Bribery & Corruption

In recent weeks, our premier, Dr. Ewart Brown, has set new lows in the standards of local governance. Sleaze and anger have become his hallmarks, the abuse of power his weapon of choice. He arrests his enemies - coincidentally, he says - without charging them. He throws writs around like confetti, especially against the media, trying to delay publication of details of his alleged misconduct until he can be elected to the office he inherited last October. He accuses unknown white people of a “supremacist oligarchy” and has all but shut down the notion of justice in a country that not long ago had a proud record of integrity and stability.

Investment fraudster Eric Resteiner wants $5 million before he will turn over a video that allegedly shows him bribing Grenada Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, it has been claimed.Resteiner's apparent reason for demanding payment is that the release of the tape could put his safety at risk and the money will pay for a new identity and a security team when he completes an 87-month prison sentence in 2010.

Remarkable events are unfolding in Bermuda - home to the world's third largest insurance and reinsurance market - as the island's government seeks to cover up evidence of corruption against several senior politicians, including Premier Ewart Brown.

Grenada Prime Minister Keith Mitchell is being sued in the United States by a victim of conman Eric Resteiner, from whom Mitchell allegedly accepted at least $1 million in bribes.A civil complaint was filed against Mitchell, his wife, Marietta Mitchell, and Resteiner at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on June 11, 2007. The sole cause of action is fraudulent transfer.

Bermuda, which portrays itself to the world as the ‘clean' face of offshore finance, much to the disdain of rival jurisdictions in the Caribbean, has been rocked by evidence of corruption involving several senior politicians, including Premier Ewart Brown. The evidence was contained in a two-and-half-years-old police report into an $8 million corruption scandal at Bermuda Housing Corporation — a government-funded quango set up to build affordable housing — that was leaked to the local Mid-Ocean News newspaper, which had first exposed the scam in 2002.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged corruption - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Romania - that was filed at federal court in the USA on May 9, 2007. Individuals mentioned in the request for assistance include Levante Zoltan Pentek, and Marius Muntean.

Nearly three years after obtaining a default judgment for $44,143 against St. Kitts based offshore financial services provider M. Irvin BonCamper, MBNA America Bank NA has finally collected. Attorneys for MBNA acknowledged “full and complete satisfaction” of the judgment in

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Romania into Marius Muntean for alleged bribery and blackmail.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged corruption - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Australia - was filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on March 23, 2007.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged corruption - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Trinidad and Tobago - that was filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on March 8, 2007. Individuals and busineses mentioned in the request for assistance include National Lotteries Control Board, G-TECH Corp., Distant Learning Technologies Inc., Union Planters Bank NA, Commercial Scientific Corporation, Union Bank of California, Paul S. Coopers, Wells Fargo Bank, Flixx Avatar Limited, Bank of Nova Scotia, Lloyds TSB Bank Plc, Platinum Resources Limited, Bank Leu (Bahamas), Ishwar Galbaransingh, Amrith Maharaj, Suzanne Seepersad, Jane Yang, Mathew Zukerman, Brian George, Garth Gooding, and Stephen Joseph.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged tax evasion - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Brazil - that was filed at the U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida on March 13, 2007. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Andre Luis Di Rissio Barbosa, 14 BIS Ooperation, Viracopos International Airport, SunTrust Bank, Pacific National Bank, Phanor Andres Escobar Bernal, ABN Amro Real Bank SA, and Santander Banespa Bank SA.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Turkey into Azmi Soylu, Aylin Soylu and Levent Soylu for allegedly misappropriating insurance premiums.

Article based on an application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged corruption - subject to a request for judicial assistance from Brazil - that was filed at federal court in the USA on January 31, 2007. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Adriana Gianello Costa de Oliveira, Grupo Sundown, Jose Luiz Altheia, Rozenblum Trosman Family, Jaime Rozenblum Margolis, Vizzel Corp. SA, Paulo Goldenstein, Compasc, Biraco SA, Talinor SA, Replecta, Kennyblock, Oxyx, Sergio Voltolini, Karina, Wilson Luiz Cunha Rodrigues, Sundown do Brasil, BSD, Citibank, and Citicorp Financial Services.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Trinidad and Tobago into three former members of the National Lotteries Control Board regarding an agreement between NLCB and G-TECH Corp.

Bermuda Supreme Court has set a date of April 27th to hear an application by a local regulator to have a provisional liquidator appointed over a mutual fund group that allegedly exists to launder the proceeds of corruption by a Russian government minister. A petition to involuntarily wind-up IPOC Capital Partners Ltd., IPOC International Growth Fund Ltd., Gamma Capital Fund Ltd., Convergence Capital Ltd., Com Tel Eastern Ltd., First National Telecommunication Fund Ltd., Convergence Capital Management Ltd., Augmentation Investments Ltd., and Telco Overseas Ltd. was presented to the court on January 12, 2007 by Bermuda's Registrar of Companies.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Brazil into suspected money laundering, tax evasion, corruption and other financial crimes involving Adriana Gianello Costa de Oliveira and others.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Ukraine into alleged attempted misappropriation, embezzlement of property or gaining possession of it by abuse of official position and money laundering.

CHILE: Not As Clean As It Looks; GUATEMALA: Portillo Closer to Home; HAITI: IDT's Blues; INTERNATIONAL: No Good News from TI Report; MEXICO: Smugglers and Launderers Neutralized; No Solution to Oaxaca's Crisis; NICARAGUA: Ortega Returns; REGIONAL: Businesses Worry About Frauds, Hackers and … Laundering; and URUGUAY: The Last of the Free Peiranos.

Grenada authorities have turned down the offer of a video tape showing their Prime Minister receiving a $500,000 cash ‘bribe' from investment fraudster Eric Resteiner, OffshoreAlert can reveal.They were notified more than 12 months ago by Resteiner's attorney, John Amabile, that a copy of the six-year-old tape still existed and that it could be obtained through a formal request for assistance to the authorities in the United States, where Resteiner is in custody awaiting sentencing for seven counts of mail and wire fraud to which he pleaded guilty earlier this year at the U. S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

A 74 year old Colorado oilman who accused a Caribbean government minister of corruption in a recently filed civil complaint has been severely criticized by a judge in another case for using “odious tactics”.

ARGENTINA New anti terrorism law Under pressure from the United States, Argentina is about to pass a law that will punish the funding of terrorist activities. Until now, Argentina did not have laws specifically combating terrorism funding. The Argentinean Congress

BRAZIL Complicated campaignIt looked like an easy first round victory for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva until Brazil's election campaign was shaken by a convoluted corruption scandal. The president's party, the Workers Party (known as PT), has been accused

BRAZIL New intelligence unit Brazil's Foreign Ministry officially announced the creation of an intelligence center, in cooperation with Argentina and Paraguay, located in Foz do Iguacu - in the so called tri border region - to combat money laundering and

A U. S. based intelligence firm agreed to pay $1.7 million in damages to settle an allegation that it corrupted a Bermuda government investigation into a local mutual fund, OffshoreAlert can reveal.Two sources have confirmed the size of the payment

The authorities in Russia are seeking information about companies in the United States as part of a criminal investigation into alleged corruption by a former Russian Minister for Nuclear Power that may have caused a $1 billion loss to the

Latvia has requested testimony from the chairperson of Delaware domiciled Medimpex LLC as part of a criminal investigation. Details are contained in an application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence - pursuant to a request for judicial

The authorities in Costa Rica are seeking records from the Community Bank of Florida, in Miami, for a criminal investigation into alleged embezzlement, aggravated corruption, and illegal enrichment. Details are contained in an application to collect evidence - pursuant to

More than two years after being found guilty of several corruption-related charges by a United States jury, former Ukraine Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko has been sentenced to nine years in prison. Lazarenko, 53, was also fined $10 million at his sentencing hearing at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of California on August 25, 2006. The sentencing proceedings are on-going, and the Court will address the restitution claims of victims and the United States' request for $22,846,000 in forfeiture at hearings on August 31, 2006 and September 29, 2006. 

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Russia into suspected misappropriation of funds by Evgeny Olegovich Adamov while holding the position of Minister for Nuclear Power of the Russian Federation.

Article based on an application for permission to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged corruption by David Wills - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Australia - that was filed at federal court in the USA on July 7, 2006.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged corruption by Lt. Col. George A. Rabusa - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from the Philippines - that was filed at the federal court in the USA on July 25, 2006.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged corruption - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance by Trinidad & Tobago - that was filed under seal at federal court in the USA on September 23, 2003 and unsealed on May 15, 2006. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Namcaran Singh, Cosmas Bonaparte, Horace Blake, Robert Paladino, Clive Forgenie, Lincoln Doman, Saleema Doman, Finbar Gangar, Ken Hovington, Ralph Maraj, Basdeo Panday, David Perri, Lawrence Bober, Christopher Cator, Martin Oliver, Devanand Ramlal, Ganga Singh, Trevor Sudarna, Vishnu Ramlogan, York Research Corporation, InnCOGEN Project, U.S. Credit & Commerce Inc., Bank of New York, Caroni (1975) Limited, CNS Developers (Trinidad) Limited, Design Build International Inc., Design Build Professionals Inc., Innercob Industries (T'dad) Limited, York Research Corporation, Inn COGEN Limited, Loeb Partners Corporation, NRG Energy Inc., Tourism and Industrial Development Company Limited, Trinidad Business Consultants Inc., Trinidad Business Consultants Ltd., and Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Costa Rica into Rafael Ernesto Roberto Lara, Carlos Eduardo Monge Herrera, Olger Chavez Miranda, Edgar Enrique Chacon Vega, Guillermo Francisco Vargas Salazar, Jorge Arturo Alvarado Cerdas and Ana Isabel Fuentes Ramirez for suspected embezzlement, bribery and illicit enrichment.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the Philippines into Lt. Col. George A. Rabusa and his wife for alleged corruption.

CHILE: The Arms-Laundering Connection; COLOMBIA: Updated Black List; INTERNATIONAL: International Cooperation Facilitates Capture; PANAMA: Towards Expansion?; and PERU: García Wins; and New Tools to Fight against Laundering.

Accounts at the Bank of Bermuda and Butterfield Bank were used to launder millions of dollars of criminal proceeds stemming from corruption by former Antigua Prime Minister Lester Bird and his associates, it has been claimed. The Bank of Bermuda account was controlled by Asot Michael, Bird's former Chief of Staff and a current Opposition Member of Parliament, and the Butterfield Bank account was controlled by Bruce Rappaport, an offshore banker who is a former Antigua Ambassador to Israel and Russia and who was once the single biggest shareholder in the Bank of New York, according to the current Antigua Government. 

Wachovia Bank is trying to avoid turning over records to the Antigua Government for an investigation into alleged corruption by former Prime Minister Lester Bird, offshore banker Bruce Rappaport and others. The North Carolina-domiciled bank has applied for a protective order in a civil complaint filed by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda at the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Florida on February 23, 2006. 

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Australia into David Wills, a former General Manager of Group Management Information Services for Woolworths Ltd., for allegedly receiving "substantial corrupt commissions for awarding lucrative software and hardware development contracts to companies linked to him and operated by his business associates".

A civil lawsuit in the United States that was notable for the unusual level of secrecy afforded to the parties by the judge has been dismissed.Bermuda-based KPMG Financial Advisory Services Limited and its two managing directors, Malcolm Butterfield and Michael Morrison, had been seeking $11 million in compensatory and punitive damages against Diligence LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based private investigative agency/risk management firm whose employees and advisers include former high-ranking officials within the CIA, FBI, US Government, UK Government and UK special forces.

COLOMBIA: Uribe set for win;; Arrested for Money Laundering; MEXICO: Laundering Couple Trapped; NICARAGUA: Efforts to Repatriate Alemán's Assets Continue; PANAMA: Prestigious Law Firm Involved in Pinochet Scandal; and PARAGUAY: Saving Cooperatives under Scrutiny.

Article based on an application for permission to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged corruption - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from the Ukraine - that was filed at federal court on May 9, 2006. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include M/V Sancris, Pec Limited, KN Resources Limited, Rice Trade Company Inc., Pivdenmortrans, SV Krypayev, Nataliya Chyzh, BI Kozachenko, G. Ya. Kiforenko, Agromax LLC, Premyerbank JSCB, and Mary Quinn.

A corrupt former Financial Secretary in the British Virgin Islands Government has failed in an attempt to have one of two separate criminal convictions against him overturned.On May 4, 2006, the Privy Council, in the United Kingdom, dismissed an appeal

ARGENTINA & OTHERS Efforts to regulate remittances markets…The Argentinean Central Bank is examining a plan to toughen the regulation of the remittances market in order to prevent money laundering. Remittances to Argentina rose almost eightfold, from $100 billion in 2001

At the end of March, Bermuda convicted a man for his part in a $10 million government swindle. That fact, which is hardly earth-shattering, is surprising on several counts.The man convicted was employed by the Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC), a government-funded, yet supposedly independent, body whose job, as best anyone can tell, is to collect rent and carry out repairs on houses owned by government. It might be responsible for housing those who cannot house themselves, but if so, it conspicuously fails to do that. In the past few years, it has evicted more people than it has helped.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Brazil into suspected money laundering and other financial crimes by Joao Francisco Daniel, Laodse Denis de Abreu Duarte and Geraldo Rondon da Rocha Azevedo.

USA's Trial Brief in USA v. Peter Rogan at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

A U. S.-based intelligence-gathering firm has failed to have a civil lawsuit dismissed in which it is accused of bribing an employee of KPMG (Bermuda) to disclose information about an investigation into alleged money laundering by a sham mutual fund group known as IPOC. Diligence LLC had asked the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia to dismiss a complaint brought by KPMG Financial Advisory Services Ltd. and its Managing Directors, Malcolm Butterfield, and Michael Morrison, on the grounds that Bermuda was a more convenient forum and that an “indispensable party” is missing from the action, namely the Bermuda Government, which commissioned KPMG FAS to investigate IPOC.

An American who is suspected of bribing the Prime Minister of Grenada for appointing him to a diplomatic position has pleaded guilty to unrelated fraud charges in the United States.Eric Resteiner, 46, pleaded guilty to five counts of wire fraud and two counts of mail fraud at a change of plea hearing that was held at the U. S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on February 8, 2006. He is due to be sentenced on May 8. Under a plea agreement, the remaining 53 counts, including 18 regarding money laundering, which carry the harshest penalties, will be dismissed.

Eight individuals and two companies have been criminally indicted in the United States on multiple counts of fraud and money laundering concerning the construction of Piarco International Airport in Trinidad & Tobago. Prosecutors are also seeking an asset forfeiture order of at least $15 million against the defendants.