Fraud

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in France into Henri Duval, Jean Fouquet, Annie Delettre, Jean-Yves Secher, Pascal Cornu, Eric Abgrall, Gilles Berthon, Emmanuel Malfaisan and others for the "illegal practice of the profession of auditor, forgery and the use of forgeries, and breach of trust".

OffshoreAlert has received a letter from an Arizona based client of Grenada licensed Cornerstone International Savings and Investment Bank, which was taken over by the Grenada authorities on April 25, 2002 - AFTER the bank's principals had already disappeared without

An arrest warrant has been issued in Las Vegas for 46 year old former Bermuda based insurance officer Simon John Samuels.The warrant was issued at the U. S. District Court for the District of Nevada on February 21, 2002 -

A 37 tear old man of dual Norwegian and UK nationalities has pleaded guilty to fraud related charges at Magistrates Court in Bermuda, according to a report in The Royal Gazette newspaper.Vidar Lunoe pleaded guilty to three counts of forgery

Grenada's Ministry of Finance has extended the control of its agent, PricewaterhouseCoopers, over Imperium Bank until June 9 while it prepares to shut it down permanently.Regulators also want to close the mutual funds that the bank administers but have been

Former offshore banker Gary J. Bentz was sentenced to prison for contempt of court in the United States on May 23.Bentz was found to have violated an asset freeze order by "secretly spending up to $142,000 in funds frozen by

OffshoreAlert has received several inquiries over the last month from people around the world who have invested with Imperial Consolidated's offshore mutual funds. Some of them said they invested through a broker called Britex International, whose promotion of Imperial's funds

Grenada licensed AvantGuard Bank and Trust Ltd. has gone into voluntary liquidation following a review of its operations by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, acting on behalf of Grenada's Ministry of Finance. Pierre Gauthier, a spokesman for the bank, told OffshoreAlert on

An arrest warrant has been issued in the Turks and Caicos Islands against a third person suspected of fraud involving Atlas Financial Group (in liquidation), namely Robert D. Whitney, who is AFG's former Chief Operating Officer. It follows arrest warrants that

OffshoreAlert has uncovered two related Internet 'banks' which are operating using contact information in the Bahamas, where they do not have a banking license. Alpha Credit Union Bank and Alliance Trust Bank are promoted from web sites at www.alphacreditunion.com and

Two offshore bankers have been given lengthy prison sentences in the United States for money laundering. The stiffest sentence was given to William J. Abraczinskas, who was sentenced on May 20 to 121 months in prison, three years of supervised release

A defunct company controlled by British businessman Keith Leslie King has failed in an attempt to have a former client imprisoned in the Isle of Man. City & International Securities Ltd. had petitioned the High Court of Justice to hold

Michael Gause, who was one of the principals of the Cayman based Ponzi scheme known as Cash 4 Titles, has been sentenced to ten years and seven months in prison in the United States. Gause was also ordered to pay

A civil complaint has been filed in the United States against a now defunct Grenada licensed offshore bank and its principals by a client seeking the recovery of $6 million. In an action brought at the Circuit Court for the

The Receiver for Merrill Scott & Associates, which operated from the Bahamas and Utah, has obtained a temporary restraining order against a break away group set up by some of the firm's former principals. The order was issued at the

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Turkey into Alfred Richard Ernst Jr., Jeffrey Paul Julien, Berrin Elmaagaclioglu, Kamil Melih Onder, Terence William Bedford and Mehmet Arkent for alleged fraud.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Germany into Jafaru Damulak for suspected fraud.

Judgment in a Criminal Case in USA v. Leo Malcolm West at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

The Imperial Consolidated Group has offshore liabilities of approximately $170 million and has so far been unable to provide evidence to regulators that it has any substantial assets, OffshoreAlert can reveal. Imperial has not even been able to produce any books, let alone assets, according to a source who is familiar with the current investigation into the group by Grenada's Ministry of Finance.

Seventy-six new lawsuits have been filed by the Bankruptcy Trustee of a fraudulently-run offshore 'mutual fund' known as Evergreen Security, which is insolvent by approximately $200 million. The actions, which have been filed in Florida, seek to reclaim more than $8.1 million that was allegedly fraudulently transferred by way of commissions to promoters of Evergreen.

Complaint in USA v. Peter Rogan, Braddock Management, LP, Bainbridge Management, LP, f.k.a. Braddock Management LP; and Bainbridge Management, Inc., f.k.a. Braddock Management, Inc., f.k.a. Waldo Point Management, at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Indictment filed by USA against Alvin Irwin Moss, Frederick John Collier, Avraham Zohar, a.k.a. Avy Zohar; Richard Titterington, Geoffrey L. Feldman, Sherrie-Lee Doreen Cave, Peter James O'Sullivan, Rosalind Rose, Wayne Budd, Thomas Montgomery Bayer, Robert Murray Bohn, Stacy Layne Beavers, Beverly Ann Moss, Jeffery Allen Moss, Larry Charles Moss, Michael Joseph Harkin and Michael Elliot Cole at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.

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

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 - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Poland - to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into suspected fraud.

Defendant's Sentencing Memorandum in USA v. Leo Malcolm West at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

The Provisional Liquidator of Bahamas-based Suisse Security Bank and Trust has won a partial legal victory in his attempt to recover the bank's assets and protect it from lawsuits in the United States.

InsideBermuda has obtained a copy of an invoice sent to Stirling Cooke Brown Holdings which indicates the crippling legal bills the firm is paying to defend itself against a civil lawsuit in the United Kingdom.

A company operated by David G. Rose, who promotes unregistered oil and gas shares at offshore conferences, has lost a judgment in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.On March 28, 2002, Judge Martin Feldman ruled that Nevada-registered Rose Energy Ltd. had forfeited its interest in an oil, gas and mineral well at Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.

Recently-filed warnings from securities regulators around the world.

The IRS hunts for lost taxes.

A United States-based trucking concern has obtained a $3 million asset freeze order against the financially troubled Mutual Risk Management group. Bermuda Supreme Court issued the order on April 25, 2002 after an application that same day by Franklin Logistics Inc.

Former offshore banker Kenneth Payne has been sentenced to 17 years and seven months in prison after pleading guilty to five counts of mail fraud and one count of money laundering in the United States.Payne, who helped to operate the now defunct 21st Century Banking Group, in Grenada, was sentenced on April 12, 2002 at the United States District Court for the District of Southern Indiana.

As more evidence emerges casting doubt on the business affairs of alleged investment fraudster Keem Kalfon, he has set up a web-site where he denounces his critics as "Jew haters" and "cowards".Kalfon set up the site at www.keemkalfon.com in April after OffshoreAlert began reporting about his involvement in alleged investment fraud.

The future of the Imperial Consolidated Group has been thrown into doubt after regulators in Grenada took administrative control of its offshore bank. Imperium Bank cannot make any financial disbursements without the consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers, which is conducting a 15-day review of its books at the behest of the government.

Former offshore banker David Frank Rowe has filed for bankruptcy in the United States citing liabilities of $33.1 million and cash assets of just ten dollars. His biggest liability is listed as $30 million relating to a breach of contract claim by the now-defunct, Grenada-based Cambridge International Bank and Trust, of which he was a principal.

A spokesman for AvantGuard Bank and Trust has said it may go into liquidation whatever the outcome of recent action taken against it by regulators in Grenada.The administrative functions of AvantGuard Bank were taken over for an initial 15-day period by the Grenada Ministry of Finance at the end of April in a clampdown that saw similar action taken against Imperium Bank and CornerStone International Savings and Investment Bank.

Arthur Andersen has caused outrage in Arizona by backing out of a $217 million fraud settlement, apparently because its Bermuda-registered captive was unwilling or unable to cover the loss.The accounting firm then compounded its critics by failing to fully comply with a subpoena duces tecum issued by the Arizona Attorney General on April 2.The subpoena required the production - within 48 hours - of documents showing the financial condition of the Arthur Andersen group and Professional Services Insurance Company Ltd., of Bermuda.

Four men have agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges relating to the 'Evergreen Security' investment scam, which defrauded approximately $200 million from more than 2,000 investors.They are Thomas Spencer, 51; Robert W. Boyd, 55; and Martin W. Boelens Jr., 45, all of Orlando, Florida; and Anthony V. Micciche, 72, of Tampa, Florida.Spencer and Boyd are shareholders of Bahamas-based Surety Bank and Trust (in liquidation), which ended up with some of the proceeds from the fraud.

Grenada's Minister of Finance, Anthony Boatswain, has publicly announced that a review is being carried out of three offshore banks: Imperium Bank, AvantGuard Bank and CornerStone International Savings and Investment Bank.

Application for the issuance of Letters Rogatory by the USA regarding evidence in Costa Rica that is required for a criminal investigation into Tim Ray Sacora, Michael Wolf, Gibraltar Bank of Commerce, Banco Solidario de Costa Rica, Florida Secured Funding, and Senior Marketing Consultants Inc. for suspected fraud and money laundering.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the Czech Republic into Richard Dzukey, Martin Mankos and Karel Hofmann for alleged fraud.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Belgium into Barthold Gobbens for alleged fraud, forgery and theft.

Bahamas-based businessman Yank Barry, who is a twice convicted criminal, will be the subject of an investigative Canadian television program due to air at 10 PM EST, Sunday, April 21, 2002.   Barry will be featured on CTV's 'W-Five' program, which is Canada's equivalent of '60 Minutes' in the United States.

Complaint in Cavett, Turner & Wyble, LLP, Golden Eagle Financial Group, Inc., Gilbert I. Low, P.C., Gilbert I. Low, R. Leldon Sweet, M.D., P.A., and R. Leldon Sweet, M.D. v. Tracy L. Sunderlage, Carey L. Sunderlage, Sunderlage Resource Group, Inc., Professional Benefit Trust, Inc., Professional Benefit Trust, Ltd., PBT Administration, LLC, The Professional and Small Business Council, Inc., Independent Trust Corporation, First Fidelity Trust Co., Ltd., Handler, Thayer & Duggan, LLC, and Thomas J. Handler at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Finland - for a criminal investigation into Elena Skorodumova for alleged tax fraud.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Bulgaria - for a criminal investigation into Mariela Borissova Guergovska for suspected fraud.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Poland into whether a check drawn on a Bank One account held by Charles Schwab and made payable to Griffin Trading Company was fraudulently negotiated and, if so, by whom.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Italy into Daniel Pludwinski and Laurent Formisano for alleged involvement in the counterfeiting and smuggling of works of art.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into Marcos Marcelino De Oliveira, Jose Samuel Benzecry,Ourvoida Serruya Benzecry, Leonardo Dias Mendonca and others for suspected money laundering, smuggling, foreign currency evasion, and tax evasion.