A Big Bonus for "Belly Button"

The many code names that Lieut. Colonel Oliver North attracted during the Iran-contra affair ranged from the heroic "Good" to the cryptic "B.G." (for "Blood and Guts") to the macho "Steel Hammer." But the most significant, and bizarre, could turn out to be "Belly Button." That improbable monicker was the name for a Swiss bank account containing $200,000 in Iran-arms profits that were set aside for the former National Security Council aide and his family.

News of the account, opened in the name Button, gave yet another twist to the Iran-contra hearings on Capitol Hill. A growing body of evidence indicates $ that North was not merely a reckless Marine who was acting purely for patriotic reasons in setting up the secret contra supply network and trading arms for hostages with Iran. Instead, last week's testimony suggested that like many of his private-sector companions, North may have been driven in part by a profit motive.

The Button account was disclosed by a key player in the scandal, Iranian- born Businessman Albert Hakim. He handled the financial side of the Iran- contra "enterprise," while North took care of the political end and retired Air Force Major General Richard Secord, a business partner of Hakim's, oversaw operations. "I intended to profit from my activities," said Hakim. "I never made any pretense about that fact." And profit he did. The enterprise made a total of $14.9 million from its transactions; $8 million of those profits were frozen in bank accounts after the scandal broke.

Hakim looked out for the military men who were his partners. Last week committee investigators discovered that Secord may have withdrawn as much as $300,000 from an account set up by Hakim to pay for amenities such as a Piper Seneca airplane, a Porsche sports car and a visit to a health spa. In his testimony to the committee last month, Secord indignantly insisted he did not benefit from the weapons deals; he may now be summoned back to Capitol Hill to explain the discrepancies.

North also stood to benefit from Hakim's generosity. On May 20, 1986, a few days before North and other U.S. representatives flew to Tehran, Hakim established the Button account. (The name Belly Button, Hakim said, was the result of a joke about North. He did not elaborate.) Hakim told the congressional committees that the $200,000 was a "death benefit" for North's wife and four children. Knowing that U.S. officials are forbidden by law to accept outside contributions, Hakim says he did not inform North of the account.

Though North returned safely from Tehran, the Button account remained open. Last fall, Hakim claims, he attempted to get some of the money to North's wife Betsy. Hakim's financial adviser, Willard Zucker, met with "Mrs. Belly Button" in Philadelphia and told her that an anonymous admirer of her husband's "wishes to help out with the university and educational expenses of the children." Zucker and Betsy North discussed an abortive plan to funnel money to the Norths through their relatives.

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