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•24 June 1966

MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Director 01 Central Intelligence

SUBJECT : MAHEU, Robert A.

1. This memorandum_ i& lor Information only.

Z. In August 1960, Mr. Richard M. Bissell approached-Colonel Sheffield Edwards to dete rmine 11the Office of Securityhad assets that may assist in a sensitive mission requiringgangster-type action. The mission target was the liquidation ofFidel Castro.

3. Because of it$. extreme sensitivity. only a smallsroupwas made privy to the project. The DCI was briefed and lave hi.approval. Colonel J. C. King, Chief, WH DIvision, was briefed,but all details were delibera.tely concealed from any 01 theJMWAVE ot{icials. Certain TSD and Commo personnel partici-pated in the initial planning stages, but wer~ not witting of thepurpose ot the Dlission. . .

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4. Robert A. Maheu was contacted. briefed generally onthe project •. and requested to ascertain if he could develop an en-

. . tr.ee into the gangster elements as the lirst step toward accom-plishing the desired goal. .

S. Mr. Maheu advised that be had met one lohmiy Rosellion several occasions while visiting Las Vegas. He only kne~him casually through clients. but wa.s given to understand thatbe was a high-ranking member of the "syndicate" and controlledall of the ice-making machines on the Strip. Maheu reasonedthat, . if Roselli was in {act a mernbe r o{ the clan, he undoubtedlyhad connections leading into the Cuban gambling interests •

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,. Maheu wa••• ked to approach Ro~elU, who knew Maheu., • per.on.1 relation. executive handling dome.tic and loreilDaccount.. and tell him that he had recently been retained by aclient who repre.ented .everal international businc •• firm.which were .uffering heavy linaneiallosse. in Cuba a. a re.wtof Castro's action. They were convinced tha.t Castro'. removalwa. the answer to their problem and were willing to pay a priceof $150, 000 lor its .uccessful accomplishment. It was to be J'nadeclear to Roselli that the U. S. c,overnment was not, and should not,become aware of this operation.

7. The pitch was made to Roselli on 14 September 1960 atthe Hilton Plaza Hotel. New York City. His initial reaction wa.to avoid getting involved but, through Maheu's persuasion. heagreed to introduce him to a friend, Sam Gold. who knew the"Cuban crowd." Roselli made it clear he did not want any moneytor his part and believed Sam would feel the same way. Neitherof these individuals was ever paid ~u~ of Agency funds.

8. During the week of 2S September. Maheu was introducedto Sam who was staying at the Fontai ~~bleau Hotel, Miami Bea ch.His initial impression of Sam was that of a hard. uncouth indi-vidual who looked and ~cted like a common run-o!-the •.mill hood- ."turn. However. his living accommodations a1 the hotel beliedthis. as did the fact that Maheu learned Sam was under periodic:surveillance by the FBI. It was several weeks alter his meetingwith Sam and Joe. who was identified to him as a courier operatingbetween Havana and Miami. that he saw photographs of both ofthese individuals in the Sunday supplemental "Parade. II They~ere identified as Momo Salvatore Ciiancana and Santos Tra!f'icant,respectively". Both were On the list of the Attorney General'.ten mo·st-.wanted m~n. The tormer was described as the ChicagochieCtain ot the Cosa Nostra and successor to AI Capone. nnd the"latter, the Cosa Nostra boss of Cuban operations. Maheu calledthis office immediately upon ascertaining this inf<?rmation.

9. In discussing the possible methods of accomplishingthis mission, Sam suggested that they not resort to firearms but,iChe could be furnished with some type of potent pill. that could

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I»eplaeed In Ca.trot• f004 01' drink, It would be a much more.lleclive operaUoft. Sam laclicaled that he had a prospectiveIlomllleeIn the per.on of a Cuban olllcl.1 who hadbeen ,-eeeirin, kickback payments from tbe lamblin, Intereats,who .tilt had accc •• to Castro an4 was in a Iblancia1 bind.

10. Chief. TSD. was consultea and•• slened to develop a pUt that had theelement. of rapid solubility. ilh lethal content, and little orDO traceability. Six of these Items "-ere produced and, .fter~ecked out for their eUectivene.sby_~bree pills were ultimatelyturned ove~mission. Neil.'ter TSD norlllllllJwas briefed on the ultimateuse of the pills •

.J 1. Joe delivere~i11. to_ Alter .everal week»

of reported attempt., ••• ppare.rt!YiOt coldreet and asked out.01 the assignment. He suggested another candidate who made

. several attempts without success. .

~a. willinl to hallelie the mission through hi. ~WD reSources.

13. was approached aDd jumped at the oppor-tunity of Hetting involved In an independent operation. He wastold' that the private interests 'backing the project did not wantthe U. S. Covernment and, particularly the CIA. to know of theirinvolvement. (So far as this Office knows, he has Dever divulgedhis participation in t~e project to the Agency.)

J:': He asked, -as a prerequisite to the dcal, that he be giveD .. $10.000 for organizational expenses and requested $1,000 worth·

01 communications equipment.

JS. otential was never fully exploited, ••the project was canceled shortly after the Bay of Pigs episode.

~as advised that the ofIeI' was withdrawn, and the pill.were I'ct;-ieved.

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16. or significant lntel'eat wac an incident which iDvoly.da request levied by Sam upon Maheu aDd now ahapel up •• apotential nap. .

At the height of the project neaotlations. Sam~@ .~oncern ~bouthi. ,irllriend.-'_= -.,ho be-learned was letting m~n.tion from

Sam asked ~Saheuto put a bug in . room to determine the ex-tent of his intimacy wit~ Maheutold Sam he didn't have t~hereuponSam threatened to leave Miami to ,0 to Vegas andtake care of the matter himselC. In order to pre-vent this, Maheu contacted Edward Dubois, aFlorida investigatcir, and asked him to handle thejob.

Instead- or installing a bug in the room, thetechnician placed a tap on the phone, which ob-viously did not serve Samt

• purpose. The techni-c:ian involved in the assignment was discovered inthe process, arrested, and taken to the Sheri!!'.offiee for questioning. After he failed to reachDubois by telephone,- he called Maheu at theKenilworth Hotel, Miami, and informed him thathe had been detained by the police. This call ~'a..made iOnthe presence of the Sheriff's personnel •

•Subsequently, the Department of Justiee ao-

nounced its intention to prosecute Maheu alongwith the technician. On., February 196Z. theDirector of Security briefed the Attorney General.Robert Kennedy, on the eir<:umstances leading upto Mabeu's involvement m the wiretap. At our re-quest, prosecution was dropped.

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Two articles appeared in the Chicago pres I.one on 16 August 1963. and one On 20 August 1963,that suggested Sam wac working with the Agency.The f'irlt article appear~d in the Chicago Sun...Timeswritten by stal! writer, Sand}' Smith. and had as itsheadline: CIA Sought Giancana Help for Cuba Spying.It relates that the Agency reportedly was in touchwith Sa.m in 1959 and requested that he assist themin obta.ining intelligence out of Cuba. It also men-tioned the Las Vegas wiretap. which the articleclaimed was handled by a "Florida investigativeorganization." It further went on to state that.upon inquiry or this organization, the}' stated thetap was placed at the requcst of the Central lntcili-g ence Agency. The other article appeared in theChicago Daily News. authored by Colunlnist TonyWeitzel. and commented that during March 196Z,Sam confronted an FBI Agent who was shadowinghim and said. "Why don't yOll fellows leave mealone? I'm one of you!" Sam allegedly stated that,after Castro's rise in Cuba, a CIA operative con-tacted him and wanted to know if Sam could do any-thing {or the Government on the turbulent little island.Sa.m said he had friends on both sides, -but no clout.That was it.

17. Roselli was intro9uced to of thisOffice. who was identified to him as an employce of Robcrt A. I-

Maheu, Associates. Over the several months of close contact he-. tween these two individuals. Roselli began to speculate as to

_ true employer and, at one point, stated that be was~e was employed by the CIA. and that the project wassponsored by the Agency. He hastened to state that he was notforCing the issue, nor woufd he want confirmation or this and,Curther, be would not mention this to anyone elae , including Sam.Sam was never introduced to any Agency personnel and, while CIAwas never mentioned to bim, it is ~.faheuts belie! he e\'entually sus-pected the Agency was the power behind the operation.

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~..18. In May 1962, becauae of aasignment

to an overseas post, It waa decided to turD Roselli over toMr. William Harvey, who was at that time Chief. Task Force W. .;1'iarvcy was introduced as William Walker. It is not known whethe~

osclli ever became aware of Harvey'. true name. . v~

~~eP '.~~~ard J. born

Director of ecurity

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