U.S. Asks Swiss for More Bank Account Data

U.S. authorities have asked for records of additional Swiss bank accounts believed to have been used in the sale of arms to Iran and the diversion of profits to the Nicaraguan rebels, Swiss officials said Friday.

Justice Ministry spokesman Jorg Kistler said the new request would have the effect of delaying the release of any information for at least a month and probably longer while the Swiss adjudicate possible appeals by account holders seeking to maintain the traditional secrecy that Switzerland attaches to bank records.

U.S. Justice Department officials so far have given only unofficial notification of their intention to seek records of additional bank accounts, Kistler said. He added that Swiss authorities have been waiting for a week to receive the latest request, which would be the third.

Request by Investigator

In the United States, Justice Department officials said they were filing the new petition at the request of Lawrence E. Walsh, the court-appointed independent counsel investigating the Iran- contra affair.

Kistler declined to reveal the account holders or the amounts of money in the accounts of interest to U.S. officials. “It’s not so much the money that’s important, but the documents that disclose activity in those accounts,” Kistler said.

The first two requests by U.S. investigators identified about 20 companies and individuals, including Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, who was fired in November from the staff of the White House National Security Council. All the accounts in question have been frozen.

Among the accounts listed in the first request was one in the name of Lake Resources Inc. that, according to sources, was used to funnel profits from the Iran arms sales to the Nicaraguan contras. North and two private-sector associates, Iranian-born California businessman Albert A. Hakim and retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord, reportedly had access to that account.

Businessmen Named

Also named in the first two petitions were two businessmen, Iranian-born Manucher Ghorbanifar and Adnan Khashoggi of Saudi Arabia, who acted as middlemen in the Iranian arms sales.

The earlier requests have been tied up in six appeals filed by Hakim, Secord and other holders of the bank accounts--but not North. The appeals seek to prevent the Swiss government from suspending its traditionally strict secrecy laws at the behest of U.S. investigators.

The Swiss Justice Ministry, which Swiss authorities said had intended to overrule these appeals last week, postponed action when U.S. officials said their new request was on the way.