Guillermo Hernández-Cartaya
Encyclopedia
Guillermo Hernández-Cartaya was a Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n banker born sometime in 1932 (the New York Times described him in 1977 as in his "mid-fifties"); he spent 20 years as a banker in Cuba, until he emigrated to the United States, where he became infamous as a dirty banker and the leader of the corrupt World Finance Corporation
World Finance Corporation
World Finance Corporation was a financial corporation founded in 1971 and headquartered in Coral Gables Florida...
.
Bay of Pigs fiasco
He first became notable when in 1961, after having previously joined the Brigade 2506Brigade 2506
Brigade 2506 was the name given to a CIA-sponsored group of Cuban exiles formed in 1960 to attempt the military overthrow of the Cuban government headed by Fidel Castro...
/Operation 40
Operation 40
Operation 40 was a Central Intelligence Agency-sponsored undercover operation in the early 1960s, which was active in the United States and the Caribbean , Central America, and Mexico. It was created by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in March 1960, after the January 1959 Cuban Revolution, and was...
organization and participating in the Bay of Pigs Invasion
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful action by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba, with support and encouragement from the US government, in an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The invasion was launched in April 1961, less than three months...
(possibly in revenge for Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
having destroyed his livelihood; Cartaya had been on very good terms with the former rulers of Cuba), he was sentenced to three years in jail for his part in the invasion. How he got out of jail is unclear. Jonathan Kwitny writes:
"... Guillermo Hernandez-Cartaya, was the chief executive at World Finance. The CIA had paid $50,000 to get him out of a Cuban jail after he was captured at the Bay of Pigs. During that time, several government investigators says, he went on hunting and fishing trips with Vice-President Nelson RockefellerNelson RockefellerNelson Aldrich Rockefeller was the 41st Vice President of the United States , serving under President Gerald Ford, and the 49th Governor of New York , as well as serving the Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower administrations in a variety of positions...
."
World Finance Corporation
Back in the United States, he garnered infamy when his elaborate financial empire, centered around the World Finance CorporationWorld Finance Corporation
World Finance Corporation was a financial corporation founded in 1971 and headquartered in Coral Gables Florida...
which he founded in 1971, came crashing down in 1977- the scandal would estimatedly cost depositors and taxpayers somewhere over $50 million in three continents. He was captured using forged passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
s to leave Miami after escaping from the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
(despite the confiscation of his real passport). In 1982, he was charged in court with a number of crimes- largely money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
, drugs and arms trafficking, and embezzlement
Embezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
. For some reason, all charges except income tax evasion
Tax evasion
Tax evasion is the general term for efforts by individuals, corporations, trusts and other entities to evade taxes by illegal means. Tax evasion usually entails taxpayers deliberately misrepresenting or concealing the true state of their affairs to the tax authorities to reduce their tax liability,...
were dropped, apparently at the firm insistence of the CIA (which had, incidentally, sponsored the Bay of Pigs invasion, and has long been said to covertly support the Colombian cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
trade Cartaya facilitated). In the aftermath, Florida Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
Robert Shevin
Robert Shevin
Robert L. Shevin was the Florida Attorney General from 1971 until 1979 and a judge on the Florida Third District Court of Appeal.-Background:...
returned $7,600 in contributions from WFC-connected Latin businessmen. Dade County
Miami-Dade County, Florida
Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the state of Florida. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 2,496,435, making it the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States...
Democratic chairman Michael Abrams resigned from the board of a WFC-backed insurance company.
Acquittal and conviction
Cartaya and his former aide Salvador Aldereguia-Ors were acquitted in 1978 of an 1978 indictment charging them with conspiring to use a false passport to help Hernandez Cartaya escape from Ajman in the United Arab EmiratesUnited Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
. Cartaya's passport had been confiscated in an attempt by the Ajmani to have him repay the more than 12 million missing $USD.
He, Francisco J. Fernandez, and Vicente Carrodeguas were only ever convicted of tax evasion (Henry Heitman, Jr., who was the only defendant to testify, was acquitted); they had not reported a number of large bonuses as salary. An appeal to the Supreme Court was denied.
After serving one year in prison, Cartaya was released on the 6th of June 1987 . Kwitny records that there were rumors that Cartaya retired to Galveston, Texas
Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
.
Castro connection
There were multiple reports linking Cartaya with Fidel Castro. His aide Aldereguia-Ors was found by the FBI on his arrest on charges of preparing Cartaya a fake passport (in Miami International Airport en route to Kingston, JamaicaKingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
) to possess in his briefcase a letter 'from a Cuban secret police agent' addressed to a spy named "Samuel". Ors admitted fighting with Castro, and to helping Rebel Army friends find jobs at WFC, but he denied being the Cuban spy Samuel, and claimed the letter & his planned meetings with Cuban officials referred to 'an effort to bring refugees out of Cuba to the United States'. FBI agents would testify in court that besides the letter, the briefcase contained 'operational instructions from a foreign country'.
Rep. Lester L. Wolff
Lester L. Wolff
Lester Lionel Wolff was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from New York.Wolff was born in New York City and lectured at New York University from 1939 until 1941 after studying there. He served in the Civil Air Patrol from 1945 until 1950 and from 1968 until 1980...
stated on 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
that Cartaya's WFC arranged for Castro a 100 million USD loan to Colombia (the Colombian officials agreeing to aid cocaine smuggling).
The Metro Public Safety Department's Organized Crime Bureau earlier reported an informant's claim that Castro was an initial investor in WFC.