Israelis hold placards depicting Jonathan Pollard during a protest calling for his release from a U.S. prison, outside U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's hotel in Jerusalem January 2, 2014. AMMAR AWAD/REUTERS
Newsweek: Does Israeli Spy Jonathan Pollard Have $1 Million Waiting in a Swiss Bank Account?
If past reports are true, convicted spy Jonathan Pollard could have about $1 million waiting for him in a Swiss bank account when he is released from federal prison on parole in November. Pollard, whose release was announced on Tuesday, has served nearly 30 years for supplying the Israeli government with classified U.S. intelligence documents.
Pollard's new problem: how to get to the cash, and when. According to multiple past reports based on the statements of United States investigators, Israeli intelligence paid Pollard $50,000 by the time he was arrested in 1985, on top of lavish gifts, and promised to deposit $30,000 a year for him in a secret Swiss bank account. The original 10-year deal could have amounted to as much as $540,000, officials said when he went to jail. But if the Israelis continued the payments to their captured spy—a common practice of major espionage agencies the world over—then Pollard could be in line for a $1 million payday, or more.
News of Pollard claiming such a reward, however, could touch off a firestorm in the already rocky relations between the U.S. and Israel.
WNU Editor: The Pollard legal team is denying these reports .... but I suspect that we will not know the real answer until he leaves the U.S. which I expect him to do when the conditions of his parole permit him to.
2 comments:
I believe the US has ways of finding out what the Swiss banks are holding on behalf of people.
They can ask the Swiss to "pretty please, oh pretty please tell us what you are holding on John Doe Smith (fill in a name." At this point, the Swiss can usually say "yes" or "no." Since they pride themselves on the privacy of these accounts, the Swiss will say "no" about 99.9999% of the time initially unless they have a mutual interests with the Americans to release such information. If they don't which will be the case more often than not, the Americans have several options. 1.)Fuss and fume, 2.)pound sand, 3.)cry about the inequities of life, or 4.)offer the Swiss some form of compensation to release the information.
If options 1 to 3 are employed, the US government does not get the information period. If option 4 employed, the Swiss can agree or they can request higher compensation. The US then agrees or does not agree to pay higher compensation and the more the US desires the info the higher the price will be. Probably most requests made by the US for such information is denied. The US govt likely knows most requests will be denied and seldom bothers.
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