Fraud

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.

A Florida-based firm which processes card transaction payments has been ordered to turn over its records to the IRS as part of an investigation into offshore tax evasion using MasterCard, VISA and American Express. An order issued on September 11, 2003 at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida allows the IRS to serve a "John Doe" summons on Credomatic of Florida Inc., of Brickell Avenue, Miami.

Bermuda-domiciled AlphaStar Insurance Group Ltd. and 11 of its subsidiaries have applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York. The group is seeking breathing room while it seeks buyers for its assets, including policy-issuing subsidiary Realm National Insurance Company, for which AlphaStar "is no longer able to provide capital".

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Germany into Ferdinand Hoischen and Jonny Franke for suspected fraud and money laundering.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from Fiserv Correspondent Services Inc. - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from the United Kingdom - for a criminal investigation into "an alleged fraud scheme executed by a British solicitor, Kevin Dooley, and his firm".

A United Kingdom-based accounting firm accused of fraud involving an offshore bank has gone into liquidation and its two partners declared bankrupt. Orders to wind-up Dobb White & Co., of Leicester and Nottingham, in England, and bankrupt Shinder Singh Gangar and Alan White were issued by the UK High Court on December 2, 2003.

Nine businessmen have been criminally indicted in Florida for allegedly perpetrating an accounts receivable factoring scam which an offshore bank group claims has cost it approximately $170 million. The December 4th indictment relates to the same circumstances which led to Cayman Islands-licensed Bank Espirito Santo (International) Ltd. filing a civil lawsuit against E. S. Bankest LLC earlier this year.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Latvia into Vladislav Ringe for alleged fraud.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the Czech Republic into Ivana Kavikova for alleged fraud.

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 Mexico into Norberto Gutierrez Nunez for alleged fraud.

California-based attorney Eric John Witmeyer has received a non-custodial sentence in return for helping prosecutors with their case against his co-defendant and former business partner Jerome Schneider.Witmeyer was sentenced to one-year of probation and a $10,000 fine at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of California on October 31, 2003.

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.

Response from the UK National Identification Service to a Data Protection Act Request by Sendjer Shefket - December 5, 2003

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Mexico into Jaime Guzman Rojas for alleged fraud.

The Zurich Financial Services Group has accused PricewaterhouseCoopers (Bahamas) of failing to pursue claims against several parties who were involved in a failed offshore investment fund.It claims PwC has taken no legal action against the administrator or directors of the

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

The acrimonious, on again, off again proposed purchase of AlphaStar Insurance subsidiary Realm National Insurance Co. by Atlanta Insurance Marketing Inc, of Georgia, has become even uglier.Already subject to legal action between the intended seller and buyer, a new lawsuit

Deloitte & Touche has offered $32 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of shareholders of the British Virgin Islands registered Manhattan Investment Fund who bought shares between October, 1995 and January, 2000. D&T's Bermuda office audited

In November, the Auditor General of Bermuda released a report on the "Work of his Office and on the Accounts of the Government of Bermuda for the Financial Year April 1, 2001 to March 31, 2002". The report paints a

An offshore based entity is being sued for $500,000 by a New York resident who claims they fraudulently obtained an Internet domain name.British Virgin Islands Domains deceived domain name registration firm Network Solutions into transferring 'permits.com' to it and then

The Virginia Commissioner of Insurance has been accused of wrongfully seizing $57 million that allegedly belongs to insolvent Bermuda based captive First Virginia Reinsurance.Alfred W. Gross, as Deputy Receiver of Reciprocal of America and The Reciprocal Group Inc., allegedly illegally

A United States resident claims he lost $22 million as a result of the mis handled restructuring of his offshore account made necessary by Swiss banks agreeing to co operate with the IRS.At the center of the allegations are Bank

A leading UK law firm has pulled out of a dubious asset recovery scheme after OffshoreAlert alerted them it was being organized on behalf of the crooks who were responsible for the loss of assets.Pinsents acted swiftly after being informed

The Netherlands has requested evidence from Wells Fargo Bank as part of a criminal investigation into an on line 'bank' which falsely claims to have offices in the Cayman Islands and the Netherlands.Details are contained in an application for the

An Austrian investment broker defrauded approximately US$50,000 from at least 20 of his clients, according to investigators.Dieter Pointner has been charged with theft and embezzlement at the Regional Court of Linz, in Austria and faces between six months and ten

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.

Police in the United Kingdom are conducting a criminal investigation into a business which offers allegedly sham degrees over the Internet. Details of the investigation are contained in an application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence pursuant

Five and a half years after being exposed as a criminal by OffshoreAlert, offshore businessman Marc M. Harris, 38, has been found guilty of 16 counts of money laundering and tax evasion.Harris was convicted by a jury on November 24, 2003 following six days of testimony at the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, in Fort Lauderdale. He did not testify on his own behalf or call a single witness.

An offshore company which collapsed with massive losses amid allegations of fraud is being sued by a purported forex trader who claims he is owed commissions for making it a profit.Igor Toshchakov, of Los Angeles, California, filed a lawsuit against Orion International LLC, of Western Samoa, and its President, Russell B. Cline, at the U. S. District Court for the Central District of California on August 14, 2003.

A Bermuda-based firm has been implicated in the fraudulently-trading of shares of a Nasdaq-listed medical research and manufacturing firm.I.A.T. Reinsurance Syndicate, Ltd. was allegedly used by billionaire Peter Kellogg in a series of "wash and matched trades" of securities issued by Thoratec Corp., which is based in California.

Deloitte & Touche has offered $32 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of shareholders of the British Virgin Islands-registered Manhattan Investment Fund who bought shares between October, 1995 and January, 2000.

A United States reinsurer on the wrong end of a recent $37 million arbitration award claims that General Electric's Bermuda-based captive, EMLICO Ltd., is being rewarded for committing fraud.OneBeacon America Insurance Company, formerly known as Commercial Union Insurance Company, of Massachusetts, is seeking to overturn the June 19, 2003 arbitration ruling.

A financial consultant operating in Switzerland embezzled approximately US$4.4 million from his clients, it has been alleged.Marek Andrzei Hrycak, a 48-year-old Polish national, is currently in prison in Bern while a criminal investigation is carried out into his activities.

KPMG's operations in Bermuda, the United States and the United Kingdom are defendants in a class action lawsuit filed by shareholders of financially troubled Annuity & Life Re (Holdings) Ltd., which it audited. The complaint was filed by Communications Workers of America, and Midstream Investments Ltd. at the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut on October 23, 2003.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Switzerland into Ulrich Wymann, Martin Wymann and Juerg Rothen for suspected investment fraud.

Offshore services provider Marc M. Harris, 38, was today found guilty of 16 counts of money laundering and tax evasion.A jury at the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, in Fort Lauderdale, found him guilty of

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Turkey into Fausat Morenika Yusuff and Rasheed Babatunda Keshiro for alleged credit card fraud.

There will be no verdict in the Marc Harris money laundering tax evasion trial until Monday, November 24 at the earliest.The jury retired to consider its verdict at 12.35 p.m. today and the judge allowed jurors to deliberate until well

A jury in Florida will retire tomorrow to determine the fate of offshore businessman Marc Harris.After five days of presenting several witnesses and mountains of documented evidence, the United States Government wrapped up its case against Harris at 3.48 pm

It was Panama based offshore services provider Peter Robin Baily, not Marc Harris, who set up and maintained a scheme for Florida businessman Moises Kriger to evade United States taxes, a jury heard today.That was the scenario put to Kriger

Unlicensed fund manager Ian Renert has abandoned his defense of a $22 million securities fraud lawsuit in the United States and apparently moved overseas to start a new investment scheme.After more than two years of fighting an action filed by

The United Kingdom has requested evidence from banks in the United States as part of a criminal investigation into the collapse of Versailles Group PLC. Details are contained in an application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence

Amended Complaint filed by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission against Agora Inc., Pirate Investor, LLC and Frank Porter Stansberry at the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

Police were called to the office of Marc Harris in Panama when a client turned up demanding access to his funds, a jury in Florida heard today.Despite their presence, Joseph Vigna testified that he would not leave the premises but