Clifford, Partner Plead Not Guilty in BCCI Case

Former Secretary of Defense Clark M. Clifford, an elder statesman of the Democratic Party, and his business partner and protege Robert A. Altman pleaded not guilty in federal court Friday to charges stemming from their alleged involvement in the Bank of Credit & Commerce International scandal.

During the brief courtroom appearance, U.S. District Judge June Green set trial for Oct. 26. The unusually speedy trial date was requested by the ailing, 85-year-old Clifford, who said he wants to clear his name before his health deteriorates further.

Clifford, a longtime Washington lawyer and powerbroker who was defense secretary under President Lyndon B. Johnson, is said to need open-heart surgery. Carl Rauh, an attorney for Clifford and Altman, presented medical evidence that he said showed Clifford “is not going to live very long.”

The two men, who also are facing trial in New York on state charges, were released Friday on their own recognizance.

Clifford and Altman--former chairman and president, respectively, of First American Bankshares Inc., Washington’s largest bank, were indicted Wednesday on state and federal charges.

Prosecutors allege that they accepted bribes and lied to banking regulators about BCCI’s secret and illegal ownership of First American and that they conspired to defraud the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve during its probe of BCCI.

The two men also are accused of enriching themselves through loans and other deals with BCCI, which gained control of First American without the knowledge of U.S. regulators.

Justice Department and New York state officials reportedly are negotiating over whether the two men should be tried first on the federal charges in Washington or on the broader state charges in New York. The defense sought the early trial date in federal court in Washington partly in an effort to have the federal trial begin here first.

Clifford, in an emotional press conference Thursday, said he and Altman were duped by BCCI’s Arab owners and did not participate in any financial conspiracy.

“I am spending the rest of my life to get my good name restored,” Clifford said. “I know (the charges) to be false, and I am going to fight them every step of the way.”

He said he was taken in, “like so many others,” by Agha Hasan Abedi, the Pakistani founder and former chairman of BCCI who has been indicted by a New York grand jury on conspiracy, fraud and commercial bribery charges.

“We were deceived,” Clifford said.

Clifford and Altman also insisted that they have been the victims of overzealous prosecutors, who have mounted a politically motivated investigation of their activities.