David Graiver

David Graiver
Born	1941 Buenos Aires, Argentina
Died	1976
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, financier, banker
Known for	Banking and investment activities; alleged laundering of funds for Montoneros; ownership of multiple banks and businesses in Argentina and abroad

David Graiver (1941–1976) was an Argentine entrepreneur and financier who came under investigation during the 1970s for allegedly laundering around US$17 million on behalf of the Montoneros, a left-wing guerrilla organization. Following the collapse of American Bank & Trust on September 15, 1976—then the fourth-largest bank failure in U.S. history—Graiver faced embezzlement charges filed by Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, who suspected Graiver might have staged his own death. Concurrently, his banking institutions in Argentina and other countries also failed. On January 15, 1979, a court in New York officially declared him deceased, allowing the settlement of his financial affairs.

Early life and career

David Graiver was born in Buenos Aires to Eva Gitnacht and Juan Graiver, Polish Jewish immigrants. The family eventually moved to La Plata, where they established a prosperous real estate enterprise. Although he enrolled at the University of La Plata Law School, Graiver did not complete his degree. With family support, he acquired Banco Comercial de La Plata in 1967.

He married Susana Rottemberg, with whom he had a daughter named María Sol in 1974; the couple separated shortly thereafter. Subsequently, Graiver wed Lidia Papaleo, a member of a distinguished Greek Argentine family.

Business and banking

Ownership of Banco Comercial de La Plata allowed Graiver to expand into multiple business sectors. He launched the real estate development companies Fundar and Construir. In 1969, he unveiled plans for Bristol Center in Mar del Plata—a complex featuring more than 1,200 condominium units spread across three towers adjacent to a convention center and entertainment venues.

Graiver also held public office as Undersecretary of Social Welfare under Minister Francisco Manrique during General Alejandro Lanusse’s administration. After the 1973 elections restored the Justicialist Party to power, he served as an advisor to Economy Minister José Ber Gelbard. In December 1973, Graiver purchased a 26% share in Papel Prensa, Argentina’s pioneering newsprint manufacturer, with the remainder owned by the government. Following the election of his political ally Héctor Cámpora, former president Juan Perón returned from exile accompanied by his third wife, Isabel Perón.

Banker to Montoneros

Graiver is believed to have acted as the investment banker for the leftist guerrilla group Montoneros, laundering approximately US$17 million derived from ransom payments linked to kidnappings. These funds were invested across various sectors within Argentina, the United States, and internationally. By 1976, Graiver controlled substantial holdings including stakes in Jacobo Timerman's newspaper La Opinión, the Galerías da Vinci retail chain, as well as banks such as Comercial de La Plata and Bank of Hurlingham in Argentina; American Bank & Trust and Century National Bank in New York City; Banque pour l’Amérique du Sud in Brussels; and Swiss-Israel Bank in Tel Aviv. Collectively, these assets were valued at approximately US$200 million. The Israeli intelligence agency Mossad identified him as one of Latin America’s top three Jewish banking figures alongside José Klein and Edmond Safra.

In 1975, after his brother Isidoro was abducted and an assassination attempt was made against him, Graiver relocated to New York City. From an office in the Olympic Tower, he oversaw his extensive portfolio. Confronted with liabilities amounting to US$67 million, he shifted roughly US$45 million in loans from American Bank & Trust to his Brussels bank, which then issued significant loans to companies under his control. Additionally, he maintained a secondary residence in Acapulco, reportedly for tax optimization purposes. Reports indicate that Graiver died in an airplane accident on August 7, 1976.

Posthumous controversies

Robert Morgenthau, the Manhattan district attorney, expressed skepticism regarding Graiver's reported death; notably, the Mexican authorities never conducted an investigation into the crash, and no flight data recorder was ever found. In 1978, Morgenthau brought embezzlement charges against Graiver connected to the collapse of American Bank & Trust on September 15, 1976, which was then the fourth-largest bank failure in the United States. Simultaneously, Graiver's banking institutions in Argentina and other locations also went bankrupt. On January 15, 1979, a New York State Supreme Court judge formally declared Graiver deceased, albeit with some reservations.

Following Graiver’s demise, his widow Lidia Papaleo returned to Argentina in September 1976, facing significant financial obligations and threats. Under duress from Economy Minister José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz of the military regime, she was forced to sell the Graiver family's shares in Papel Prensa. Although a portion of these shares had previously been transferred to Rafael Iannover, Papaleo maintained approximately an 11% interest, estimated at around US$1 million. Federal prosecutor Julio César Strassera revealed that the Montoneros applied pressure to reclaim the US$17 million investment overseen by Graiver. Subsequently, a military court sentenced Papaleo along with Isidoro and Juan Graiver to 15 years in prison; however, an appeals court later overturned their convictions.

On November 2, 1976, Papaleo and other private stakeholders negotiated the transfer of their Papel Prensa shares to Argentina’s top newspaper publishers: Clarín, La Nación, and La Razón. Papaleo received a payment of US$7,000 before being unlawfully detained by the Buenos Aires Province Police on March 14, 1977.

The government agency Conarepa confiscated incomplete properties owned by the Graiver family, including the Bristol Center. In 1985, under President Raúl Alfonsín, compensation was provided to private Papel Prensa shareholders such as Papaleo to address injustices committed during the Dirty War.

More than twenty years later, amid political tensions between Clarín and Kirchnerism, Papaleo testified in 2010 that she had been intimidated by Clarín executive Héctor Magnetto during the sale of her Papel Prensa shares and subjected to torture while in police custody in 1977 to relinquish additional payments and remaining shares in La Opinión.