Fraud

Police in the United Kingdom have raided the home of suspected investment fraudster Lincoln Fraser, a former principal of the failed Imperial Consolidated Group. The raid on Orford Hall on the site of an old RAF Air Station in Binbrook, Lincolnshire, England took place on Tuesday, February 3, 2004, according to two sources.

Judgment in a Criminal Case in USA v. Moises Kriger at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

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.

Decisions and Reasons in Ontario Securities Commission v. Monte Morris Friesner and First Federal Capital (Canada) Corporation.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Spain into Alberto Ortega Diaz, Fernando Heras Castan, Pedro Llorente Malo, Francisco Javier Munoz Ponce, David Santiago suarez, Manuel Diez Fernandez, Ignacio Jose Correa Sureda and Santiago Maroto Illera for alleged fraud involving Port Kenny Holding SL and CAFI SA.

Plea Agreement in USA v. Douglas Elliott Johnson in U. S. District Court for the Central District of California.

A legal battle is taking place in Oregon for possession of gold and silver bars and coins that were seized during a raid on the offices of companies associated with offshore provider Terry Neal. The United States Government is seeking to take permanent possession of the property, worth approximately $225,000 at current prices.

Bermuda-registered Sentinel Insurance Company Ltd., which collapsed in 2001, has "substantial debts" and "virtually no assets whatsoever", according to its provisional liquidator, Jeremy Cox. Cox, who is Bermuda's Registrar of Companies, commented on the indebtedness of Sentinel in a court filing at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia on December 1, 2003.

An attempt by offshore provider Marc Harris to overturn his conviction for money laundering and tax evasion has failed because of an apparent blunder by his attorneys. On January 23, 2004, U. S. District Judge James Cohn threw out Harris' motion for a Judgment of Acquittal because it was filed after the statutory deadline for post trial motions had expired.

The founding president/director of a Bermuda-registered open-ended mutual fund has resigned after it was disclosed that he had served a prison term in Germany in 1997-99 for fraud and embezzlement. Vidya Sharma, apparently a former Merrill Lynch banker, stepped down from IPOC International Growth Fund Ltd. in October of last year after his criminal conviction came out during court proceedings involving the Fund in the British Virgin Islands.

Nearly 500 victims of the Imperial Consolidated fraud have filed a lawsuit in which they seek to hold offshore provider Ansbacher responsible for their entire losses of over £30 million (US$54 million). The complaint was filed against Ansbacher (Bahamas) Ltd. at the Bahamas Supreme Court on January 30, 2004 by 486 plaintiffs located in several countries.

An offshore fund administrator has been accused of "impeding" the investigation in the United States into the $600 million collapse of the Lancer group of hedge funds. Citco Fund Services (U.S.A.) Inc. has refused to turn over records concerning BVI-registered Lancer Offshore Inc. and The OmniFund Ltd., which its Netherlands Antilles affiliate administered.

A Canadian regulatory agency has issued a warning against a sham bank doing business as "Bermuda Credit Re-Insurance Bank Ltd." The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions published its warning against BCRB on December 18, 2003.

Several Bermuda-registered companies or their clients have been affected by the failure of a hedge fund group which allegedly defrauded its investors of more than $600 million. Subsidiaries or affiliates of the Bank of Bermuda, Bank of Butterfield, Conyers Dill & Pearman, Lines Overseas Management, and the Meridian Group are on the service list for filings at federal court in Miami.

The United States government is seeking ownership of property in the Bahamas that it alleges was bought with the proceeds of crime by a client of local law firm Graham Thompson & Co. It filed a civil forfeiture complaint at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Washington on January 12, 2004.

Three United States-based firms have asked a court to appoint an independent Bankruptcy Trustee for AlphaStar Insurance Group Ltd. to prevent further fraud. The current management of AlphaStar and 11 of its subsidiaries, which all filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York on December 15, 2003, cannot be trusted, it was alleged.

The IRS is investigating alleged tax evasion involving Miami-based American Bankers Insurance Group and reinsurance companies in the Turks & Caicos Islands. ABIG is part of the Fortis Group, an international conglomerate of insurance, banking and investment concerns, including offshore banks and trust companies under the 'Fortis Bank' and 'MeesPierson' brands.

Article based on an application to collect evidence in Monaco that was filed by the United States at federal court in the USA on January 9, 2004. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the application include Welby Thomas Cox, a.k.a. Thomas Welby Cox; Ronald Cooper, Grand Colorado Development Corporation, Standard Investments and Credits Corporation, National City Bank, Wayne Armstrong, Mintus, Inc., and ABC Banque Internationale De Monaco.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged fraud- pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Germany - that was filed at federal court in the USA on January 8, 2004. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Bernhard Mockert, Swiss Investment Trading, Refco, Professional Market Brokerage, Inc., Peter Bott, Annemarie Rossier, Kiara Schneider, Ingeborg Rudiger, Dr. Ingrid Tewes, Bozidarka Pal, Torsten Eckhardt, Michael Weber, Josip Petrovic, and Barbara Warecki.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into organized crime - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance by Italy - that was filed at federal court in the USA on January 8, 2004. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Luigi Bartolini, Spartaco Belotti, Alfredo Maini, Carlo Mancini, Lino Mancini, Enrico Nicoletti, Antonio Nicoletti, Massimo Nicoletti, Enrico Terribile, Stefano Taccini, Rodolfo Graffi, Rocco D'Agostino, Gianni Micalusi, Attilio Adorni, Vittorio Casamonica, Pietro Consalvi, Patrizia D'Agostino, Ruggero Di Clemente, Piero Lancianese, Lino Mancini, Alessio Monselles, Antonio Raponi, Eda Corsagni, Fabrizio Montali, Ermenegildo Scarapicchia, Fabrizio Spadoni, Vinicio Spinelli, Darlo Maria Vizzotto, Salvatore Mule, and Bernardina Tulli.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged fraud - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Trinidad & Tobago - that was filed at federal court in the USA on October 24, 2003. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Telecommunication Services of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd., Scotia Bank, Clyde Joseph, Maureen Scott, Aline McLean Jones, Cedric Cole, Ameritec Commercial Trading, Bank Atlantic, Intromicro, Ocean Bank, and USA Intercell.

A Cayman Islands-registered exempted insurer has accused a United States bank of withholding $467,582 of its funds.Star Insurance Company (Cayman) Ltd. claims to have been trying to gain access to the funds in six trust accounts at Wachovia Bank since March 4, 2003.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Romania into identity fraud and money laundering.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Finland into Kaj Ossian Barlund, Sami Petter Heikkila, Unto Tapio Vaihkonen and Reijo Mattila for aggravated dishonesty by a debtor and accounting offenses regarding a company called JTK-Steel Oy.

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.

The sentencing date for convicted offshore financial services provider Marc Harris has been put back from February 6 to April 30, 2004. An order postponing sentencing was issued at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on January 16, 2004 following a request from the United States Probation Office.

A British law firm has taken legal action against the operators of an asset recovery scheme that has targeted victims of the fraudulently-operated Imperial Consolidated Group. Pinsents filed a lawsuit against Matrix International (Management) Ltd., d.b.a. Matrix Investigations, and Barclays Bank Plc at the UK High Court on December 16, 2003.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in France into the alleged forgery of works of art by French painter Gaston Orellana.

Section 304 Petition for Assistance in Insolvency Proceedings in the Cayman Islands by Gordon MacRae and James Cleaver, as the Foreign Representatives of Parmalat Capital Finance Limited, at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Two class action lawsuits have been filed in the United States against the Parmalat group, its officers and professional service providers. They were filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, one on January 5, 2004 and the other one day later and are likely to be consolidated at some stage.

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 Belgium - for a criminal investigation into Patrick Delcour and others for suspected fraud.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Hungary into Sergey Ivashkevich, Konstantyn Kurhanov, Roman Lotarev and Angelica Artemonova for suspected fraud.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Italy into Luigi Bartolini, Spartaco Belotti, Alfredo Maini, Carlo Mancini and Lino Mancini for allegedly laundering the proceeds of crime committed by an alleged criminal organization headed by Enrico Nicoletti and allegedly including Massimo Nicoletti, Antonio Nicoletti, Enrico Terribile, Stefano Taccini, Rodolfo Graffi, Spartaco Belotti, Rocco D'Agostino, Gianni Micalusi, Attilio Adorni, Vittorio Casamonica, Pietro Consalvi, Patrizia D'Agostino, Ruggero Di Clemente, Piero Lancianese, Lino Mancini, Alessio Monselles, Antonio Raponi and others.    

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Germany into Bernhard Mockert for alleged fraud.

Five insiders with the First International Bank of Grenada have been criminally indicted in the United States for allegedly perpetrating a scam that cost investors more than $206 million. Gilbert Allen Ziegler, a.k.a. Van Arthur Brink, a U. S. national formerly of Oregon and Hawaii, now living in Uganda; Douglas C. Ferguson, a U. S. national formerly of Oregon; Laurent E. Barnabe, a.k.a. Larry Barnabe, a Canadian national residing in Las Vegas, Nevada; Rita L. Regale, a.k.a. Rita L. Brunges, a U. S. national formerly of Hawaii; and Robert J. Skirving, a U. S. national residing in Oregon, collectively face 146 counts at the U. S. District Court for the District of Oregon.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Russia into Vladimir Nikolayevich Makhlai and Evgeniy Aleksandrovich Smykov for alleged fraud and embezzlement against Togliattiazot JSC, which is described as "the Russian Federation's biggest producer of nitrogen fertilizer".

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Russia into alleged theft and fraud involving Russian Public Health Foundation.

Letter to the Editor of OffshoreAlert from Stephen Crane, CEO of AlphaStar Insurance Group, formerly known as Stirling Cooke.

A racketeering lawsuit filed against Bermuda-based investment group Lines Overseas Management has been withdrawn by the plaintiff six months after it was filed. The case against defendants LOM Securities (Bermuda) Ltd., LOM (Holdings) Ltd. and the group's president, Brian Lines, was dismissed at Nevada federal court on November 14, 2003.

An arbitration panel sitting in New York has awarded more than $1 billion against failed aviation reinsurance pool manager Fortress Re Inc., of North Carolina. In a decision issued on December 16, 2003, the panel found that Fortress Re and its principals, Maurice Sabbah and Kenneth Kornfeld perpetrated a massive fraud against Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.

Nearly two years after the collapse of Enron, the collapse of the Parmalat food group has once again shed an unwelcome spotlight on the offshore sector of the Cayman Islands. Although it had nowhere near the level of Enron's more than 600 Cayman-registered subsidiaries, Parmalat nonetheless had a handful of subsidiaries or affiliated entities incorporated on the island, including an exempted mutual fund, and media reports have suggested one or more of them may have been used to hide assets for a group whose insolvency may be as much as €10 billion (US$12.6 billion).

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged fraud by a former employee of the Australian Tax Office - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Australia - that was filed at federal court in the USA on February 4, 2003. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Gordon Munro Walker, Bank One, Cal Fed Bank, Pacific Trust Bank, Union Bank of California, Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo Bank, Western Financial Bank, and Bank of America. 

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into credit card fraud - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Romania - that was filed at federal court in the USA on August 6, 2003. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include John Paul Pender and M&T Bank.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged tax evasion - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Austria - that was filed at federal court in the USA on September 17, 2003. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Doris Reschitzoeger and Southtrust Bank.

Alexei Golubovich, longtime partner of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is the target of legal action in Switzerland by his former associate Yelena Collongues-Popova and is being investigated by a Geneva judge on a charge of forgery. Golubovich has not been indicted by Russian prosecutors, though they are interested in talking to the former Yukos finance director who has reportedly fled to London. However, he could be indicted by the Swiss.

Offshore promoter Jerome Schneider has a new attorney to handle his defense against criminal fraud charges after his previous one resigned over allegedly unpaid legal fees totaling $350,000. Permission for Joseph M. Burton, of Duane Morris law firm, to withdraw as Schneider's counsel was granted on December 12, 2003 at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Article based on an application to collect evidence - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Germany - that was granted at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama on November 26, 2003. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include SouthTrust Bank, Ferdinand Hoischen, Jonny Franke, Banc Caribe Ltd., AIF Bank & Trust Ltd., American Investment & Finance Corp., American Investment & Finance Service Corp., Orion Technology & Commerce Corporation, Orion Technology, Handelsgesellschaft GmbH, and Pershing Securities Ltd.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Mexico into Porfirio Aspiazu Fabian for alleged fraud.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Belgium into Antoine Mekri and OXET Corporation Ltd. for alleged fraud.