State officials will enter a $1.6-million pilot contract after the departure of Seisint's founder.
By LUCY MORGAN
Published September 16, 2003
TALLAHASSEE - With former drug smuggler Hank Asher out of the picture, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced Monday it will sign a contract with a South Florida company that is setting up a multistate information network on terrorism.
Daryl McLaughlin, interim director at FDLE, notified Gov. Jeb Bush late Monday that the agency will enter into a $1.6-million contract with Seisint, a Boca Raton company founded by Asher.
Several other companies submitted proposals to operate the pilot program after the St. Petersburg Times disclosed plans to award the contract without bids.
FDLE chose Seisint because it already is part of a federally approved pilot project to link about a dozen states willing to share information. But FDLE will seek competitive bids for any long-term system before the one-year pilot project is concluded, McLaughlin said.
Late last month Asher stepped down from the Seisint board, and company officials say he will put his company stock in a trust and play no role in the operations.
Asher is a multimillionaire resident of Boca Raton who developed computer systems that allow subscribers to compile extensive personal information on individuals with the click of a computer key. Much of the information is available in public records but not readily accessible.
A summary of a background investigation attached to the letter noted that Asher was involved in drug smuggling in the 1980s and later worked to help famed attorney F. Lee Bailey catch smugglers working out of Great Harbor, Bahamas, where Asher and Bailey lived.
The report also raised questions about Asher's alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate former Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega.
"This is the most problematic of the issues and cannot be corroborated," the report noted. Asher told investigators he was approached by a former business associate and asked to help free "contract" government employees imprisoned in Nicaragua. Asher told investigators he withdrew after he was told they might have to kill some people.
Investigators say government sources did not confirm Asher's version of events, and the former associate is apparently dead.
Investigators said they also looked at some "suspicious financial transactions" but found no criminal or suspicious conduct. They also found no evidence to support a Broward County deputy's allegation that Asher was selling investigative information to drug smugglers in 1995.
The inquiry into Asher's background was terminated when he resigned from the company's board Aug. 29, the report noted. The complete background report on Asher and Seisint was not immediately released but will be available later this week, according to FDLE officials.
McLaughlin said his agency analyzed concerns about the security of Seisint's operation and will continue to monitor security at the firm. He said Seisint president Paul Cameron has agreed to reassign any employee with an unacceptable background.
The network, called Matrix, is designed to give law enforcement officials speedy access to law enforcement records, public documents and commercially available information in a single place. McLaughlin said FDLE will allow its use only by authorized investigators in criminal investigations.
