ROBERT VESCO: THE PREDATOR'S FALL

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Robert Vesco had escaped for so long it seemed he had escaped from memory. When the Cuban government announced last week that it had placed the fugitive American financier under arrest, Vesco was little more than a cipher, a relic from an earlier generation, recalled in vague outline for his criminal odyssey around the Caribbean and for a broad range of roles -- millionaire, gambler, stock cheat, illegal campaign contributor, Watergate shadow, drug dealer, scoundrel. He was, for archaeologists of roguery, the fossil evidence that money can buy power and immunity from the reach of the law. Now, suddenly and surprisingly, he was back in the news. But last week Robert Vesco became not a player but a pawn. Havana, which had provided him rich refuge for a decade, seemed to decide the moment had arrived to offer him up to the U.S., which had been chasing him unsuccessfully for 23 years.

In Cuba, Vesco was a creature of legendary largesse, and the news of el americano's arrest whipped through the rumor mills. When he settled on the island in 1982, Vesco, who had been known to fire his American employees simply for arriving late for work, was so incensed at the tardiness of the bodyguards assigned to him by the government that he gave all of them Rolexes to keep accurate time. Last week the only security guard at his empty white-washed house at 2114 204th Street, in Havana's elegant Atabey suburb, turned journalists away, saying, "If you want to know more, please direct your inquiries to Villa Marista." Villa Marista is the headquarters of Cuba's state police, who deal with only the most sensitive cases and do not give up secrets easily. Was Vesco under arrest? "Yes," confirmed the guard. "He is under investigation." On Saturday the Cuban Foreign Ministry said Vesco was under suspicion of being a "provocateur and agent for foreign special services." The country involved was not identified.