Author : Harry Martin
Date : 04/12/91
Desc : Federal Corruption Series Part VII

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CANADIANS BEGIN PROBE ON PIRATED SOFTWARE FROM JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
By Harry V. Martin
Seventh in a NEW SERIES
(c) Copyright Napa Sentinel, 1991
April 12, 1991
Reprinted with permission of the Napa Sentinel


The growing INSLAW software theft is now reaching foreign
proportions. While the U.S. House Judiciary Committee is investigating
the theft of INSLAW's PROMIS software by the U.S. Justice Department,
the Canadian Parliament will commence its own investigation.

Two agencies of the Canadian Government, the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police (RCMP) and the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service
(CSIS)--equivalent to the CIA--are using the pirated PROMIS software,
allegedly supplied to them by Dr. Earl Brian, a close associate and
financial partner of former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese and a
former California cabinet officer under then Governor Ronald Reagan.

A Federal Bankruptcy judge--who was not re-appointed to the bench
after his ruling--said the U.S. Justice Department used trickery, fraud
and deception in "stealing" the PROMIS software. The sophisticated
software is used for tracking criminal and military activities. It was
illegally sold to South Korea, Iraq, Israel, Canada and Libya by the
United States.

According to an affidavit, the software was converted in a joint
venture between Wackenhut Corporation of Coral Gables, Florida, and the
Cabazon Band of Indians of Indio--an independent nation. The
declaration by Michael J. Riconoscuito alleges that Dr. Brian was
deeply involved in the joint venture. One Indian and two of his
companions who objected to the joint venture--which also dealt with
military weapons, biological and chemical warfare--were found murdered
in execution style. That execution was reported on 20/20 by Barbara
Walters and the CIA was named as the prime suspect in the case. The
software was specifically modified for the Canadian government.

Riconoscuito stated in an affidavit he was warned by officials of the
U.S. Justice Department that if he cooperated with the U.S.House
Judiciary Committee he would be arrested. Eight days after he signed
the affidavit he was arrested by more than a dozen Drug Enforcement
Agency officers near Tacoma, Washington. He was held without bail for
several days and then charged with a single drug count. Though arrested
in the State of Washington, he was held without bail awaiting a federal
marshal to pick him up.

He, along with several others, have stated in an affidavit to the
court and to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, that the PROMIS
software was modified and sold to several countries, including Canada.

Late last week, Members of Parliament demanded that the Solicitor
General of Canada, Pierre Cadieux, appear before a parliamentary
committee to answer charges the RCMP and CSIS are using stolen computer
software. Cadieux's ministry is responsible for the RCMP and CSIS.

Though both the RCMP and the CSIS originally denied they are using
PROMIS, court documents show a Canadian communications department
official admitted last year that the RCMP was using PROMIS, although
INSLAW never authorized its Canadian sale.

"Did CSIS and the RCMP use PROMIS software or modifications of it? If
so, what were the circumstances of the acquisition? Was the software
stolen, and if so, was the Canadian Government aware of it?" These are
the questions Parliament wants to ask Cadieux. The Canadian Solicitor
has indicated that the Government is already launching its own
investigation into the pirated software scandal. Canadian officials are
indicating that the pirated software sales may have helped to illegally
fund the Contras in Nicaragua. Contra funding and supplies was one of
the most important aspects of the Cabazon-Wackenhut joint venture.
Riconoscuito has had inside connections with the CIA and U.S. Justice
Department and some testimony put forward states that he helped to
launder $40 million for the Bush-Quayle campaign--that report has not
been substantiated by any more than one government source.

Brian is the owner of a holding company which has interests in the
Financial News Network, United Press International and Hadron, Inc.
Hadron was the company that was unsuccessful in buying out INSLAW,
Affidavits on file with the court allege that Hadron, through Reagan
cronies, attempted to force INSLAW out of business after it was awarded
a $10 million contract by the U.S. Justice Department.

The scandal involves Meese, Brian, former National Security Advisor
Robert McFarland, several senior staff members at the U.S. Justice
Department, and even federal judges. The "Vancouver Sun," the leading
newspaper in Western Canada, states, "The pirated software battle
already has been compared to Watergate and the Iran-Contra scandal."
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