Edmond Jacob Safra (August 6, 1932, Beirut, Lebanon - December 3, 1999, Monaco) was a Brazilian-naturalized, Jewish Lebanese banker who was born in Beirut. He continued the family tradition of banking, first in Lebanon and then in Brazil. August 6 is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (219th in leap years), with 147 days remaining. ... 1932 (MCMXXXII) is a leap year starting on a Friday. ... Central Beirut (2004) Beirut (Arabic: , transliterated BayrÅ«t - the French name, Beyrouth, was also commonly used in English in the past) is the capital, largest city and chief seaport of Lebanon. ... December 3 is the 337th (in leap years the 338th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) is a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ...

 When Safra got wind of the American Express investigation, he ordered counter-investigations of American Express, with Safra's private investigators tailing the private eyes working for American Express. Safra then sued American Express for alleged defamation. At that point, American Express chose to avert a costly legal battle and limit the negative publicity by agreeing to apologize and donate $8 million to charities of Safra's choice. 

In 1987 executive Jim Robinson was seriously considering selling the American Express Bank/Trade Development Bank combination. The proposed buyer was none other than a management group led by Bob Smith. According to Bob Smith and others, Robinson offered to sell both banks to a group led by Smith, Bob Savage, Bob Budenbender and Smith's friend Sheldon Gordon for book value $600 million. Smith got permission from Robinson to approach some of the banks largest clients for funding and within weeks he had enough commitments to convince him they could swing the deal. Smith was so confident of success he directed a press release be written up. When he reported back to Robinson, Smith was stunned to find the chairman had inexplicably changed his mind: the bank wasn't for sale. Jim Robinson is the name of more than one person of note. ... Robert Smith or Bob Smith is a common name. ... Robert Smith or Bob Smith is a common name. ...

The American Express retreat was big news at the Wall Street Journal and other major newspapers that took Safra's side and portrayed him as an innocent man smeared by a business competitor. Writer Bryan Burrough popularized this view in his 1992 book, Vendetta: American Express and the Smearing of Edmond Safra. The image of Safra as victim became the dominant conventional wisdom among U.S. journalists.

So, by the time Walsh's report appeared in 1993 – confirming that Safra's bank indeed was implicated in both the Iran-contra affair and illicit money laundering – the U.S. news media showed no interest in correcting the record. The false conventional wisdom held.

Now, with Safra's apparent murder, authorities might be expected to begin a thorough examination of the banker's mysterious history. But the American news media still is recycling the false conclusions about Safra's Iran-contra "exoneration." None of the major newspapers, it seems, has examined the documentary record available in Walsh's report and at the National Archives.

The New York Times summed up Safra's alleged Iran-contra tie-in this way: "American Express executives … hired detectives to track down rumors that he [Safra] was involved in the Iran-contra scandal and that his banks were laundering drug money. None of the rumors proved true." [NYT, Dec. 4, 1999]

Ironically, Burrough prefaced his erroneous book, Vendetta, with a quote from Mark Twain: "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." As the historical record now shows, it was Vendetta's version of events – repeated by The New York Times – that turned out to be the lie.

Weakened by Parkinson's disease, Safra required nursing care. Safra was killed by one of his providers, Ted Maher, who set a fire in his Monaco penthouse. Maher said he intended to rescue Safra from the blaze and wanted to emerge as a hero.

External links

• Extensive Court TV coverage of Safra's death