“Edmond Rothschild only purchased a minority of BankCal’s shares, but he was still able to totally control the company. He was able to manipulate its stock prices and carry out insider trading without the Securities and Exchange Commission watching it. Edmond named two representatives to the board of directors. The first was George Coulon Karlweis, a patrician Swiss banker who worked for Edmond. The other was George Shapiro, his ‘godfather and his guardian angel’.
Then Edmond replaced De Bretteville as CEO with his man, Chauncey Schmidt. Edmond had agreed to leave De Bretteville in his position as a condition to purchase BankCal shares, but when he chose to renege on his agreement, he did so without compassion. Bank board meetings became a game of ‘What does Edmond think?’ Edmond, on his part, threw parties that enamoured him with San Francisco’s high society. Edmond carried out a series of actions which dropped the value of BankCal’s stock drastically. Financial advisors and securities analysts convinced small stockholders to sell their BankCal stock, which they then did for rock bottom prices as little as $16 a share.
Rothschild bought some at that price. Some of Rothschild’s secret proxies paid slightly higher prices. Most of the stock went to anonymous investors trading through private banks protected by secrecy laws. Nearly 20% of the bank’s stock was sold by misled shareholders and was sold to secret European bank accounts. The baron and his friends secretly began buying the bank’s stock after it had hit rock bottom prices. During 1979–1981, more than 15% of Bank of California’s stock was sold in Europe. Such an abrupt shift in a stock’s trading pattern is supposed to set off alarms with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Instead, the Securities and Exchange Commission turned a bling eye to all the insider trading. The European buyers bought their cheap stock as secretly as possible. They did not openly shop through American brokerages. Instead, they bought small (and therefore unremarkable) blocks of stock through dozens of private banks in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Luxembourg. The baron told his friends that he would sell BankCal, while he publicly gave the appearance that the company was not for sale. For instance, publicly it was announced that David Rockefeller, as well as the elite’s front man for BCCI, Ghaith Pharaon, had both talked with Edmond Rothschild about the purchase of BankCal.
According to what the public was led to believe, Rothschild said he would not sell his shares in the bank. Jean Marc Vemes, a buddy of Edmond, bought 31,000 shares through a defunct Asian mining company. He was anonymous until Edmond Rothschild nominated him to the bank’s board of directors. After gathering up shares at rock bottom prices, Rothschild announced an official change of heart to sell the bank at $50 a share. Rothschild then sold this supposedly American bank to the Japanese, Mitsubishi, to be exact, and ‘made a killing’ off of his manipulations and insider trading. In March 1982, Mitsubishi began a secret negotiation to buy the bank, which they code-named ‘Snoopy’.
Over the years, stockholders have watched various companies offer $74 a share, $60 a share, and other good terms only to be rebuffed. When Rothschild finally sold for $50 a share to the Japanese, it was clear that his whole goal had been to cheat stockholders to insure a big cash reward for himself. Richard Freemon, a large stockholder who had sold, sued Rothschild and the directors for cheating him on his stock. The $25 million lawsuit was settled out of court, with all parties swearing not to disclose how much Freemon got for having lost money due to Rothschild’s stock manipulations.”
How the Rothschild are above the law (2)
“Edmond Rothschild only purchased a minority of BankCal’s shares, but he was still able to totally control the company. He was able to manipulate its stock prices and carry out insider trading without the Securities and Exchange Commission watching it. Edmond named two representatives to the board of directors. The first was George Coulon Karlweis, a patrician Swiss banker who worked for Edmond. The other was George Shapiro, his ‘godfather and his guardian angel’.
Then Edmond replaced De Bretteville as CEO with his man, Chauncey Schmidt. Edmond had agreed to leave De Bretteville in his position as a condition to purchase BankCal shares, but when he chose to renege on his agreement, he did so without compassion. Bank board meetings became a game of ‘What does Edmond think?’ Edmond, on his part, threw parties that enamoured him with San Francisco’s high society. Edmond carried out a series of actions which dropped the value of BankCal’s stock drastically. Financial advisors and securities analysts convinced small stockholders to sell their BankCal stock, which they then did for rock bottom prices as little as $16 a share.
Rothschild bought some at that price. Some of Rothschild’s secret proxies paid slightly higher prices. Most of the stock went to anonymous investors trading through private banks protected by secrecy laws. Nearly 20% of the bank’s stock was sold by misled shareholders and was sold to secret European bank accounts. The baron and his friends secretly began buying the bank’s stock after it had hit rock bottom prices. During 1979–1981, more than 15% of Bank of California’s stock was sold in Europe. Such an abrupt shift in a stock’s trading pattern is supposed to set off alarms with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Instead, the Securities and Exchange Commission turned a bling eye to all the insider trading. The European buyers bought their cheap stock as secretly as possible. They did not openly shop through American brokerages. Instead, they bought small (and therefore unremarkable) blocks of stock through dozens of private banks in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Luxembourg. The baron told his friends that he would sell BankCal, while he publicly gave the appearance that the company was not for sale. For instance, publicly it was announced that David Rockefeller, as well as the elite’s front man for BCCI, Ghaith Pharaon, had both talked with Edmond Rothschild about the purchase of BankCal.
According to what the public was led to believe, Rothschild said he would not sell his shares in the bank. Jean Marc Vemes, a buddy of Edmond, bought 31,000 shares through a defunct Asian mining company. He was anonymous until Edmond Rothschild nominated him to the bank’s board of directors. After gathering up shares at rock bottom prices, Rothschild announced an official change of heart to sell the bank at $50 a share. Rothschild then sold this supposedly American bank to the Japanese, Mitsubishi, to be exact, and ‘made a killing’ off of his manipulations and insider trading. In March 1982, Mitsubishi began a secret negotiation to buy the bank, which they code-named ‘Snoopy’.
Over the years, stockholders have watched various companies offer $74 a share, $60 a share, and other good terms only to be rebuffed. When Rothschild finally sold for $50 a share to the Japanese, it was clear that his whole goal had been to cheat stockholders to insure a big cash reward for himself. Richard Freemon, a large stockholder who had sold, sued Rothschild and the directors for cheating him on his stock. The $25 million lawsuit was settled out of court, with all parties swearing not to disclose how much Freemon got for having lost money due to Rothschild’s stock manipulations.”