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Walkers law firm sued in Cayman by Kuwait fund investors alleging ‘hundreds of millions of dollars fraud’

Walkers law firms in the Cayman Islands and Dubai are being sued for alleged negligence by two Kuwait state-owned entities regarding a fund whose Arab investors were allegedly swindled out of hundreds of millions of dollars.

September 21, 2021

Barbados Gov’t ‘agent’ lost $6.7M in ‘COVID-19 vaccine fraud’

A Caribbean firm operated by Barbadian developer Mark Maloney that says it was hired by the Barbados Government to procure one million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine for the country's population claims to have been swindled out of $6.7 million. It's not clear from a complaint filed at federal court in the U.S. last week whether the amount originated from the Government or the company, Rational Investments Ltd.

September 19, 2021

British fraudster Richard Fagan’s Coworth Investments reports net liabilities of £500K

British firm Coworth Investments Ltd., which is operated by British and Irish serial fraudster Richard Fagan, has reported net liabilities of £559,494 in its latest financials.

September 17, 2021

Three indicted in NY for ‘$155M Biscayne Capital fraud’

Three men have been indicted in New York for allegedly perpetrating a $155 million fraud and money laundering scheme involving entities in or from Argentina, Bahamas, Belgium, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Ecuador, Germany, Switzerland, Uruguay, and the United States.

September 10, 2021

SEC sues Cayman firm Rivetz for raising $18M from ‘sale of unregistered digital assets’

Cayman Islands and Delaware components of crypto group Rivetz and their principal, George Sprague, are being sued by the SEC in the U.S. for allegedly selling unregistered digital assets that raised $18 million from 7,200 investors worldwide.

September 8, 2021

SEC sues BitConnect for ‘$2B crypto fraud’

The U.S. SEC has sued individuals and companies based in California, India, and Hong Kong for allegedly perpetrating a $2 billion crypto fraud known as BitConnect.

September 1, 2021

Retired speed skater Apolo Ohno sued for ‘$50M crypto fraud’

Retired Olympic speed skating champion Apolo Ohno and companies operating from Cyprus, Hong Kong, Malta, and Singapore that he allegedly founded are being sued in California for an alleged $50 million crypto fraud.

August 16, 2021

Allianz Life Bermuda fined $1.7M & ceases operations after investigation by Bermuda regulator

Allianz Life Bermuda Limited, a Bermuda company that was operated from Lebanon in the Middle East, has been fined $1.7 million by the Bermuda Monetary Authority for regulatory breaches and agreed to go into liquidation.

August 12, 2021

BitMEX agrees to pay $100M to settle US regulatory action

Companies in Bermuda, Hong Kong, the Seychelles, and USA have agreed to pay $100 million to settle a complaint by the CFTC alleging they operated an unregistered cryptocurrency trading platform known as BitMEX.

August 10, 2021

SEC accuses Cayman firm & US operators of ‘$30M digital tokens fraud’

Cayman Islands blockchain firm DeFi Money Market and its US founders, Gregory Keough and Derek Acree, have shut down their business and agreed to pay $13 million to settle SEC allegations that they perpetrated a $30 million fraud involving digital tokens.

August 6, 2021

SEC sues Uulala for ‘$9 million crypto fraud’

A group called Uulala, which was the first applicant to be approved to conduct an Initial Coin Offering in crypto-friendly Bermuda, has been accused of perpetrating a $9 million digital tokens fraud in a complaint filed at federal court in California by the SEC - two-and-a-half years after the scheme was exposed by OffshoreAlert.

August 4, 2021

Butterfield Bank admits ‘criminal conduct’, turns over client records & agrees to pay $5.6M to settle tax evasion investigation

Butterfield Bank has turned over client records and agreed to forfeit $4.9 million that it received in fees and pay restitution of $704,000 under a Non-Prosecution Agreement with the U. S. Department of Justice in which the bank admitted "criminal conduct" by fraudulently helping U.S. taxpayers evade taxes via its Bermuda and Cayman Islands operations.

August 3, 2021

Belgium’s tax agency sues US pension plans for €44M over ‘tax refund fraud’

Belgium's tax collector is seeking combined damages of at least €44.9 million in seven complaints filed in New York against seven pension plans and their operators for an allegedly fraudulent tax refund scheme.

July 27, 2021

Portugal’s cannabis regulator set to give license to British investment fraudsters

British serial investment fraudsters Paul Segal and Minette Coetzee who have been raising funds for their latest scheme, known as Symtomax, by pretending it has a license in Portugal to cultivate, sell, and export cannabis are about to be given a real one by the country's regulator, INFARMED.

July 13, 2021

Anthony Constantinou charged in England over ‘£50M Ponzi scheme’ involving BVI & Cayman

Briton Anthony Constantinou has been criminally charged regarding an alleged £50 million Ponzi scheme known as CWM that, inter alia, involved entities in the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, and England.

July 10, 2021

‘Victim’ of alleged fraud involving UAE’s SION Trading complains to FBI

A would-be borrower that claims to have lost $5 million in an advance fee fraud involving companies and individuals in or from Barbados, Canada, Panama, Saint Lucia, UAE, and the USA, including SION Trading, says it has complained to law enforcement and regulators about the alleged scheme.

July 9, 2021

US SEC charges trio with fraud involving Long Blockchain Corp.

The U.S. SEC has charged three people, including a Canadian former resident of the Cayman Islands, Oliver-Barret Lindsay, and a New Zealander residing in England, Eric Watson, with fraud involving publicly-listed Long Blockchain Corp., formerly Long Island Iced Tea Corp.

July 9, 2021

Retired soccer player Mikaël Silvestre teams up with fraudsters Richard Fagan & Stuart Coles

Former France and Manchester United professional soccer player Mikaël Silvestre has gone into business with British fraudsters Richard Fagan and Stuart Coles, OffshoreAlert can reveal.

July 7, 2021

Directors signed ‘declaration of solvency’ for ‘insolvent’ Cayman fund, say liquidators

Directors in the Bahamas and British Virgin Islands - Boisy Roberts and Trevor Liburd - signed a declaration of solvency for an apparently insolvent Cayman Islands mutual fund so it could go into voluntary liquidation despite its assets being frozen one day earlier after the Fund was sued by the U.S. SEC for allegedly perpetrating a $106 million fraud, say the Fund's liquidators.

July 1, 2021

Investors sue Cayman crypto firm Crowd Machine for ‘massive investment fraud’

In a lawsuit filed in Florida, investors are suing Cayman Islands-domiciled cryptocurrency start-up Crowd Machine and others, including two crypto exchanges in the Seychelles, Australian Craig Sproule, and American Charlie Shrem, alleging they are victims of "a massive investment fraud".

June 25, 2021

Cayman fund accused of ‘$106M fraud’ by US SEC

Cayman Islands-domiciled Income Collecting 1-3 Months T-Bills Mutual Fund, whose directors reside in the Bahamas and British Virgin Islands, and its Israeli principal, Ofer Abarbanel, have been accused by the U.S. SEC of swindling investors who have been unable to redeem $106 million.

June 21, 2021

Canadian regulator seeks fines & ban against crypto platform Bybit

The Enforcement Branch of the Ontario Securities Commission is seeking fines and other penalties against British Virgin Islands-domiciled, Singapore-based cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Bybit for operating "contrary to the public interest".

June 21, 2021

Julius Baer bank admits laundering soccer bribery proceeds, enters into second DPA in 5 years

Swiss bank Julius Baer has agreed to pay $79.6 million to settle a criminal complaint in New York in which it has admitted conspiring to launder the proceeds of a bribery scheme involving officials with FIFA and other soccer federations and entered into its second Deferred Prosecution Agreement in the last five years.

May 27, 2021

BVI participant in Exential Group’s ‘$200M Ponzi scheme’ applies for Chapter 15 in Miami

A British Virgin Islands company that is part of the Dubai-based Exential Group of forex trading companies that perpetrated a $200 million Ponzi scheme has applied for Chapter 15 bankruptcy recognition in the United States.

May 16, 2021

Intertrust Cayman fined CI$4.2M for AML breaches, Maples Group to seek judicial review of regulations

Intertrust Corporate Services has been fined CI$4.2 million by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority for breaching the jurisdiction's Anti-Money Laundering Regulations. Separately, Maples Group law firm announced it was seeking a judicial review of CIMA's "interpretation and application" of the regulations.

May 13, 2021

Liechtenstein investigates ‘$7.2M investment fraud by Monument Group’

Liechtenstein is investigating Manfred Fent, Franco Seren Gay, Gerald Hoop, and Robert Seaman III for "serious fraud and money laundering" involving investment firms Monument Group AG and Monument Foundation, OffshoreAlert can reveal.

May 11, 2021

Businessman Patokh Chodiev to sue over ‘damaging’ World-Check compliance database profile

Uzbek-Russian-Belgian businessman Patokh Chodiev intends to sue British financial data and information provider Refinitiv Limited, formerly known as Reuters Limited, over "a poorly supported and damaging report" about him in its risk and compliance database known as World-Check.

May 5, 2021

Cayman-based broker Andrew McAlpine pleads guilty to securities fraud conspiracy

Canadian penny stock broker Andrew McAlpine has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud at federal court in California and received permission to return to his home in the Cayman Islands pending sentencing. Prosecutors have recommended that he serve between six and 12 months in prison and he also faces restitution of "at least $270,689".

May 4, 2021

Cayman hedge fund VR Global fights for share of ‘Pakistan claims proceeds’

Cayman Islands hedge fund VR Global Partners is seeking evidence from U.S. lawyer Stuart Newberger for litigation in the Isle of Man in which it claims to have not received its share of $28.7 million of alleged proceeds from legal claims against the Pakistan Government.

April 23, 2021

Swiss intelligence firm Diligence Global seeks evidence in NY for ‘Qatar World Cup surveillance’ litigation

Investigative firm Diligence Global Business Intelligence is seeking a declaration from a Swiss court that it did not act illegally when conducting surveillance on British firm Cornerstone Global Associates for an investigation into suspected corruption regarding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, it has emerged in a New York discovery application

April 19, 2021

Guernsey regulator suspends investment fund Remus Horizons

The registration of investment fund Remus Horizons PCC Limited, which is part of a group that includes individuals and companies in or from Australia, England, Guernsey, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Texas, and the United Arab Emirates, has been suspended by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission less than five months after it was granted.

April 15, 2021

Wirecard AG applies for Chapter 15 recognition in U.S. to stay class action fraud lawsuit

Insolvent payment processor Wirecard AG has applied for U.S. recognition of its German insolvency proceeding in an attempt to stay a class action complaint against it in Pennsylvania.

April 9, 2021

Cayman broker Andrew McAlpine to plead guilty to securities fraud in U.S.

Cayman Islands-based Canadian penny stock broker Andrew McAlpine appears set to plead guilty to securities fraud in California, with a 'Change of Plea Hearing' scheduled for April 22 "at the request of defense counsel".

April 7, 2021

Four charged with fraud in England, including Simon Hooper (again)

British law enforcement investigating pension and investment fraud have criminally charged four people, including Simon Hooper and Martin Kelly, who were both previously exposed by OffshoreAlert.

April 6, 2021

Buenos Aires sued by investors for ‘$366M bonds default’

The Province of Buenos Aires, in Argentina, is being sued for allegedly defaulting on bonds totaling $366 million by investment vehicles in the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Delaware, Denmark, England, Ireland, Italy, Jersey, and Luxembourg.

March 23, 2021

Cayman captive Performance Insurance seeks to stay US fraud lawsuits

The liquidators of Cayman Islands captive insurer Performance Insurance Company SPC have applied for Chapter 15 bankruptcy recognition in the U.S. in an attempt to stay two lawsuits in which it has been accused of participating in a scheme involving "counterfeit insurance policies".

March 21, 2021

Accused fraudster applies to wind up Circumference Group parent, alleges ‘misconduct’

A year after Cayman Islands-based Circumference Group accused him of defrauding clients of his Luxembourg firm Coficom Trust, Nicholas Martin has applied to wind up Circumference's holding company, alleging it is involved in "misconduct".

March 10, 2021

Bermuda’s Arbitrade investigated for ‘fraud’ by Canadian securities regulator

Bermuda-domiciled Arbitrade Ltd. and its 48-year-old Canadian principal, Troy Hogg, are being investigated by the Ontario Securities Commission for a suspected US$41 million cryptocurrency fraud, OffshoreAlert can reveal.

March 8, 2021

Fraudster Simon Hooper receives non-custodial sentence in England

British serial fraudster Simon Hooper, 46, has received a non-custodial sentence in England for a scam involving British firm Rationale Investments Limited.

March 3, 2021

Bitfinex & Tether to pay $18.5M to settle criminal investigation

Seven cryptocurrency firms, six of which are domiciled in the British Virgin Islands, including Bitfinex and Tether, have agreed to pay $18.5 million to settle a criminal investigation by the New York State Attorney General, Letitia James.

February 25, 2021

Richard Fagan’s British polo fraudsters set up fake ‘Swiss bank’ & attempt Cayman fund take-over

Middle East-based British polo players led by Richard Fagan who fund their lavish lifestyles through investment fraud have set up a fake 'Swiss bank' and are trying to take over a Cayman Islands fund, OffshoreAlert can reveal.

February 18, 2021

BVI sues former US legal rep. Lester Hyman for $7M, alleging fraud & corruption

The British Virgin Islands Government has sued its former long-time US-based legal representative, Lester Hyman, for alleged fraud and corruption after it claims to have lost its entire $7.2 million investment in a failed attempt to start an airline service between the BVI and Miami.

February 4, 2021

Walkers law firm overturns Brazilian bankers’ Cayman judgment

Walkers law firm in the Cayman Islands has successfully appealed a summary judgment that was entered against it in favor of former clients - two Brazilian bankers and related companies - who are seeking damages of up to $400 million for alleged breaches of trust, loyalty, and confidence.

February 3, 2021

Thai SEC files criminal complaint against deVere Group firms & former officer Ian McIntyre

Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a criminal complaint against two companies that are part of the deVere Group and one of its former officers, British national Ian McIntyre, for allegedly operating without a securities license.

January 31, 2021

British ‘crypto-friendly’ travel booking firm Travala facing strike-off

UPDATED: Shortly after OffshoreAlert reported that British 'blockchain-based, cryptocurrency-friendly' online travel booking start-up Travala, which has raised over £2 million from investors and is now owned by a Cayman Islands firm, was facing compulsory strike off for failure to file its accounts, the firm filed unaudited "Micro-entity Accounts" with Companies House that contained scant details.

January 26, 2021

UAE ‘gold supplier’ SION Trading sued for ‘$5M fraud’

UAE-domiciled purported gold supplier SION Trading FZE, which has been implicated in several fraudulent schemes, including a cryptocurrency scam involving Bermuda-based Arbitrade, is being sued in Utah along with individuals and firms in or from Barbados, Canada, England, Panama, St. Lucia, and the USA for allegedly perpetrating a $5 million 'advance fee' fraud.

January 21, 2021

Switzerland freezes $78M linked to US billionaires’ ‘offshore fraud scheme’

A Swiss court has frozen nearly $78 million held by a Nevis firm at Mirabaud Bank that originated from Bermuda Commercial Bank and which the U.S. alleges are the proceeds of a bank fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering scheme involving "two U.S. billionaires, Robert Smith and Robert Brockman".

December 15, 2020

After indicted owner’s ‘exoneration’, Malta’s Pilatus Bank to sue European Central Bank for license revocation

Following the recent collapse of criminal charges in New York against its beneficial owner, Ali Sadr Hasheminejad, Malta-based Pilatus Bank Plc intends to sue the Germany-based European Central Bank for damages for revoking its license.

November 30, 2020

Cayman crypto exchange Binance sues Forbes for defamation

Cayman Islands-domiciled cryptocurrency exchange Binance Holdings is suing U.S.-based news provider Forbes and two of its reporters for defamation over a recent article headlined "Leaked 'Tai Chi' Document Reveals Binance's Elaborate Scheme To Evade Bitcoin Regulators".

November 19, 2020

UK Gov’t applies to wind up 3 firms operated by fraudsters

Winding up petitions have been filed against British firms Rationale Asset Management, Value Asset Management, and Merydion Corporation, which are operated by members of a gang of British and Irish serial investment fraudsters who have been previously exposed by OffshoreAlert.

November 4, 2020