Sultan of Brunei Wants Return of $10-Million Gift
The Sultan of Brunei is asking for the return of his $10 million, which mistakenly went to a Swiss businessman instead of Nicaraguan contra rebels, a Geneva magistrate said today.
Magistrate Vladimir Stemberger, who froze the funds when the case was disclosed last month, said the sultan asked for his money through the Zurich branch of Citibank.
“A formal written demand from the sultan is following,” Stemberger said.
It was Citibank in Zurich that in August, 1986, transferred the $10 million to the Geneva branch of Credit Suisse.
But the funds went in to the account of a still-unidentified Geneva businessman instead of an account allegedly used by former National Security Council aide Oliver L. North and others to transfer money to the contras fighting the Marxist Sandinista government in Nicaragua.
North transposed two figures in giving the account number to people handling the transfer for the sultan.
The businessman moved the money to another bank without telling anyone about the mistake. Geneva justice officials said the businessman is not objecting to the original $10 million going back to the sultan, but he is contesting the $253,000 that he has acquired in interest.
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