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Washington had previously seized some of Saddam's holdings as part of $1 billion of Iraqi assets that the U.S. froze after Iraq invaded Kuwait. The properties were connected with Anees Masoor Wadi, an Iraqi middleman who resided in a $3.5 million Beverly Hills home -- where his neighbors included actor Gene Hackman and director John Landis -- and who was allegedly part of Saddam's global network for procuring arms and military technology. Wadi reportedly helped acquire a suburban Cleveland machine-tool firm called Matrix-Churchill, which made versatile computer-operated jig grinders that could be used to produce precision parts for everything from consumer products to aerospace and nuclear equipment. According to Kroll, the Ohio-based company also submitted inflated bills to Iraq that enabled Saddam to skim funds and deposit them in foreign bank accounts.
Washington targeted both Wadi and Matrix-Churchill in its seizure of Iraqi holdings in the U.S. after the gulf crisis broke out. Federal agents shut the machine-tool company in September and took possession of Wadi's Sunset Boulevard mansion last month, along with his bank accounts, including one that contained $200,000. The Immigration and Naturalization Service ordered Wadi to leave the country by the end of March, when his visa was due to expire, or face arrest and deportation proceedings. As governments assemble more details of Saddam's stolen secret billions, such crackdowns could become increasingly common around the world.