Swiss to Let U.S. Have Iran-Contra Data

Switzerland’s highest court cleared the way Thursday for Swiss legal assistance in the U.S. investigation of the Iran- contra case, setting aside banking secrecy rules and ordering the transfer of records.

The three-judge Supreme Court unanimously rejected a set of appeals filed against such assistance by three major figures in the case: retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord and Iranian-born businessmen Albert A. Hakim and Manucher Ghorbanifar.

Swiss banks have been the principal financial institutions used in the sale of U.S. arms to Iran and diversion of some of the proceeds to the contras fighting the leftist Sandinista regime in Nicaragua.

Could Be Key

Evidence on the transactions could be a key element in the case that Lawrence E. Walsh, the special prosecutor, is trying to build against the middlemen in the affair.

Meanwhile, in Washington, a federal appeals court, overriding Oliver L. North’s latest attack on Walsh’s probe, ordered the Marine to comply with a grand jury subpoena or go to jail.

The decision by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a federal judge’s July 10 ruling that Walsh’s “back-up” appointment by Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III was legal and brushed aside North’s contention that Walsh is operating without authority.

The decision means North, the Marine lieutenant colonel fired from his National Security Council post for his role in the scandal, must obey a grand jury subpoena for a sample of his handwriting or face a contempt of court citation and possible imprisonment. It is expected that North will appeal to the Supreme Court.

Walsh Is ‘Pleased’

A statement released by Walsh’s office said he was “pleased that the Swiss federal tribunal has affirmed our right, pursuant to the Treaty for Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, to receive the evidence located in Switzerland.”

Walsh complained last week that failure to obtain access to the Swiss records had slowed his investigation.

The Supreme Court ruling will not immediately resolve the issue of the ownership of $8 million that U.S. investigators say remains frozen in Swiss bank accounts.

Secord told Congress that the funds belonged to the “enterprise” operated by him and his business partner Hakim. Walsh reportedly considers them to be U.S. government funds that were misappropriated.

‘Co-Equal Lieutenants’

Secord and Hakim were described in a Senate report as “almost co-equal lieutenants” of North.

Ghorbanifar, an Iranian expatriate described in a 1980 Central Intelligence Agency report as a “talented fabricator” and “neither reliable nor trustworthy,” was the chief intermediary in the dealings with Tehran.

He helped arrange the first three weapons shipments to Iran via Israel in 1985, about 500 anti-tank TOW missiles and 18 Hawk anti-aircraft missiles, which Iran returned as obsolete and defective.

Swiss Justice Ministry spokesman Joerg Kistler told the Associated Press that he expected the documents now could be turned over “shortly” to U.S. authorities. But he said a U.S. claim to the money would have to be the subject of a separate judicial assistance request.

Decision Took Nine Months

The Supreme Court decision was issued nine months after the United States named the three appellants and other parties in a formal request for judicial help with its inquiry into alleged fraud, embezzlement and abuse of authority.

Swiss authorities promptly ordered freezing of all accounts held for or by those named in the request. A Geneva magistrate confirmed the decision, instructing the banks to release the records.