Bribery & Corruption

Corruption in Argentina Since it was founded in 1999, the Argentinean Anti Corruption Office has handled 1,784 cases that generated 489 complaints but none of them has produced a sentence. The last index by Transparency International — which classifies countries

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, Nu-Tel Communications Inc., Lester Salkey, Clyde Thompson, Albion Hodge, Alvin Hodge, and B&A Networking Services for suspected bribery, corruption, false accounting, fraud, and theft regarding a contract to construct and expand the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Trinidad and Tobago regarding alleged corruption involving the Piarco International Airport Construction Contract.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Ukraine into Vadim Devi Vakhtangov and Iryna Volodymyrivna Sydelnykova for alleged fraud, forgery and corruption.

Part of the estimated $5.5 million allegedly looted from the First Cayman Bank/Gulf Union Bank group in 1997 went to satisfy a $1.75 million fraud judgment in the United States, according to the liquidators.The fraud had been committed by Sheikh Abdus Shimmy Qureshi and his now defunct Florida firm Escue Management Inc., it was alleged.

Investigator finds links among different cases of corruption in Argentina The head of an anti money laundering commission in Argentina, Legislator Elisa Carrió, has linked apparently unconnected cases of corruption that have occurred during the past 15 years in a

A claim by St Vincent &the Grenadines that it is serious about combating financial crime was dealt a blow on November 22 when it allowed suspected money launderer Thierry Nano to avoid an arrest warrant.Nano flew from the island on

A man who in 1997 had to resign from office due to his involvement in a fraudulently operated, insolvent offshore bank has become the new head of the Cayman Islands government.In a coup that sparked public demonstrations in Grand Cayman,

September 11 side effects on already slowing regional economy The attacks on the United States on September 11th will have profound economic effects, further slowing a world economy already growing at its lowest rate in a decade and speeding up

Meridian Investment Bank, whose principals include a plumber and an officer with the Canadian Space Agency, has become the latest bank in Grenada to have its license revoked amid allegations of fraud.MIB's banking license was revoked effective September 4, 2001

Not even the courtroom presence of boxing legend Muhammad Ali could save offshore investment promoter Yank Barry from being convicted of bribery, conspiracy and money laundering in Texas. Barry, 53, who resides in the Bahamas and also spends time in Grenada, faces up to 70 years in prison and a fine of $2 million when he is sentenced, which is scheduled for November 19, 2001.

Last month's lead article about the fight for the assets of Eurofed Bank prompted a representative of the Antigua government to send a letter of complaint to OffshoreAlert.Wrenford Ferrance, Antigua's Director of the Office of National Drug Control and Money Laundering Policy, has denied that the liquidation of Eurofed is being carried out in secret, as we have been told.

Letter to the Editor of OffshoreAlert regarding liquidation of Eurofed Bank from Wrenford Ferrance, Director - Office of National Drug Control and Money Laundering Policy.

COLOMBIA: Secondary mortgage firm; COSTA RICA: Brotherly love; MEXICO: "Towelgate"; PANAMA: Ocean Disgrace I; PERU: Montesinos saga continues; and REGIONAL: Black market peso brokers; US bank downsizes in Latin America.

In secret court hearings held in Antigua, the island's government has been trying to seize all or most of the $76 million of assets recovered so far in the liquidation of Eurofed Bank Ltd., we can reveal.The government is claiming the assets under its anti-money laundering laws on the grounds that they are the proceeds of criminal activity by former Ukraine Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, 48.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Switzerland into Vladimiro Montesinos Torres, James Stone, Ilan Weil Levy, Zwi Sudit, Yury Khozyainov, Fernando Carulla, Rony Lerner and Mordechai Mintzer for alleged money laundering, bribery and embezzlement.

In the public interest, we have posted two new documents on our web-site about the First International Bank of Grenada, which can be downloaded from www.offshorebusiness.com/fibgpage.htm.   Both documents are emails that were sent last year, one from FIBG founder Van Brink to Tai Hastey on March 28, 2001 and the other from British barrister Lawrence Jones to Brink on June 8, 2000.

Panama is on a new "black list" Getting genuine and trustworthy information vital if one wants to make smart investing decisions is going to be harder from now on in Panama. Eight journalists have been convicted of criminal libel in

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in India into Ashok Kumar Aggarwal for alleged corruption while serving as Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Finance, New Delhi.

Argentina Finally, Argentinean Central Bank boss Pedro Pou was replaced on Wednesday, April 25th, by Roque Maccarrone, former President at Banco de la Nación and Banco Río. The move followed a parliamentarian investigation that found irregularities in the way Pou

Attorney David Hampton Tedder, 54, who has spent much of his career involved in offshore finance, including several dubious ventures, is no longer licensed to practice law in the United States. Records kept by the State Bar of California, where

Former banker John Mathewson claims that a member of the Cayman Islands government once asked him for a pay-off of $250,000, plus shares in an offshore bank that Mathewson controlled. Mathewson, who owned and managed the now defunct Cayman-registered Guardian Bank & Trust, made the allegation on the first of three days of United States Senate hearings into money laundering.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Pakistan into alleged corruption by Admiral Masur ul Haq when he was Chief of Naval Staff of the Pakistan Navy.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Belgium into Melchior Wathelet for suspected forgery and bribery.

Thirteen months after being exposed by OffshoreAlert as a scam, the SEC filed a civil lawsuit against Grenada-registered Wellington Bank & Trust, its principals and affiliates. The lawsuit was filed at the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana on February 27, 2001.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Pakistan into Admiral Mansur ul Haq for alleged corruption.

Letter to Bahamas Central Bank Governor Julian Francis from FBI Agent Gerard Forrester in support of fraudulently-operated Bahamas-based Suisse Security Bank & Trust Ltd., dated January 12, 2001 - two days before Forrester retired from the FBI.

Regulators in Grenada are continuing to allow banks belonging to the First International Bank of Grenada group to operate on the island despite FIBG's massive insolvency, we can reveal. The National Commercial Bank of St. Vincent, which is government-owned, is also continuing to provide banking services despite having its UK assets frozen recently over the FIBG fiasco.

After months of ignoring blatant illegalities, Panamanian regulators finally acted against The Harris Organization financial services group this month and suspended its business operations. However, an Order by La Comisión Nacional de Valores (National Securities Commission) was itself suspended by the Panamanian Supreme Court following an application by The Harris Organization.

Grenada Prime Minister Keith Mitchell is being lined up as a potential defendant in a civil fraud lawsuit following the collapse of the First International Bank of Grenada. Depositors have vowed to take action against Mitchell after his government announced that it had granted a license to a new bank called First International Bank of Grenada 2000 Ltd.

Order Affirming the Extradition of Bernard Marche from the USA to France.

Depositors of the First International Bank of Grenada have obtained an order from the Grenada Supreme Court that allows them to freeze up to $373 million of the bank's worldwide assets, if they can find them.The creditors are calling upon all depositors to join the lawsuit as co-plaintiffs and are seeking contributions of $1,000 each to cover costs.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Switzerland into Semyon Donskoy, Arik Kislin and Semyon Kislin for alleged bribery and money laundering.

After allowing tens of millions of dollars to disappear and the crooks to flee the island, Grenada's government finally took over the First International Bank of Grenada this month. Government accountant Garvey Louison was appointed Receiver of FIBG on August 1 and immediately started preparing to liquidate the bank and all of its sub-banks.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner for a criminal investigation in South Africa into Dr. Wouter Basson for alleged fraud, murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, possession of prohibited substances (Cocaine, Mandrax and Ecstasy) and "defeating the ends of Justice".

On July 4, 2000, not long before Adrian Ball's audit of the First International Bank of Grenada was completed, the bank's chairman, Richard Downes, sent an extraordinary letter to FIBG's depositors.In the 10-page letter, Downes acknowledged that FIBG was "experiencing a severe cash-flow problem" and asked clients for their "forgiveness".He then called on depositors to help to overcome the problems through "the flow of positive energy" in order to "reverse the polarities" of the "negative energy" surrounding the bank.

In a development that will astound many businessmen in the region, a UK-based chartered accountant appears to have given the First International Bank of Grenada a clean bill of health.

The Panamanian authorities have received yet another request for assistance from a foreign agency investigating alleged crimes involving The Harris Organization financial services group. La Prensa, which is the main newspaper in Panama, reported in June that Interpol in Wiesbaden, Germany, had submitted a written request for help to their counterparts in Panama on March, 8, 2000. According to La Prensa, the Germans are investigating an alleged fraud committed in Germany and Switzerland and allegedly involving Heinz Richard, 52, someone called 'Hintermeier' and a company named Victus Commerz AG.

Complaint for the arrest of Juan Pedro Schaerer and extradition from the USA to Argentina to face charges of fraud and corruption arising from when he served as the Minister of Public Health for the Corrientes Province of Argentina.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Russia into alleged corruption and fraud involving Industrial State Enterprises of St. Petersburg.

Grenada's Registrar of Offshore Financial Services, Michael Creft, was described last year as being "apparently corrupt" by the first accountant who attempted to audit the books of the First International Bank of Grenada. In a letter to Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, Lauriston Wilson wrote that Creft's actions relating to FIBG were "suspect and lead to the inescapable conclusion that he is apparently corrupt".

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Ukraine into Pavlo Ivanovych Lazarenko, a former Prime Minister; Myckola Ivanovych Agafonov, Petro Myckolayiovych Kirichenko and Igor Olexandrovych Polozhentsev for alleged fraud, embezzlement and corruption.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Argentina into Roberto Fionna and others.

Letter to Bahamas Central Bank Governor Julian Francis from FBI Agent Gerard Forrester in support of Mohamad Harajchi and Suisse Security Bank & Trust, dated February 11, 2000.

There are increasing indications that The Harris Organization financial services group of Panama is edging closer to collapse. Several of the group's clients have contacted Offshore Alert recently to complain that their requests to redeem all or part of their investments have been ignored.

Offshore Alert has uncovered another highly dubious Grenada-registered bank that is owned by a former bankrupt. Wellington Bank & Trust, which was incorporated on July 27, 1998, is owned by John Edward Brinker Jr. and Gary Joel Bentz, who are both based in Ohio.

Offshore Alert can this month reveal further disturbing details about the massive financial fraud that is being committed on the island of Grenada in what appears to be a joint effort between the island's government and the private sector. What is currently taking place in Grenada mirrors what happened in Montserrat in the late 1980s when approximately 300 'paper' banks established with phantom capital defrauded foreign clients of tens of millions of dollars before eventually being closed down by the UK police in 1989/90.

Two more companies have listed on the sham Grenada-registered World Investors' Stock Exchange, bringing the total number of listed issuers to approximately 20. They are Bahamas-registered Alexander Development International Corporation and St. Vincent-registered Molecular Waste Technologies Inc.

Annual OffshoreAlert Awards for: Worst Regulator, Worst Regulated Jurisdictions, Lie of the Year, Coward of the Year, Crooks of the Year, Jurisdiction in Most Need of a PR Make-Over, Most Small-Minded Decision, Most Arrogant Jurisdiction, Most Stupid Comments, Here Today, Gone Tomorrow Award, and Most Responsible Regulators.

Grenada regulators have allowed the sham insurer known as IDIC to incorporate on the island after regulators in Nevis and Dominica closed down the company, we can disclose. IDIC was closed down by Nevis regulators on January 27, 1999 and, the following month, was shut down in Dominica, where it had moved.