Bribery & Corruption

A James Bond-like tale involving allegations of corporate espionage, bribery, corruption, and a Bermuda Government whitewash of a suspected $1 billion money laundering scheme is unfolding in a U. S. court. Among the cast of characters are Russia's Telecommunications Minister, Leonid Reiman; a Bermuda-based, so-called mutual fund in which Reiman appears to be the only investor and which he may have used to launder the proceeds of corruption, IPOC International Growth Fund Ltd.; IPOC's banker, fund administrator, custodian, and accountant, Bermuda Commercial Bank; IPOC's Bermuda representative and provider of various services, including directors and officers, Wakefield Quin; the firm appointed by Bermuda's Minister of Finance to investigate IPOC, KPMG Financial Advisory Services Ltd.; and Diligence LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based intelligence-gathering firm that is headed by a former officer of the U.K. Security Service known as MI5 and whose advisors include a former Director of the CIA and the FBI.

Former Canadian Space Agency engineer Serdar Kalaycioglu has been found guilty of fraud involving an offshore bank and a bogus mutual fund following a jury trial in the United States that spanned seven weeks. After 21 days of hearing testimony and four days of deliberations, the jury found 40-year-old Kalaycioglu guilty of 11 counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into Stephen Peter Rayment and others for alleged fraud and corruption regarding the London Underground.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Zambia - for a criminal investigation into Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba, Xavier Franklin Chungu, Bede Mphande, Stella Mumba Chibanda, and Atan Shansonga for suspected corruption and theft.

The U. S. Government has filed a motion asking a federal judge to sentence Yank Barry, an offshore promoter, and James Collins, a former Executive Director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. More than 28 months after they were both convicted of conspiracy, bribery and money laundering at federal court in Houston, Texas on August 20, 2001, Barry and Collins have still not been sentenced.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Zambia - for a criminal investigation into Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba, Xavier Franklin Chungu, Stella Chibanda, Atan Shansonga, Bede Mphande and Faustin Mwenya Kabwe for suspected corruption and theft.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Ukraine into Valeriy Serhiyovych Kodru for alleged embezzlement and corruption.

ARGENTINA More incriminating data against MenemFormer Iranian spy Abolghasem Mesbahi confirmed from Berlin in a videotaped interview at the AMIA trial taking place in Buenos Aires that an alleged envoy sent by Carlos Menem requested $10 million in exchange for

A business group headed by Russia's richest man, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was arrested in October for allegedly defrauding the state of $1 billion, stashed money in offshore centers, including Switzerland, Luxembourg, the British Virgin Islands, the Seychelles, Panama and the Bahamas, according to Yelena Collongues-Popova, who worked for one of Khodorkovsky's associates. Lucy Komisar, a New York investigative reporter who is writing a book about the offshore banking and corporate secrecy system, interviewed Collongues-Popova. This is her story.

COSTA RICAMoney laundering on the rise A report by the Drug Enforcement Administration identifies an increase in Costa Rica's vulnerability to money laundering. According to the report, the real estate sector has become one of the favorite ways of laundering

A United States federal court has granted a request for judicial assistance regarding a criminal investigation into a former member of the British Virgin Islands Government and his banking officer wife.The targets of the investigation are Andrew Alturo Fahie, 33, who was the BVI's Minister of Education & Culture until a change of government in June of this year, and his wife, Sheila E. Fahie, a.k.a. Sheila Fannie, Sheila Romney, 36, an officer with Banco Popular in BVI.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from the British Virgin Islands - for a criminal investigation into suspected fraud, theft, and money laundering by Andrew Fahie and his wife, Sheila Fahie, involving the expansion and improvement of the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport.

CHILEInverlink debacle goes on Former Scotiabank employee Gino Tirapegui, and former BBVA employee Juan Pablo Prieto and Inverlink's Larry Fletcher have been indicted for fraud related to the Inverlink case. They are part of a group of twenty people, including

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Trinidad & Tobago into Namcaran Singh, Cosmas Bonaparte, Horace Blake, Robert Paladino and others for alleged corruption.

ARGENTINA: Circle around Menem narrower; COSTA RICA: Costa Rica becoming popular; ECUADOR: No foreign holidays for Noboa; MEXICO: Pressure mounts over big banks; NICARAGUA: Alemán in prison: PANAMA: Marc Harris' friends in Panama in trouble?; and PARAGUAY: González Macchi ordered to stay put.

A stock promoter claims he was paid CDN$10,000 not to testify at a money laundering trial that is currently being held in Miami in which the defendants are Canadian attorney Martin Chambers and Bahamas accountant Michael Hepburn.Kevan Garner, of Vancouver, told prosecutors the payment was made on behalf of Chambers through an intermediary, Barry Mann. There is no suggestion that Hepburn was involved.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the Czech Republic into Jan Pur, a public official, for alleged corruptio.

Panama's government is to carry out an investigation into allegations of corruption involving its own officials and offshore crook Marc Harris, according to the local media. President Mireya Moscoso announced on August 6 that a Commission would be appointed to conduct the inquiry, reported La Prensa newspaper.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Slovenia - for a criminal investigation into Boris Sustar, Bostjan Soba, and Stanislav Droljc for alleged corruption.

ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY and URUGUAY: Banco General de Negocios, Multibanco, Banco Comercial sagas continue; NICARAGUA and PANAMA: Following Marc Harris' steps in Nicaragua; PANAMA and COLOMBIA: Colombian scandal affects Panama; and PERU: Kroll unable to find Fujimori's money so far.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the Netherlands into HR Hilber into alleged bribery and tax fraud.

Former Ukraine Prime Minister Pavlo Ivanovich Lazarenko, who allegedly secretly controlled an offshore bank called Eurofed, has been released from prison in California. After more than two years in custody pending trial on 53 counts of money laundering, fraud and transportation of stolen property, Lazarenko was allowed out on "conditional release" in an order dated June 11, 2003 at the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. 

ARGENTINA Bad start for new president Néstor Kirchner, an obscure provincial governor, became Argentina's president elect by default when former President Carlos Menem withdrew alleging that there was "a systematic slander campaign" against him. Menem is on trial for several

A United States Treasury officer whose job involved warning the public about investment fraud has been sentenced to six months in prison after he admitted receiving $15,000 in return for providing information to someone who turned out to be a fraudster. James Lynn Kramer-Wilt was sentenced on May 12 at the U. S. District Court for the District of Eastern Texas. He is due to begin his prison term on June 23, 2003. Kramer-Wilt had pleaded guilty to one count of "willful receipt of unlawful compensation from a source other than the executive branch of the United States Government".

A man who headed an offshore fund that collapsed last year amid allegations of impropriety has been arrested in Costa Rica and criminally charged with fraud. United States national John Sherman Lipton, who has homes in Costa Rica and California, was taken into custody in early May, according to a report in A. M. Costa Rica on May 14, 2003.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Nicaragua into Byron Rodolfo Jerez Solis, Arnoldo Aleman Lacayo, Alfredo de Jesus Fernandez, Esteban Benito Duquestrada Sacasa, Jorge Solis Farias, Ethel Gonzalez de Jerez, Valeria Jerez Gonzalez, Alvaro Aleman Lacayo, Mayra Estrada de Aleman, Arnoldo Antonio Aleman Estrada and others for alleged corruption, fraud and theft.

The United States authorities have assisted the British Virgin Islands government in an investigation into alleged corruption regarding contracts at the Terrence B. Lettsome International Airport.Katherine M. Ho, Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, filed a notice at the local Federal Court on March 17, 2003 stating that she had finished compiling evidence in accordance with a request by the BVI Government under a mutual legal assistance treaty.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Ukraine into Pavlo Ivanovych Lazarenko, Mykola Ivanovych Agafonov, Petro Mykolayovych Kyrychenko and Igor Oleksandrovych Polozhentsev for alleged embezzlement.

A businessman has been charged under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act after allegedly using offshore companies and bank accounts to pay bribes totalling more than $20 million. James H. Giffen, 62, Mamaroneck, New York, was arrested at John F. Kennedy Airport on March 30, 2003 on charges of making unlawful payments to two senior officials of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

A United States Treasury officer whose job involved warning the public about investment fraud has admitted receiving money for providing information to someone who turned out to be a fraudster. James Lynn Kramer-Wilt pleaded guilty on January 30, 2003 to one count of "willful receipt of unlawful compensation from a source other than the executive branch of the United States Government". He is currently awaiting sentencing at the U. S. District Court for the District of Eastern Texas and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Ukraine into the alleged bribery of Viktor Shubin by Borys Vasylyovich Barybin.

ARGENTINA: The long Argentinean "culebrón"; COLOMBIA: Life insurance as laundering instrument; COSTA RICA: Frauds unlimited; NICARAGUA: Lehman Brothers investigated; Money laundering surge; PANAMA: Fraudulent bankruptcies galore; and PERU: Lasnaud's "Montesinos" connection.

The greatest achievement of our first experience of a Progressive Labour Party (PLP) government was supposed to be the $68 million construction of a new secondary school, the Berkeley Institute.We already have a Berkeley Institute, which has produced almost the entire black professional cadre that runs the Civil Service and the government. Building a new school a few hundred yards up the road from the first one was considered important by the new government.

ARGENTINA Switzerland to investigate Menem's bank accountsSwiss judge Christine Junod will investigate whether beleaguered former president Carlos Menem had money in the country's banking system. Until now, Menem has escaped prosecution in spite of the fact that he has been

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Ukraine into Vasyl Mykolayovych Kvack, Volodymyr Romanovych Pavlyk, VV Petliuk, Mariya Yaroslavivna Zasypko, Bogdan Mykhailovych Panchyshyh, Nataliya Bogdanivna Pavlyk and others into alleged corruption involving employees at the Frankivsk District Department of Justice in the City of Lviv, Ukraine.

ARGENTINA The bankers' parade Michael Smith, of HSBC, declared before judge Claudio Bonadío that bribes were somewhat customary in Argentina. Smith—a British citizen who has been only months in the South American country—was testifying in a new case of alleged

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Brazil into alleged corruption and bribery involving MetroRED Telecommicacoes Ltda., Overland Advisory Services, Agua Nova Comercio e Servicos Ltda, Caio Fabio D'araujo Filho, Paulo Sergio Rosa, Oscar de Barros, Jose Maria Teixeira Ferraz, Jorge Luiz Frederich Vital, Plinio Guilherme da Silva, Walter Coronado Antunes Filho, Reynaldo Emygdio de Barros and Celso Roberto Pitta.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from the British Virgin Islands - for a criminal investigation into Berton Smith, Derek Grant, Albion Hodge, Alvin Hodge, and others for suspected corruption involving contracts for the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport.

In 1998, when Bermuda's Progressive Labour Party (PLP) took office for the first time in its 34 year history, the general view was that a generation or two would pass before the party would be unseated. The self confessed black

ARGENTINAMenem off the hook, for the moment Judge Julio Speroni concluded there is not enough evidence to indict former President Carlos Menem in the case of the illegal arms sale to Croatia and Ecuador. Judge Speroni added, though, that Menem

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Brazil into allegations of money laundering, corruption, deviation of public funds and illegal trading in false securities involving Wagner Baptista Ramos and others.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Italy into Mauricio Raggio and Rocio Zaldivar Mercado for alleged money laundering regarding the proceeds of corruption by the former Secretary of the Italian Socialist Party Benedetto Craxi, a.k.a. Bettino Craxi.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Ecuador into Roberto Isaias Dassun, Daniel Eduardo Rodriguez Galarza and others regarding suspected fraud and corruption involving Filanbanco SA.

Banks, brokers and other companies are advised that offshore financial services provider Marc Harris is now operating under the new name of 'Mitchell Astor Gilbert Trust Co.'

COSTA RICA: List of 15 alleged recipients of bribes causes outrage; ECUADOR: Finance Ministry's officials to be arrested; Arms trafficking and Corruption; EL SALVADOR: Investigation of a state company's sale; HONDURAS: INTERFINSA's founder arrested; Another "black list"; MEXICO: US Banker falls in Mexican crackdown; Mexicans take over cocaine business; NICARAGUA: Tangled money; PANAMA: Panama investigates illegal money linked to Nicaragua; PARAGUAY: Bancosur's executives convicted; and URUGUAY: Rohms' dealings in Uruguay; The downfall of "Uruguay's owners"; Banking system in bad shape.

In his Third Report dated June 1, 2002, the liquidator of the First International Bank of Grenada has again warned creditors that there may not be any dividend distribution.Marcus A. Wide, of PricewaterhouseCoopers, advised "there is a real and distinct possibility that there will be no distribution whatsoever made by the Liquidator to the FIBG depositors/creditors".

ARGENTINA: BGN fiasco unfolds; COLOMBIA: Perception of corruption increases; ECUADOR: Failure in international bid; GUATEMALA: New regulations in Guatemala; "Twin  banks" investigated since 1996; MEXICO: The honeymoon is over in Mexico; NICARAGUA: $2 million lost in Nicaragua; The high life of a president; …And Taiwan wants its money back; and PANAMA: Welcome to Panama.

One of the most unusual criminal cases ever - involving Bahamas-based offshore promoter Yank Barry - has taken another bizarre twist. Barry's sentencing at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas has been delayed yet again because the court transcripts of the nine-day trial - which took eight months to produce - have been found to be inaccurate.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Brazil into British Virgin Islands-domiciled Improver International Fund Ltd. for suspected involvement in corruption, securities fraud, tax evasion and money laundering.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Sweden into Sven Olof Gothe and Carl-Gustav Backman for alleged embezzlement, breach of trust and bribery.