Michael Jon "Mike" Hand, a former U.S. Green Beret who had experience in the Vietnam War (after which he began training Hmong guerillas in Northern Laos under CIA aegis, an experience alleged to account for his ties to the "Golden Triangle" heroin trade) and Australian lawyer Francis John "Frank" Nugan (who is reputedly associated with the Mafia in Griffith, New South Wales) set up Nugan Hand Ltd. in 1973, using Fletcher and Renouf and their NZ United Corporation to link with I. E. L. and BrierleyJones Investments through a cross-shareholding agreement.

The Nugan Hand Bank begins operations in Australia with 30 percent of the stock held by Australasian and Pacific holdings (one hundred percent owned by Chase Manhattan Bank), 25 percent by the CIA's Air America, 25 percent by South Pacific Properties and 20 percent held by Nugan, Hand and Seldon.

Hand allegedly uses the bank to launder some of the enormous profits from the CIA-run weapons-for-opium trade in Laos.

The Nugan Hand Bank attracts investors with promises of up to 16% interest rates on their deposits and assurances of anonymity, tax-free accounts, and specialist investment assistance.

Nugan Hand rapidly gains business and expands its offices from a single Sydney office to a global network that includes branches (registered in the Cayman Islands) in Chiang Mai, Manila, Hawaii, Cape Town, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Cayman Islands and Washington D.C..

The Nugan Hand Bank gains respectability by the recruitment of a number of retired senior U.S. military and intelligence personnel, such as former Rear Admiral Earl "Buddy" Yates as bank president and ex-CIA head William Colby as legal counsel.

Australian trucking magnate Peter Abeles is also connected with the bank.