American Notes B.C.C.I.

Talk about missing an opportunity. Almost three years before the collapse of the corrupt Bank of Credit & Commerce International, the Justice Department failed to pursue evidence that the institution was involved in a whole network of nefarious activities. That was the Senate testimony last week of Robert Mazur, a federal undercover agent who said prosecutors ignored "hundreds of leads" and failed to exploit 100,000 documents seized in a 1988 money- laundering crackdown on B.C.C.I.'s Florida branch. The investigation, in which five B.C.C.I. officers were arrested at a phony "bachelor party" for Mazur, led to prison sentences for the executives and a $14 million fine for the bank.

But the evidence gathered in the case pointed to a far wider conspiracy, including B.C.C.I.'s secret ownership of Washington-based First American Bankshares, said Mazur, who testified behind a frosted-glass partition and spoke into a voice-altering microphone to protect his identity. "We needed a & lot more help than we had," said Mazur, who blamed the lapse on a dire shortage of staff and overly generous plea bargaining.