800.01B11 Registration/10–1949
The Secretary of State to the Attorney General (McGrath)
My Dear Mr. Attorney General: The receipt is acknowledged of Mr. Ford’s recent letter1 concerning the status of certain officers of [Page 763] the Amtorg Trading Corporation. Specifically, Mr. Ford asks that the Department of Justice be advised of any privileges or immunities accorded the individual officers named in his letter which would render them immune to court process.
There is given below information regarding the type of visa issued to the officials of Amtorg about whom inquiry is made.
A. V. Zakharov, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and President
Issued diplomatic 3(1) visa at Moscow on July 2, 1949 as lend-lease expert.
V. P. Rebrov, Vice President
Entered United States on Diplomatic 3(3) visa issued at Bogotá, Colombia, May 5, 1948. Status changed under section 3(1) of the Immigration Act of 1924 to that of an accredited official of the Soviet Government.
D. I. Bagrov, Vice President2
American Embassy in Moscow authorized January 2, 1945 to issue official 3 (1) visa.
A. A. Istchenko, Secretary
Issued diplomatic 3(1) visa at Moscow on July 2, 1945 as lend-lease expert.
S. A. Shevchenko, Treasurer
American Embassy in Moscow authorized in August 1946 to issue official 3(1) visa.
G. N. Ogloblin, Assistant Treasurer
American Embassy in Moscow issued 3(1) visa on December 21, 1943. Not clear from the record whether official or diplomatic 3(1), but assumed to be official since there is nothing to indicate that he was entitled to a diplomatic visa.
A careful review of the information on file in the Department fails to disclose that the individuals listed in Mr. Ford’s letter are entitled to privileges and immunities which would preclude the exercise of judicial jurisdiction over them. The fact that these individuals entered the United States with diplomatic 3(1) or official 3(1) visas, or may be here in 3(1) status, in recognition of their status as officials of a foreign government, does not alter the premise that they are amenable to the jurisdiction of the United States while acting as officers of a domestic corporation, namely, the Amtorg Trading Corporation, since these individuals are not at this time notified to and accepted by this Government as diplomatic personages engaged in the conduct of diplomatic business.
However, I should emphasize that these individuals are officials of the Soviet Government, three of whom possessed sufficient rank to [Page 764] justify the granting to them of diplomatic 3(1) visas. As your Department is aware, the presence in the United States of these Soviet officials attached to Amtorg is regularly reported to the Department of State by the Soviet Embassy. I am sure you will have in mind the serious concern of this Department that nothing be done which the Soviet Government could seize upon as an excuse to initiate, by way of reprisal, trumped-up criminal proceedings against American officials stationed or traveling in the Soviet Union who, by reason of their position, do not enjoy complete diplomatic immunity.
As you were informed in the Department’s letter of August 29, 1949, upon being furnished with reliable information that any Soviet official attached to Amtorg is engaged in espionage, this Department will declare him persona non grata and will demand his immediate recall by the Soviet Government.
Sincerely yours,
Under Secretary