Missing Man Page 9

Even while traveling, Bob couldn’t let it go. A few days before his return home, he emailed Anne yet again, signing his note as “Buck,” the nickname he often used for himself in his notes to her.

  Hey Toots

  Heard anything good?

  Anyone recovered and back at work?

  Asking because lots of things are happening.

  Best wishes—home Saturday

  Buck

  Anne responded that things were status quo and explained that even she was having trouble finding money to fly to Fort Lauderdale on CIA business. Bob wrote back:

  Hope they find YOU some travel money as I was planning to take you out to dinner with Christine Mary. We’ve got quite a few favorite restaurants we were hoping to find an excuse to try … Give my best to Mr. Brian and Mr. Tim and tell them I’m trying to keep everything and I mean EVERYTHING w-a-r-m.

  When Bob returned in mid-January from his travels, he made plans to go to Washington. Robert Amsterdam wanted Yuri Shvets to give a formal affidavit about Alexander Litvinenko’s murder, and he had arranged for him to do it at a Washington-area law firm. Bob let Anne know he was heading her way.

  Toots,

  Look out!—I’m coming up around mid-week on another matter—would love to see you and Mr. Bob for dinner. Will be trying to stay in the same place as I always do, around the corner from your place. Anyway, wanted to share a few things, see how things are going in general and someone else is paying the freight.

  Anne replied that she and her husband would be happy to meet him for a meal. Then a day later Bob followed with another email, wondering if, while in Washington, he could meet with managers at the “pickle factory,” an old slang term for the CIA he liked to use.

  Planning now to fly into DC on Wednesday and, if you and Bob are free, we could do dinner on Wednesday evening. Now, separately, let me know about the possibility of (and I realize it is very, very short notice and probably impossible) getting to sit down with Mr. Brian and/or Mr. Tim there at the pickle factory on Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning. I would welcome the opportunity to show my face, let them know what’s up and basically “check in.” If you think they would consider it “pushing things” and something that wouldn’t be appropriate, given the situation with funding just say the word—I’ll leave everything be.

  Both men were away, Anne replied, adding that the agency’s money situation still hadn’t improved. On January 17, she and her husband met Bob for dinner at Harry’s Tap Room, a restaurant not far from their Arlington home. Bob was still weary from his recent trip overseas, and he told Anne he was about to leave on another one. He said he was feeling tired and his diabetes appeared to be getting worse. Then, when a waiter appeared, he ordered a rich meal. Anne looked at him. “You’ve got to stop this shit,” she said. “You are not twenty years old.”

  Bob took off again and sent Anne several reports based on information he was picking up on his travels for other clients about Russian organized crime and other subjects. She shared them with her husband, Bob: “The first package came—holy SH**!!!… You really did hit the motherlode, my man. Bob and I were gasping reading what you sent. Damn we gotta find some money.”

  Two days later, while passing through Paris on his way home, he sent her another email, this one about the Iranians he had met in Istanbul with Boris Birshtein. He urged her to show the note to Tim Sampson, referring to him as “Mr. T.”

  Toots,

  Greetings from Paris—coming home tomorrow night.

  Can you get word to Mr. T that the parties with whom my friend and I met in Istanbul in early December are interested in meeting with my friend (and I) in Europe sometime in Feb. I just know they are going to discuss the kinds of matters of great interest, particularly now. I was wondering if you can just drop this stuff on him with all the other stuff that’s coming to your house tomorrow—doing my best to keep things warm.

  Anne assured him she would. He didn’t get a response back. He had been pushing for two months, sending her email after email filled with bait without getting bites. His financial situation was getting worse. By January 2007, his work for Global Witness was winding down and he had failed so far to find a solid link between Semion Mogilevich and RosUkrEnergo, the gas pipeline company. His search had started on a high note in the fall when he went to Kiev to meet with Ukraine’s former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a politician best recognized in the West by the thick blond braid she wore wrapped around her head. Tymoshenko’s supporters claimed that Ukraine’s president had removed her from office after she questioned deals involving RosUkrEnergo, and they told Bob they had documents proving Mogilevich’s role in the firm. But Tymoshenko, who was known as the “gas princess” for the millions she had made from natural gas companies she and her husband owned, never produced the records, leaving open the question of whether they existed. After that, Bob had spent months and nearly all of Global Witness’s money chasing Mogilevich’s shadow from country to country without results.

  There was one possible stop left, Dubai. Early on, a source told him that police officials in Dubai had raided a May 2006 meeting at which Mogilevich and other crime figures were discussing a $500 million investment in Ukraine’s pipeline system. Bob’s source said the men were later released but insisted that authorities in Dubai retained photographs and surveillance tapes from the meeting. Bob suggested to Global Witness that he go to Dubai to try to get the evidence. It was a long shot and the group made it clear it was going to shut down the investigation if Bob came back empty-handed. Officials of the group wrote: “We don’t have much money left. The Dubai trip seems to offer the best chance of getting what we need … I want to emphasize that we will need really detailed information confirming the who, where, when and exactly what was said. We would like you to ask if you can get a copy of the transcript or see a copy and make notes from it.”

  Bob replied he understood and assured the group he had numerous sources in Dubai who could open doors for him with law enforcement officials there. “I know the pressure is on to try and I repeat TRY (cause in these things, you really NEVER KNOW) to get something hard for you to write about.” But Bob really didn’t have any personal contacts in Dubai and he was soon scrambling to find some, reaching out to former FBI and DEA agents he knew to see if they had connections to investigators in the United Arab Emirates. One security consultant in Dubai warned him the local police were notoriously closemouthed, and he could end up in jail if he asked too many questions.

  He wasn’t put off. Dubai, with its ultramodern skyscrapers and man-made island in the shape of a palm tree, was a crossroads for deal makers, spies, and money launderers. It was also a major hub for smugglers and product counterfeiters. To Bob, a trip to Dubai was a chance to see a new part of the world and possibly make connections to generate future business. It was also his ticket to see Dawud Salahuddin.

  For months, he and the fugitive, using Ira Silverman as their intermediary, had talked about places to rendezvous. They had for a time discussed Turkey as a possibility but then dropped the idea. Dawud kept coming back to one suggestion, Kish Island, a small spot of land in the Persian Gulf. The island was part of Iran but it had a unique visitors policy. Foreigners, including Americans, could visit Kish without applying to the Iranian government for a visa, a requirement for travelers anywhere else in the country. As a result, about one million people came annually to Kish, many of them Iranians who had fled their homeland for the United States or Europe during the Islamic Revolution and used the island as a spot to reunite with family members who remained behind. Businessmen and laborers working on short-term visas in the United Arab Emirates could take an hour-long flight from Dubai to Kish and then hop on a return flight to Dubai and get their U.A.E. visas renewed.

  Ira told Bob it was clear from his conversations with Dawud that the fugitive wanted to talk. Bob wanted to meet him, too. At the FBI, he had seen how a single source could make an agent’s career and how agents had coasted for years on the coattail
s of a key informant. Dawud could be that kind of informant for him with the CIA. All he needed was to see him for an hour or so, just long enough to be able to write up a report and send it to the Illicit Finance Group. Once Anne and Tim Sampson read it, they would have to stop and read it again—their guy had pulled off the unthinkable; he had landed a source inside Iran. It was hard to imagine that the CIA would have any more problems finding money for him. They would be begging him for work. Bob didn’t know how much information Dawud had to offer, but with the right kind of stoking he might prove useful. Besides, a quick trip from Dubai to Kish wouldn’t cost him much and the potential payoff was enormous.

  Bob’s travel plans for Global Witness put him in Dubai in the middle of February. Once he booked his flight there, he emailed Ira, telling him to let Dawud know he was available to meet him on Kish afterward: “I don’t know if our friend has changed his mind or not about that meeting but I could do something toward the end of that week.”

  Ira checked with Dawud and wrote to Bob: “Whatever works for you. Very clear that our guy wants to meet with you when conditions permit.”

  7

  The Black Dahlia

  Chris would kill him, Bob knew, if she found out about Iran and Dawud, so he decided not to say a word about his plans. Still, he needed to tell her something. He always called her at least once a day while traveling, sometimes twice or three times. He liked to hear her voice and find out what was going on with the kids. Sometimes, while interviewing an informant, he would excuse himself, duck out into a hallway, and call home.

  He planned to shut off his cell phone while on Kish so Iranian intelligence couldn’t monitor it, and he needed an excuse to explain why Chris wouldn’t be able to reach him for a day. He came up with a solution. About a week before his departure for Dubai, he told her that the Illicit Finance Group had contacted him with an urgent request—the CIA needed him to take a “side trip” while in Dubai as part of an important mission for “Uncle” and he would be out of contact for a day. The request was so last-minute he would have to pay his expenses out-of-pocket, and the agency would reimburse him when he got back.

  Bob and Chris rarely fought, but when they did, it was usually about money. Chris knew as much about the state of Bob’s business as he did. She also had more financial sense. She kept a close eye on his books, helping him out by depositing payments from clients and writing checks to pay sources. She knew their family was treading water. They had house payments, big college bills, and weddings ahead. They were also still in a hole from the lawsuit involving the Bank of Cyprus, the assignment Bob took on the “success fee” basis. A year later, the case’s judge still hadn’t rendered a decision and Bob’s $100,000 bill remained unpaid. Before Bob could say another word about the side trip, Chris told him he wasn’t going to do more for the CIA or advance Uncle Sam another dime until the agency paid him what he was owed.

  Bob knew she wasn’t going to back down. If he was going to meet Dawud Salahuddin, his only option was to make one final pitch to the Illicit Finance Group. He decided to send it to Tim Sampson. As head of the CIA unit, he was responsible for its budget, and if extra money was available, he was the person who could shake it loose. On February 5, Bob wrote a memo laying out what he could do for the Illicit Finance Group while in Dubai for Global Witness. In it, he abbreviated “organized crime” as “OC,” and the former Soviet Union as “FSU.” He didn’t specifically mention Dawud or Kish in the memo and asked Anne to forward it to Tim.

  TO: Tim

  VIA: Anne

  FROM: Bob L.

  DATE: 5 February 2007

  Best wishes from Florida.

  I’m leaving on 13 February to go to Geneva on behalf of Global Witness, to meet with the folks in both the Surete de Geneva and the Swiss Federal Police, relative to information about possible Russian OC funds being invested in the FSU natural gas industry.

  From Geneva, again, at Global Witness request, I’m flying to Dubai, U.A.E. to meet with officials there regarding the alleged meeting of Russian OC figures in May 2006 on this same subject.

  In connection with ongoing research I am conducting for an analytical report on the foreign investment of kickback and bribe monies of top Iranian government officials, an individual with detailed knowledge of this subject, with whom I have been in contact by phone and e-mail over the past year, has agreed to meet with me. This meeting will take place either in Dubai or on an island nearby and should cost about two to three thousand dollars.

  I would like to know if I do, in fact, expend my own funds to conduct this meeting, there will be reimbursement sometime in the near future, or, if I should discontinue this, as well as any and all similar projects until renewal time in May.

  Please advise me as soon as possible as I leave in eight (8) days.

  I hope that last week’s papers on clandestine ties between Venezuelan officials and FARC, the three Venezuelan banks laundering FARC funds, and Hugo Chavez’ brother’s racketeering activities were of interest and contributed to your shop’s production.

  Levinson

  Over the next few days, Chris kept seeing Bob at the kitchen table hunched over the telephone. She overheard Anne’s name mentioned and assumed the discussions were about money. When Bob got off one call, he looked happy. He said the Illicit Finance Group had found another $10,000 to add to his contract, enough to just about wipe out his bill. Chris couldn’t argue with that.

  On February 9, four days after Bob sent the Dubai memo, he and Chris drove to a Best Buy in Plantation, Florida, not far from their home. He told her he needed to buy presents for an informant he planned to meet during his trip whom he couldn’t pay in cash. Two days earlier, Ira Silverman had sent him a shopping list. Over their years of correspondence, Ira had gotten to know Dawud’s tastes. He liked Miles Davis, John Coltrane, the Neville Brothers, Billie Holiday, and Ray Charles. The fugitive was also a fan of the comedians Richard Pryor and Chris Rock. Ira sent Bob photographs of Dawud and him taken during his 2002 trip to Tehran. “I wish I were hitting the stores with you, to say nothing of the trip itself,” Ira wrote.

  After buying a bunch of compact discs and videotapes at Best Buy, Bob and Chris went to a nearby BrandsMart, where Bob got a CD of Chris Rock performances. Bob also bought a book for Dawud that he had enjoyed reading—The Black Dahlia, a novel about a Hollywood starlet’s unsolved murder, written by James Ellroy, an author whose own mother was killed by a man who was never caught. By the time the shopping spree was over, Bob had spent $170 on gifts and filed away the receipts so he could submit them to the CIA.

  The next day, he called his travel agent and asked her to book him on a February 22 flight from Dubai to Kish Island on Kish Airlines, an Iranian airline, with a return flight to Dubai on the following day. He contacted a hotel on the island recommended by Dawud called the Maryam and reserved a room with two beds. There was one more preparation he needed to make. He needed a cover story to give Iranian authorities if they asked about his reason for coming to Kish.

  In January, when Bob was in London, he had accompanied Jeff Katz, the head of the investigative firm Bishop International, to the offices of British American Tobacco to talk with company executives about counterfeit cigarette cases. One of the investigations Katz and Bob were pursuing involved a ring that was smuggling into Iran knockoff versions of a brand called “Montana,” a product made by the Iranian Tobacco Company under an agreement with BAT. At their January meeting, executives of BAT had urged Katz and Bob to continue the inquiry, saying they would send their findings to Iranian officials. Using his home computer, Bob found a facsimile of British American Tobacco’s letterhead and composed a letter supposedly written by a company executive, authorizing him to travel to Iran on the cigarette maker’s behalf. The letter read:

  Dear Mr. Levinson

  In connection with our recent meeting together with representatives of Bishop International Ltd., you are hereby authorized to travel on our behalf to appropriate locati
ons, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, in order to conduct research and interviews, as necessary, relating to the trafficking in counterfeit British-American Tobacco brand products. Please forward the results of your efforts to our offices here in Globe House, London upon completion of this research and interviews.

  Ira asked Bob if he wanted him to share his cigarette smuggling cover story with Dawud so the fugitive would be on the same page if police on Kish questioned them. “When I speak with him next, do you want me to mention BAT,” Ira wrote in an email.

  Everything was set. But on February 12, the day before Bob was scheduled to depart for Dubai, a problem arose. He had been expecting to get a formal notice from the CIA showing his account credited with the added $10,000. However, nothing had come. The last thing he wanted before leaving home was another fight with Chris about money, so he decided to take preemptive action. He contacted the agency’s contracting office to find out the status of the funds so he could start submitting bills. The woman with whom he spoke appeared bewildered by his inquiry, and he sent an email to Anne.

  Leaving tomorrow for Geneva and Dubai. Had a brief conversation with a nice lady in contracts … Asked her if I could submit anything in writing yet and she indicated that she had no paperwork or notice at all about the additional 10. I told her that I would reach out for the person in your shop who is handling this stuff and get them to give her a call … I am grateful for the confidence everyone has shown in my act.

  As it turned out, Anne already knew about Bob’s call because the woman in the contracting office had contacted her.

  Hey there, hope you have a safe trip! The contracts people are NOT yet looped in on the additional money and by the time the news of the money officially finds its way to her, a month will have passed. She called, baffled and we had to explain that official notification would be forthcoming. Things have to first wend their way through our office bureaucracy before it reaches the contracts office. They’ll need to amend the contract, get you to sign it, etc. Anyway, probably best if we keep talk about the additional money among “us girls” (you, me, Tim, Brian) and not get the contract folks involved until they are officially notified through channels!