World Commerce Corporation and the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas

[Ed Berger]

Synchronicity or revealing pattern?

A 1957 issue of Red Island Lines News Digest discusses the creation of a railway and freight system set up to service the Great Southwest development project between Dallas and Fort Worth—the Great Southwest R.R. The article notes that many of the figures driving the construction and management of the line are the same as those running the Great Southwest project writ large. Angus Wynne, William Zeckendorf, Rockefeller Center and Amon Carter are all named, but then one unfamiliar: "Arthur Rubloff, Development Corporation of America". Zeckendorf appears to have been close to Rubloff, with the pair having conducted real estate business together since the late 1940s.

The Development Corporation of America, the DCA, is meanwhile an intriguing entity. Items entered into a court case involving the company show that when the DCA carried out a public stock offering, one of the two underwriters it employed was Allen & Company. Given the amount of intrigue that Allen & Company and its leader, Charles Allen, bubble up in, this immediately raises a red flag. The ties are also very apparent: Rubloff appears on the board of the Grand Bahama Development Company (DEVCO), alongside Charles Allen. 

Other board members on the list are intriguing. One of them is Patrick Hoy, who long worked with Harry Crown. Described by Jonathan Marshall as somebody who personified the interface between big business and organized crime in Chicago, Southern California, and Las Vegas", Hoy had worked for Crown's Material Services Corporation. When Material Services was absorbed into General Dynamics, which made Crown the largest shareholder in the defense contractor, Hoy became the company's vice president. 

The chairman of the DCA, on the other hand, was H. Struve Hensel, a former general counsel for the Department of Defense (1952) and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (1954). In summer of 1955, Hensel left the DoD, where he took up a position at the law firm of Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett (which interlocked with General Dynamics stakeholder Atlas Corporation via William G. Dillon, also of Cosmos Bank). It was a month following his arrive at the firm when Hensel took the spot on the DCA board. 

Hensel also appears as a key figure in Major Ralph Ganis' The Skorzeny Papers. Ganis writes:

In 1952, Hensel would go on to serve as General Counsel for the Department of Defense and then later as head of the ISA. Hensel would leave government service in July 1955, returning to private legal practice. He would also become a major lobbyist for the German steel industry, representing the firm of Otto Wolff, of which Skorzeny was also a representative. Hensel is found in the Skorzeny papers in reference to Otto Wolff business transactions, confirming he was dealing with Skorzeny.

Assuming the accuracy of Ganis' claims, this would place Hensel as a contact for Skorzeny at the time that Hensel was at DCA, as well as at the time when the DCA was investing into Great Southwest's blitz of projects and programs. (Boy, what I wouldn't give to see Ganis' papers...)

In a footnote, Ganis adds the following:

A key businessman linked to the Hensel-Skorzeny association includes one Leon Frenk. Frenk and Hensel were business partners in a number of companies (most likely U.S. intelligence cover organizations) including U.S. Electronics Corp, a subsidiary of American Aircraft Engineering Corporation, Mundial Trade Corp (Mondale Corporation associated with Permindex), World Recovery Corp., and Western Tube Division (linked to [Ferenc] Nagy). The Mondail [sic?] Corporation has been found in JFK conspiracy studies. The author regards the Mondail corporation as one facet in the overall military intelligence industrial structure, a facilitating entity for covert operations, but not the operation heart of that covert structure.

The relationship between Henzel, this Leon Frenk, and the U.S. Electronics Corp is confirmed in a 1969 law suit. The case summary also hits on the other companies mentioned by Ganis: "Hensel simultaneously herewith also wishes to sever, determine and terminate all other business relationships heretofore existing between Hensel and Frenk, including, but not limited to, Mundial Trade Corp., World Recovery Corp., Western Tube Division and Technical Equipment Corp.".

 But I'm a little confused about his other comments. What relationship does Mundial Trade have to do with Permindex, and where are those connections laid out? And where does Mundial (oddly misspelled suddenly by Ganis as 'Mondail') appear in JFK conspiracy theory? And, finally, how did he link Western Tube Division with Ferenc Nagy (and thus, presumably, back to Permindex)? The company name does not appear, insofar as I've been able to determine, in Nagy's personal papers... 

[Leslie Sharp]

2 hours ago, Ed Berger said:

Synchronicity or revealing pattern?

A 1957 issue of Red Island Lines News Digest discusses the creation of a railway and freight system set up to service the Great Southwest development project between Dallas and Fort Worth—the Great Southwest R.R. The article notes that many of the figures driving the construction and management of the line are the same as those running the Great Southwest project writ large. Angus Wynne, William Zeckendorf, Rockefeller Center and Amon Carter are all named, but then one unfamiliar: "Arthur Rubloff, Development Corporation of America". Zeckendorf appears to have been close to Rubloff, with the pair having conducted real estate business together since the late 1940s.

The Development Corporation of America, the DCA, is meanwhile an intriguing entity. Items entered into a court case involving the company show that when the DCA carried out a public stock offering, one of the two underwriters it employed was Allen & Company. Given the amount of intrigue that Allen & Company and its leader, Charles Allen, bubble up in, this immediately raises a red flag. The ties are also very apparent: Rubloff appears on the board of the Grand Bahama Development Company (DEVCO), alongside Charles Allen. 

Other board members on the list are intriguing. One of them is Patrick Hoy, who long worked with Harry Crown. Described by Jonathan Marshall as somebody who personified the interface between big business and organized crime in Chicago, Southern California, and Las Vegas", Hoy had worked for Crown's Material Services Corporation. When Material Services was absorbed into General Dynamics, which made Crown the largest shareholder in the defense contractor, Hoy became the company's vice president. 

The chairman of the DCA, on the other hand, was H. Struve Hensel, a former general counsel for the Department of Defense (1952) and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (1954). In summer of 1955, Hensel left the DoD, where he took up a position at the law firm of Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett (which interlocked with General Dynamics stakeholder Atlas Corporation via William G. Dillon, also of Cosmos Bank). It was a month following his arrive at the firm when Hensel took the spot on the DCA board. 

Hensel also appears as a key figure in Major Ralph Ganis' The Skorzeny Papers. Ganis writes:

In 1952, Hensel would go on to serve as General Counsel for the Department of Defense and then later as head of the ISA. Hensel would leave government service in July 1955, returning to private legal practice. He would also become a major lobbyist for the German steel industry, representing the firm of Otto Wolff, of which Skorzeny was also a representative. Hensel is found in the Skorzeny papers in reference to Otto Wolff business transactions, confirming he was dealing with Skorzeny.

Assuming the accuracy of Ganis' claims, this would place Hensel as a contact for Skorzeny at the time that Hensel was at DCA, as well as at the time when the DCA was investing into Great Southwest's blitz of projects and programs. (Boy, what I wouldn't give to see Ganis' papers...)

In a footnote, Ganis adds the following:

A key businessman linked to the Hensel-Skorzeny association includes one Leon Frenk. Frenk and Hensel were business partners in a number of companies (most likely U.S. intelligence cover organizations) including U.S. Electronics Corp, a subsidiary of American Aircraft Engineering Corporation, Mundial Trade Corp (Mondale Corporation associated with Permindex), World Recovery Corp., and Western Tube Division (linked to [Ferenc] Nagy). The Mondail [sic?] Corporation has been found in JFK conspiracy studies. The author regards the Mondail corporation as one facet in the overall military intelligence industrial structure, a facilitating entity for covert operations, but not the operation heart of that covert structure.

The relationship between Henzel, this Leon Frenk, and the U.S. Electronics Corp is confirmed in a 1969 law suit. The case summary also hits on the other companies mentioned by Ganis: "Hensel simultaneously herewith also wishes to sever, determine and terminate all other business relationships heretofore existing between Hensel and Frenk, including, but not limited to, Mundial Trade Corp., World Recovery Corp., Western Tube Division and Technical Equipment Corp.".

 But I'm a little confused about his other comments. What relationship does Mundial Trade have to do with Permindex, and where are those connections laid out? And where does Mundial (oddly misspelled suddenly by Ganis as 'Mondail') appear in JFK conspiracy theory? And, finally, how did he link Western Tube Division with Ferenc Nagy (and thus, presumably, back to Permindex)? The company name does not appear, insofar as I've been able to determine, in Nagy's personal papers... 

 Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett: Francis Kernan, White Weld, United Fruit, JA Ranch.

An atty. with STB was counsel to Youth House.
https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/22/obituaries/whitney-north-seymour-sr-led-bar-group.html

Does Western Tube interlock with Lionel?  

Edited August 4, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Ed Berger]

7 hours ago, Leslie Sharp said:

Does Western Tube interlock with Lionel?  

I'm not sure—all that I can really find on Western Tube is that it listed its address as 666 S. 29th Road, Arlington VA, with attorney Leonard Sussholz as its registered agent. 666 S.  29th Road appears to have been residential, and might have been Sussholz's home address (there's other companies where Sussholz is listed as agent, such as R.S. Hogan Inc., located at this address). Unfortunately Virginia corporate records online search doesn't list Western Tube. It's a similar pattern with the other companies listed. World Recovery Corp—named as an import-export company—tracks back to the offices of a patent lawyer in Washington DC, but doesn't turn up in DC records searches. 

Leon Frenk appears to have spent the early 1940s in Argentina as a businessman involved in (among other things) perfumes. A business partner of his was one Pablo Adolfo Ehrenhaus.

There was a Western Tube Corporation out in California, founded by Nicolae Malaxa, "a former financier of the Iron Guard, a Fascist group in wartime Rumania". Linda Minor has the following in a blog post:

In May 1951, at the height of the Korean War when all industry was under war-time control, Malaxa organized the Western Tube Corporation. The company, of which Malaxa was treasurer and sole stock owner – a thousand dollars worth – planned to manufacture seamless tubes for oil refining... On May 17,1951, the Western Tube Corporation filed for a "certificate of necessity" to give top war-time priority to its materials and personnel. Also, the company filed a petition seeking "first preference quota" for its treasurer, Nicolae Malaxa, on the grounds that he was indispensable to the operation of Western Tube. These two applications were personally promoted by Senator Nixon. Nixon telephoned the executive assistant to INS Commisioner James Hennessy to plead for Malaxa's permanent entry. And a letter sent by Nixon to the Defense Production Administrator marked "Urgent" insisted, "It is important strategically and economically, both for California and the entire United States, that a plant for the manufacturing of seamlees tubing for oil wells be erected … urge that every consideration it may merit be given to the pending application."... A year after becoming a permanent resident, Malaxa visited with Juan Peron in Argentina. Malaxa also met in Buenos Aires, according to the CIA, with Otto Skorzeny, the Nazi parachutist who had rescued Mussolini in 1943. Skorzeny, now settled in Madrid, remained a close associate of other Rumanian exiles, including Horia Sima, the head of the Iron Guard.

While interesting, I haven't found anything suggesting a corporate relationship between the Western Tube Corporation in California and the Western Tube Division Inc in Virginia.
 

[Leslie Sharp]

10 hours ago, Ed Berger said:

I'm not sure—all that I can really find on Western Tube is that it listed its address as 666 S. 29th Road, Arlington VA, with attorney Leonard Sussholz as its registered agent. 666 S.  29th Road appears to have been residential, and might have been Sussholz's home address (there's other companies where Sussholz is listed as agent, such as R.S. Hogan Inc., located at this address). Unfortunately Virginia corporate records online search doesn't list Western Tube. It's a similar pattern with the other companies listed. World Recovery Corp—named as an import-export company—tracks back to the offices of a patent lawyer in Washington DC, but doesn't turn up in DC records searches. 

Leon Frenk appears to have spent the early 1940s in Argentina as a businessman involved in (among other things) perfumes. A business partner of his was one Pablo Adolfo Ehrenhaus.

There was a Western Tube Corporation out in California, founded by Nicolae Malaxa, "a former financier of the Iron Guard, a Fascist group in wartime Rumania". Linda Minor has the following in a blog post:

In May 1951, at the height of the Korean War when all industry was under war-time control, Malaxa organized the Western Tube Corporation. The company, of which Malaxa was treasurer and sole stock owner – a thousand dollars worth – planned to manufacture seamless tubes for oil refining... On May 17,1951, the Western Tube Corporation filed for a "certificate of necessity" to give top war-time priority to its materials and personnel. Also, the company filed a petition seeking "first preference quota" for its treasurer, Nicolae Malaxa, on the grounds that he was indispensable to the operation of Western Tube. These two applications were personally promoted by Senator Nixon. Nixon telephoned the executive assistant to INS Commisioner James Hennessy to plead for Malaxa's permanent entry. And a letter sent by Nixon to the Defense Production Administrator marked "Urgent" insisted, "It is important strategically and economically, both for California and the entire United States, that a plant for the manufacturing of seamlees tubing for oil wells be erected … urge that every consideration it may merit be given to the pending application."... A year after becoming a permanent resident, Malaxa visited with Juan Peron in Argentina. Malaxa also met in Buenos Aires, according to the CIA, with Otto Skorzeny, the Nazi parachutist who had rescued Mussolini in 1943. Skorzeny, now settled in Madrid, remained a close associate of other Rumanian exiles, including Horia Sima, the head of the Iron Guard.

While interesting, I haven't found anything suggesting a corporate relationship between the Western Tube Corporation in California and the Western Tube Division Inc in Virginia.
 

Nicolae Malaxa.  You know his ties to Nixon?
I wasn't sure if the Western Tubes were the same either.  If so, it's quite significant.
I wasn't aware of the link to Skorzeny at the time. 

[Ed Berger]

On 8/3/2023 at 8:20 PM, Ed Berger said:

Synchronicity or revealing pattern?

A 1957 issue of Red Island Lines News Digest discusses the creation of a railway and freight system set up to service the Great Southwest development project between Dallas and Fort Worth—the Great Southwest R.R. The article notes that many of the figures driving the construction and management of the line are the same as those running the Great Southwest project writ large. Angus Wynne, William Zeckendorf, Rockefeller Center and Amon Carter are all named, but then one unfamiliar: "Arthur Rubloff, Development Corporation of America". Zeckendorf appears to have been close to Rubloff, with the pair having conducted real estate business together since the late 1940s.

The Development Corporation of America, the DCA, is meanwhile an intriguing entity. Items entered into a court case involving the company show that when the DCA carried out a public stock offering, one of the two underwriters it employed was Allen & Company. Given the amount of intrigue that Allen & Company and its leader, Charles Allen, bubble up in, this immediately raises a red flag. The ties are also very apparent: Rubloff appears on the board of the Grand Bahama Development Company (DEVCO), alongside Charles Allen. 

Other board members on the list are intriguing. One of them is Patrick Hoy, who long worked with Harry Crown. Described by Jonathan Marshall as somebody who personified the interface between big business and organized crime in Chicago, Southern California, and Las Vegas", Hoy had worked for Crown's Material Services Corporation. When Material Services was absorbed into General Dynamics, which made Crown the largest shareholder in the defense contractor, Hoy became the company's vice president. 

The chairman of the DCA, on the other hand, was H. Struve Hensel, a former general counsel for the Department of Defense (1952) and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (1954). In summer of 1955, Hensel left the DoD, where he took up a position at the law firm of Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett (which interlocked with General Dynamics stakeholder Atlas Corporation via William G. Dillon, also of Cosmos Bank). It was a month following his arrive at the firm when Hensel took the spot on the DCA board. 

Hensel also appears as a key figure in Major Ralph Ganis' The Skorzeny Papers. Ganis writes:

In 1952, Hensel would go on to serve as General Counsel for the Department of Defense and then later as head of the ISA. Hensel would leave government service in July 1955, returning to private legal practice. He would also become a major lobbyist for the German steel industry, representing the firm of Otto Wolff, of which Skorzeny was also a representative. Hensel is found in the Skorzeny papers in reference to Otto Wolff business transactions, confirming he was dealing with Skorzeny.

Assuming the accuracy of Ganis' claims, this would place Hensel as a contact for Skorzeny at the time that Hensel was at DCA, as well as at the time when the DCA was investing into Great Southwest's blitz of projects and programs. (Boy, what I wouldn't give to see Ganis' papers...)

In a footnote, Ganis adds the following:

A key businessman linked to the Hensel-Skorzeny association includes one Leon Frenk. Frenk and Hensel were business partners in a number of companies (most likely U.S. intelligence cover organizations) including U.S. Electronics Corp, a subsidiary of American Aircraft Engineering Corporation, Mundial Trade Corp (Mondale Corporation associated with Permindex), World Recovery Corp., and Western Tube Division (linked to [Ferenc] Nagy). The Mondail [sic?] Corporation has been found in JFK conspiracy studies. The author regards the Mondail corporation as one facet in the overall military intelligence industrial structure, a facilitating entity for covert operations, but not the operation heart of that covert structure.

The relationship between Henzel, this Leon Frenk, and the U.S. Electronics Corp is confirmed in a 1969 law suit. The case summary also hits on the other companies mentioned by Ganis: "Hensel simultaneously herewith also wishes to sever, determine and terminate all other business relationships heretofore existing between Hensel and Frenk, including, but not limited to, Mundial Trade Corp., World Recovery Corp., Western Tube Division and Technical Equipment Corp.".

 But I'm a little confused about his other comments. What relationship does Mundial Trade have to do with Permindex, and where are those connections laid out? And where does Mundial (oddly misspelled suddenly by Ganis as 'Mondail') appear in JFK conspiracy theory? And, finally, how did he link Western Tube Division with Ferenc Nagy (and thus, presumably, back to Permindex)? The company name does not appear, insofar as I've been able to determine, in Nagy's personal papers... 

The chairman of the DCA, on the other hand, was H. Struve Hensel, a former general counsel for the Department of Defense (1952) and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (1954). In summer of 1955, Hensel left the DoD, where he took up a position at the law firm of Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett (which interlocked with General Dynamics stakeholder Atlas Corporation via William G. Dillon, also of Cosmos Bank). It was a month following his arrive at the firm when Hensel took the spot on the DCA board. 

On September 30th, 1955, the Spokane Chronicle announced that William G. Dillon of Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett had been made vice president of the International Oil & Metals Corporation, a Delaware company that began a series of acquisitions in the western American mining sector (chiefly: uranium and gold).

Perhaps the addition of Dillon, a board member of WCC investor Atlas Corporation, allowed International Oil & Metals to gain access to the wider tapestry of corporate-intelligence connections that this milieu fostered. And indeed, on August 14th, 1956, the Philadelphia Inquirer announced that International Oil & Metals had "acquired a 75% interest in the 10,000,000 acre oil concession of the Compania Petrolera del Golfo del Darien, affiliate of the World Commerce Corp, in Panama..."

Almost exactly one year later the Salt Lake Tribune carried the announcement that "International Oil & Metals Corp has farmed out" this Panama concession to Delhi-Taylor Oil Corp, Dallas, Texas.. The agreement also provides that Delhi will spend three million dollars in the next three years in prospecting for oil on the acreages near Darien, Panama". In other words, a Panamanian oil concession set up by the World Commerce Corporation translated into an overseas venture for Murchison oil interests.

 

[Leslie Sharp]

3 hours ago, Ed Berger said:

The chairman of the DCA, on the other hand, was H. Struve Hensel, a former general counsel for the Department of Defense (1952) and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (1954). In summer of 1955, Hensel left the DoD, where he took up a position at the law firm of Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett (which interlocked with General Dynamics stakeholder Atlas Corporation via William G. Dillon, also of Cosmos Bank). It was a month following his arrive at the firm when Hensel took the spot on the DCA board. 

On September 30th, 1955, the Spokane Chronicle announced that William G. Dillon of Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett had been made vice president of the International Oil & Metals Corporation, a Delaware company that began a series of acquisitions in the western American mining sector (chiefly: uranium and gold).

Perhaps the addition of Dillon, a board member of WCC investor Atlas Corporation, allowed International Oil & Metals to gain access to the wider tapestry of corporate-intelligence connections that this milieu fostered. And indeed, on August 14th, 1956, the Philadelphia Inquirer announced that International Oil & Metals had "acquired a 75% interest in the 10,000,000 acre oil concession of the Compania Petrolera del Golfo del Darien, affiliate of the World Commerce Corp, in Panama..."

Almost exactly one year later the Salt Lake Tribune carried the announcement that "International Oil & Metals Corp has farmed out" this Panama concession to Delhi-Taylor Oil Corp, Dallas, Texas.. The agreement also provides that Delhi will spend three million dollars in the next three years in prospecting for oil on the acreages near Darien, Panama". In other words, a Panamanian oil concession set up by the World Commerce Corporation translated into an overseas venture for Murchison oil interests.

 

Amazing find, Ed.  So Clint et al were flying under the flag of WCC!  

Remember he was involved in a hotel development concern in the Bahamas with Leo Corrigan, Ruby's landlord; and Corrigan's son in law, international department at Mercantile Bank, worked alongside one of the Villere brothers from New Orleans who handled PR for Shaw's International Trade Mart; he was photographed with Neil Mallon of Dresser Industries not long after the assassination. The Villeres appear in the Skorzeny Papers.

I'm sure you know that D.H. Byrd was on the Delhi-Taylor board.  Among the tenants of 3707 Rawlins in spring of 1963, along with international real estate concern Previews Inc. that provided Ilse Skorzeny not just a cover but a lucrative gig, was a company named "Delhi."  I traced it to East Texas which is Murchison country but couldn't identify business documents to confirm; the Rawlins address led to a Alexandria VA concern. I wonder if it might have led eventually to IMC.  (I'm thinking about nickel here.)
 

[Leslie Sharp]

3 hours ago, Ed Berger said:

The chairman of the DCA, on the other hand, was H. Struve Hensel, a former general counsel for the Department of Defense (1952) and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (1954). In summer of 1955, Hensel left the DoD, where he took up a position at the law firm of Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett (which interlocked with General Dynamics stakeholder Atlas Corporation via William G. Dillon, also of Cosmos Bank). It was a month following his arrive at the firm when Hensel took the spot on the DCA board. 

On September 30th, 1955, the Spokane Chronicle announced that William G. Dillon of Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett had been made vice president of the International Oil & Metals Corporation, a Delaware company that began a series of acquisitions in the western American mining sector (chiefly: uranium and gold).

Perhaps the addition of Dillon, a board member of WCC investor Atlas Corporation, allowed International Oil & Metals to gain access to the wider tapestry of corporate-intelligence connections that this milieu fostered. And indeed, on August 14th, 1956, the Philadelphia Inquirer announced that International Oil & Metals had "acquired a 75% interest in the 10,000,000 acre oil concession of the Compania Petrolera del Golfo del Darien, affiliate of the World Commerce Corp, in Panama..."

Almost exactly one year later the Salt Lake Tribune carried the announcement that "International Oil & Metals Corp has farmed out" this Panama concession to Delhi-Taylor Oil Corp, Dallas, Texas.. The agreement also provides that Delhi will spend three million dollars in the next three years in prospecting for oil on the acreages near Darien, Panama". In other words, a Panamanian oil concession set up by the World Commerce Corporation translated into an overseas venture for Murchison oil interests.

 

Did you come across an Oswald L. Johnson of Atlas Corp?

[Leslie Sharp]

@Ed Berger of possible interest: 
Following is an excerpt from a book proposal developed by Hank Albarelli and an artist living in CA.  Unfortunately, we didn't have time to follow through with the map before deadline to publish Coup. 

Overview: Many matters have become quite apparent through the process of writing the forthcoming volume on who-killed-JFK-and-why. Not the least of these matters is the byzantine, or excessively complicated, nature of the numerous networks, individuals, business entities, and organizations involved in various aspects of Kennedy’s assassination. The complexity and multi-dimensional nature of these actors in the assassination are difficult for one to get their head around, but any effort quickly brings frightening results, especially the realization that there are a good many entities out there in the world that exert tremendous power over events, and that these entities are still at play today. An example:

 

What would I see and learn if I were to consider and study a visual map of the World Commerce Corporation?

 

The World Commerce Corporation [WCC] was founded after World War II by members of the British and American intelligence communities. By all appearances it was a huge corporation with many worldwide business operations. In reality, however, WCC was an elaborate covert network for intelligence gathering and the provision of operational support to chosen covert projects located around the globe. 

 

WCC exerted a tremendous, but concealed influence over the post-war world, accomplished through a network of over 450 private business-corporate subsidiary entities located in 45 countries across the globe. 

 

Indeed, without strong and detailed visual maps, which currently do not exist, any attempt to conceptualize WCC and its 450 interlocking subsidiary entities boggles the mind. Of course, further compounding any attempts to do so is the fact that each WCC subsidiary entity maintains a board of directors of at least 3 individuals, many having upwards of 20 individuals. 

 

At present, we can only imagine the possible extent and implications of the myriad interlocks within the overall WCC network.

 

A cursory examination of a mere 6 WCC subsidiary entities done for this proposal reveals that 5 of the 6 had board members who were closely identified with the CIA and the Pentagon, and that 4 of the 5 had two or more interlocking board of director members.

 

Additionally, two of the 6 subsidiary entities had John Connolly, wounded on November 22, 1963 during the JFK assassination in Dallas, as a board of director member, and that one of the 6 entities, a Texas bank, had been founded by one of the very few people who were privy to JFK’s assassination before it occurred.

Further, the president of that bank was a former military intelligence officer who worked in Dallas alongside the Dallas Police Department at the time of the assassination. And further still we see that 4 of the 6 subsidiaries maintained offices in a CIA-owned building in New York City.

 

Offering a written narrative of all of the details concerning these 6 subsidiary interlocks would take thousands of words, not to consider how many words a narrative covering all 450 subsidiaries would consume.

 

Obviously, the ideal and most beneficial way to actually consider all of these WCC interlocks is to see them, to see them as a visual presentation, or a visual map. A sole written narrative, without any visual display, would be near impossible to comprehend and would consume thousands of words and hundreds of printed pages. 

 

A visual display of all these WCC interlocks would be extremely illuminating knowledge wise, possibly opening up numerous additional paths to understanding and knowledge.

 

 

What I am able to see from just a cursory examination of one of WCC formed in 1945 and its major subsidiary business, many most likely operational to the present:

 

-WCC was formed in May 1945, just after the war in Europe had been over but a few days.

 

-It was initially formed by a small group headed by William Stephenson (“Intrepid”) and called the British American Canadian Corporation S.A.

 

-BACC changed its name in April 1947 to the World Commerce Corporation, which like BACC was headquartered in New York City and registered as a corporation in Panama.

 

-All of WCC directors had either British or American intelligence connections.

 

-Initial directors included: David Mackenzie Ogilvy, who went on to found Ogilvey-Mather public relations company.

 

-William Donovan, former director of the OSS, precursor to CIA, became a director of WCC in October 1947, as did Edward R. Stettinius, Secretary of State from November 1944 to July 1945.

 

-In due course many other former and current intelligence people became WCC board members; many of these men were now prominent bankers in the U.S. and U.K. {There were no women on the WCC board.}

 

-Several prominent Americans took a strong interest in WCC and provided the company with financial assistance. These men included: Nelson Rockefeller, eventual U.S. vice president; J.J. McCloy, former undersecretary at the Pentagon and an eventual member in 1964 of the presidentially-appointed Warren Commission to investigate JFK’s death; Richard Mellon, of the ultra-rich Mellon banking family.  

 

-Serving as advisors to WCC were virtually every prominent business-person in the U.K.

 

-In the United Sates WCC operated through various subsidiaries, buying and selling such merchandise as cement, automobile parts, barbed wire, rice, shoes, and stockings. Through a subsidiary it traded in fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, botanical drugs, waxes, gums and essential oils. It also held a number of subsidiaries that dealt in surgical instrument, chemical companies, medicinal soaps, cosmetics, food essences and other food lines. 

 

-By 1947 WCC claimed to have opened trading outlets in Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, and Mexico, while through a subsidiary it had outlets in North Africa, Indian, China, Thailand, Ceylon, India, Tunis, Morocco, Algiers, Spain, France, Holland, Belgium, Portugal, Italy and Switzerland.

 

What would the proposed book contain?

 

*Approximately 20 visual maps of significant or major networks and individuals, inclusive of all interlocks, involved in the JFK assassination.

 

*An adjunct and detailed historical timeline.

 

*Detailed legends and descriptions of all networks and individuals along with their interlocks.

 

*Photographs of all primary/major characters.

 

 

HPA/ 10.2016

[Ed Berger]

17 hours ago, Leslie Sharp said:

 

@Ed Berger of possible interest: 
Following is an excerpt from a book proposal developed by Hank Albarelli and an artist living in CA.  Unfortunately, we didn't have time to follow through with the map before deadline to publish Coup. 

Overview: Many matters have become quite apparent through the process of writing the forthcoming volume on who-killed-JFK-and-why. Not the least of these matters is the byzantine, or excessively complicated, nature of the numerous networks, individuals, business entities, and organizations involved in various aspects of Kennedy’s assassination. The complexity and multi-dimensional nature of these actors in the assassination are difficult for one to get their head around, but any effort quickly brings frightening results, especially the realization that there are a good many entities out there in the world that exert tremendous power over events, and that these entities are still at play today. An example:

 

What would I see and learn if I were to consider and study a visual map of the World Commerce Corporation?

 

The World Commerce Corporation [WCC] was founded after World War II by members of the British and American intelligence communities. By all appearances it was a huge corporation with many worldwide business operations. In reality, however, WCC was an elaborate covert network for intelligence gathering and the provision of operational support to chosen covert projects located around the globe. 

 

WCC exerted a tremendous, but concealed influence over the post-war world, accomplished through a network of over 450 private business-corporate subsidiary entities located in 45 countries across the globe. 

 

Indeed, without strong and detailed visual maps, which currently do not exist, any attempt to conceptualize WCC and its 450 interlocking subsidiary entities boggles the mind. Of course, further compounding any attempts to do so is the fact that each WCC subsidiary entity maintains a board of directors of at least 3 individuals, many having upwards of 20 individuals. 

 

At present, we can only imagine the possible extent and implications of the myriad interlocks within the overall WCC network.

 

A cursory examination of a mere 6 WCC subsidiary entities done for this proposal reveals that 5 of the 6 had board members who were closely identified with the CIA and the Pentagon, and that 4 of the 5 had two or more interlocking board of director members.

 

Additionally, two of the 6 subsidiary entities had John Connolly, wounded on November 22, 1963 during the JFK assassination in Dallas, as a board of director member, and that one of the 6 entities, a Texas bank, had been founded by one of the very few people who were privy to JFK’s assassination before it occurred.

Further, the president of that bank was a former military intelligence officer who worked in Dallas alongside the Dallas Police Department at the time of the assassination. And further still we see that 4 of the 6 subsidiaries maintained offices in a CIA-owned building in New York City.

 

Offering a written narrative of all of the details concerning these 6 subsidiary interlocks would take thousands of words, not to consider how many words a narrative covering all 450 subsidiaries would consume.

 

Obviously, the ideal and most beneficial way to actually consider all of these WCC interlocks is to see them, to see them as a visual presentation, or a visual map. A sole written narrative, without any visual display, would be near impossible to comprehend and would consume thousands of words and hundreds of printed pages. 

 

A visual display of all these WCC interlocks would be extremely illuminating knowledge wise, possibly opening up numerous additional paths to understanding and knowledge.

 

 

What I am able to see from just a cursory examination of one of WCC formed in 1945 and its major subsidiary business, many most likely operational to the present:

 

-WCC was formed in May 1945, just after the war in Europe had been over but a few days.

 

-It was initially formed by a small group headed by William Stephenson (“Intrepid”) and called the British American Canadian Corporation S.A.

 

-BACC changed its name in April 1947 to the World Commerce Corporation, which like BACC was headquartered in New York City and registered as a corporation in Panama.

 

-All of WCC directors had either British or American intelligence connections.

 

-Initial directors included: David Mackenzie Ogilvy, who went on to found Ogilvey-Mather public relations company.

 

-William Donovan, former director of the OSS, precursor to CIA, became a director of WCC in October 1947, as did Edward R. Stettinius, Secretary of State from November 1944 to July 1945.

 

-In due course many other former and current intelligence people became WCC board members; many of these men were now prominent bankers in the U.S. and U.K. {There were no women on the WCC board.}

 

-Several prominent Americans took a strong interest in WCC and provided the company with financial assistance. These men included: Nelson Rockefeller, eventual U.S. vice president; J.J. McCloy, former undersecretary at the Pentagon and an eventual member in 1964 of the presidentially-appointed Warren Commission to investigate JFK’s death; Richard Mellon, of the ultra-rich Mellon banking family.  

 

-Serving as advisors to WCC were virtually every prominent business-person in the U.K.

 

-In the United Sates WCC operated through various subsidiaries, buying and selling such merchandise as cement, automobile parts, barbed wire, rice, shoes, and stockings. Through a subsidiary it traded in fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, botanical drugs, waxes, gums and essential oils. It also held a number of subsidiaries that dealt in surgical instrument, chemical companies, medicinal soaps, cosmetics, food essences and other food lines. 

 

-By 1947 WCC claimed to have opened trading outlets in Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, and Mexico, while through a subsidiary it had outlets in North Africa, Indian, China, Thailand, Ceylon, India, Tunis, Morocco, Algiers, Spain, France, Holland, Belgium, Portugal, Italy and Switzerland.

 

What would the proposed book contain?

 

*Approximately 20 visual maps of significant or major networks and individuals, inclusive of all interlocks, involved in the JFK assassination.

 

*An adjunct and detailed historical timeline.

 

*Detailed legends and descriptions of all networks and individuals along with their interlocks.

 

*Photographs of all primary/major characters.

 

 

HPA/ 10.2016

Leslie, this is incredible stuff! It's very sad that this leg of the project wasn't completed. I've tried my own attempts (many times, as a matter of fact) to create visual guides for the WCC interlocks, corporate organization, adjunct corporations etc, but I've never been able to wing it. Something for a more visually-oriented, artistic mind!

Something that leaps out to me...

A cursory examination of a mere 6 WCC subsidiary entities done for this proposal reveals that 5 of the 6 had board members who were closely identified with the CIA and the Pentagon, and that 4 of the 5 had two or more interlocking board of director members.

Additionally, two of the 6 subsidiary entities had John Connolly, wounded on November 22, 1963 during the JFK assassination in Dallas, as a board of director member.

Would you happen to know—or be willing to share—the names of the subsidiary entities that Connally was involved with? Connally is on my radar in a big way, and been tracking him across numerous corporate positions and deep events. But a WCC connection is new to me! But not unsurprising, given his ties to Falconbridge of Canada... 

[Ed Berger]

In October 1948, the World Commerce Corp leased space on the 20th floor of 25 Broad Street in Manhattan. 25 Broad Street, known also as the Broad Exchange Building, was long associated with the New York Stock Exchange, and had housed for a time the Curb Exchange. The building's owner, until 1940, was the Broad Exchange Company, and it was subsequently owned from 1940 to 1945 by Prudential, the finance and insurance giant. In 1945—the year that the WCC and so many of its affiliates and adjuncts were organized—25 Broad was purchased by the City Investing Company.

The real estate broker who leased this space to the WCC was the Charles F. Noyes Company, itself the vehicle of a fairly prominent player in New York's high-powered real estate field, Charles Noyes. It appears that Noyes might have had very close ties to the controller of 25 Broad, City Investing: in July of 1932, he began a many-decade stint as an advisor to Chemical Bank, where the Goelet family of New York had held significant influence. At the same time, two generations of Goelets populated the board of City Investing (another interlock between Chemical Bank and City Investing was the presence of Percy Johnston, Chemical's chairman, on the City Investing board). One of these latter Goelets was Robert Goelet, eventually of the board of the CIA's Air America. 

Noyes also appears to have involved in the fraudulent use of philanthropies to shield private business activities from taxation and scrutiny. As noted in the Congressional report on fraudulent foundations, Noyes was using foundations to "churn" money: to borrow from one entity (often Chemical Bank) at a lower interest rate, and re-loan that money at a higher interest rate. 

It brings to mind David Baird's own use of fraudulent philanthropies (and indeed, the inquiry into Baird's work and the above on Noyes are published in the same set of report volumes), which also used a philanthropic shield to mask securities dealing and probable money laundering. Even more incredible, given the deep ties between the WCC and those in Baird's network—in my opinion these networks are in fact one and the same—is that Baird himself would wind up on the board of City Investing, the company in control of 25 Broad. City Investing stock would also be moved about by the Baird foundations

But what's more is that Noyes himself tracks straight into the Baird web. The Congressional report notes Noyes' affiliation with the Empire State Building Corp as a director. This was the company that owned the Empire State Building; Noyes initial role was that he had brokered the sale of the Empire State Building to the Empire State Building Corp in 1951. And who was the Empire State Building Corp? The founder and chairman was Baird foundation client, Hilton Hotels executive, General Dynamics owner, and Chicago mob-insider Henry Crown. Serving on the board, under Crown and alongside Noyes, was Conrad Hilton himself, yet another Baird foundation client. 

A third and very important Baird Foundation client on the board of the Empire State Building Corp was Joseph Binns. Like Crown and Conrad Hilton, Binns was a Hilton hotel man: he was a board member of Hilton Hotels Corp, Hilton Hotels International, Hilton Hotels Canada, and Hilton Inns Inc. Binns was also an insider to Crowns' various affairs, serving on the board of his Material Service Corp, which was eventually absorbed into General Dynamics. Unsurprisingly, Binns held a spot on City Investing Co alongside David Baird himself (who also populated Hilton boards), the ultimate landlord of the WCC.

Furthermore, Binns was a close friend of Baird's banker—and George De Mohrenschildt associate—Serge Semenenko. The pair were sometimes found in Acapulco together, where they undoubtedly crossed paths with another Semenenko associate who spent considerable time there: Frank Brandstetter. And, finally, Binns was a repeat business associate of Meyer Lansky frontman (and Baird client) Lou Chesler. He was a director of Chesler's General Development Corporation, a Florida-based real estate development vehicle, and was on the board of Chesler's Seven Arts Productions—the film company that Chesler had used to hold his interest in the Grand Bahamas Development Corporation, DEVCO. 

All in all, a rich tapestry for the WCC's real estate broker to be woven into. 

[Ed Berger]

On 8/5/2023 at 12:12 PM, Leslie Sharp said:

Did you come across an Oswald L. Johnson of Atlas Corp?

The name definitely rings a bell but I can't say I know too much about him. Of the Odlum lieutenants, Boyd Hatch is definitely the one I'm more familiar with. 

[Leslie Sharp]

56 minutes ago, Ed Berger said:

The name definitely rings a bell but I can't say I know too much about him. Of the Odlum lieutenants, Boyd Hatch is definitely the one I'm more familiar with. 

Correction: Oswald L. Johnston, not Johnson;  could there be a familial tie to Percy? His brother owned the Long Island Pepsi Co., and appears at the Cabana Motel with Lawrence V. Meyers and Jack Ruby.  

Agree, Boyd Hatch was what I considered a conduit for a number of overlapping cos. 
 

Edited August 9, 2023 by Leslie Sharp

[Leslie Sharp]

53 minutes ago, Ed Berger said:

In October 1948, the World Commerce Corp leased space on the 20th floor of 25 Broad Street in Manhattan. 25 Broad Street, known also as the Broad Exchange Building, was long associated with the New York Stock Exchange, and had housed for a time the Curb Exchange. The building's owner, until 1940, was the Broad Exchange Company, and it was subsequently owned from 1940 to 1945 by Prudential, the finance and insurance giant. In 1945—the year that the WCC and so many of its affiliates and adjuncts were organized—25 Broad was purchased by the City Investing Company.

The real estate broker who leased this space to the WCC was the Charles F. Noyes Company, itself the vehicle of a fairly prominent player in New York's high-powered real estate field, Charles Noyes. It appears that Noyes might have had very close ties to the controller of 25 Broad, City Investing: in July of 1932, he began a many-decade stint as an advisor to Chemical Bank, where the Goelet family of New York had held significant influence. At the same time, two generations of Goelets populated the board of City Investing (another interlock between Chemical Bank and City Investing was the presence of Percy Johnston, Chemical's chairman, on the City Investing board). One of these latter Goelets was Robert Goelet, eventually of the board of the CIA's Air America. 

Noyes also appears to have involved in the fraudulent use of philanthropies to shield private business activities from taxation and scrutiny. As noted in the Congressional report on fraudulent foundations, Noyes was using foundations to "churn" money: to borrow from one entity (often Chemical Bank) at a lower interest rate, and re-loan that money at a higher interest rate. 

It brings to mind David Baird's own use of fraudulent philanthropies (and indeed, the inquiry into Baird's work and the above on Noyes are published in the same set of report volumes), which also used a philanthropic shield to mask securities dealing and probable money laundering. Even more incredible, given the deep ties between the WCC and those in Baird's network—in my opinion these networks are in fact one and the same—is that Baird himself would wind up on the board of City Investing, the company in control of 25 Broad. City Investing stock would also be moved about by the Baird foundations

But what's more is that Noyes himself tracks straight into the Baird web. The Congressional report notes Noyes' affiliation with the Empire State Building Corp as a director. This was the company that owned the Empire State Building; Noyes initial role was that he had brokered the sale of the Empire State Building to the Empire State Building Corp in 1951. And who was the Empire State Building Corp? The founder and chairman was Baird foundation client, Hilton Hotels executive, General Dynamics owner, and Chicago mob-insider Henry Crown. Serving on the board, under Crown and alongside Noyes, was Conrad Hilton himself, yet another Baird foundation client. 

A third and very important Baird Foundation client on the board of the Empire State Building Corp was Joseph Binns. Like Crown and Conrad Hilton, Binns was a Hilton hotel man: he was a board member of Hilton Hotels Corp, Hilton Hotels International, Hilton Hotels Canada, and Hilton Inns Inc. Binns was also an insider to Crowns' various affairs, serving on the board of his Material Service Corp, which was eventually absorbed into General Dynamics. Unsurprisingly, Binns held a spot on City Investing Co alongside David Baird himself (who also populated Hilton boards), the ultimate landlord of the WCC.

Furthermore, Binns was a close friend of Baird's banker—and George De Mohrenschildt associate—Serge Semenenko. The pair were sometimes found in Acapulco together, where they undoubtedly crossed paths with another Semenenko associate who spent considerable time there: Frank Brandstetter. And, finally, Binns was a repeat business associate of Meyer Lansky frontman (and Baird client) Lou Chesler. He was a director of Chesler's General Development Corporation, a Florida-based real estate development vehicle, and was on the board of Chesler's Seven Arts Productions—the film company that Chesler had used to hold his interest in the Grand Bahamas Development Corporation, DEVCO. 

All in all, a rich tapestry for the WCC's real estate broker to be woven into. 

A significant layer of a 3-D map!  Brilliant research.

off the top of my head:
I had forgotten Binns.

Noyes had a presence in Dallas.

I think Semenenko was TWA as well?

Doesn't R. W. Dowling play a significant role in City Investing, Material Services, etc.?

The Hilton Flag must have been "code" for 'you can do your business here unimpeded.'

DEVCO, Grand Bahamas:  Do Murchison and Corrigan appear in company records? And does the milieu overlap with Sir Stafford Sands, Hjalmar Schacht, and/or John Doyle? (I believe he got into a flap with Hilton over his hotel.)

Murchison was heavily invested in FL real estate with an attorney, "Ulmer."  I could never nail down whether it was the Al and Dan Ulmer family. 

[Ed Berger]

13 minutes ago, Leslie Sharp said:

A significant layer of a 3-D map!  Brilliant research.

off the top of my head:
I had forgotten Binns.

Noyes had a presence in Dallas.

I think Semenenko was TWA as well?

Doesn't R. W. Dowling play a significant role in City Investing, Material Services, etc.?

The Hilton Flag must have been "code" for 'you can do your business here unimpeded.'

DEVCO, Grand Bahamas:  Do Murchison and Corrigan appear in company records? And does the milieu overlap with Sir Stafford Sands, Hjalmar Schacht, and/or John Doyle? (I believe he got into a flap with Hilton over his hotel.)

Murchison was heavily invested in FL real estate with an attorney, "Ulmer."  I could never nail down whether it was the Al and Dan Ulmer family. 

I'm currently out of town so don't have full access to all my research notes, BUT to a couple of these: 

R.W. Dowling—Dowling was indeed president and chairman of City Investing. I wasn't aware of his connection to Material Services, but that would fit very nicely in this web!

Murchison/DEVCO—by summer of 1964, Clint Murchison Jr, alongside Charles Allen of Allen & Co, had joined the Seven Arts Board, thus granting Murchison and the Allens (acting as Murchison investment advisors in this time) an interest in DEVCO.

Stafford Sands/DEVCO—totally part of the same milieu. DEVCO rolls directly out from the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, which allocated the land on Grand Bahama to develop Freeport. Hawksbill was the offspring of two figures working in deep collusion: Wallace Groves, who goes on to establish DEVCO with Chesler, and Stafford Sands.

Quote

The Hilton Flag must have been "code" for 'you can do your business here unimpeded.'

I like this way of putting it a lot. It seems very clear to me that this was the case!

Quote

Noyes had a presence in Dallas.

Can you say more on this?

[Leslie Sharp]

1 hour ago, Ed Berger said:

I'm currently out of town so don't have full access to all my research notes, BUT to a couple of these: 

R.W. Dowling—Dowling was indeed president and chairman of City Investing. I wasn't aware of his connection to Material Services, but that would fit very nicely in this web!

Murchison/DEVCO—by summer of 1964, Clint Murchison Jr, alongside Charles Allen of Allen & Co, had joined the Seven Arts Board, thus granting Murchison and the Allens (acting as Murchison investment advisors in this time) an interest in DEVCO.

Stafford Sands/DEVCO—totally part of the same milieu. DEVCO rolls directly out from the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, which allocated the land on Grand Bahama to develop Freeport. Hawksbill was the offspring of two figures working in deep collusion: Wallace Groves, who goes on to establish DEVCO with Chesler, and Stafford Sands.

I like this way of putting it a lot. It seems very clear to me that this was the case!

Can you say more on this?

quick links:

https://www.nytimes.com/1964/10/20/archives/hornblower-and-hemphill-plan-to-merge-2-major-brokerage-concerns-to.html

https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_tx/0003335506

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/371/845/2133817/

Hemphill-Noyes was of interest because around the time of the Ling Temco mess (both entities housed in Republic National), Merrill Lynch RE had purchased a Highland Park firm; all assumed a significant profile in the DFW area. One of Paul Stringer./Merrill Lynch lead agents was tapped to orchestrate the move of American Airlines top executives as AA relocated their entire op to DFW in the same timeframe. I later learned she had been on the phone with  Sylvia Odio's social mentor and confidant (O'Connell?) at the moment of the assassination. (Greg Parker disputes the timing, fwiw.) O'Connell was close with the Rogers family -Texas Industries (Murchison was a major shareholder) - and through that connection, the young Rogers hosted Odio briefly after her alleged trauma /testimony.  It was a Rogers/TI operation near Bridgeport TX that Thomas Eli Davis (a prime candidate for one of the three on Odio's Magellan Circle doorstep that September) would later be electrocuted.  Odio's psychiatrist later moved into the small office building in Oak Lawn, Oak Plaza 3707 Rawlins, where Previews Inc. had vacated their offices. Previews Inc. was the international real estate concern that provided Otto Skorzeny's wife Ilse cover for her global travel.

Cornell alums with Jansen Noyes: Robert Purcell, IBEC and Rockefeller consigliere; Stewart, R.H. Macy; Dean, Sullivan Cromwell (and Empire Trust??) 

Edited August 9, 2023 by Leslie Sharp