PARAGUAY. THE NAZI GOLD
Nemesio Barreto Monzón, 10/05/2006 (14:49)
http://www.indymedia.be/en/node/2416
This memorandum contains a series of evidences that link the Republic of Paraguay with the presumed existence of physical gold that might belong to the German State, and its purpose is to issue letters requisitorial to the German authorities for the opening of a summary research, in order to be able to determine the issue related to the Patrimonial Law.
PARAGUAY.THE NAZI GOLD
Israel. On 58th Independence Day (1948-2006)
This memorandum contains a series of evidences that link the Republic of Paraguay with the presumed existence of physical gold that might belong to the German State, and its purpose is to issue letters requisitorial to the German authorities for the opening of a summary research, in order to be able to determine the issue related to the Patrimonial Law. This type of research, whose result may have a bonding character, may allow to set aside of any controversy the issue regarding which of both States would have the active rights to promote vindicative actions of domain and, consequently to work out the means for the recovery of the goods, estimated in approximately US$ 650 million (American Dollars). In this sense, and likewise the aforesaid mentioned object, the General Inspection Bureau of the Republic’s Accounting also started an investigation in 1996, promoting legal actions pursuant to its duties.
BACKGROUND:
Besides being Paraguay the country where the first Nazi Party in America was established, it is of public knowledge that the Nazis enjoyed in Paraguay the governmental favors. In this respect, and justo to mention some cases, it is known that some crew members of the German armoured ship “Graf Spee”, sank in front of the City of Montevideo (Uruguay), on December 17, 1939, where provided with Paraguayan documents; that many Nazis took refuge here after the war was over, such as Mengele, who was even granted with the Paraguayan citizenship in 1959.; that it is also a proven fact that many of them, accused of war crimes, lived placidly in Paraguay during the long dictatorship of General Stroessner.
In the second fortnight of June, 1992, according to a former Fiscal Agent, three persons who were interested in taking part as intermediaries in the sale of gold, gathered with the State’s Attorney General at that time, Dr. Luis Escobar Faella, who admitted, one year later, to have gathered in “two opportunities” with some private individuals who were interested in this matter. Curiously, however, Dr. Luis Escobar Faella did not remember who those persons were. This “forgetting” seems to be very suggestive, since it resists to the importance of the expounded question, mainly due to the existence of very serious evidences about the real existence of gold; besides, it quarreled with its constitutional and legal attributions, pursuant to the Art. 214 of the Constitution of 1967, then in force, and of Art. 63 of the Judicial Organization Code (Law Nr. 879/81).
OPERATION IS FEASIBLE:
On the other hand, in 1996, the Argentinian Prosecutor Pablo Lanusse opened a summary to investigate the origin and illegal delivery of a gold cargo to the United States Of America, for an amount of US$ 80.000.000, proving it was possible to carry out these irregular operations. In this regard, on August 28, 1996, I presented a denouncement at the General Inspection Bureau of the Republic’s Accounting in regard to the presumed irregular sale of 42 Tons of gold, initial quantity to which another quantity of 25 Metric Tons of gold was added, which even had judicial repercussions. The presented denouncement was widely broadcasted by the local media, but irrespectively of this fact, it can also be proved that as of the second semester of 1996, also the world’s media became insistently interested in the gold of the Nazi Germany.
ADMISSION OF DENOUNCEMENT:
After a series of interviews and meetings, including the one with the German Ambassador, Joachim Kausch, with Dr. Daniel Fretes Ventre, on October 10, 1996, the General Inspection Bureau of the Republic’s Accounting, together with the help of the ordinary justice, decided to carry out a strong investigation on the presumed existence of physical gold and other values that might have been deposited in the vault of the Justice Building or the Central Bank of Paraguay, transfered abroad for its sale, in the margin of the Law Nr. 1.250/67 (Articles 39 – 41) and of the Law Nr. 879/81 (Art. 63, sub-subparagraph “g”).
ABOUT THE QUANTITY OF GOLD AND ITS FEATURES:
Although there are only presumptions about the real origin of the gold, its features, according to a source, would be following: a) 24 Karats Bullion gold type; b) 42 Tons; c) Nominal Value: US$ 382.000.000; d) Beginning of the negotiations: October 25, 1990; e) Intermediate institution: “INTERFIN INC. COMMODITIES – A DIVISION OF BURCH MANAGEMENT”, Dallas, Texas, U.S.A.; f) End of the operation: June, 1992; g) The important cities for a serious investigation are: New York, Panama, Texas, Toronto, Berne, Cologne, Lausanne, Geneva and Verona. However, another source points out a quantity of 40 Tons.
As a matter of fact, a document signed by the General Secretary of the Supreme Court of Justice, Dr. Carlos Acuña Lugo, says textually: “Certificate: Through this document, and for whatever purpose in Law, I hereby certify the existence of 40 Tons of metal, duly sealed, with the references of 999,9 plus a seal of the issuing Bank on each piece. They are deposited and for sale to the price given by the offers and proposals that could be made, with the responsibility of pureness, quality and quantity. This certificate is issued on this day January eight, nineteen ninety-two.” It is here important to note that the falseness of this document was not proved in trial.
Besides the above mentioned 40 or 42 Tons of gold, there could have existed another 25 Tons, pursuant to the statement made to the Judge Narciso Mieres by Engineer Sirous Toutounchi, on March 15,1993, stating “that the 25 Tons of gold were deposited in a Bank in Italy, where they may be, perhaps, until now.” It means, the 40 Tons are not part of the 25 Metric Tons mentioned by the firm “INTERNATIONAL GRAVELLUS CORPORATION”. Therefore, adding the mentioned quantities, there is a total of 65 Tons of gold. A note of the firm “International Gravellus Corporation, Panama”, dated in Lausanne on March 20, 1992, says textually following: “We declare, on behalf of our seller and as his legal consignee, with full corporative responsibility, that we are ready, prepared and in condition to sell twenty-five (25) Metric Tons (MT) with possible repetitions, of gold (AU), according to the following conditions: Quantity: 25MT with possibilities of repetitions; Quality: 999,9; Bars: 12,5 Kg. each; Brand: International; Price: according to fixing of the LME; Discount: 10% gross; 6% for buyer; 0,5% for mandate of the seller; 1,5% for middlemen of the seller. Partial supplies: Six (6) Metric Tons each; Delivery: To be agreed; Procedures: The seller submits this RWA, the buyer signs this RWA as proof of conformity to buy according to this procedure with banking endorsement, and submits it directly to the seller’s Bank: Smith Barner Chemical Bank, 55 Water street, New York.”
ORIGIN OF THE GOLD:
According to some sources, the gold and the values in question may belong to the Paraguayan State, to the German State or to Jewish victims of the Nazism. Pursuant to a commission, formed in 1946 by American and British representatives, the Nazis took 337 Tons of gold, which at present represents around US$ 3.6 billion. More than one source state that said amount of gold could be linked only to the Nazis and the Reich Bank and that it could have been carried out from Argentina as of 1948 until the fall of Peron in 1955. In fact, the asylum granted to Peron on board the Paraguayan battleship “Paraguay” did arouse suspicion (Refer to: Note Nr. 378 dated October 4, 1955, EMB-PAR-ARG, linking it with the arrival of General Juan Domingo Peron to Paraguay). In this regard, it is important to remember the close relation of General Juan Domingo Peron with the Nazis, who visited Paraguay five times, in 1948, 1953, 1954, 1955 and 1974. Also, that the gold in question was being deposited at the Central Bank of Paraguay – established in 1952 – since 1956, in coincidence with the year in which Martin Borman arrived to Paraguay. It is estimated that huge amounts of money were managed in Paraguay by the “Deutsche Gemeinschaft” (German Community), that is to say, by Nazis sympathizers or by war criminals such as Hans Rüdel, Martin Bormann, Alexander von Ekstein, Josef Mengele, Werner Jung and Edward Roschman, who died at the Clinics Hospital on August 10, 1977. His body, same as with Bormann’s body in 1968, was stolen – in this case – from the Morgue of the Clinics Hospital, on November 13, 1977. "Bormann and Mengele headed for Asunción, Paraguay, because Bormann was ill. His health became worse, and a doctor was called. Doctor Otto Biss, a resident of Asuncion, examined Bormann and Mengele. He observed that Bormann had a scar on his forehead and that, other than a recurrence of his gastritis, he was in good health. This is how it was established that Bormann was in Paraguay, well guarded by Colonel José Argaña, who controlled all the contraband operations between Asuncion and Sao Paulo-operations conducted by former German flyers" (Martin Bormann – Nazi in Exile. Paul Manning. Chapter 7).
¿MURDERED FOR KNOWING TOO MUCH?
1) PEDRO J. PROKOPCHUK: Head of the Foreign Affairs Division of the Ministry of the Interior was the author of the report on the presence of Nazi criminals in Paraguay, such as Martin Bormann and Mengele, according to documents of the Center for Investigation and Files of the Judicial Power, also known as “The File of Terror”. Prokopchuk was murdered on September 23, 1961 by a Croatian Nazist, Batric Kontic, inside the “Splendid” movie theater, located in the downtown area of Asuncion.
2) JORGE SOLAECHE YALUK: According to an old official, there was a “vault” at the Central Bank of Paraguay that did not appear on the construction drafts and to which only a limited group of persons has had access. They were persons who were related to the President of the Central Bank of Paraguay at that time, Dr. César Romeo Acosta, who died a few years ago in a suspicious car accident. In addition, a source points out that the construction of the building of the Central Bank of Paraguay presented different types of defects. In that respect, it has been talked also about the importance to go deeply into the investigations related to the death of Engineer Jorge Solaeche Yaluk, which took place on August 28,1985, who was works supervisor of the Central Bank of Paraguay. The first stage of the investigation mentioned suicide, stating that Engineer Solaeche Yaluk had committed suicide by shooting himself on his head. However, in the course of time, many evidences appeared making thus the hypothesis of suicide less sustainable. Besides all the above mentioned, we must add the report of Police Inspector Honorio Nuñez Larroza, an expert in balistics, who stated that the weapon, whose bullet caused the death of Engineer Solaeche Yaluk, was not triggered by him. The report of Police Inspector Nuñez Larroza clearly established that this was not a case of suicide, but a case of murder (refer to “Abc – Color”, March 28,1989, page 44). This information was confirmed to me on December, 1995 by Police Inspector Nuñez Larroza himself. Consequently, it would be interesting to find out who could profit from the death of the works supervisor. There must have been very important reasons related to the murder of Engineer Solaeche Yaluk and therefore it deserves to be investigated until its definitive elucidation. In fact, 11 years after the murder of the works supervisor, in the first fortnight of October, 1996, the General Inspection Bureau of the Republic’s Accounting verified the existence of huge concrete tunnels located underneath the main vault of the Central Bank of Paraguay, which could have sheltered tons of gold bars without being noticed by most of the bank officials.
VALUE OF THE PRESUMED TRANSACTIONS:
The fixed price for the sale operation of the 42 Tons was of US$ 9.095 per kg.; this makes a total of US$ 382.000.000. Concerning the 25 metric tons of gold, the price was fixed to US$ 10.500 per kg.; this makes a total of US$ 262.500.000. Therefore, the presumed transactions for the sale of 67 tons of gold would have produced the considerable sum of US$ 644.000.000.
TRANSACTION CODE:25MT AU-EAGLE-IGC/EM290292-AU. T
he Current Account of the “International Gravelus Corporation” at the “Bank of Gothard”, located in the city of Lausanne, Switzerland, is: Nr.232.281-2. It is important to add that the Irrevocable Payment Order signed by Mr. Edouard Mange in favor of Mr. Sirous Toutounchi, dated March 26, 1992, and was legalized by Raymond Ramoni, Notary Public of Cossonay (Vaud / Switzerland), under Nr. 5.599. Mr. Sirous Toutounchi, who already passed away.
SOURCES: The documents used to guide this research are not enumerative, but merely enunciative, and include photocopies of mail and public documents; a dossier regarding Gaith Pharaon, as of his arrival to Asuncion until obtaining, with the help of Stroessner, the Central Bank of Paraguay to deposit millions of dollars and other values at the “BCCI” (Bank of Credit and Commerce International). Partial list of senior officers of the Central Bank of Paraguay from 1952 until 1995. “Abc-Color”, August 10-11, 1977 (death of Roschman and attempt upon Emilo Wolff’s life), “Abc – Color”, November 8, 1983 (interview to Simon Wiesenthal). Resolution Nr. 809 of the Supreme Court of Justice, dated November 27, 1959, which grants the Paraguayan citizenship to Joseph Mengele. The references on Martin Borman are filed at the Center for Documentation and Files of the Judicial Power, also known as “The File of Terror”. Regarding the links of Peron with the Nazis, refer to Juan Jose Sebreli’s “The imaginary wishes of the Peronism”, pages 63 through 68, Buenos Aires, 1992. In regard to the links of Paraguay with the Nazis, refer to Alfredo M. Seiferheld’s “Nazism and Fascism in Paraguay”, published by “Histórica” Publishing House, Asuncion, 1988. Regarding the foreign national debt of Paraguay, refer to Nemesio Barreto Monzón’s “Legal Base of the Foreign Indebtedness, 1955-1989”, Asuncion, 1995. Refer also to Sven Frederik Hedin’s “Kabinettet för Utrikes Brevväxlingen, Skrivelser fran Svenska Beskickningar”, Berlin, 1938 – 1954 (National Archives: Riksarkivet, Stockholm). File of the Minsitry of Foreign Affairs, Collection called “D.P.I.”, 1937 – 1960, Asuncion – Paraguay.
Documental Annex: From "The Terror's File" (The National Agency of Technical Affairs. Microfilms 00092F 2332-00092F 2332).
REPUBLIC OF PARAGUAY, MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS DIVISION
DR. ANTONIO CAMPOS ALUM,
General Director of D.N.A.T. National Agency of Technical Affairs
I am hereby reporting to you that, working at the FOREIGN AFFAIRS service I was able to achieve in the past days a confidential contact with the Intelligence Service Agency of West Germany in Latin America.The Head of said Intelligence Service Agency of West Germany is General (Reinhard) Gehlen, who at the same time is the Head of the NATO’s Intelligence Service (North Atlantic Organization), leading both Institutions as one powerful organization in the fight against the communist espionage.
Said Intelligence Service has two main objectives for its activities in Latin America:
1. To control its own (German) diplomatic agencies and the activities of the German citizens in our (Latin American) countries.
2. To inform in regard to the real political and cultural development and situation in these countries – always from the general point of view – communist counter spying.
In the meantime, said Agency wishes to work together with us on a confidential base, however from the beginning it states the wish to turn this collaboration into an official relationship, which will be necessary in the course of time and the necessary safety (illegible) will be accomplished for both organizations.
The Agency is proposing the total exchange of any information that could be of interest for both of us, coming from Latin America and, in particular, from our nation.
In the future, I will request the respective authorization on every report coming from our work, once requested by said Agency, whenever the possibility to exchange the requested information may not be clear.
Following, I will give you the first reports, coming from said Agency:
1. MARTIN BORMANN: War criminal, sentenced in the Nüremberg Trial after World War II, Head of the Nazi Party in Germany during the war, wanted by the International Justice. According to the report, submitted to its Headquarters located in West Germany on date 4/29/1961, he arrived to Paraguay in 1956 and lived for a long time in the estate of Mr. ALBAN KRUG in Hohenau, located in the zone of Alto Paraná. In 1958 he visited the practice of a Dentist, located on Nuestra Señora de la Asunción street and corner of Fulgencio R. Moreno street in Asuncion. He also visited the practice of Dr. Biss, a German Jewish who had his practice in Asuncion. He was also treated by the famous German Doctor, Joseph Mengele, in 1958 and 1959. M.B. died due to stomach cancer on February 15, 1959, in Asuncion, at the house of Mr. Werner Jung, by the (illegible) – the General Consul of Paraguay in West Germany – and was buried at the cemetery of Itá, close to Asuncion, in the night of February 17, 1959.
Following persons attended the burial of M.B.: the person in charge of the cemetery, the driver of the truck that transported the body, Mr. Walter Jung, and another man, called “von Eckstein”. The house of Mr. Walter Jung, where M.B. died, is now the place of Mr. Peter Hensch, Cultural Attache of the West Germany Embassy.
2. JOSEPH MENGELE: M.D., German, wanted by the International Justice based on the accusation of war criminal, doctor at the concentration fields during the last World War: pursuant to the same report dated 4/29/1961, he arrived to Asuncion in the last months of 1959, in order to provide medical treatment to Martin Bormann. He lived in the house of Mr. Walter Jung in Asuncion and was known as Mr. Fritz. He requested the Paraguayan citizenship and obtained it by paying Gs. 100.000.- He had his house in Alto Paraná. Once he stayed at the “Astra” Hotel while Mr. Walter Jung was out of town. He moved after being intensively followed by the Jewish Intelligence Service, and his present whereabouts is unknown.
Asuncion, August 24, 1961
PEDRO J. PROCKOPCHUK
Head of the Foreign Affairs Division
