| David Graiver | |
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David Graiver in 1971. |
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| Born | David Graiver 1941 Buenos Aires |
| Died | August 7, 1976 Chilpancingo, Mexico |
| Nationality | Argentine |
| Spouse | Susana Rottemberg Lidia Papaleo |
| Children | María Sol |
David Graiver (1941 — 1976) was an Argentine businessman and banker whose business interests would become the focus of investigations and intrigue during his short life, as well as since his death.
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Graiver was born in Buenos Aires to Eva Gitnacht and Juan Graiver, Polish Jewish immigrants who arrived in Argentina in 1931. The family later settled in La Plata, and established a successful realty. David Graiver enrolled at the University of La Plata Law School. He did not graduate, however, and with his family's support, purchased the Banco Comercial de La Plata in 1967.[1][2] He married Susana Rottemberg, and the couple had a daughter, María Sol, in 1974; they were separated shortly afterward, however, and Graiver married Lidia Papaleo, the daughter of a prominent Greek Argentine family.[3]
Graiver's ownership of the Banco Comercial de La Plata allowed him to enter into a variety of business interests. He established the Fundar and Construir real estate development firms, and in 1969, announced plans to build Bristol Center, a Mar del Plata development projected to include over 1200 condominiums in three high-rises overlooking a convention center and entertainment complex.[4] He then entered public service as Undersecretary of Social Welfare for Minister Francisco Manrique during the presidency of General Alejandro Lanusse, and served as policy advisor to Economy Minister José Ber Gelbard following elections in 1973. He purchased a 26% stake in Papel Prensa, the first manufacturer of newsprint in Argentina, in December 1973 (the state purchased the remainder).[3]
Secretly, however, Graiver became the investment banker for the Montoneros guerrilla group. He reportedly laundered US$17 million in funds that the Montoneros had received from illicit activities, principally kidnapping.[5] These investments included a variety of interests in both Argentina and overseas, and by 1976, Graiver owned a significant stake in Jacobo Timerman's La Opinión (one of the leading newspapers and the leading magazine publisher in Argentina), the Galerías da Vinci retailer, as well as banks in Argentina (Comercial de La Plata and the Bank of Hurlingham), New York (American Bank and Trust and Century National Bank), Brussels (Banque pour l’Amérique du Sud), and Tel Aviv (Swiss-Israel Bank). These and other assets amounted to around US$ 200 million by then, and the Israeli intelligence service, Mossad, considered Graiver one of the three leading Jewish banking figures in Latin America (with José Klein, in Chile, and Edmond Safra, in Brazil).[6]
Graiver's younger brother, Isidoro, was kidnapped for ransom, and following a second attempt, Graiver fled to New York in 1975, where he rented an Olympic Tower office and administered his diverse interests. Debts of US$67 million, however,[7] prompted Graiver to transfer around US$45 million in loans from American Bank & Trust to his Brussels bank, which then made large loans to Graiver-controlled businesses. Maintaining a second home in Acapulco, Mexico, to facilitate tax evasion, Graiver reportedly died in a plane crash nearby on August 7, 1976.[8]
Manhattan district attorney Robert Morgenthau remained skeptical that he was actually in the airplane, however, as the incident was never investigated nor the flight recorder ever found, and in 1978, his office issued an indictment against Graiver for embezzlement related to the September 15, 1976, failure of American Bank & Trust. The fourth largest bank failure in American history at the time, Graiver's banks in Argentina and elsewhere also failed. New York State Supreme Court Judge Arnold Fraiman ruled on January 15, 1979, that Graiver was dead, although the judge expressed some reservations.[8]
Following Graiver's 1976 death, his widow returned to Argentina on September 16.[9] Facing debts as well as ongoing death threats, Papaleo was enjoined by the newly-installed dictatorship's Economy Minister, José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz, to sell her family's stake in Papel Prensa.[5] The Graiver family's stake, by then, had been partly sold to Rafael Iannover, and the Graivers retained 11%, or about US$1 million.[7] The federal prosecutor appointed to the case, Julio César Strassera, also uncovered coercion from the Montoneros, who sought to recover the US$17 million investment managed by Graiver.[10] A military tribunal sentenced her, Isidoro and Juan Graiver to 15 years' imprisonment, though an appeals court later cleared the defendants of all charges.[11]
Papaleo and the other private partners negotiated the sale of their shares on November 2 with the three most important Argentine newspaper publishers at the time (Clarín, La Nación, and La Razón).[7] Papaleo, however, had collected but U$S 7,000 when, on March 14, 1977, she was illegally detained by Buenos Aires Province Police Chief Detective Miguel Etchecolatz and the Commissioner, Ramón Camps.[9]
Amid a series of political controversies between Clarín and Kirchnerism,[12] Papaleo testified in 2010 to having been personally threatened by Clarín executive Héctor Magnetto during the sale, and subsequently tortured by the police to forfeit further payment, as well as her remaining shares in La Opinión.[9] She later recanted her testimony, affirming simply that she had been pressured to sell her shares,[13] though never under duress.[14]
The uncompleted Bristol Center and other Graiver family properties in Argentina were expropriated by Conarepa, the state entity formed to liquidate assets seized from political opponents.[15] The private shareholders of Papel Prensa, including Graiver's widow, were indemnified by President Raúl Alfonsín's administration in 1985.[7]