Author: Carter McLellan – Date: April 21, 2025

Contents

1. Origins and history
2. JFK assassination ties
3. The Permindex Network
4. Notes

Origins and history

In 1956, a group representing American business interests established two companies in Basel, Switzerland. One was called Building Finance AG and the other Parkhof AG. This was part of a project to set up a “permanent industrial exposition”. By January 1957, US Consul John A. Lehrs wrote a memorandum on the project.

By February 1957, the “Permindex project” was in the process of being established in Basel. The US Consulate discovered that the group had a relationship with Hans-Seligman Schurch & Co., which had reportedly collaborated with the Nazis during WWII. The key figure was a man named Giorgio Mantello, a Jewish man who during WWII had been involved in moving Jews out of Germany, with allegations of it being a “trade in Jewish refugees.”

The Permanent Industrial Exposition(s) (Permindex) was founded by 1958. They would develop branches in Rome, Italy. Mantello had essentially set up a real estate operation through two companies, Societa Italo-Americana and the Italo-American Hotel Corporation (IAHC). SIA’s purpose was for industry and commerce, while IAHC was intended to construct the Hotel du Lac at the Exposition Universale Roma (EUR). The largest shareholders in CMC were De Famaco Astalde Vaduz and Seligman Bank of Basel, in Switzerland, as well as the Miami Astalde Vaduz. The shareholders were represented by the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL) in Italy.

The IAHC project was announced in 1959 by Ferenc Nagy, President of Permindex. They intended to construct Europe’s first international shopping center for businessmen at the EUR, modeled after the International Trade Mart (ITM), in New Orleans, Louisiana. Nagy had previously contacted the American Bureau of Commerce to seek support, which caught the attention of the State Department and its Rome Embassy, likely under the watch of James Zellerbach and John Foster Dulles. Nagy had even contacted the CIA’s International Organizations Division seeking to find out if Permindex could be utilized by the CIA as a front.

In January 1960, Permindex’s Rome center was opened, and Nagy made a businesss trip to Japan, where he made contact with the External Recovery Organization (JETRO). Nagy’s slogan was “World Trade for World Peace” and had reportedly obtained support from businessmen and industrialists from 52 countries. Permindex had up to 20 stockholders by 1960.

In 1961, the Basel Workers’ Paper accused Nagy and Permindex of being “a bunch of swindlers.” Nagy won a libel suit, but Parkhof went bankrupt and Permindex relocated to Rome, where they set up Centro Mondiale Commerciale (CMC). In 1962, the IAHC had shady real estate business at Capocotta. Mantello had not been clear where the money for the project was coming from, causing Mario Ceravolo to depart from the board.

In 1962, Swiss and French authorities allegedly accused Permindex of being involved in the support of the OAS, which was attempting to assassinate the French President Charles De Gaulle. Due to the controversy, seemingly by 1964, Permindex relocated far away to Johannesburg, South Africa. The only connected firm to Permindex there was owned by John S. Schlesinger.

By 1967, Permindex board member Clay Shaw was arrested in the New Orleans DA Jim Garrison probe into the JFK assassination. Press reports in Italy, France, Russia and later the US began accusing Permindex of being a CIA front involved in the JFK assassination. Shaw was later acquitted in the Garrison trial. It is not exactly clear what happened with Permindex after the 1960s, but some documents were released by 2009-2010.

JFK assassination ties

On July 28, 1958, the Permindex Board of Directors was joined by Clay Shaw, the managing director of the International Trade Mart (ITM), in New Orleans, from 1946 to 1965. That is particularly interesting, because Lee Harvey Oswald had passed out Fair Play for Cuba (FPCC) leaflets at the ITM on August 16, 1963. Shaw had been there at the time and was reportedly informed about the demonstration. A few days later, Oswald featured on a WDSU radio debate with Carlos Bringuier of the CIA-backed DRE and Edward Butler of the Information Council of the Americas (INCA). Clay Shaw was friends with the INCA founder, Dr. Alton Ochsner.

In 1967, New Orleans DA Jim Garrison had Shaw arrested as part of his probe into the JFK assassination. Allegations were made that Shaw knew David Ferrie, someone who met Oswald in the New Orleans Civil Air Patrol in 1955, and Guy Banister, who had an office at 544 Camp Street which Oswald had on some of his FPCC pamphlets. Shaw had also allegedly met Kerry Thornley, someone who met Oswald while in the Marines. Despite allegations implicating Shaw and Permindex in a conspiracy to assassinate JFK, Garrison failed to secure a conviction and Shaw was acquitted.

The founding President of Permindex, Ferenc Nagy, a former Prime Minsiter in Autria-Hungary, had reportedly lived in Dallas at some point. He had contacted the Dallas Council on World Affairs in 1964, and probably had some contact with the Dallas Trade Mart. Although this connection was post-assassination, it is interesting to note Nagy’s activity in Dallas. George de Mohrenschildt, who was part of the White Russian emigre community, had been a member of the Dallas Council while he knew Oswald between 1962 to 1963. De Mohrenschildt’s friend Paul Raigorodsky, a leader of the emigres in Dallas, was reportedly a member of Permindex.

Raigorodky and de Mohrenschildt were members of the Dallas Petroleum Club, alongside Clint Murchison, Sr., a friend of Dr. Alton Ochsner and financier of INCA. Murchison’s wife was involved in the Dallas Council by 1964. De Mohrenschildt worked for Murchison when he moved to Dallas in 1951. Other ties between Dallas and New Orleans include the Dallas Mayor, Earle Cabell, who may have met Shaw at the New Orleans Foreign Policy Association. Earle’s brother, Charles, was deputy director of the CIA and had been in contact with Ed Butler.

An interesting associate of de Mohrenschildt and Raigorodsky was Jean de Menil, who was said to have led the White Russian “Solidarists” with Nagy. De Menil was President of the Schlumberger Corp., which reportedly was linked to OAS assassination attempts on De Gaulle. Interestingly, Banister and Ferrie had reportedly been involved in a “raid” on a Schlumberger depot in Houma. According to Delphine Roberts, she had seen Nagy in New Orleans, possibly at Banisters office at some point.

Another alleged Permindex board member was Roy Cohn, along with Joe Bonanno. Cohn and Bonanno had bought into Lionel Corporation. The Murchison family had held a stake in Lionel. In 1963, Lionel had sold many of its subsidiaries including Intercontinental Corporation in Garland, Texas, which was bought by Robert Vesco. During the Red Scare, Cohn had been the lawyer of Joseph McCarthy, who had met Clint Murchison and attended the Dallas Petroleum Club and his Hotel del Charro. J. Edgar Hoover had been a prominent visitor of del Charro, including Carlos Marcello, who reportedly had links to Oswald.

Bonanno was a crime boss out of Montreal, Canada. This is interesting because the largest shareholder in Permindex was Louis Mortimor Bloomfield, a reported friend of Hoover. Bloomfield was a Zionist and was friends with Bronfman family. He had reportedly known David Ben Gurion. Some people have accused Israel of involvement in the assassination of JFK, because he had been tough on Israel’s acquisition of nuclear explosives at Dimona. Bloomfield also was reportedly involved in a “Tryall Compound” in Jamaica, where alleged plotting had taken place.

An additional point of interest are the heavy connections between Permindex and Operation Gladio. This is particularly interesting because Bill Harvey had been linked to Gladio, after he was sent to Rome. He had worked with Renzo Rocca and Giovanni De Lorenzo in connection with Piano Solo. Rocca had been linked to Alfredo Crocco of CMC. Lorenzo had reportedly been linked to the IAHC real estate business in Capocotta. JMWAVE head from 1962 to 1965, Ted Shackley would later be connected to Licio Gelli of P2, which was closely linked to Permindex.

The Permindex Network

Cercle complex ties

In my opinion, the most interesting connections of Permindex are the ties to the “Cercle complex”, which is at the core of Operation Gladio and the P2 lodge. The following are ways in which Permindex and its CMC in Rome, were tied to this network:

• Roberto Ascarelli (CMC, Board of Directors; Close to Licio Gelli of P2, which held initations in Acarelli’s office; headed a Lodge Hod out of his office; IAHC board met in Ascarelli’s office; pointed Gelli out to Giordano Gamberini; lawyer; represented Italian-Jewish community; said to be linked to Frank Gigliotti’s “anti-JFK pact”)
• Virgilio Gaito (CMC, Board of Directors; close to Licio Gelli of P2; assisted in P2 initiations held in Ascarelli’s office; lawyer; succeeded Gamberini as Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Italy, 1993-1999)
• Guiseppe Pieche (CMC, member; Freemason; linked to Frank Gigliotti; Servicio Antincendi, founder; Pax et Liberte; L’Anello, member; Civil Protection Service, member; said to be linked to Gulpe Borghese; strong stay behind links)
• Giorgio Mantello (Permindex, founder; SIA, founder; IAHC, founder; Jewish; 32nd degree Scottish Rite Freemason; contact with House of Savoy; linked to Israeli Intelligence Service)
• Carlo d’Amelio (Permindex, board; CMC, President/General Council, shareholder; lawyer; oversaw financial holdings of the House of Savoy, which was linked to Licio Gelli)
• Clay Shaw (Permindex, board; contact with House of Savoy, House of Borghese, de Chimay family)
• Roy Cohn (Permindex, alleged board member; Western Goals Foundation, international director; lawyer of Joseph McCarthy; friend of A. Newman, who worked at Geoffrey’s Bank linked to the Belgian Nebula; Craig Spence, friend; said to have ran homosexual pedophile blackmail operations; Lionel Corporation)
• Corrado Bonfantini (CMC; Michele Sindona, accomplice; Edgardo Sogno, accomplice)
• Angelo Sagna (CMC; AGIP Mineraria, board alongside Umberto Ortolani)
• Gaetano Rebecchini (son of Salvatore Rebecchini, an accomplice of Luigi Gedda in opposing Alcide de Gasperi)
• Jacques Soustelle (said to have received funding from Permindex in order to carry out OAS assassination attempts on French President Charles De Gaulle)

While there are undoubtedly more ties, the above connections of Permindex-CMC underscores a strong connection to the Conservative establishment, in particular the “Vatican-Paneuropa Network”, given the strong links to prominent persons involved in the P2 Lodge, Gladio/Stay Behind, and Freemasonry. The possibility of Roy Cohn’s involvement raises a rather sinister link to child abuse and blackmail networks, a theme that will reoccur.

Zionist establishment ties

More evidence placing Permindex in the Conservative establishment side, are the heavy linked to the Zionist establishment. This goes to show that Permindex was a nexus point between the Vatican-Paneuropa Network and the Zionist establishment. The following are connections to the Zionist establishment:

• Giorgio Mantello (Permindex, founder; CMC, board and managing director; SIA, founder; IAHC, founder; Jewish; worked at Banque pour le Commerce Suisse-Amerique Centrale in Geneva, used as cover for Israeli Intelligence Service (IIS))
• Louis Mortimor Bloomfield (Permindex, shareholder; CMC, board; Jewish; friend of Bronfmans; met David Ben Gurion; allegedly linked to Mossad and Haganah; said to be linked to SOE, OSS, CIA and FBI’s “Division Five”; Credit Suisse; Knight of St. John of Jerusalem; 1001 Club)
• Roy Cohn (See above; Jewish; American Jewish League Against Communism)
• Roberto Ascarelli (See above; represented Italian-Jewish Community)
• Gershon Peres (CMC, board since 1967; brother of Shimon Peres; Israeli intelligence since 1940s)
• Dov Biegun (CMC; National Committee for Labor Israel, US branch of Histadrut, general secretary; General Organization of Workers in Israel; Israel Federation of Labour; WWII British espionage agent)
• Alberto Forte (CMC; Banque Belgo-Centrade S.A., managing director in 1970s, subsidiary of Swiss-Israel Trade Bank (SITB), linked to Mossad and Dimona, linked to Chase Manhattan)
• Joseph Slifka (CMC; Roy Cohn client)

Liberal establishment ties

While Permindex and its CMC were heavily connected to the Conservative establishments and many of its deepest covert operation environments, its important to keep in mind that its concept of world trade is fundamentally a liberal establishment (globalist) objective. It therefore makes sense that it had connections to to the left, including the following:

• Ferenc Nagy (Permindex, President; said to have been CIA asset of Frank Wisner; Dallas Council on World Affairs, contact by 1964)
• Louis Mortimor Bloomfield (See above; 1001 Club, member)
• Clay Shaw (Permindex, board member; International Trade Mart, managing director 1946-1965; International House, managing director 1961-1962; Mississippi Valley World Trade Council, Secretary; New Orleans Athletic Club, member;
• John S. Schlesinger (Permindex, member firm in South Africa; 1001 Club, member; Harvard grad; ex-wife sued Roy Cohn)
• Jean de Menil (Permindex, reported board member; Schlesinger Organization was financed by and partnered with Hambros Bank and WWF Bank; Museum of Modern Art, trustee)

Ties to the Dutroux X-dossiers

One of the most highly intriguing aspects to Permindex involves its ties to the Belgian X-dossiers, which came as a result of the Dutroux affair in 1996. This was first brought to my attention by ISGP Studies, which in 2010 compared Permindex with the European Institute of Management (EIM), which was connected to suspects in the Gang of Nijvel of the 1980s. Here is a quick timeline of relevant information:

• 1958: Permindex launched in Basel, Switzerland.
• 1960s: European Institute of Management (EIM), founded.
• 1962: OAS assassination attempts on President De Gaulle.
• November 22, 1963: President Kennedy assassination
• 1970: 1001 Club founded.
• 1974: Public Information Office (PIO) founded.
• October 1981: Assassination attempts on Herman Vernaillen and Guy Goffinon.
• 1982-1986: Gang of Nijvel in Belgium.
• 1996: Dutroux affair in Belgium.

These events took place over several decades, but this timeline doesn’t delve into how they might be connected. But at least marks key events of interest. ISGP’s article primarily examines the similarities between Permindex and EIM. The biggest similarities being the ties to the Cercle complex and P2, but there are other similarities as well.

Permindex was deeply connected to P2 through its CMC branch in Rome. EIM also had close ties to P2 through its connection to PIO. It is also interesting to note that the primary shareholder of Permindex, Louis Mortimor Bloomfield, and the owner of EIM through Unibra, Michel Relecom, were both members of the 1001 Club. Relecom, was a member of the Cercle des Nations, alongside Felix Przedborski of the Nebula, which Roy Cohn was connected to.

It is also important to note the alleged connection between Jacques Soustelle of the OAS to Permindex, because in the 1970s, Soustelle was a member of the Academie Europenne des Sciences Politiques (AESP), a key Belgian organization of the Cercle complex linked to P2.

Permindex’s early connection to the Shroder Bank is interesting because this was a client of Sullivan & Cromwell, and was linked to the founding of Brian Crozier’s 6I private intelligence agency. Permindex was also linked to the International Credit Bank (BCI) of Tibor Rosenbaum, another 1001 Club member. BCI was reportedly connected with the Rothschild family and Meyer Lansky.

Yet another banked linked to Permindex was the Banca Nazionale de Lavoro (BNL), chaired by Alfred Hartmann, a 1001 Club member also involved in the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI). The bank was also linked to P2 and Iran Contra.

One possible connection between Permindex and EIM could go through Intertel, which was connected to Rene Mayerus of EIM and reported to have been connected to Permindex. Intertel was said to have been a subsidiary of Resorts International, which was said to have had ties to Lanksy. Another interesting 1001 Club member was Robert Vesco, who was bought a subsidiary of Cohn’s Lionel Corporation.

One highly curious connection to the X-dossiers involves Clay Shaw’s contact with the de Chimay family, which owned a Chateau de Chimay in Belgium that came up in allegations made in the X-dossiers. Shaw himself had allegedly been involved in homosexual type sadomasochism, which is a highly curious theme. Roy Cohn had allegedly been involved in homosexual blackmail operations. Furthermore, New Orleans was a hotbed of MKULTRA type sexual blackmail operations.

It is additional interesting to note the consistent connection to the World Trade Organization. In Dallas, JFK was set to give a speech to the Dallas Trade Mart, today the Dallas World Trace Center. In New Orleans, the International Trade Mart was a forerunner to the New Orleans World Trade Center. In Belgium, there was the World Trade Center Association, which involved key figure in the X-dossiers, who were also involved in building the Brussel World Trade Center.

Notes