American Green Beret Vet TED MAHER Held HOSTAGE by Monaco for 629 Days (Thread 10)

Family, work associates, friends, news reports ^ | October 8, 2001 | Nita Nupress, Phil Dragoo

[harpseal]

Ted Maher -- former Special Forces; Neonatal Intensive Care nurse

American Green Beret veteran and accomplished neonatal nurse Ted Maher has now been held 537 days without trial in Monaco's prison on trumped-up and false charges -- charges of causing the deaths of billionaire banker Edmond Safra and Ted's fellow nurse, Vivian Torrente on December 3, 1999. In truth, Ted fought valiantly against two armed, masked intruders to defend Edmond and Vivian and save their lives. During the struggle, Ted suffered severe knife wounds that required one hundred staples to close.

Billionaire banker Edmond Safra was cooperating with the FBI, who was investigating the IMF/Russian loans. Needing a convenient scapegoat for the murder of Safra, Monaco police subjected Ted to three days of grueling torture designed to extort a false confession from him. (see description in "BASIC TIMELINE" in Thread 1 - http://206.112.97.70/forum/a3ad8b097272d.htm ).

Monaco continues to hold Ted incommunicado, preventing him from sending or receiving mail. In fact, they restrict his communication with his family to one telephone call a week. This call is only allowed to last a few minutes and is always monitored closely to prevent any discussion of the case. Ted is forced by his jailers to take a psychotropic medication and is regularly "interrogated" by the Monaco judge -- Patricia Richet. Reports have been received that Judge Richet is a violent person who has displayed unstable behavior in the past. She allegedly has a history of assaulting a fellow judge, putting him in the hospital for a week. She also tears up letters from Ted's children in front of Ted rather than let him read them.

Hundreds of family, friends, work associates, parents of patients, and Army veterans who served with Ted have vouched for him as being a loyal husband, loving father, and an exemplary professional of great skill and compassion. Ted has also been defended by then-chairman of the House International Relations Committee Ben Gilman and Ted's congresswoman Sue Kelly, who have written Prince Rainier III of Monaco on Ted's behalf. Monaco has no evidence of any crime by Ted; they have no witnesses and no credible case against him. Even worse, Monaco has planted false evidence and suppressed vast amounts of exculpatory evidence -- even passing a special Monaco law that enables them to hold Ted four years without trial.

The Geneva prosecutor has said that Safra was killed for his cooperation with the FBI regarding the laundering through Safra's Republic National Bank of $4.8 billion in IMF loans to Russia.

Regardless of the reason "why," it is obvious that Ted Maher is a scapegoat for a murder by others. We are working to obtain his release and to correct the grave injustice being done to an American Green beret veteran and medical professional.

Ted Maher -- a giver of life, not a taker -- needs our help.

============================================

To read the "BASIC TIMELINE" that describes the events surrounding the night of December 3, 1999, click here:

American Green Beret Veteran TED MAHER Held Hostage by Monaco for 498 Days and Counting... (Thread I)

To read the "BASIC TIMELINE

American Green Beret Veteran TED MAHER Held Hostage by Monaco for 537 Days and Counting... (Thread II)

American Green Beret Veteran TED MAHER Held Hostage by Monaco for 544 Days and Counting... (Thread III)

American Green Beret Veteran TED MAHER Held Hostage by Monaco for 544 Days and Counting... (Thread IV)

American Green Beret Veteran TED MAHER Held Hostage by Monaco for 615 Days and Counting... (second Thread IV)

American Green Beret Veteran TED MAHER Held Hostage by Monaco for 629 Days and Counting... (Thread VI)

American Green Beret Vet TED MAHER Held HOSTAGE by Monaco for 629 Days (Thread 6) second thread 6"

VOICE YOUR OPINION!

Free Internet Fax Service
Free E-Mail to Fax from your computer, just fill in form on page , they do the rest.
Make sure you enter fax # like this 12024562461 (no spaces or -)
Areas they SEND free faxes to includes ALL of WASH. DC Area Code 202

Is the number you want them to SEND FREE FAX covered?

Complete list of areas they SEND FREE FAXES to

White House Fax (202) 456-2461
(202) 456-6538 alternate fax number given out by White House

Congress.Org -- Write to Congress and State Legislators
Locate Legislators for your zip code, gives you links to YOUR local Legislators with phone, e-mail etc info.

Guide to Local Media
Locate media in your zip code, gives you links to YOUR local media with phone, e-mail etc info.

FYI:

www.whitehouse.gov

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 PennsylvaniaAvenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Phone: 1(202)456-1414

FAX: 12024562461 or12024566538

E-mail: President George W. Bush - president@whitehouse.gov
V.P. Dick Cheney - vice.president@whitehouse.gov
First Lady Laura Bush - first.lady@whitehouse.gov
Mrs. Lynne Cheney - mrs.cheney@whitehouse.gov

________________________________________________________

Congresswoman Sue Kelly
1127 Longworth House office Building
Washington, DC 20515-3219
Phone: 1(202)225-5441
E-mail: dearsue@mail.house.gov
Assistant - Phyllis Coleman - phyllis.coleman@mail.house.gov

_______________________________________________________

Secretay of State Colin Powell
FAX: 12022618577
E-mail: secretary@state.gov

State Department - Brian Lieke E-mail: liekebm@state.gov

_______________________________________________________

Amnesty International
322 8th Ave.
New York, NY 10001
Phone: 1(212)807-8400
FAX: 12124639193 or 12126271451
E-mail: admin-us@aiusa.org

________________________________________________________

Mr. Henry Hyde

House on International Relations Committee
Phone: 1(202)225-4561
Assistant: Aaron Blaine - blaine.aaron@mail.house.gov
Europe - Kelly McDonald - kelly.mcdonald@mail.house.gov

_______________________________________________________

Senator George Allen (he helped obtain the release of Chinese scholar Gao Zhan)
website - "http://allen.senate.gov/"
FAX: 12022245432

________________________________________________________

His Serene Highness
Prince Rainier III
Palais Princier
Place du Palais
B.P.518
MC 98015 Monaco Ville
Principality of Monaco

These are from www.palais-princier.mc/ -

Le Palais de Monaco

Place du Palais - Monaco Ville
FAX: 37793508173
Phone: 377 93 25 18

________________________________________________________

Consulate General of Monaco
565 Fifth Avenue -23rd Floor
New York, NY 10017
Phone: 1(212)286-0500
FAX12122861574
E-mail: info@monaco-consulate.com
Hon. Maguy Maccario-Doyle, Consul General

________________________________________________________

U.S. Consulate in Marseilles
FAX: 33491550947
E-mail: amcongenmars@fr.inter.net

________________________________________________________

Monaco Guest Book
(You can write in English on the French page and scroll down to read. Please note they have a tendency to delete messages regarding Ted - not "fairytale-correct.")

[maestro]

Amen,.........More Grace and Mercy,............In Jesus' Precious Name, Amen!!!

[calico44]

Very interesting....(your post on free speech in Monaco). On a recent trip there, we suspected as much. Bill Clinton had just been there (Oct. 15-16 ?) to have lunch with the Prince. Was this publicized in the US? Perhaps he was visiting his financial interest there!> On a tour, the guide commented "There is no crime in Monoco. The police are very strict."

[Verax]

Bump...I'm writing mine tonight!

[Snow Bunny]

BUMPY for TED Maher, and his family too. I am praying so hard for all of them.

[Alas]

bump

[freefly]

Time for another BTTT...
and another round of letters.

[PhilDragoo]

Dominick Dunne's Diary~The Safra Passages
December 2001 issue of Vanity Fair

All you followers of the Safra case in Monte Carlo may remember I said in my diary the month before last that a lawyer representing Joseph and Moise Safra - sworn enemies of their late brother's widow, Lily - had appeared on the legal scene. He didn't have much to say in the courtroom at that point, but he later told one of the other lawyers that there might be a bombshell in August, or words to that effect. Nothing untoward happened in August that I know about, but the lawyer, whose name is Philippe Lemaire, went before an appellate court in September. According to a person who was present, Lemaire lashed out "with some extremely grave complaints against the investigation." He listed subjects he felt should be further investigated, including the nature of the gases that were produced by the fire that took Safra's life; the type of extinguishing equipment used; the role of the rescue services; the payments alleged to have been made by Lily Safra to the nurses; the marks on the body of Vivian Torrente, the nurse of Safra's who died with him; the record of the telephone calls made on the night of the tragedy; the lock systems on the doors and valances; and the late changes in Edmond Safra's will.

Back in December 2000, when I first wrote about Edmond Safra's death, I said that among the first people questioned by the police were two Arabs who were staying in the Hotel Hermitage, which abuts the building where Safra's bank and penthouse were. The Hermitage was so close that debris from the fire fell on the terrace of the hotel. The men were released, but in view of the events of September 11, it might be interesting to know who they were.

I met one afternoon with Ted Maher's lawyer Michael Griffith, who will be working hand in hand with the male nurse's two Monte Carlo lawyers when the still-unscheduled case comes to trial. I think all of Philippe Lemaire's requests for further investigation will work in Maher's favor, since they will indicate to a jury that this case is far more complicated than the reported version, which is that Maher set paper on fire in a wastebasket with a scented candle, which resulted in two deaths. The trouble is, there is no money to pay Maher's team of lawyers or necessary expert witnesses. Griffith told me, "We need to achieve as comprehensive a defense as possible for Ted, though we don't have the money, and we're against one of the wealthiest families on earth."

In the meantime, Heidi Maher, Ted's wife, has lost her house in Stormville, New York. After Ted's arrest two years ago, Heidi and the three children moved in with her mother, Joan Wustrau, and rented out their house, which Ted had helped build, but she couldn't keep up the payments. She had to put the house up for sale to support the family.

Lily Safra, who was photographed for this magazine sitting next to the Prince of Wales at a dinner in Buckingham Palace, continues to dazzle international society with the generosity of her gifts. The Princess Grace Awards Gala in New York and the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health benefit in Washington were recent recipients of her bounty.

The other Sunday I was on a local train from New Haven, Connecticut, to Grand Central Terminal in New York. A few stops after New Haven, a young woman got on and took the empty seat next to me. I went on reading The New York Times. After about 40 minutes she said to me, "Are you a writer?" I said yes. "For Vanity Fair?" she asked. Yes. "I thought so. I used to work for Edmond Safra," she said. Sometimes I feel like a magnet for people who were involved with the Safras.

"What did you do?" I asked.
"I'm a physical therapist. His trainer brought me in. I became his hand therapist, after the Parkinson's. He was a lovely man, very kind. I helped him learn how to pick up things, and I helped train Ted Maher and Vivian Torrente on how to do it before they all went to Monte Carlo. I was never one of the staff. I came to the apartment on Fifth Avenue, did my thing, and left. The house was full of tension - too many nurses just sitting there, too many doctors hovering. There were jealousies. After they left, I was negotiating with one of his aides to go over to Monte Carlo. But then Edmond died, with Vivian."

[PhilDragoo]

Echoes of the Roberto Calvi affair?

Date: 1999/12/04--Since removed from web.

This is the front page lead story in today's Financial Times. Surprisingly little coverage in other media, but it looks like the highest profile demise of an eminent banker since they found Roberto Calvi hanging under Blackfriars Bridge. http://www.ft.com/hippocampus/q2f227a.htm~~ quoted text~~

Riviera manhunt for the killers of Edmond Safra
By Robert Graham in Paris

A vast manhunt was under way Friday night across the Riviera for the killers of Edmond Safra, the Syrian-born international financier, murdered in his Monte Carlo penthouse early Friday. Two masked men broke the tight 24-hour security surrounding the 68-year-old founder of the Republic Bank of New York and set fire to his duplex penthouse apartment in the most exclusive part of Monaco.

Police said Mr Safra appeared to have died from suffocation after seeking safety in an upstairs bathroom with a female member of the family staff, who also died. Lily, Mr Safra's Brazilian wife, escaped unharmed because she locked herself in a room on the lower floor, escaping the fumes. There were also reports that Mrs Safra's daughter was present but unharmed.

A senior figure in Mr Safra's banking empire said he assumed Lily was the heir to his fortune, saying she had recently taken an active part in his business affairs. The high-profile death was also a severe blow to Monaco's image as a safe place for the world's wealthy to live. Police in the tiny principality and in neighbouring France were cautious about who was responsible for the killing. But a senior French police officer said: "Monaco prides itself on its security and this kind of crime is not committed by hoodlums. Any attempt against a big-time financier with full-time bodyguards suggests the hand of organised crime." Suspicions of a contract killing prompted speculation that Mr Safra had crossed elements of the Russian mafia. Republic Bank of New York has been helping the US authorities monitor alleged Russian money laundering through foreign banks.[NOTE--THE GENEVA CHIEF PROSECUTOR SAID SAFRA WAS KILLED FOR COOPERATING WITH THE FBI IN THE LAUNDERING THROUGH REPUBLIC OF $4.8 BILLION IN IMF LOANS TO RUSSIA.]

Leigh Robertson, general manager of Safra Republic Holdings, which controls the financier's European operations, said: "In August we noticed something unusual in one of the bank accounts and alerted the US authorities." [NOTE: TED AND VIVIAN WERE HIRED IN AUGUST: BOTH NONFRENCHSPEAKERS PENCILLED IN AT THE LAST MINUTE BY SONIA WHOM LILY PAID 100K]

Mr Safra was in the final stages of selling his 28 percent stake in the Republic Bank of New York to HSBC. The$2.8bn deal had been delayed because it was caught up in the backwash from a scandal involving false Japanesebonds. [NOTE: SEE THE MARTIN ARMSTRONG DEFENSE FUND REFERENCED ABOVE--ANOTHER INNOCENT SCAPEGOAT]

But it was expected to receive approval by the US Federal Reserve Bank on Monday, according to Mr Robertson. HSBC had agreed in May to pay $10.3bn for Republic New York and Safra Republic Holdings, Mr Safra's banking vehicles in the US and Europe. Last month, after the deal had been thrown into doubt by the discovery of alleged Japanese securities fraud at one of Republic's clients, Mr Safra agreed to accept a $450m reduction in his own payment, and to guarantee a portion of any liabilities that might arise from the affair.

Close associates of Mr Safra said he had been in Monte Carlo for the past two weeks and had no plans to move until a board meeting in Paris on December 16. [NOTE: SO THE HIT HAD TO GO DOWN BEFORE THEN AND BEFORE THE HSBC SALE]

Though the attackers were able to escape, Monaco police hoped that one of the principality's many security cameras would have captured footage for an identification lead. [NOTE--THE LANDING CAM IN THE PENTHOUSE REFERRED TO IN THE FIRE REPORT WAS "NOT WORKING" PER LILY'S PEOPLE--YET THE PLACE WAS MASSIVELY RENOVATED WITH COMPLETION IN AUGUST]

Mr Safra, who was born in Aleppo, held a Lebanese passport and came from a Jewish family with a long history of Levantine trade and finance. His fortune was largely made in Brazil where he set up a trading company in 1953 before moving into banking. He built up the Geneva-based Trade and Development Bank, which he sold to American Express in 1985. He successfully fought off allegations that TDB was a conduit for money laundering and donated the proceeds of a libel suit to charity. [NOTE--USING STANLEY ARKIN WHO NOW REPRESENTS LILY. AMEX HAS ON ITS BOARD HENRY KISSINGER WHO TERMED THE SAFRA DEATH "A VINDICTIVE ACT"]~~ end quoted text ~~

[Mrs Maher]

Dear Heidi: I just wanted to touch base with you to let you know that You, and Ted, and your children are in our prayers. I am so very sorry for what you are having to go through, and what Ted is suffering at the hands of Monagasque government. Heidi, I have been a part of some criminal cases where I have suspected the client was not being honest with me and not telling me the whole truth. Although this did not alter my zeal to defend the client, it did make me question what facts and statements from the client I could trust. Not knowing Ted, and not being present at his alleged statements, I have heretofore had nothing to go on other than what I read from the media and the internet, and our e-mails. Based on what my gut feeling has always been, I believed Ted to be a patsy for other parties' purposes. (Actually, Ted may have been an easy target because he possess some of the same traits that have at times made myself vulnerable to others: being honest, and trusting of others. If you don't incorporate criminal intent into your own thinking, generally, you think everyone is going to treat you honestly and fairly, and don't look to protect yourself from the sinister plans of others.) However, after reading the Monagasque official's letter to the US Congress, I absolutely know without one shred of doubt that Ted is innocent, and the Monagasque government is lying. 1. First of all, the M. official denies everything contended by you and Ted (bound at hands, sleep deprived, false confession, never translated in English, your abduction, etc.). What does this mean? As Ayn Rand states, there is no such thing as a paradox, either a fact is true or it is not. Two diametrically opposing "facts" cannot exist in the same space and time. So, either Ted is lying, and everything that the Monagasque government is true, or the Monagasque government is lying, and everything Ted is saying is true. This is a very, very big risk for the Mon. Government, an all or nothing proposal. Either they can squarely establish every contention in the letter, because if one fails (such as no confession, you were abducted, he was bound and without sleep), the whole picture unravels. They have left themselves no room for retreat, a middle ground to make a claim such as involuntary manslaughter or criminal negligence. Thus, they have now taken the stance that Ted has confessed to arson and murder. 2. Evidence M. Government Fabricated Ted's Confession. While reading the letter, the confession sounded nothing like a Green Beret who grew up in upstate New York; however, it did sound resoundingly French in origin "because this is not me, that is to say . . . " "I am most annoyed by these stupidities . . . " Others just simply do not sound like conversational Amercian English: "this does not correspond to my character or the way I usually behave." I write nearly 5-7 hours a day, and it is not hard for me to pick out something that has been written and edited, versus something that is transcribed from a hearing. I have read depos and hearing transcripts that I have taken, and from people who have practiced law for over 30 years, and transcriptions or confessions are like conversations. What you have from the M. Government is a letter written and edited by someone within the M.Government to support their case. This would never, never hold up in an American Court. Which comes to the most important part of all: the Monagasque Gov. claims Ted confessed, not once, but several times, and maintains that he has tried to tell you, Heidi, that he did it, but you are just "in denial." Further, M. Government claims that its officers have graduated from presitigous American Unversities, and from the FBI Academy, and are as well versed and educated in criminal procedure as any modern nation. OK. So where's Ted's videotaped confession? I mean we have been videotaping criminal confessions over here for years. I am sure they have a video camera and a tape, nothing more was needed. Why do we not have one video or audio tape of Ted confessing, as Monaco so adamantly claims. I mean, come on, this guy (Safra) was one of the 200 most wealthy people in the entire world, assets of over 2,500,000,000.00. (To put that into context, you would have to spend $171,232.88 per day for 40 years straight to go through the 2.5 Billion, but even that number is off because is does not include interest and investments.) Don't you think it would be important to get the killer's confession on tape?We do it all the time here, play it back to the jury. Where are their tape(s)? The only thing they do have is the confession, written by a French speaking person, who uses the phrases "that is to say" and "these stupidities." Have you ever once her Ted talk in that vernacular? I bet not. I know it does not make a difference whether I am 100% assured of Ted's innocence, but I think any attorney or firm worth their salt would see what I see. I do not know what your status is with regards to attorneys, and Ted's legal process, but I do know the larger prestigious firms do take pro bono cases. Also, I think some higher profile types, like Gerry Spence, Mickey Sherman, Alan Dershowitz, Ronald Kuby, would also see this is a sham. I would be glad to contact the offices of the above on your behalf, I do not want to interfere if you have other counsel representing you with which you are satisfied. Heidi, I will do anything I can, I just don't know what to do other than pray. I can contact some of the counsel above, it would be no problem, I don't know that they will respond. Please let me know if there is anything I can do. R., Esq.

[American Preservative]

Thank you for the posts Mrs. Maher and Phil.

FReeper Ping. New posts of interest: #297, #307-309.

MONACO: FREE TED NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PhilDragoo]

J'Accuse: Davost et Serdet et Richet BEAR FALSE WITNESS

While reading the letter, the confession sounded nothing like a Green Beret who grew up in upstate New York; however, it did sound resoundingly French in origin

The author of the above letter, R. Todd Waddell, Esq., notes the obvious, screaming anomaly of all published references to the alleged "confession" of Ted Maher:

The French comique booque langkwich.

Not since Edgar Allen Poe sat down to do some serious opium with his raven Nevermore, not since Jean Paul Sartre had the famous spitting contest with Charles DeGaulle, not since the storied vaudeville routine of Clouseau and Poirot has there been such glutinous, aerated, absynthesque oratorio for Rocky Rococo and his pal Bernard Baroque.

In the mouth of a man who jumped from planes and saved babies' lives with fast action and the surest of skills, one who raised a busy family on a taxing medical schedule having constructed staircases the most challenging of carpentry is suddenly not plain and terse but roundabout and oblique, cryptic, noir and Hamlet with a side of Napolean with his hand inside his tunic--no, it won't do and never did.

There is no videotaped confession because it didn't happen as Monaco says--just as there is no security video tape or police emergency call recording because the official version is a lie.

"My own dark thoughts" is a phrase which neither Ted nor any of the three hundred million Americans has ever uttered. "Sh*t happens" perhaps. But none of this fruity French phrasing puh-leeze.

Davost claims openness and transparency, complete propriety and all rights respected. What crap. Ted cannot utter a word or mail a sentence about the case. He is never free of microphones and cameras and guards. He has been a much-abused hostage of a fascist putzocracy for 712 days.

Time to let the dogs out and see which pompous phonies they bite on the derrierre.

[MissAmericanPie]

Bump

[maestro]

Your# 310) Yes!!

Amen,...........More Grace and Mercy,............In Jesus' Precious Name, Amen!!!

[Alamo-Girl]

bump!

[Mercuria]

Absolutely rank.

I'll never be able to think of Monaco as the Jewel Of The Riviera again...and think of the wealthy who hobnob in that luxuriant playground principality...without thinking of the seamy, dark underbelly of corruption there.

A whited and gilded sepulchre filled with dead men's bones.

Prayers up for Mr. Maher.

[Snow Bunny]

BUMP

[Snow Bunny]

Thank you for your posts.

[American Preservative]

"I'll never be able to think of Monaco as the Jewel Of The Riviera again..."

That's fer sure!

Mercuria, how about having Michael, Phil, or Heidi as a guest on RadioFR to talk about Ted?

FREE-TED-gards.

[Snow Bunny]

BUMP

[Snow Bunny]

BUMP