Editing Castle Bank & Trust (section)

==IRS Investigation and CIA Intervention==
In 1973, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) launched Operation Trade Winds to investigate tax evasion through offshore banks, targeting Castle Bank. That year, IRS agents obtained a list of 308 account holders by covertly photographing documents from a bank official’s briefcase in Key Biscayne, Florida. The list revealed a mix of high-profile individuals, organized crime figures, and CIA-linked accounts, with an estimated $250 million moved through the bank. The investigation promised to be the largest tax evasion case in IRS history, dubbed Project Haven.

However, the investigation was abruptly halted in 1977. A federal judge ruled that the evidence, obtained through the “briefcase caper,” was illegally acquired, undermining prosecutions. More significantly, reports indicate that the CIA intervened, citing national security concerns. The agency argued that exposing Castle Bank’s operations would compromise sensitive intelligence activities, including funding for anti-Castro operations and other covert programs in Latin America and Asia. The Washington Post reported that the CIA’s Office of General Counsel, including attorney John J. Greaney, pressured the Justice Department to drop the case, as certain Castle Bank accounts were directly managed by the CIA.