Bruce Rappaport

On May 30, 2010, the government of Antigua and Barbuda, using a $68 million loan from the Venezuelan firm, PDVSA, repurchased all of the shares to WOIC from National Petroleum Ltd

In February 2009, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda announced a settlement agreement. Bruce Rappaport agreed to repay $12 million of the embezzled funds.

On March 1, 2006, the government of Antigua and Barbuda brought legal action against its former prime minister Lester Bird, Bruce Rappaport, and other defendants. The lawsuit contended that Swiss American Bank, Bruce Rappaport, and others misappropriated over $41,000,000. In a US Embassy cable released by WikiLeaks entitled, "Former Antiguan Diplomat Expresses Views On U.S.-caricom Relations", the lawsuit, Bruce Rappaport, and others, are mentioned in the statements of Sir Ronald Sanders. The cable states,

In 2006, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda (GOAB), sued many former government officials and Bruce Rappaport. The suit alleged that Bruce Rappaport embezzled $14 million via his role in re-negotiating the desalinization plant. The cable states,

Rappaport's alleged role was to bribe Israeli officials in the Shimon Peres government and ensure that portions of the $1 billion project were funneled to the Israeli Labor Party. Later, in 2006, Peres was investigated for an illegal $100,000 campaign contribution from Rappaport.

Bruce and Ruth Rappaport also created the Bruce and Ruth Rappaport Foundation in 2006.

On August 19, 1999, the Bank of New York (BoNY) admitted to co-operating with an investigation into a $10 billion money-laundering operation. Bruce Rappaport was a focus of the investigation and also his other bank, Bank of New York-InterMaritime, a Swiss bank that conducted a large amount of Russian business. Allegedly, his Bank of New York-Inter Maritime had money laundered money from Benex which had ties to Semion Mogilevich. In addition to Bruce Rappaport, another Bank of New York (BoNY) employee, Natasha Kagalovsky, who is married to Konstantin Kagalovsky, was a focus of investigations.

In 1999, a shareholder lawsuit was filed against the Bank of New York. In the complaint the accusations against Rappaport, and Bank of New York, included money laundering, accusations of Russian organized crime involvement, and described Rappaport as "an international financier of questionable background".

On December 3, 1997, Bruce Rappaport was appointed as Antigua and Barbuda's ambassador to the country of Russia.

In 1994, the Bank of New York (BoNY) in which Rappaport held its largest stake was assisted by Rappaport's Inter-Maritime Bank (IMB), Geneva through their joint venture the Bank of New York Inter-Maritime to give BoNY's chairman J. Carter Bacot contacts for access to Russia.

In 1990, Rappaport met with Mikhail Gorbachev who supported Rappaport's subsequent efforts in the modernization of 30 Soviet shipyards. Rappaport was the only foreign investor in the projects.

In the 1990s, United States government authorities accused Swiss American Bank and the Swiss American National Bank, which were both located in Antigua, of money laundering proceeds from illicit drug profits.

In 1987, Independent Counsel Robert McKay investigated Bruce Rappaport for activities he engaged in on behalf of CIA director William Casey. These activities included the purchasing of an Antiguan melon-farm for Israeli arms dealers who were significant customers of BCCI in Miami and placing Alfred Hartmann (BCCI employee) on the board of directors of Intermaritime Bank of Geneva and New York.

In April 1983, Rappaport formed Swiss American Bank Ltd., later renamed Global Bank of Commerce, Ltd., and became the first licensed bank in Antigua governed by the International Business Corporations (IBC) Act of 1982.

In 1982, Rappaport filed the required paperwork to declare his 7.5% ownership of Bank of New York.

In 1980, a Rappaport controlled company by the name of National Petroleum Ltd purchased 440,000 shares of the West Indies Oil Company (WIOC) for $6,000,000 from the country of Antigua. The deal was negotiated by the former prime minister of Antigua, Lester Bird.

During the 1980s, James McKay, an independent prosecutor, was appointed to investigate alleged financial improprieties by Edwin Meese while he was attorney general. As part of this investigation, McKay looked into Meese's involvement in a Bechtel pipeline deal in the Middle East. The pipeline was to extend from Iraq to Jordan and was negotiated by Edwin Meese, Shimon Peres, Bruce Rappaport, Robert C. McFarlane, and others.

Bruce and his wife Ruth Rappaport contributed to the establishment of the Technion's Faculty of Medicine building (est. 1979), named the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, and founded the Technion's Rappaport Research Institute. Upon his death, Technion released a statement thanking him for his contributions to the university.

In April 1977, General Ibnu Sutowo was placed under house arrest for his dealings with Rappaport. Rappaport was accused of price gouging and bringing Pertamina, and Indonesia, to bankruptcy.

During the early 1970s, General Ibnu Sutowo, signed numerous oil-tanker charter deals with Bruce Rappaport to provide oil transport for Pertamina.

His Bank of New York-InterMaritime and the 1966 founded Inter Maritime Bank -Bank of New York, Geneva were closely involved in the ownership of the Vyborg port and shipyard prior to Ilya Traber (Russian: Илья Трабер) with support from Alexander Dobrovinsky (Russian: Александр Добровинский) gaining ownership of the facilities in 1994.

Jean Goutchkov, also spelled Ivan Guchkov (Russian: Иван Гучков; born 1954 Paris, France), who is a descendant of Alexander Guchkov, worked at Intermaritime Bank of New York before becoming managing director at Ferrier Lullin which was acquired by the Julius Baer Group in 2005 and then worked at HSBC. Goutchkov primarily serviced wealthy Russian clients.

Baruch "Bruce" Rappaport (February 15, 1922 – January 8, 2010) was an international banker and financier. He was born in Haifa, Mandatory Palestine to Russian-Jewish emigre parents.