Guillermo Hernández-Cartaya was a Cuban banker born sometime in 1932Biographical information from the entry for "GUILLERMO HERNANDEZ-CARTAYA" on the Federal Bureau of Prisons
website

"Inmate Locator"
(the '' New York Times'' described him in 1977 as in his "mid-fifties"); he spent 20 years as a banker in Cuba.

Bay of Pigs fiasco

He first became notable when in 1961, after having previously joined the Brigade 2506/

Operation 40 Operation 40 was the code name for a Central Intelligence Agency-sponsored counterintelligence group composed of Cuban exiles. The group was formed to seize control of the Cuban government after the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Operation 40 continued t ...

organization and participating in the Bay of Pigs Invasion (possibly in revenge for

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

having destroyed his livelihood; Cartaya had been on very good terms with the former rulers of Cuba), he was sentenced to three years in jail for his part in the invasion. How he got out of jail is unclear.

World Finance Corporation

Back in the United States, he garnered infamy when his elaborate financial empire, centered around the World Finance Corporation which he founded in 1971, came crashing down in 1977 — the scandal was estimated to have cost depositors and taxpayers on three continents more than $50 million. He was captured using forged

passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...

s to leave Miami after escaping from the United Arab Emirates (despite the confiscation of his real passport). In 1982, he was charged in court with a number of crimes, mainly

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

, drug and arms trafficking, and

embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

. For some reason, all charges except income tax evasion were dropped, apparently at the insistence of the CIA (which had, incidentally, sponsored the Bay of Pigs invasion, and has long been said to covertly support the Colombian cocaine trade Cartaya facilitated). In the aftermath, Florida

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Robert Shevin Robert L. Shevin (January 19, 1934 – July 11, 2005) was the Florida Attorney General from 1971 until 1979 and a judge on the Florida Third District Court of Appeal. Background Robert Shevin was born in Miami, Florida. He received his bachelor' ...

returned $7,600 in contributions from WFC-connected Latin businessmen. Dade County Democratic chairman Michael Abrams resigned from the board of a WFC-backed insurance company.

Acquittal and conviction

Cartaya and his former aide Salvador Aldereguia-Ors were acquitted in 1978 of a 1978 indictment charging them with conspiring to use a false passport to help Hernandez Cartaya escape from Ajman in the United Arab Emirates. Cartaya's passport had been confiscated in an attempt by the Ajmani to have him repay the more than 12 million missing $USD. He, Francisco J. Fernandez, and Vicente Carrodeguas were only ever convicted of tax evasion (Henry Heitman, Jr., who was the only defendant to testify, was acquitted); they had not reported a number of large bonuses as salary.drawn from the UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT; 747 F.2d 1390; 1984 U.S. App. LEXIS 16181; 85-2 U.S. Tax; Cas. (CCH) P9567; 56 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5106; December 5, 1984'' The Miami Herald'', October 19, 1978, Thursday. Section 3, Page 1, Column 2. By Joe Crankshaw An appeal to the Supreme Court was denied. After serving one year in prison, Cartaya was released on 6 June 1987. Kwitny records that there were rumors that Cartaya retired to

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...

Castro connection

There were multiple reports linking Cartaya with Fidel Castro. His aide Aldereguia-Ors was found by the FBI on his arrest on charges of preparing Cartaya a fake passport (in Miami International Airport en route to

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

) to possess in his briefcase a letter 'from a Cuban secret police agent' addressed to a spy named "Samuel". Ors admitted fighting with Castro, and to helping Rebel Army friends find jobs at WFC, but he denied being the Cuban spy Samuel, and claimed the letter & his planned meetings with Cuban officials referred to 'an effort to bring refugees out of Cuba to the United States'. FBI agents would testify in court that besides the letter, the briefcase contained 'operational instructions from a foreign country'. Rep.

Lester L. Wolff Lester Lionel Wolff (January 4, 1919 – May 11, 2021) was an American politician who served as a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from New York. He also held the position of pres ...

stated on ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...

'' that Cartaya's WFC arranged for Castro a 100 million USD loan to Colombia (the Colombian officials agreeing to aid cocaine smuggling)."Drug Deal May Link Castro And Miamian, Congressman Charges", William R. Armlong, ''The Miami Herald'', 27 February 1978 The Metro Public Safety Department's Organized Crime Bureau earlier reported an informant's claim that Castro was an initial investor in WFC.

References

* "Cuban Exile Banker Under Wide Inquiry", Jeff Gerth, 15 December 1977, A1, '' The New York Times'' * "People", 12 March 1978, section F7, '' The New York Times'' * '' The Miami Herald'', March 19, 1978, Sunday; Section 4, Page 8, Column 1; written by Gloria Marina and Patrick Riordan. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez-Cartaya, Guillermo American people convicted of tax crimes American people of Cuban descent 1932 births Living people American businesspeople convicted of crimes