Friday, July 02, 2004

Jeb in Venezuela

A report by journalist Gerardo Reyes filed November 19, 2000 from Miami, mentions that in 1977, when his father was named CIA Director, Jeb established himself in Venezuela as a representative of Commerce Bank of Texas, owned by James Baker, who was a friend of Bush Sr. and later Secretary of State....

In 1980, when his father was elected Vice President, Jeb moved to Miami, which he considers “the most international city in the country.” During subsequent years, in order to make money, Jeb joined forces with the Cuban director of the anti-Castro National Cuban American Foundation (FNCA), Armando Codina, from whom he earned commissions of up to $50,000 for attracting investors to Codina’s business....

Jeb also associated with Miguel Recarey, the Cuban American businessman who was accused of a million dollar fraud using federal funds collected by his Miami medical centers. Recarey diverted money earmarked for Miami public health services to organize, though his firm, the International Medical Centers (IMC), hospital services for the Nicaraguan Contra mercenaries. Jeb also received $75,000 from that company to relocate, something that never came to pass.

By running these kinds of businesses, by 1994, at 41 years of age, Jeb had amassed a fortune of more than $2 million. Three years later, Recarey said that he “bought influences” from Jeb Bush and other powerful public figures during the 1980’s, and that he spent a good quantity of money to contract Jeb and people close to President Ronald Regan and Vice President Bush Sr. to try to keep federal inspectors from closing his businesses. After stealing $300 million from federal coffers, Recarey escaped precipitously to Venezuela, and later fled to Spain. Upon learning these accusations, Jeb denied everything: the checks that he received from Recarey were the result of “real estate sales commissions.”


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