Designed by a group of Pakistani financiers and Arab sheikhs, BCCI soon became a criminal organization and rapidly grew into a huge financial empire, with offices in 73 countries and assets of more than 20 billion dollars. Officials used the bank to steal the savings of thousands of depositors to launder money for an assortment of drug dealers and terrorists, and to set up an array of ruthless scams. But BCCI had a political agenda as well. By secretly taking over the largest banking institution in Washington, DC, and by corrupting a host of powerful politicians and lobbyists, the bank and its backers tried to influence US policy towards the Middle East. Based on ten years of research, this book addresses the question of how BCCI's officials escaped prosecution for so long. Hints of the truth were apparent for years, but the US Justice Department refused to mount a full-scale investigation. The book sets out to explain why, and offers evidence of the roles played by Jimmy Carter, William Casey and several members of the Bush administration and family. The result is a story of conspiracy, corruption and greed. The co-authors are both journalists based in Washington, DC. Peter Truell has written a succession of front-page articles on the BCCI scandal for the "Wall Street Journal", and Larry Gurwin has covered international banking since the 1970s.