Word: rosenbaum
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Soon after rumors of I.C.B.'s plight began circulating, Baron Edmond de Rothschild, chairman of The Israel Corp., ordered an investigation. A report on his findings, released in Israel last December, asserts that The Israel Corp. "was a victim of criminal misconduct," and specifically blames Tzur and Rosenbaum. Rothschild has filed criminal charges against Rosenbaum in Geneva, which have yet to be acted upon, and initiated the proceedings against Tzur, who faces a possible 22-year sentence...
Singled Out. Rosenbaum, the key figure in the complex saga, founded I.C.B. in 1959. A short, bull-necked dynamo of a man, he is, says one Swiss banker, "the kind of guy who seemed to know everybody." His bank had the reputation of taking money from anyplace, paying richer-than-average returns and investing in risky high-yielding ventures. I.C.B. was singled out by LIFE in 1967 as one of the Swiss banks that accepted funds that the Mafia had skimmed from casinos in the U.S. and the Bahamas, then recycled into...
...same time, Rosenbaum, who played a major role in rescuing many of his fellow Jews during the Nazi occupation of his native Hungary, developed close relations with Israeli leaders. I.C.B. financed oil deals and huge, hushed arms transactions for Israel. Rosenbaum was also highly respected by many Jews around the world, who often used his bank to deposit funds for investment in Israel; indeed, until February he was treasurer of the World Jewish Congress...
...typically grandiose land speculation in Italy is believed to have been the main cause of Rosenbaum's trouble. He borrowed $30 million to acquire and improve a 1,200-acre site just outside Rome that formerly belonged to the Italian royal family. Rosenbaum hoped to get the land rezoned for residential construction, which would have boosted the site's value to $150 million. Instead, the Italian government decided to zone it for park land, and Rosenbaum was left with debts, including fees and interest payments, of about $75 million...
...Thus Rosenbaum's empire was under intense pressure when the world recession hit Europe, causing stock markets to plunge and interest rates to soar. A desperate need for capital seems to have led Rosenbaum to use his Liechtenstein accounts to transfer funds siphoned from the bank to his other enterprises. Apparently Rosenbaum believed that he would eventually recoup and pay the money back...