Fraud

Application by Nebahat Evyap İşbilen, described as a citizen of Turkey residing in the United Kingdom who is "a victim of a multinational fraud committed against her by Mr. Selman Turk" involving entities in the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, England, and United Arab Emirates in which the amount lost "exceeds £40 million", to take discovery from Citibank N.A. and M&T Bank Corporation for use in legal proceedings in England "against SG Financial Group Limited, Barton Group Holdings Limited, Sentinel Global Asset Management, Inc., Sentinel Global Partners Limited, AET Global DMCC, Forten Holdings Limited, Forten Limited, Heyman AI Limited (in liquidation), and Gary Bernard Lewis", filed at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from "online payment platform" Stripe regarding an "account held by “Education Feo Ltd.” and connected to a German bank account ending in -0801" - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Liechtenstein - for a criminal investigation into an alleged fraud perpetrated after the victim "provided his contact information to an online cryptocurrency investment platform"

Complaint alleging "a global, crypto asset-related, multi-level marketing pyramid and Ponzi scheme that raised over $1.7 billion from victims worldwide, including millions from U.S. investors" in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Xue Samuel Lee, a.k.a. Sam Lee, described as a citizen of Australia residing in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Brenda Indah Chunga, a.k.a. Bitcoin Beautee, at the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

Citing criminal and regulatory investigations in the United States for suspected fraud and other "significant concerns”, an investment vehicle owned by scions of the founder of Coors beer has asked a Cayman Islands court to remove South African Hendrik Jordaan as voluntary liquidator of a private investment fund he operated - One Thousand & One Voices Africa Fund.

Complaint in Halo Mining Limited, of Birmingham, England, described as a "cryptocurrency mining" company v. Monbanc Corporation, NorthData Holdings, Inc., described as "a Canada-based cryptocurrency mining company", and Daniel Rafuse at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Petition in Africa Investments LLC v. One Thousand & One Voices Africa Fund I Investors, Ltd., as General Partner for and on behalf of One Thousand & One Voices Africa Fund I Investors, L.P., as General Partner for and on behalf of One Thousand & One Voices Africa Fund I, L.P. (in Voluntary Liquidation), at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.

The crypto industry faces unprecedented challenges with fraud and potential major collapses. Join us at OffshoreAlert Bangkok to gain critical insights and prepare for what's ahead. February 28-29, Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok.

Criminal Indictment alleging "a global, long-running scheme by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to fund the Government of Iran and the IRGC through black-market sales of Iranian crude oil and other petroleum products produced by the National Iranian Oil Company" whose buyers "include entities in the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation, and the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria" in USA v. Behnam Shahriyari, Morteza Rostam Ghasemi, Mohammadreza Aliakbari, Mohammad Sadegh Karimian, Sitki Ayan, Nahaddin Ayan, and Kasim Oztas at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Criminal Indictment alleging conspiracy to commit securities fraud involving HyperFund, which was described as "an unincorporated organization" that "operated a purportedly legitimate decentralized finance, or "DeFi," cryptocurrency investment platform and touted its investment program to the public through social media and other means", in USA v. Sam Lee, described as "a citizen of Australia and resident of the United Arab Emirates" and "co-founder of HyperFund", at the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

Transcript of a Guilty Plea Hearing in USA v. Joseph Lewis, a.k.a. Joe Lewis, a citizen of the United Kingdom residing in the Bahamas, at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Superseding Information alleging "the defendant, and other corporate entities under the direction and control of Joseph Lewis, a billionaire businessman and investor, engaged in a scheme to defraud Mirati Therapeutics, the investing public, and the Securities and Exchange Commission by amassing beneficial ownership of more than twenty percent of Mirati Therapeutics' stock in contravention of agreements with the company, by hiding Lewis's undisclosed ownership of Mirati Therapeutics shares through shell corporations in the names of nominees, and by deliberately omitting those entities from SEC filings and falsely reporting Lewis's share ownership of Mirati Therapeutics" in USA v. Broad Bay Ltd., of the Bahamas, at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and Truist Bank, N.A. - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Denmark - for a criminal investigation into "unknown subjects for fraud".

Criminal Indictment alleging investment fraud, money laundering, theft of government funds, and harboring a fugitive involving Dubai Bridge Investments and Al Zubair Capital in USA v. Zubair Mehmet Abdur Razzaq al Zubair, a.k.a. Zubair Mehmet Abdur Razzaq, described as a former resident of the United Arab Emirates who "falsely claimed to be a member of a royal family in the U.A.E.", and Muzzammil Muhammad al Zubair, a.k.a. Muzzammil Ibn Muhammad, a resident of Ohio who "claimed to be a hedge fund manager", at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

Forfeiture Complaint regarding crypto seized from an account at Binance in the name of Rassul Alpyspayev Muratovich in USA v. 17,082.3565 Tether USD at the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.

Complaint in Chaucer Insurance Company DAC, of Ireland, and Chaucer Syndicates Ltd., of England, as managing agent for Lloyd's Syndicate 1084 v. Vesttoo Bay XXIV, Limited Partnership, of Israel; White Rock Insurance (SAC) Ltd. in respect of Segregated Account T108-Chaucer, described as "a segregated account formed pursuant to the Bermuda SAC Act", and Charles Thresh and Michael Morrison, as Joint Provisional Liquidators of White Rock Insurance (SAC) Ltd., of Bermuda, at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

Amended Complaint alleging "a fraudulent scheme by Caridi, the former chairman and chief executive of Tree of Knowledge International, Inc." in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Caridi at the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.

First Amended Class Action Complaint alleging fraud, RICO, and defamation brought on behalf of those "who have been identified by the Defendants as terrorists, and in some instances denied access to various financial websites and accounts because of the actions of the Defendants in listing Plaintiffs and the members of the proposed classes as terrorists on a subscription-only database-product, known as ‘World-Check’” based on information “generated by the Turkish government, which the U.S. government has disparaged” in Ahmet S. Yayla, Selcuk Atak, Murat Kalyoncu, Huseyin Mercan, and Mevlut Hilmi Cinar, all described as "former residents of Turkey" currently residing in the United States v. Refinitiv US LLC, Refinitiv US Organization LLC, Refinitiv Limited, of England; Global World-Check Holdings (Nominee) Ltd., of England, and London Stock Exchange Group Plc, of England, at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Criminal Complaint alleging the defendants defrauded an elderly client out of $34 million in USA v. Sergey Lebedenko and Galina Lebedenko, who emigrated to the USA from Ukraine, at the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.

Application by Pinewood Technologies Asia Pacific Limited to take discovery from William Berman, a.k.a. Bill Berman, for use in "a fraud claim that Petitioner intends to file in an ongoing legal proceeding against Pinewood Technologies PLC in the High Court of Justice Business and Property Court of England and Wales, Technology and Construction Court", filed at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Criminal Indictment alleging tax evasion involving entities in Anguilla, Canada, Curaçao, Ireland, Netherlands, and USA in USA v. David V. Erickson, described as "a consultant and technology entrepreneur with an active Certified Public Accountant license through the North Dakota Board of Accountancy", at the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from Stripe Inc. - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Bulgaria - for a criminal investigation into "unknown subjects for computer fraud".

Amended Forfeiture Complaint regarding the alleged proceeds of fraud that were seized from accounts at Cayman Islands-domiciled crypto exchange Binance in USA v. 303,992.547258 USDT, 100.89607743 BNB, and 108,551.008 USDT at the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Complaint in Stone Street Capital LLC v. Humanity International Investment LLC, of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Marcus du Bois Dukes at the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.

Application by Moussy Salem to take discovery from Saul Sutton for legal proceedings in England regarding "allegations by Applicant that Freddy Salem, Monline UK Limited, Salim Levy, and Ezra Aghai engaged in a wrongful pattern of conduct that includes breaches of fiduciary duty, conspiracy, and fraudulent transfers", filed at the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Complaint alleging fraud in Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Debiex, as Defendant, and Zhāng Chéng Yáng, described as "a Chinese ntional", as Relief Defendant, at the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

Class Action Complaint in Mahafujur v. Golden Heaven Group Holdings Ltd., described as Cayman Islands-domiciled, China-based "offshore holding company"; Qiong Jin, and Jinguang Gong at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. and Citibank, N.A. - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Croatia - for a criminal investigation into "unknown subject(s) for fraud".

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and Bank of America - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Denmark - for a criminal investigation into "investigating unknown subjects for fraud" in which the alleged victim was allegedly deceived into sending funds to someone pretending to be "the lead singer of a prominent Canadian rock band".

Complaint in Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Yueyu Bao, of Shanghai, China, at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Application by Golden Meditech Holdings Limited, of the Cayman Islands, to take discovery from Citibank, N.A., The Bank of New York Mellon, Société Générale, New York Branch, HSBC Bank USA, N.A., BNP Paribas USA, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas, UBS AG, Bank of America, N.A., Bank of China, New York Branch, Standard Chartered Bank US, Commerzbank AG, New York Branch, and The Clearing House Payments Company L.L.C. for use in legal proceedings "brought in Hong Kong against eight foreign defendants, namely: (i) Mr. Yuan Ya Fei (also known as Li Zhen Yuan Adams), (ii) Ms. Yang Huai Zhen, (iii) Mr. Xu Ping, (iv) Mr. Chen Xiao Yang, (v) Nanjing Ying Peng Huikang Medical Industry Investment Partnership, (vi) Nanjing Li Xin Trading Industrial Co Ltd, (vii) Blue Ocean Creation Investment Hong Kong Limited, and (viii) Blue Ocean Structure Investment Company Limited", filed at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Another Cayman Islands mutual fund - SCF Brazil, Cayman Feeder SPC - associated with the Miami-based, Brazil-focused Prudent Group has collapsed, this one operated by Swedish national Jon Malmsäter, who has a history of dubious investment schemes, indebtedness, tax problems, and even domestic violence.

The upcoming OffshoreAlert conference in Bangkok will feature a session by Ken Gamble of IFW Global, focusing on 'Operation Tropicana', a major operation that dismantled a billion-dollar Asian boiler room gang. Gamble will discuss the gang's operations, including how they laundered money through Hong Kong banks and evaded detection for 15 years. He will also explain how the Anti-Money Laundering unit of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission helped recover millions for victims. The conference, held at the luxurious Siam Kempinski Hotel on February 28-29, includes various sessions on high-value international finance and will attract professionals from diverse fields like fraud investigation, asset recovery, banking, and law enforcement.

Application by Moussy Salem to take discovery from BS Gestcom Holdings Corp. for use in legal proceedings in England regarding "allegations by Applicant that Freddy Salem, Monline UK Limited, Salim Levy, and Ezra Aghai engaged in a wrongful pattern of conduct that includes breaches of fiduciary duty, conspiracy, and fraudulent transfers", filed at the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

Complaint "to recover damages and hold Defendants accountable for their deceptive and fraudulent practice of misleading investors, including Pentivm, into investing large sums of money without any intention of complying with stated investment objectives or investor redemption rights" in SCP Pentivm Group, described as "a foreign holding company based in Monaco that is owned and managed by Vicente Zaragoza" v. Next Alpha Management LLC, Next Alpha Holding LLC, Next Alpha Offshore Feeder Fund Ltd., of the British Virgin Islands", and John 'Kanan' Flowers at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Complaint in HTI Financial Solutions Limited, described as a "Hong Kong based investment manager" v. Manhattan SMI KG Properties Finance Limited, described as a British Virgin Islands-domiciled company based in New York, USA; SMI USA Group LLC, formerly known as Shanghai Municipal Investment Group USA LLC; SMI 520 Fifth Ave LLC, 520 Fifth Owner LLC, and KG Fifth Ave Investment LLC, all of Delaware, USA, at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Complaint alleging "the Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of Future FinTech Group Inc. (“Future FinTech”), a Nasdaq-listed corporation, manipulated the stock price of Future FinTech by buying hundreds of thousands of Future FinTech shares to artificially increase the company’s stock price shortly before and after he became CEO in March 2020" in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Shanchun Huang, described as a resident of London, England, at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Class Action Complaint in Yan Wang v. Dada Nexus Limited, described as a Cayman Islands-domiciled, China-based operator of "a platform for local on-demand retail and delivery in China"; Jeff Huijian He, Beck and Zhaoming Chen at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Complaint in Global Industries Holdings Ltd., which is domiciled in the Bahamas, based in Taiwan v. Edgar Mora, Elizaveta Logan, EC Cellars LLC, and Wine Flow LLC at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.

Criminal Information alleging conspiracy to commit securities fraud involving HyperFund in USA v. Brenda Chunga, a.k.a. Bitcoin Beautee, at the U.S. District Court for the District of Mryland.

Amended Complaint alleging "the unregistered sale of investment advisory services and/or commodities as a cryptocurrency swindle that is becoming all too familiar in the United States" allegedly involving "Golden Capitals Ltd. d/b/a Golden Cap Ltd.", described as a British firm based in Iceland, in Meg Skelton, Will Skelton, Chris Parrado, Erik Henyon, Francine Loomiller, Megan Maynard, Helen Korb, Travis Manntz, Richard Corcoran, Donald Kurkowski, Colby Dolezal, Brett East, Mark Miyasaki, and William Fox v. Robert Monty, a.k.a. Mikel Huba, as alias for John Doe 1; Matthew Christopher, as alias for John Doe 2, and Sebastian Vettel, as alias for John Doe 3, at the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.

Criminal Indictment alleging securities fraud in USA v. Frederick L. Sharp, a resident of Canada; Luis Carrillo, a resident of Mexico; Mike K.G. Veldhuis, a resident of Canada; Paul Sexton, a resident of Canada, and Courtney M. Kelln, a resident of Canada, at the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Application by Ibiuna Crédito Gestão de Recursos Ltda., Travessia Securitizadora de Créditos Financeiros S.A., and Travessia Securitizadora de Créditos Financeiros XXXII S.A. to take discovery from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Santander Bank, N.A., The Clearing House Payments Company LLC, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for use in "foreign civil and criminal proceedings pending in Brazil concerning the business operations of Starbucks and Subway in that country, held through the SouthRock Group, a group of U.S. and Brazilian companies controlled and owned by Kenneth Steven Pope", filed at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Class Action Complaint that "arises out of false and misleading statements that Ledger made about the cryptocurrency hardware wallets it produces" in Edwin Cabrera, Kevin Camorlinga, Austin Richard, Andrew Skalak, and Mark Sullivan v. Ledger SAS and Ledger Technologies Inc. at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Class Action Complaint in Gor Gevorkyan, Poonam Gupta, and Eric Molina v. Ledger SAS, of France, and Ledger Technologies Inc., of Delaware, USA, at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Criminal Complaint alleging money laundering and fraud involving NFTs known as 'UndeadApes' and 'Undead Lady Apes' in USA v. Devin Alan Rhoden at the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Pig Butchering fraud - which rakes in billions of dollars annually via online romance, crypto, and other scams - will be scrutinized at next month's OffshoreAlert conference in Bangkok, Feb 28-29.

Magistrate Judge Removal of Criminal Complaint from District of Maryland alleging the operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business in USA v. Rodney Burton, a.k.a. Bitcoin Rodney, at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Complaint alleging the defendants "operate an international criminal enterprise which violates the laws and regulations of the United States of America in extorting and defrauding U.S. citizens and in defrauding U.S. business enterprises, as well as Omnia’s own international investors" in Iron Horse Acquisitions Corp. and Bengochea Capital LLC v. Omnia Global, a.k.a. Omnia Schweiz GmbH, of Switzerland; Daniel Hansen, of Switzerland; Mette Abel Hansen, and James Mair Findlay at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from Poloniex LLC, described as "a U.S. based digital asset exchange service offering cryptocurrency wallets to their clients to facilitate the buying, selling and trading of cryptocurrency" - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Canada - for a criminal investigation into James Grant "and his business, Canadian Bitcoins, 8159181 CANADA INC." on suspicion of "laundering the proceeds of crime (money laundering), failing to report/regulatory offenses, and filing false/deceptive tax returns and tax evasion".

Second Superseding Indictment in USA v. Ho Wan Kwok, described as "an exiled Chinese businessman who fled to the United States in or about 2015 and purchased a penthouse apartment at a New York City hotel for approximately $67.5 million"; Kin Ming Je, described as "a dual citizen of Hong Kong and the United Kingdom who principally resided in the United Kingdom", and Yanping Wang, described as "a citizen of China who principally resided in New York, New York", at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.