Download a copy of a civil complaint - and an accompanying 88-page affidavit from administrator Philip Lyon - filed in August, 2002 by Mazars Neville Russell against Lincoln Fraser, Jared Brook and 17 other defendants at the UK High Court. Among the various allegations are that Fraser and Brook sold a company airplane two days after Imperial went into administration and pocketed the proceeds. This is the action which is at the core of the Imperial Consolidated administration.

Also, Lincoln Fraser has managed to stave off bankruptcy - for the time being - at the eleventh hour.

Mazars Neville Report dated August 30, 2002, which includes a flow chart indicating that the Imperial Consolidated Group was controlled by The Fraser Brook Partnership, notwithstanding claims by Imperial in the past that Lincoln Fraser and Jared Brook, the owners of The Fraser Brook Partnership, had not been involved with Imperial since 'resigning' in April, 2001. The report also includes details of legal action that has been commenced against several parties, including Fraser and Brook, and a list of creditors. OffshoreAlert obtained the report from Companies House for England & Wales, where it had been filed by Mazars Neville.

Despite a freeze against his assets, Lincoln Fraser has found sufficient money to buy himself two British 'journalists' called Simon Cross and Lesley Tither to serve as his spin doctors. Neither disclose that they work for Fraser when preparing and distributing their press releases about the Imperial Consolidated Group. Cross and Tither work for Matrix International, whose commercial address is the same as that used by Fraser and Brook. The principal director of Matrix International is Hugh Allen, whose contact address in Companies House filings is the home address of Lincoln Fraser. It is unclear whether Fraser and Allen live together or whether he uses Fraser's home only as a mailing address. The Company Secretary of Matrix is Michael Swallow, who previously worked for Imperial Consolidated and The Fraser Brook Partnership, both of whose assets are frozen.

Meanwhile, on August 12, 2002, the High Court in London issued an asset freeze order against the assets of Lincoln Fraser and Jared Brook, the co-founders of the Imperial Consolidated Group. The court also issued search and seize orders, allowing Imperial's joint administrators, Philip Michael Lyon and Alistair Steven Wood, of Mazars Neville Russell, to enter the residential and business addresses of Fraser and Brook and seize their books and records.

Imperial's initial Statement of Affairs shows net assets of GBP11.27 million (approximately US$17.65 million). However, this calculation is based on figures booked by Imperial's former management and, as such, is unreliable. Mazars Neville Russell is in the process of independently determining a realistic value for Imperial's assets and it seems likely - to OffshoreAlert, at least - that the final figure will reveal substantial insolvency.

The Statement of Affairs shows that GBP121.3 million (US$190 million) of Imperial's total booked assets are in mining rights in Argentina. The financial state of the group depends to a large extent on the legitimacy and credible valuation of these assets.

Letter from OffshoreAlert to Bill Wallace, Partner of accounting firm Pannell Kerr Forster (Bahamas), sent on October 26, 2000 questioning the credibility of PKF's audits of Imperial Consolidated's offshore mutual funds.

Wallace never responded to the questions and expressed no interest in learning more about allegations of impropriety against Imperial during a telephone conversation with OffshoreAlert that preceded our letter. PKF, which was an affiliate of disgraced accounting firm Arthur Andersen, continued to issue worthless audits and/or reviews for Imperial Consolidated until Imperial collapsed nearly two years later with estimated liabilities of approximately US$330 million and is now a potential target for a creditors' lawsuit.

After we spoke with, and faxed questions to, Wallace, OffshoreAlert published an article that included the following sentence: "We have filed our fax away should it ever be needed in the event of possible legal proceedings if Imperial Consolidated eventually goes pear-shaped, like several other firms run by Lincoln Fraser and Jared Brook."

Letter dated June 27, 2002 from Mazars Neville Russell to Imperial Consolidated creditors announcing that applications were being made to wind-up four Grenada-registered companies: IC Mutual Limited, ICS Placements Limited, Alpha Windward and Leeward Limited (formerly IC Mutual Funds Limited) and Commercial and Asset Backed Placements Limited.

An order placing these firms into provisional liquidation was issued the following day by a court in Grenada.

Four-page Administration Order issued by the High Court of Justice, Leeds, England on June 10, 2002.

Imperial issued a press release on June 13, 2002 announcing the administration.

Imperium Bank, which was taken over by the Grenada International Financial Services Authority on April 25, 2002 and later went into liquidation.

An investor who had previously invested in one of Imperial Consolidated's offshore mutual funds received a letter on September 28, 2001 that began: "We are pleased to announce that, with immediate effect, we will be acting under the name of Alpha Toronto Management Company SL." That company is linked with Alpha Toronto Series Inc., which is represented in Canada by Donato Carucci and in Spain by Robert Statham Raven, both of whom are long-time Imperial Consolidated officers. Imperial Consolidated claims that it is not linked with Alpha Toronto, whose registered address in the UK is Imperial's headquarters in Mayfair, London. In the last six weeks of 2001, Imperial's two companies in New Zealand and Australia each changed their names to titles beginning with 'Alpha Equities'.

Judgment issued on December 18, 2001 in the High Court of New Zealand, Dunedin Registry in favor of David Stewart and against Imperial Consolidated Group PLC and Imperial Consolidated Securities S. A. Our 50-page 'pdf' file includes documents that the judge determined had been "backdated", some of which bear the signature of Bill Godley, who was appointed Group CEO of Imperial Consolidated in April, 2001.

On July 25, 2001, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission issued a STOP ORDER preventing Imperial Consolidated-subsidiary I. C. Mutual (Australasia) Ltd. from issuing, offering, selling or transferring any securities to the public after several unsuccessful attempts by the firm to have its prospectus approved.

Press release from the Department of Trade and Industry in the UK dated July 19, 2001 announcing that Lincoln Fraser and Jared Brook have each been disqualified from serving as a company director.

Australian Securities & Investments Commission takes regulatory action against I. C. Mutual (Australasia) Ltd. on December 21, 2000.

Letter from New Zealand Serious Fraud Office in 1998 headlined 'INVESTIGATION INTO THE AFFAIRS OF IMPERIAL CONSOLIDATED MANAGEMENT'.

Warning issued against Imperial Consolidated Securities by New Zealand Securities Commission on May 3, 1999.

Another warning about Imperial Consolidated Securities issued by the New Zealand Securities Commission in July 1999 under the heading 'Dubious Overseas Investments'.

'Scam Watch' warning against Imperial Consolidated Securities issued by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs in Wellington, New Zealand.

Imperial Consolidated Securities is listed on 'A-Z of Scams' produced by the Consumers' Institute of New Zealand. (Link to their web-site).

A civil lawsuit filed by the US SEC involving an alleged "150 per cent per week" return investment scam in which City UK is named as a relief defendant.

A copy of the "consent to final judgment" by Imperial Consolidated subsidiary City UK in the above lawsuit filed by the SEC.

An admission by Imperial Consolidated subsidiary City UK in 1999 that it believes in the existence of products that "offer extremely high returns with a guarantee (usually from a top world bank)".

Letter from a Thai investor to Imperial Consolidated (Australia) referring to a "program" that purported to pay "at least 30% profits guaranteed per month as our discussion over the phone".

A scheme operated by Imperial Consolidated Securities called 'Rusaust' in which investors are offered a return of 9.25 per cent per month and brokers are offered a 40 per cent commission.

Letter from Imperial Consolidated in July 1998 referring to "guaranteed" returns of up to 26.8 per cent per year.

Imperial Consolidated document in 1998 referring to a "guaranteed" yield of two per cent per month.

NOTE: We also have documentation naming Imperial Consolidated in which investors are offered returns of 200 per cent in 45 days.

Bankruptcy Order against Lincoln Fraser, issued at Lancaster County Court, England, on January 10, 1996. The order was annulled on November 7, 1997.

Fraser accused of having a "cavalier attitude" towards his bankruptcy and the failure of Progressive Leisure Corp.

Fraser's attempt to reverse his bankruptcy is rejected in August, 1996 by the High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, Preston District Registry.

Letter dated July 8, 1996 re. bankruptcy proceedings against Jared Brook

Letter dated November 13, 1996 mentioning bankruptcy proceedings against Jared Brook. The proceedings were later withdrawn.

Lancashire Evening Post story on July 14, 1995 about Lincoln Fraser and Jared Brook apparently abandoning the Midland Grand Hotel, which they managed.

Copy of bounced check for GBP5,000 issued in the name of Progressive Leisure Corp.

Creditor's reaction to the above bounced check and "a desk full of promises...all of which have come to nought"

Details of three bounced checks, each for GBP3,000, issued in the name of Progressive Leisure Corp.

Details of a bounced check for GBP2,921.05 issued in the name of O.T.A.N. Ltd., another Lincoln Fraser/Jared Brook failed company.

Literature relating to Bentley Holdings, an unregistered company operated by Lincoln Fraser and Jared Brook which led to an investigation by the UK Department of Trade & Industry.

Details of previous company failures involving Imperial Consolidated principals Lincoln Fraser and Jared Brook.

Photograph of Imperial Consolidated principal Lincoln Julian Fraser shaking hands with one-time business partner, Syrian-born international arms dealer Monzer al-Kassar.

Proof that Imperial Consolidated has an office in New Zealand, which it denies in its libel complaint against OBNR.

Imperial Consolidated is implicated in a scheme to persuade residents of low income homes in England to pay for housing repairs they might not need.

"Pre-approved" loans from Imperial Consolidated that do not appear to be pre-approved at all. Report in The Times of London newspaper.

Imperial Consolidated PLC audit for 17.5 months ended September 30, 2001. It only includes three active UK subsidiaries, no overseas entities.

Audit of I. C. Mutual Ltd., a Bahamas-based mutual fund company operated by the Imperial Consolidated Group. Dated June 30, 2000 and prepared by Pannell Kerr Forster (Bahamas). Note that this firm has zero expenses, with no adequate explanation from Pannell Kerr Forster as to who paid them.

Procedures Review of I. C. Mutual Ltd. by Pannell Kerr Forster (Bahamas), dated February 29, 2000. The review looks at IC Mutual's internal controls and procedures.

Letter from Imperial Consolidated's attorney in Miami to Offshore Business News & Research dated January 31, 2001.

Another letter from a different Imperial Consolidated attorney based in Florida also threatening a lawsuit against OBNR.

Letters between Imperial Consolidated and Offshore Business News & Research during January, 2001.

Imperial Consolidated PLC vs. OBNR, civil libel lawsuit filed at the Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County, Florida. (1.6 MB file)

Imperial Consolidated loses its bid to obtain an injunction preventing OffshoreAlert from reporting about it, just like the First International Bank of Grenada before it.