Paul Helliwell

Paul Lional Edward Helliwell (1915 - 24 December 1976) was an American lawyer, banker, OSS official, and CIA officer.[1] While serving in this capacity he became director of Sea Supply, Inc. and president of Castle Bank & Trust.[1] Helliwell was instrumental in setting up Civil Air Transport[2] and Castle Bank & Trust,[1] both of which were CIA proprietary companies. According to the Wall Street Journal, he was "deeply involved" in financing covert actions against Cuba from 1964 to 1975.[3] Helliwell was reported to have played a key role in the purchase of the site for Disney World.[4]

Career

Helliwell joined the United States Army during World War II. Later he transferred to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). In 1943, with the rank of Colonel, he became head of the Secret Intelligence Branch of the OSS in Europe. Future CIA director William Casey eventually replaced him in 1945.

From Europe, Helliwell moved on to head the Secret Intelligence branch in the OSS China command.[5] While in China, Helliwell commanded, among others, future CIA officer E. Howard Hunt [6]

In 1947, Helliwell joined the CIA, and it was in this role that he formed Castle Bank & Trust in the Bahamas on January 1962.[1]

Helliwell continued to work as a lawyer in Miami and served as legal counsel to a Panamanian holding company that controlled a Bahamian gambling casino connected with Meyer Lansky.

Death

Helliwell suffered from emphysema in his later years. He died of a collapsed lung at his home in Coral Gables, Florida on December 24, 1976.[4] He was survived by his wife, Marjorie, and a daughter, Anne.[4]

Interviews

References
  1. Williams, Paul (2015). Operation Gladio: The Unholy Alliance between the Vatican, the CIA, and the Mafia. Prometheus Books. ISBN 9781633884786.
  2. Donald E. Weatherbee (2008), Historical Dictionary of United States-Southeast Asia Relations, Scarecrow Press, p155-6
  3. Peter Dale Scott (2010), American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, p162
  4. "Paul Helliwell rites tomorrow". The Miami News. Miami. 27 December 1976. p. 4A. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  5. Yu, Maochun (1996). OSS in China: Prelude to Cold War. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press. p. 226. ISBN 978-0-300-06698-2.
  6. Hunt, E. Howard (1974). Undercover: memoirs of an American secret agent. Berkley. p. 43-44.

Further reading
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