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Though the discovery of irregularities led to the shutdown of B.C.C.I.'s banking operations last July, Abedi's $20 billion "bank" is in fact far more complex. It is a vast, stateless, multinational corporation that deploys its own intelligence agency, complete with a paramilitary wing and enforcement units, known collectively as the "black network." It maintains its own diplomatic relations with foreign countries through bank "protocol officers" who use seemingly limitless amounts of cash to pursue Abedi's goals. B.C.C.I. trades massively and for its own account in commodities ranging from grain, rice, cement and coffee to timber, carpets and anchovies. It is a force to be reckoned with in international oil markets and, through its intertwined relationship with the Gokal brothers' shipping interests, is a shipping conglomerate as well. Taken altogether, B.C.C.I. commands virtual self- sufficiency as a purveyor of goods around the world.
Through its practiced use of false documentation, the deployment of billions of dollars in unbooked letters of credit, and clandestine arrangements with compliant government officials in numerous countries, B.C.C.I. was ideally positioned for its role as arms marketeer to the world, particularly the Middle East. Though its tracks are often difficult to detect, TIME has discovered B.C.C.I.'s fingerprints on a startling array of transactions. Among them:
-- The victorious allied march into Kuwait City in the wake of Desert Storm was spearheaded by a contingent of returning Kuwaitis. Few if any noticed, however, that the Kuwaitis were riding atop Yugoslavian M-84 battle tanks -- upgraded versions of the Soviets' workhorse T-72 -- complete with East European backup personnel. Sixty-four such tanks and crews had been purchased, financed and supplied to the Desert Storm coalition forces by B.C.C.I.
-- An ongoing project in Abu Dhabi to develop a standoff land-attack missile system for the emirate's fleet of Mirage 2000s is being financed by B.C.C.I.
-- Recently B.C.C.I. brokered the sale of OF-40 Mark 2 main battle tanks -- also to Abu Dhabi -- from Italian arms manufacturer Oto Melara. B.C.C.I. later obtained and financed a dozen S-23 180-mm artillery guns from North Korea for Dubai.
-- In the past three years B.C.C.I. has brokered and financed the sale of Astros II battlefield multiple-rocket launchers from Brazil to both Iran and Iraq. The enterprise has also sold Chinese Silkworm missiles to both countries. A spokesman for Avibras Industria, maker of the Astros rocket system, concedes sales to Iraq but denies any sales to Iran or any deals involving B.C.C.I. A spokesman also allows that the company received "insignificant" financing from the Brazilian B.C.C.I. bank that was used for "domestic purposes."
-- B.C.C.I. arranged for the sale of Argentine TAM battle tanks to Iran in 1989, arms sources report. Argentina's Defense Ministry denies that any tanks were ever sold to Iran.
-- B.C.C.I. supplied Iraq with French-made Roland antiaircraft missile systems and with G-6 mobile artillery units from South Africa.