CUBA AND PARMALAT – A SPECTACULAR FRAUD

CUBA AND PARMALAT – A SPECTACULAR FRAUD

Although Fidel Castro, now in his mid-eighties, is being accused of many misdeeds, we must acknowledge that the revolution he led did a lot of good things for the Cuban people initially: the establishment of an effective health care system accessible to all, and the eradication of illiteracy, to mention just two.
His regime also became unwittingly involved in a number of spectacular frauds, one of which was perpetrated by the owners of Parmalat, the giant Italian milk conglomerate.

Shell companies and “cut and paste” forgery were combined with more traditional fraud, such as the falsifying of sales figures via phony invoices. In one particularly flagrant case of “cooking the books,” Parmalat’s Cayman Islands subsidiary Bonlat claimed to have sold enough powdered milk to Cuba in one year to produce 55 gallons of milk for each one of the small island nation’s citizens.

The fraud was not discovered for a long time because the Cuban authorities routinely refuse to cooperate with large independent auditing firms and do not acknowledge the existence of accounts payable. In the Parmalat case the auditors, in turn, never bothered to seek alternative means of verification, such as examining shipping receipts, for example.

The Parmalat fraud is typical of the cases I had the opportunity to investigate as a Bankruptcy Trustee and Forensic Accountant and some of which I interwove into my novels, HAVANA HARVEST and FATAL GREED.

THE BIMETALLIC SOCIETY’S ANNUAL DINNER

My presentation at the annual Sherlock Holmes dinner of the Bimetallic Society of Montreal on Saturday, January 22, 2011 – attended by a crowd of over sixty enthusiasts in spite of sub-zero weather – went rather well, even if I say so myself.

I prepared a semi-fictitious story for the occasion, constructed so that I could keep ‘em guessing for a quarter of an hour, until the very last moment. When I finally pulled the ‘rabbit’ out of my ‘hat’ (Holmes’ pipe out of a box) the room dissolved into laughter and enthusiastic clapping.

The venue was elegant, the food good, and the costumes fetching.

I was amazed to learn that there were over 800 active Sherlockian Society branches around the world, (we need another link here) each of which has one member charged with reading the obits. in the London Times daily to make sure no announcement of Sherlock Holmes’ demise has appeared. The Sherlockians hold that Holmes is still alive. Their ‘logical’ argument supporting such a belief goes something like this:

Sherlock Holmes was an important public figure.

The Times automatically publishes an obituary for every such person.


No such obit has thus far appeared.
Therefore, Sherlock Holmes is still alive – somewhere.
QED – Quod Erat Demonstrandum.

MAÑANA IN CUBA

It has become fashionable, of late, to wonder out loud and in detail about what would happen in Cuba once the regime changed.

Of course, gazing into the future requires an analysis of the past and the present.

One of the most compelling of such analyses is a book written by Jose Azel and entitled “Mañana in Cuba”. Dr. Azel is well qualified to speak on the topic. He is currently a Senior Scholar at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami.

I found the following passage in his book most telling:

“Unfortunately, the Cuban transition to democracy and free markets is highly unlikely to follow the path of some of the most successful Eastern European countries that faced similar, but not identical challenges. Cuba´s post-Castro interregnum [...a period of discontinuity of government organization or social order...] will be, arguably, the most critical period in the nation’s history. It will be a period during which inexperienced post-Castro leaders will face myriad social, political and economic policy decisions. Unseasoned leaders will need to make strategic, tactical and operational policy choices that will impact not only the existing circumstances, but the nation’s immediate and long-term future. And, in all probability, this will have to take place in an environment of socio-political and economic disarray and confusion, if not outright chaos.” (Italics mine).

Will Uncle Sam just stand or will he interfere?

Your guess is as good as mine.

ICCAS RECEPTION

On December 15, 2010, my friends Olga Connor (the well-known journalist) and Agustin Rivero organized a reception at Miami University’s Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, after which Dr. Jaime Suchlicki, (the Director of the Institute) joined me to reviewed my latest novel, Havana Harvest for a group of over fifty aficionados who braved the unseasonably cold weather to venture outside.

I was amazed by how much Dr. Suchlicki’s analysis of the real reason why General Ochoa was executed coincided with what I had conjured up in my totally fictional work.

I was likewise gratified to see that one of the late General Ochoa’s close acquaintances also attended the meeting.

The Institute, which Dr. Suchlicki helped found in 1999, is the authority in the US on what is going on in Cuba today and in which direction that island’s socio-political development is heading.

CUBAN CHRISTMAS IN CORAL GABLES

On Saturday, December 11, 2010 I was invited to a Christmas Party in Coral Gables that was attended by over a hundred and twenty Cubans. Olga Connor (the well-known journalist whose weekly column in Miami’s El Nuevo Herald is very popular) was my ‘guide’, ably assisted by Agustin Rivero, the son of a dear friend from my old Cuban days. As you can see from the pictures, the party was a blow-out success.

Olga and Agustin made sure that I would meet those people present at the party who – in 1989 – had actually known and worked with Cuban Brigadier-General Arnaldo Ochoa, the officer whose tragic trial and execution inspired the plot of my latest thriller, Havana Harvest.

I also met Meme Solis (the popular pianist and singer) with whom I chatted at length about our late mutual friend, Dania Flores, the woman who – in the early ‘90’s – had helped me research the background for my book.

It was nice to have had the opportunity to recall some of the pleasant times the three of us (Dania, Meme and I) had spent together in New York and Miami, eating, drinking and dancing.

Alas, tempus fugit!

Coast to Coast AM radio show

During the month of December I had a lot of fun “doing” radio.

I ended up getting invited as a “guest” to local radio talk shows in Denver, Chicago, Portland, Saint Louis, Sacramento and Phoenix, and on four syndicated shows, one of which was a monster effort, the Coast to Coast AM show, broadcast over more than five hundred stations across the US and Canada and over Sirius XM – XM Channel 165, and heard as far away as the US Virgin Islands and Guam.

I say that this was a monster effort because I was on the air from 2 to 5 a.m. chatting and answering questions. I also offered to send everyone who would email me to request them – free of charge, of course – two chapters of Fatal Greed my book that will appear in digital form in March.

As a result, over a thousand people visited my website at http://www.robertlandori.com/ and I received over two hundred emails at havanaharvest@gmail.com asking for the free chapters.

Of course the offer still stands, so don’t hesitate to email me at havanaharvest@gmail.com

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FROM FIDEL CASTRO

A month and a half ago I mailed Fidel a copy of my book, HAVANA HARVEST, and wished him Happy Birthday. Of course, I never expected a reply.

I was wrong!

When I returned from Spain last week I found a hand-delivered envelope in the pile of correspondence that had accumulated in my absence.

It contained an acknowledgement of my gift and a signed extract from Fidel’s marathon speech delivered on July 29, 2000, the forty-seventh anniversary of Castro’s attack on the Moncada barracks.

I found it difficult to translate the Spanish text because I felt I needed to render the meaning of what was written accurately without rewriting the material in colloquial English. I did not want to lose the cadence of the original writing.

click here to display the letter with English TRANSLATION

The Spanish text is most elegant and eloquent, as are the thoughts expressed, though seriously flawed by being politically biased.

click here to display the letter with English TRANSLATION

HELPFUL FRIENDS DESERVE TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED

For the last two weeks I’ve been working in Toledo, Spain, and staying in my favourite hotel on Calle Reyes Catolicos. Just now the weather is sunny and balm, but Xmas is fast approaching and the time has come to remember friends. What better place than the shops around my hotel in which to load up on presents that are difficult to find in North America, such as, for example, fine, handcrafted leather goods at reasonable prices.

My shopper’s guide is Mamen, the manager of La Natural who provides me with tips about where to buy stuff ranging from umbrellas to handbags and from shawls to fine leather jackets, through exquisite wines and beautiful belts (I’m carefully staying away from swords, mantillas, embroidered fans and damasquineria - they’re passé.)


I was hoping to meet my friends Keith and Claire Norman here on their way back home from France to the States, but we ran out of time.

The Normans and I have been friends for years. In fact it was I who introduced Keith to Claire thirty-five years ago (on a blind date, no less) and their marriage is still going strong. Not bad for a 21st Century performance!

The Normans were instrumental in helping me get Havana Harvest published by backing me editorially and financially and by providing moral support and much-appreciated, wise advice.

Muchísimas gracias.

FIDEL THE BANKER

Fidel Castro maintains a semi-secret bank account, called the Commander-in-Chief’s discretionary fund from which he makes gratuitous disbursements to those individuals and governments whose favours he curries.

At least so says Lieutenant Colonel Juan Reinaldo Sanchez, Fidel’s ex-bodyguard.

These disbursements may be for, say, the construction of a school, or a hospital – or for any other cause that may find favour with Castro.

Obviously, the sums involved are considerable. It would appear that although Fidel is not personally involved in the running of the account he tracks its activities in great detail and makes sure that every time a substantial payment is made from it the sum is immediately replaced.

Sanchez claims that, among others, ex-Interior Minister Jose Abrantes frequently visited Fidel’s house in the complex known as Punto Cero, with large sums of cash, ostensibly destined to replace moneys disbursed from Fidel’s special account.

Abrantes was tried and found guilty of negligence and misuse of Government funds the same year Ochoa was executed (August 1989). He was sentenced to 20 years and died in prison of a heart attack in January 1991. He was in his fifties.

It was under such murky circumstances that the Ochoa trial had taken place. I tried to reflect these convoluted counter-currents in my latest novel, HAVANA HARVEST.

TRANSLATION OF OLGA CONNOR’S REVIEW OF HAVANA HARVEST THAT APPEARED IN THE NUEVO HERALD DE MIAMI ON OCTOBER 14, 2010

Also dealing with a very Cuban theme, the Canadian novelist, Robert Landori, recently launched his latest novel, Havana Harvest, at a reading at Books & Books. The novel, a tour de force of international intrigue, is based on one of the most intricate episodes of Cuban history: the trial and execution of Arnaldo Ochoa in 1989. The author evokes the novel’s historical background – the landing of the Gramma and the assault of the Moncada Barracks, the presence of the young Ochoa among the revolutionaries, his elevation into the group of Camilo Cienfuegos’s intimates – and posterior events thereto that allowed Fidel Castro to seize power. He then reveals what inspired him to write the book: his friendship with “Dania” about whom he also comments in his blog.

“I would never have written Havana Harvest had I not met Dania,” he said. “It was she who introduced me to the important officials of the Cuban revolutionary government and it was she who then told me about what had befallen General Ochoa.” According to Landori, Dania and her husband had been tasked by Fidel with creating a clandestine revolutionary network in Havana, but Fulgencio Batista’s secret police captured them a few days before Batista fled the country.
“Dania” was a loyal revolutionary in the Sierra Maestra, said the novelist, with whom he remained in contact even after she had fled to the US.

Was Ochoa guilty of drug trafficking or was he made to be the scapegoat once the world found out that the Cubans were in bed with the Medellin Cartel? The novel is Landori’s answer to the question through a series of riveting and breathtaking fictional scenes in Havana, Angola, Budapest, Washington, Montreal, Panama and the Cayman Islands in which drug-money laundering and ivory smuggling take place. The characters are modeled on existing Cuban leaders and the premise is that the incident involved the CIA, implying thereby that the operation was a plot against Castro. In the end a CIA operative called Robert Lonsdale comes to the rescue of the good guys – a not-too-subtly-veiled reference to the author?

Hungarian-born Robert Landori says he is a public accountant, but he has been involved in mysterious incidents, such as his detention in a Cuban prison for over two months during the sixties, accused of spying for the CIA. Blessed with a great sense of humour that is reflected in his writing he succeeds in convincing the reader that everything happened just the way he tells it in his book.