Including information about his associates
Millions Stolen from Revisionist History Institute, Police Say
Trial is set to begin October 28 in a multi-million dollar embezzlement lawsuit brought against former associates by the parent corporation of the Institute for Historical Review.
Legion for the Survival of Freedom, Inc. (LSF), parent corporation of the Institute, charges that Willis A. Carto and Henry Fischer, both acting as agents
for LSF, stole millions of dollars meant to further the Institute’s work. This money is from the estate of American-born woman, Jean Farrel, who died in Switzerland in 1984.
This LSF civil lawsuit (No. N64584), filed on July 22, 1994, is set for trial on Monday morning, October 28, at 9:00 a.m., in Superior Court, Dept. E, north San Diego County, at the government center in Vista, California. It is assigned to Judge Murphy.
Carto, 70, a resident of Escondido (Calif.), is founder and chief of Liberty Lobby, a Washington, DC-based populist
institution. Other co-defendants in the LSF suit include Carto’s wife, Elisabeth, the Liberty Lobby, and LaVonne and Lewis Furr of Hot Springs.
Institute for Historical Review (IHR), a revisionist history
think tank with offices in Costa Mesa that has been criticized for publishing books and articles contending that numerous World War II Holocaust claims are exaggerated or untrue.
Carto has admitted personally taking $500,000 in LSF funds, supposedly to compensate for personal expenses,
and that $1.65 million in LSF assets have been transferred to Liberty
Lobby, which he controls and from which he draws a salary. Carto has also claimed that millions of dollars in LSF assets from the Farrel estate belong to him personally.
Representing Carto and the other defendants in this case are Newport Beach attorneys Randall Waier and Brian Urtnowski (Tel. 714-545 6060). Representing LSF are Century City attorneys Jacques Beugelmans and Thomas Musselman
Also representing Carto in this case has been Liberty Lobby attorney Mark Lane, author of two best-selling books on the Kennedy assassination. (In 1978 Lane served as attorney and spokesman for Jonestown cult community leader Jim Jones.)
Carto and Fischer have been under criminal investigation for embezzlement by the Costa Mesa police. As part of this investigation, Costa Mesa and San Diego police raided the Carto and Fischer residences in Escondido and San Marcos on March 22, 1995, seizing a large quantity of documentary evidence as well as firearms and Nazi memorabilia.
In a Statement of Probable Cause
provided for the search warrants issued in the investigation, the Costa Mesa police declared that Carto and Fischer have transferred substantial sums of LSF monies to other entities without the knowledge, permission or authority of the management of LSF …
The police further declared that Carto, Fischer and others conspired to unlawfully seize custody and control of the premises and records of LSF for the purpose of concealing or destroying evidence of their crimes and preventing exposure to law enforcement authorities and the courts.
Fischer has left the United States and is now living in Europe. In March 1976 he fled from Australia after making off with $500,000 as an intermediary between Iraqi officials and representatives of the Australian Labor Party.
Carto’s association with LSF/IHR was terminated by the LSF Board of Directors in September 1993. Since then, he has refused to turn over corporate assets or records to the lawful officers and directors.
Carto sought unsuccessfully to gain control of LSF/ IHR in a lawsuit, Kerr, Carto v. Legion (No. 720973), which came before Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert J. Polis in December 1993. Willis Carto was exercising substantial control over the Legion [LSF] without any apparent legal authority,
Judge Polis stated in his Dec. 31, 1993, ruling. (This ruling was upheld by a California Appeals Court on August 28, 1996.)
Carto insists that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Church of Scientology are behind his troubles, and that the IHR has been taken over and is now controlled by Zionists and agents of Israel and the CIA. He repeats these and similar claims in the weekly Liberty Lobby tabloid, The Spotlight.
Carto has failed in efforts to derail the criminal investigation against him and Fischer, including two unsuccessful courtroom efforts to quash the search warrants.
Police investigators have publicly confirmed that documents seized in the searches further corroborate the case against Carto and Fischer. Costa Mesa police investigator Larry Rooker testified for about three hours on June 15, 1995, about information he had provided to Harbor Municipal Court Judge Susanne Shaw as the basis for the search warrants. Rooker reaffirmed to the court his conviction that Carto and Fischer are criminals, and that LSF officers Mark Weber and Tom Marcellus had acted in good faith in bringing information to the police.
Michelle Vadon, attorney for Rooker and the City of Costa Mesa, says that evidence taken in the police search does support the allegations of embezzlement, in our opinion
(Newport Beach Daily Pilot, June 16, 1995). Summing up the legal wrangle, Vadon commented: Carto seems to think the best defense is a strong offense: file a civil rights suit, challenge the warrant, sue everyone and maybe they’ll go away. But we’re not going to go away. There is no doubt. The documents are very clear … Carto took the money.
(Los Angeles Times, June 16, 1995)