Banker Speaks on Iraq Loan Guilty Plea : Persian Gulf: Drogoul says he was ‘sacrificed in the interests of major governments’ that had tried to boost Hussein’s strength against Iran.

A former Atlanta banker who faces a prison term for helping make illicit loans to Iraq before the Persian Gulf War told Congress on Tuesday that he pleaded guilty two months ago chiefly out of “concern over the fate of my wife and my four children.”

Christopher P. Drogoul, former manager of the Atlanta office of Italy’s Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, described himself as “an insignificant figure who can be sacrificed in the interests of major governments.” He said the $5 billion in loans to Iraq approved by his bank branch was in accordance with “the policy of BNL . . . to further the foreign policy concerns of both the United States and Italy.”

Drogoul, 44, appeared before the House Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committee to give the first public explanation of his Sept. 3 plea agreement with the Justice Department. He reiterated claims that his superiors in Rome and U.S. intelligence officials were aware of his loans to the regime of Saddam Hussein.

“I believe that all three countries--the United States, Italy and Great Britain--were aware of the loans being extended by the Atlanta agency of BNL,” he testified.

During the period in which the loans were made--from 1985 to 1989--Iraq was at war with Iran, a nation considered by Western powers to be more hostile and prone to terrorism than Iraq.

Originally accused in a federal indictment of 70 counts of conspiracy, fraud, money laundering and tax evasion, Drogoul admitted guilt on three technical charges. He will be sentenced later this month by U.S. District Judge Marvin H. Shoob, who has said he believes that Drogoul and other employees of the Atlanta office were only “pawns and bit players” in a secret prewar effort by the United States and Italy to arm Iraq.

Committee Chairman Henry B. Gonzalez (D-Tex.), whose panel has been investigating the BNL case for three years, said it is “a shame and a clear indictment of our society” that Drogoul has borne the blame alone. Gonzalez demanded last year that the Justice Department seek appointment of an independent prosecutor to investigate the possibility of higher-level culpability in the BNL case. But the request was turned down by then-Atty. Gen. William P. Barr.

Agreeing with Gonzalez’s view, Rep. Maurice D. Hinchey (D-N.Y.) told the witness: “You have been victimized in a very profound way.” But Rep. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), another committee member, said Drogoul had not produced any documentary proof to back up his claims of higher involvement.

“Even though most of us suspect that exactly what you say might have happened, you don’t deliver a smoking gun that shows it to be the case,” Schumer said.

Drogoul replied that he expects to obtain documentary support at a later date but declared that he does not have access to all of BNL’s records.

Rep. Bill McCollum (R-Fla.) said he found it strange that Drogoul pleaded guilty this year after withdrawing a guilty plea a year ago.

But Drogoul replied that he withdrew his original plea “because I believed I had been misled” by the promise of a written recommendation for leniency that never was provided by prosecutors. Last summer, however, federal charges against Drogoul were scaled down and prosecutors subsequently said they would not ask a sentence of more than 48 to 57 months.

In a sentencing memorandum, the Justice Department charged that Drogoul received $8 million in bribes for making the Iraqi loans. Most of the money never has been found and is believed to be in European bank accounts, prosecutors said.