Where was Ghaith Pharaon? U.S. authorities hunted for the globe-trotting Saudi financier last week after the Federal Reserve Board sought to fine him $37 million for serving as a front man for the notorious Bank of Credit & Commerce International. According to the Fed, Pharaon secretly used B.C.C.I. funds in 1985 to acquire Independence Bank of Encino, Calif., for about $23 million. To assure collection of the fine, a federal court froze Pharaon's U.S. assets, which ranged from a controlling interest in American Southern Insurance Co. to an 1,800-acre estate near Savannah.
Investigators are also probing allegations that Pharaon used B.C.C.I....
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