The Nugan Hand Bank Affair
Nugan Hand was a bank in Australia that, during the 1970s, was deeply involved in illicit cash flows.
The controversy surrounding the bank blew open in 1980, when Frank Nugan, the bank’s founder, was found shot dead in the back of his Mercedes-Benz on an isolated stretch of road. An autopsy later ruled Nugan’s death a suicide, though questions remained about his death. At the time of his death, his bank was insolvent and had also been accused of all assortment of nefarious things, including being affiliated with drug running, arms smuggling, and covert operations. After his death, his partner, Michael John Hand, a former Green Beret and CIA affiliate, disappeared for several decades before turning back up again in 2015.
The twists and turns of the case are difficult to untangle, but basically, the bank was found to have employed a large number of current or former U.S. intelligence and military officials—including former CIA Director William Colby, who worked as legal counsel for the bank. The CIA was accused of using the bank for various nefarious purposes but subsequent investigations failed to turn up definitive dirt on the agency. It certainly made it look bad by association, however.
