for almost the same thing. Mr.Deutch's classified clearance was taken away for a very brief time, but reinstated after he left CIA. Many in the fbi protested Mr.Deutch's clearance given back to him and were silenced. He was pardoned of all proceedings by Bill Clinton on his last day in office. Right after leaving the CIA, he went to work on the board of not only Citigroup, but Raytheon, Cummins and Schlumberger.

Less than a year after being appointed as Executive Director of the CIA, Nora Slatkin resigned, along with O'neil retiring a month later and she went to work for, you guessed it, Citigroup. The 2 left before the proverbial crap could hit the fan. But it was n't allowed to anyways thanx to Ms.Reno.

1998

February 6 OIG is made aware of additional details of the SIB investigation
and subsequently opens a formal investigation.

March 19 IG forwards crimes report to DoJ.

May 8 IG letter to IOB concerning Deutch investigation.

June 2 DCI notifies oversight committees of investigation.

1999

April 14 Attorney General Reno declines prosecution and suggests a
review of Deutch's security clearances.

As a result of the pardon, said Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., chairman of the intelligence committee, "Deutch essentially walked away from what is one of the most egregious cases of mishandling classified information that I have ever seen short of espionage."

The review determined he needed to lose his clearances, but yet nothing happened.

I will provide links to all of this and allow for digestion. More to come on this guy and Nora Slatkin later.

Report of investigation
Mr.Deutch's Info
Wiki Info
More about Mr.Deutch

I could post links to beyond the wilderness but i will keep it to semi reputable links for now. Guess it depends on what you consider reputable. Even Reuters is questionable now so its anyones call.

Here is a recent find, that may prove beneficial to the project.

CIA Secret Detention Facilities

I'm not officially part of this research team, but i found something interesting:
Finnish news sources have claimed that a comppany named Prescott Support has been conducting secret prisoner tranfers for CIA. Or at least Planes with Prescott markings.
YLE - News source - in Finnish

Prescott Support Company specializes in the worldwide movement of time-critical, high-value, and outsized cargo with its fleet of L-382 Hercules, CASA CN-235, and C-208 Caravan aircraft.

Prescott's unique operational capability allows you to transport your cargo and personnel by air to remote, unimproved locations not served by traditional air carriers.

Prescott Support

Prescott Support Company, Inc.
1154 Airdrome Avenue
Hangar 359
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
Phone: 843-828-4400 / Fax: 843-238-5346



What strikes me is that their web pages have no employee names or owners names listed. All e-mail adresses are anonymous like [email protected] etc.

Here are some sources on the current release of info on this matter. Not exactly "plane" based info, or "front co", but it is the subject in which this is conducted. The second linked page is a Congress 50 pg PDF.

The CIA’s Rendition Program began in late summer, 1995. I authored it and then ran and managed it against al-Qaeda leaders and other Sunni Islamists from August, 1995, until June, 1999.

There were only two goals for the program: First, to take men off the street who were planning or had been involved in attacks on the United States or its allies; second, to seize hard copy or electronic documents in their possession when arrested. Americans were never expected to read those, and they could provide options for follow-on operations.
Extraordinary Rendition in U.S. Counterterrorism Policy

Congressional hearing report
Congress 07H.R. Rendition

Thats some interesting info added there ADVISOR. Our little research group has been spread to the 4 winds with Real Life stuff. I myself just had my gallbladder removed yesterday along with switching jobs and moving closer to new work. As soon as things calm down, im gonna kick LC and Zap in the booty and get back to work on this thread.

Thanx for adding quality info to it northwolf and ADVISOR, it is all related IMO.

Prescott Support C-130


Prescott Support C-130 In Helsinki International during a suspected illegal prisoner transport. (CIA black prisoners)

I hit a couple of interesting finds while browsing the FAA records of the two Prescott marked planes pictured in my previous post. Firstly the plane N3755P is owned by a comppany called ATLANTA AIR SERVICES LEASING LLC that oddly for a leasing comppany only owns that particular aircraft. Unsuprisingly ATLANTA AIR SERVICES LEASING LLC has no website or contact information out in public.

And i could not find a single aircraft owned by the Prescott Support, so either Prescott leases their planes from small leasing comppanies or it's just a front.

Could someone access information on owners of either Prescott or Atlanta air services leasing?

Project related;

Facebook is a Social Networking Website akin to Myspace and other similar networks. It allows you to communicate with others, and gives you space to post personal information to make your facebook more "personal."

Facebook a CIA Front?

On a related note:

Guatamela acuses Americares as CIA front

BRIEF ARTICLE ON ANNIVERSARY OF CIA-ORCHESTRATED COUP IN
GUATEMALA. PHIL ROETINGER WRITES THAT HE WAS IN CIA AT TIME AND HELPED
OVERTHROW THE GVT. CIA RECRUITED A TRAITOR WITHIN ARBENZ GVT WHO CONVINCED
ARBENZ TO ABDICATE TO PREVENT LOSS OF LIFE - THIS TRAITOR LATER INSTALLED
AS PRESIDENT AND STILL LATER WAS ASSASSINATED. GUATEMALA HAS BEEN RULED BY
VICIOUS DICTATORS SINCE. UNCLASSIFIED 8/94 20

Sorry about caps, its from the article. Its unclassified government material.

This is probably part of that closet-cleaning stuff the CIA just released.

As part of the Cold War, the U.S. government in 1947 began channeling political aid through the CIA to political parties, publications, policy institutes, academic institutions, and other nongovernmental actors. After Congress prohibited such covert funding in the 1970s, a U.S. government-funded task force called the Democracy Program, which was directed largely by neoconservatives, proposed a new political aid program that would overtly support the type of nongovernmental entities that previously received CIA funding.1 Soon after Ronald Reagan took office, the new administration put this proposal into action, assigning the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) and USAID as the chief sources of political funding. But rather than channeling the aid directly to foreign actors, the Reagan administration decided, in line with the Democracy Program proposal, that the “democracy-building” aid would flow through U.S. private organizations, mainly the newly created National Endowment for Democracy and its affiliates in the two political parties, labor, and business.

Inside Bush's World Democracy Movement

Its not so much as the CIA started operating illegally under Bush Sr/Jr, its that the level of illegal activity has been elevated.

CIA selling drugs, Iran/Contra Affair

Cocaine Importing Agency

Top Secret Drug Smuggling Ops

Cocaine Import Agency

CIA admits drug smuggling

MENA

50 years of CIA drug trafficking


Who is really the hypocrites? Make drugs illegal so the CIA's black budget can grow to the billions (if not trillions) per year. They've been smuggling coc aine in from Columbia, Opium/heroine from Afghanistan, and cannabis from Mexico among other places.

CIA drug trafficking

Vietnam Era
Western Vietnam and Eastern Cambodia had some opium fields. It was widely alleged among various soldiers-turned-antiwar protesters that the CIA was involved in smuggling this opium to heroin producers in the United States at considerable profit. The book The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia written by Alfred W. McCoy, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison claims to provide evidence of the proported drug trafficking. The book discusses the alleged use of opium to fund covert operations done by the CIA in Vietnam. According to Dr. McCoy, the agency also intimidated his sources and tried to keep the book from being published, citing national security concerns.[citations needed] See also Air America.
Speculation on this matter did play a role in the Steven Seagal film Above the Law, as well as in the Mel Gibson film, Air America.

Soviet Afghanistan
It was alleged by the Soviets on multiple occasions that American CIA agents were helping smuggle opium out of Afghanistan, either into the West, in order to raise money for the Afghan resistance or into the Soviet Union in order to weaken it through drug addiction. Nothing beyond Soviet and Afghan accusations has emerged out of several media and UN investigations into these proported actions.

CIA involvement

CIA Covert Actions and Drug Smuggling

History of CIA Drug Trafficking

CIA and opium

The source materials go on for days . They must have really pissed some people off.

[edit on 19-7-2007 by biggie smalls]

Hmmm, the drug running can be tied into Front Companies, but this is supposed to be research into the front companies themselves and exposing them. Not the drug running and cia driven government coups. Those are Whoooole other research topics in and of themselves.

Sadly enough, the 18hr days are killin my personal time and research time.

Hopefully soon, very soon, i can get back to contributing to this badboy.

biggie, if you want to do some digging, dig more into my find of citicorp/citigroup. It definitely is much larger than one man can type up. It goes deeep.

I know its not directly relevant to 'front' companies, but it is necessary to show the kind of corruption our 'intelligence' agencies are involved in.

From the first source I mentioned I found a few other 'fronts.'

Political Investigations

Mafia, CIA, and George Bush

Global was also named as a CIA front by a retired CIA Middle East expert. In December 1990, Bruce Hemmings, a retired CIA senior operations offcer who worked on the Iran desk in 1985, issued several written statements criticizing the CIA's role and cover-up in the Iran-Contra scandal and other misdeeds. In part of his statement entitled "CIA Gun Running to Iran Goes Back to 1981," Hemmings stated:

"Since at least 1981, a worldwide network of 'free-standing' [i.e., no direct U.S. government ties] companies, including airlines, aviation and military spare parts suppliers, and trading companies, has been utilized by the CIA and the U.S. government to illegally ship arms and military spare parts to Iran and to the Contras. These companies were set up with the approval and knowledge of senior CIA offcials and other senior U.S. government officials and staffed primarily by ex-CIA, ex-FBI and ex-military offcers.

"The companies include Aero Systems, Inc., of Miami, Arrow Air, Aero Systems Pvt. Ltd of Singapore, Hierax of Hong Kong, Pan Aviation in Miami, Merex in North Carolina, Sur International, St. Lucia Airways, Global International Airways, International Air Tours of Nigeria, Continental Shelf Explorations, Inc., Jupiter, Florida, Varicon, Inc., Dane Aviation Supply of Miami, and others, such as Parvus, Safir, International Trading and Investment Guaranty Corp., Ltd., and Information Security International Inc.

"Through these mechanisms, staffed by ex-intelligence and military officers, the administration and the CIA have been able to circumvent and ignore the legal intelligence mechanisms and Congressional oversight. C-130, F4, TOWs and Hawk missile parts were shipped to Iran in violation of the arms embargo and a variety of mechanisms were used, including International Air Tours of Nigeria in August and September 1985, Arrow Air in November 1985, and Global International and Pan Aviation and others going back in 1981."

Another plane report

I highly advise making a copt of this linked site for records keeping. It has a decent about of additional info. Which may be used in the project.

PHOTOS Expose public airport, firm as CIA stooges--N. Carolina
By Clayton Hallmark
(July 26, 2007)
This is the only known public photograph showing a CIA plane on CIA property. The photo was taken at the CIA's leased facilities at the Johnston County Airport in Smithville, North Carolina, [Google map] which long has denied CIA involvement. The plane in the photo, with the tail number (FAA registration) N168D is shown between the blue headquarters building of Aero Contractors and a beige hangar.

CIA Torture Plane in North Carolina

More plane related links with an interesting, addition. Seems as more eyes are being turned in this direction, maybe more will come of it as time passes.

Extraordinary rendition (34,166 bytes)
22: ... their real identities revealed. The rendition of El-Masri was a particularly unfortunate one as it eventual...
Planes alleged to have been used for extraordinary rendition (8,756 bytes)
15: ...''Newsweek'' reporters cited the case of [[Khaled el-Masri]], "a German citizen of Lebanese descent, [who sa...
N313P-N4476S (7,519 bytes)
9: ...rds show that it was the plane that took [[Khaled el-Masri]] ...
Seeds of Peace (3,256 bytes)
Clinton administration anti-terrorism law (19,418 bytes)
Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc. (11,148 bytes)
9: ===Flight planning for the abduction of El-Masri===
10: ...ng the flights used in the kidnapping of [[Khaled El-Masri]]:
CIA plane pilots (el masri)

[See above post]

For the first time, activists last week spotted – and photographed – one of the “torture taxi” planes at Johnston County Airport.
The plane, a turboprop with FAA registration number N168D,
Zooming in on the Torture Taxis

[edit on 3-8-2007 by ADVISOR]

No source is linked to the following, an educated guess would reveil that may be due to "source protection" recautions. Given the material and topic. Following is some recent nfo on the subject matter of this research. Hopefully the begining of a break.

Anne Linda Jenkins, Alleged CIA Renditioner of Imam Rapito

Some info on CIA related material that has proven to be a good read, even if for educational and or historic purposes. Consider the following for what it is worth, and what it may provide for content of this project. The below links are zipped, but such is best due to the file size and transfer of said files.

For the CIA FOIA releases below and elsewhere (i.e. the "Family Jewels,") bear in mind that these are likely disinformation, abiding the spy tradecraft of using legitimate, credible public information outlets to spread forgeries, lies, deceptions and dissimulations. Another tradecraft is promulgating duplicitous accounts of tradecraft. Another that ritualistic protection of means and methods opiates.

CIA CI OPS
CIA Consult
CIA Creep
CIA Decept
CIA Hotel
CIA Pitfalls
CIA US SPY
CIA Target
CIA Total Spy

CIA Double Agent
Cryptome