Did 'private eyes' try to uncover infidelity or secrets?

By DAVID ADAMS

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 28, 2000

MIAMI -- John Le Carre couldn't have written a better script.

Six undercover British investigators -- and a girlfriend -- arrested for suspected spying in Cuba. The target of their snooping: a wealthy foreign businessman with close ties to Fidel Castro.

Rumors swirl of a major scandal involving British agents spying for the CIA. A tense diplomatic standoff ensues as Havana denies consular access to the detained Brits.

But in the true spirit of Le Carre, it's probably all a horrible mistake.

Far from issues of national security, the arrests in fact may be nothing more than the tale of a jealous wife, and her itinerant husband. Or maybe more.

After the arrest of the "private eyes" on Oct. 9, British diplomats were finally allowed to visit the six men and one woman Wednesday.

As the details emerged this week, one British paper called the six detectives "the bunglers who fell foul of Fidel."

British officials aren't saying a great deal. But according to press reports in London, the detectives came to Cuba in early September.

They were contacted earlier this summer by Sarah Kardonsky de Nahmad, the wife of a wealthy Panamanian with a long history of doing business in Cuba. She suspected her husband, Mike Nahmad, was having an affair on the island, and possibly had fathered a Cuban child. She allegedly was looking for evidence to strengthen her case for a divorce.

But the detectives' presence in Havana quickly aroused the attention of Cuban state security agents. During a second trip to Havana in October, they were arrested on the street while conducting surveillance on Nahmad.

The matter quickly turned into a diplomatic incident when Cuban authorities were slow to grant British Embassy staff in Havana consular access to the detectives.

When the story hit the British press, some papers hinted at a major spy scandal involving British intelligence. But London was quick to deny any official role in the affair.

Instead, the British government stated that the men were being held on suspicion "of a range of alleged offenses associated with illegal surveillance activities."

Their secret project to the communist island was plotted from the offices of SIP Investigations, tucked between a Chinese restaurant and a tanning shop in the east London suburb of Snaresbrook. The offices were closed this week. A window sign boasts: "The ultimate in investigation and security."

But the agency's boss, Ken Lodge, was described by one top British policeman and security consultant, John Stalker, as having more in common with Austin Powers than James Bond.

"I've been to Cuba and how a bunch of London chancers thought they could blend in there amazes me," he told the Daily Telegraph.

But in Havana, where the Cold War refuses to die and spies are suspected at every street corner, deep suspicions remain.

Above all, Cuban security officials want to know why the detectives were operating clandestinely on tourist visas, carrying around sophisticated eavesdropping and surveillance equipment.

Security experts say it's hard for the Cubans to accept that a woman would go to such lengths to trap her husband. With prostitution widespread on the streets of Havana, Panamanian businessmen say infidelity is part of doing business in Cuba. In Panama, they add, the wives of the wealthy are expected to be more tolerant of their husbands' indiscretions.

Cuban suspicions will not have been eased by the target of the espionage mission: Mike Nahmad is one of Cuba's top blockade runners.

For two decades, Nahmad made his fortune shipping goods to Cuba's government from offices in the Colon Free Zone, Panama's duty-free import-export operation at the Atlantic Ocean entrance to the Panama Canal. If there was anything Castro needed, but couldn't get because of the U.S. economic embargo, all he had to do was ask Mike Nahmad.

His financial interests in Cuba also include building a power plant on the Isle of Youth.

Nahmad's wife claims to know nothing of the operation.

Relatives also denied any knowledge that the couple's marriage was on the rocks. However, word on their marital bust-up is the talk of the town, especially among Panama's small Jewish community.

That's because Mrs. Nahmad's family -- the Kardonskys, who emigrated from Europe before World War II -- is among Panama's wealthiest elite.

Her uncle, Sam Kardonsky, was kidnapped in 1984 and freed only after a $2-million ransom was paid. Ironically, the kidnapping is said to have been arranged with the help of Cuban intelligence agents. In that case, the release was negotiated by Control Risks Group, a highly-regarded British security firm.

The Kardonskys built their wealth as exclusive distributors for Japan's Sanyo Corp. throughout Latin America. They also own a major bank that has branches in the United States.

Mrs. Nahmad, who is in her mid-40s, prefers to keep a low profile in Panama City. Relatives described her as a very private person who never discussed her marriage.

But according to the reports from London, for several months she had been secretly spying on her husband's activities.

How she got in touch with SIP Investigations isn't clear.

Lodge isn't altogether a nobody in the security business. The company claims an impressive client list, including government agencies in Europe and in Central Asia. Lodge has also worked for the French government, colleagues say, and has links with security services in Britain.

But most of his clients appear to have been local domestic disputes and burglary victims.

"It certainly came as a surprise to be sent to Cuba. I usually do low-key matrimonial disputes in this country," said Simon Palmer, a former SIP employee who quit this summer after making one trip to Havana.

"We were given 1,000 pounds (about $1,500) each, and we were using state-of-the art spying gear to try and trap one of the most powerful businessmen in the country. We had everything from miniature cameras to bugging devices, video recorders and directional microphones. It was James Bond equipment -- no wonder the Cubans were suspicious."

The operation may have been doomed from the start. Palmer said he thought their target had been tipped off.

What exactly Lodge and his accomplices were doing is still not entirely clear. Colleagues in the world of private investigations are astonished that he would take five Englishmen abroad to carry out marital surveillance. Especially in Castro's Cuba.

Now it's up to Havana to sort out the mess.

Let's hope the Cubans are familiar with Le Carre's spy thrillers. In his satirical 1996 bestseller, The Tailor of Panama, it's an unlikely British clothier, Harry Pendel, who gets mixed up in global politics.

In the spy world reality comes in all sorts of disguises.

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