Channel Islands

Amended Complaint in John G. Pitman and Susan Pitman v. Seed International, Ltd., Ocean International Marketing, Ltd., Architects of Wine, Ltd., A.V.E. International, Kensington Corporation, Ltd., Paradigm Holdings Limited, OptiDisc International Limited, CD Fender, Churchill Associates, Ltd., Heros Global Marketing Services, Ltd., Paradigm Wine Services, Ltd., New Fine Wines International, Ltd., Paul Freeman, Robert John Middlemiss, Denver Andersson, David Wilcock, Phillip Beasley, Fred Hagelberg, Trevor Burroughs, Giles Cadman, Craig Garrett, Desmond Jackson, Anil Kohli, Jadon Schmidt, and Robin Loxton at the U. S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the Czech Republic into Alexandr Nestera, Jakub Dolezal, Svetlana Klimova, Milos Luka and Zdenek Jezek for alleged fraud.

Former Imperial Consolidated Group money-raiser Robert Raven was today sentenced to four months in prison for contempt of court in the United Kingdom. Raven, a 45-year-old British national who was Imperial's International Sales & Marketing Director, received the punishment in a civil action at the High Court for refusing to co-operate with the administrators/liquidators of five Imperial companies in the U. K. and the Caribbean, in the hunt for defrauded assets.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Russia into Vitali Nicolaevich Daginov for alleged theft from Kalmneft JSC, Glencoe International AG and Briarwise International Ltd.

Two British nationals have been charged with defrauding clients of companies in the Bahamas and England in a high yield investment scam.Shinder Gangar, 44, and Alan White, 47, were each charged with two counts of conspiracy to defraud at Leicester

Article based on an application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged tax fraud - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Russia - that was filed at federal court in the USA on October 11, 2005. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Kester Trade LLC, Belinda Lanyon, Koksokhimmontazh-Kemerovo ZAO, Vladimir Mezer, Alexander Shaposhnikov, and UAB Lietuvos Avialinijos Cargo.

The IRS has asked a U. S. federal court for permission to serve a “John Doe” summons on Internet money transfer firm PayPal Inc. as part of a clampdown on tax evasion using offshore credit and debit cards.“The records requested in the summons will identify the holders of bank accounts at, or payment cards issued by banks in, the listed jurisdictions, information which is not otherwise readily available to the Internal Revenue Service,” stated the IRS in its petition.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Belarus into corruption, bribery and fraud involving Belarusian Steel Works, including an alleged bribe by SP Klemantovich to VV Fillippov while the latter was Director General of the Belarusian Steel Works.

An offshore fund administrator in the Netherlands Antilles has been caught up in a second hedge fund scandal in less than two years.Citco Fund Services (Curacao) NV is a defendant in a civil lawsuit filed on June 9, 2005 by investors in Dobbins Offshore, which was registered in the British Virgin Islands. KPMG (Netherlands Antilles), as the Fund's auditor, is also a defendant. The plaintiffs include companies in the Cayman Islands, France, Luxembourg and Switzerland.

An offshore company that provided Know Your Customer services to the financial industry has stopped operating."KYCOS Limited has announced today that they will cease local operations here in the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and the Republic of Ireland effectively 30th June 2005," stated the firm in a press release issued on July 1, 2005.

A top British law firm helped a serial fraudster client - Bill Godley - set up an investment scheme that wiped out a Japanese pension fund, OffshoreAlert can reveal. Charles Russell solicitors drew up contracts, attended a planning meeting in Portugal, helped with an offshore bank account, and was even asked to help prepare a "due diligence" report to give credibility to the scheme, known as 'Invaro'. The law firm has received more than £2 million ($3.5 million) in legal fees from Godley-related parties, including a Bahamas IBC, said a source.

In the space of four or five years, Halliburton, the international oil services and construction conglomerate that is under attack for overcharging and underperforming in Iraq, has gone from reporting approximately 70 to 80 offshore subsidiaries in its annual SEC filing to just two, both in the Cayman Islands.Offshore networks had become a central part of Halliburton's management and financial strategy. When current United States Vice President Dick Cheney was CEO of Halliburton from 1995 to 2000, the company's offshore subsidiaries increased from nine to 44. By the year 2001, that had nearly doubled. Now most of them have gone missing!

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into Simon Brophy, Margaret Brophy and others in the United Kingdom.

Civil complaints have been brought against parties from nine countries, including former Sotheby's Chairman Alfred Taubman, in an attempt by the Receiver for the failed Lancer Offshore group of hedge funds to recover allegedly fraudulent transfers. Among the defendants in two actions filed at the U. S. District Court for the District of Florida this month are companies from Bermuda, Canada, Isle of Man, Netherlands Antilles, Jersey, Kuwait, Switzerland, the United States and the United Kingdom.

The United States Government has applied to seize funds held at Bank Julius Baer in Guernsey that are believed to be the proceeds of health care fraud. A forfeiture application was filed at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on December 10, 2004 against approximately $3.4 million of funds held in an account in the name of AsiaTrust Limited as Trustee of The Cyreal Trust (formerly known as The Big Train Irrevocable Trust) located at Bank Julius Baer & Company (Guernsey), and four associated investment portfolio accounts.

A British national who was arrested on Christmas Eve as part of an investment fraud investigation has now had a civil lawsuit filed against him in which $120 million is being sought on behalf of alleged victims. The action was filed at the U. K. High Court on January 5, 2005 by the liquidators/administrators of five corporate members of the Imperial Consolidated Group, which operated in England and offshore centers before collapsing in 2002 owing approximately US$400 million.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Lithuania into fraud involving Jonas Disleris and JSC Sidabrine Menke.

Church-goers in Utah are among investors who claim they were defrauded out of $2.5 million after being promised "guaranteed minimum" returns of 100 per cent per month.The "promised" returns should have come to more than $300 million in a 12-month period, according to a civil lawsuit that was filed at the U. S. District Court for the District of Utah on November 15, 2004.

Complaint in John G. Pitman and Susan Pitman v. Seed International, Ltd., Ocean International Marketing, Ltd., Architects of Wine, Ltd., A.V.E. International, Disney Limited, Kensington Corporation, Ltd., Paradigm Holdings Limited, OptiDisc International Limited, Churchill Associates, Ltd., Heros Global Marketing Services, Ltd., Paradigm Wine Services, Ltd., New Fine Wines International, Ltd., Paul Freeman, Robert John Middlemiss, Denver Andersson, David Wilcock, Phillip Beasley, Fred Hagelberg, Trevor Burroughs, Giles Cadman, Craig Garrett, Desmond Jackson, Anil Kohli, and Robin Loxton at the U. S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into Shinder Gangar and others for alleged investment fraud.

Peter Michael Bond - Disqualified Directors - Isle of Man Financial Supervision Commission

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged investment fraud and money laundering by Shinder Gangar and others.

Total Systems Services Inc. has become the latest third party credit card processor to be ordered to turn over client records to the IRS as part of its offshore tax evasion investigation. An order allowing the IRS to serve a

The world's largest processor of credit card payments has been ordered by a United States court to assist the IRS in its investigation into tax evasion using offshore accounts.First Data Corp. must turn over information about transactions by holders of American Express, Visa and MasterCard credit cards that were issued by or on behalf of certain offshore financial institutions.

The Receiver of the Lancer Offshore group has filed a lawsuit against 26 financial institutions and other firms in an attempt to recover more than $17 million of allegedly fraudulent transfers.Defendants include companies from Bahrain, Bermuda, Canada, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Luxembourg, Monaco, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

A $6.4 million default judgment in the United States against offshore investment firm Lines Overseas Management Ltd. and an offshore brokerage arm of the Royal Bank of Canada appears to be legally defective.Research by OffshoreAlert indicates that the summonses against LOM and RBC Dominion Securities were served improperly in December, 2001, meaning that the judgment, that was entered on July 1, 2004, should be dismissed if challenged.

Section 304 Petition for Assistance in Insolvency Proceedings in the British Virgin Islands by Stephen Akers and Terry Carson, as the Foreign Representatives of Indosuez Eastern Europe Fixed Income Fund Ltd., Clariden Eastern Europe Debt Fund, Ltd., and Safra Eastern Europe Fixed Income Fund, Ltd., at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

A United States court has issued an order freezing offshore bank accounts associated with former Ukraine Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko which are believed to contain approximately $273 million. A restraining order was granted by the U. S. District Court for

Complaint in USA v. All Funds on Deposit at Bank Julius Baer & Company, Ltd., Credit Suisse (Guernsey) Limited, and Eurofed Bank Limited in the names of Pavlo Lazarenko, Pavel Lazarenko, Samante Limited, and Alexander Milchenko at the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Eighty-six investors from 19 countries who claim to have invested more than $570 million in the Lancer Offshore Group have filed a lawsuit against its directors, administrator, auditor and prime broker. The three biggest claimants are all based in Montreal, Canada: Fondation Lucie et Andre Chagnon, a charity with a claim for $100 million; Bombardier Inc., the world's biggest train maker and third largest civil aircraft manufacturer whose pension fund has a claim for $68 million; and the University of Montreal's pension fund, with a claim for $67 million.

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.

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".

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

A New York-based investment banker who once hired celebrity attorney Robert Shapiro to sue Bermuda-based investment firm Lines Overseas Management was arrested on October 2, 2003 after being criminally indicted for alleged securities fraud; British Virgin Islands-registered Kesman Overseas has been named as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker by the Office of Foreign Assets Control in the United States; A recent report entitled 'Global Economic Crime Survey 2003' by PricewaterhouseCoopers, in association with Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, of New York, contains some interesting statistics; Banks in the Channel Islands have reported renewed efforts by fraudsters attempting to deceive customers into unnecessarily providing important personal banking information, according to the Commercial Crime Services division of the International Chamber of Commerce; Bermuda's local business industry was coming to grips this month with an announcement that the Bank of Bermuda - a 114-year-old national institution and the world's largest offshore-based bank - is to be bought by HSBC Holdings PLC for US$1.3 billion.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into alleged fraud by Versailles Group Plc.

A former attorney with UK solicitors Radcliffes Le Brasseur is still awaiting sentencing in the United States six months after admitting his part in a scheme to defraud the IRS using offshore structures. Jeremy A. Franks pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on September 27, 2002 and was released on bail of $100,000.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from Asia, Europe and Americas Bank - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from the United Kingdom - for a criminal investigation into "a high Yield investment scheme in which 8 investors made investments after having been promised up to 1200% return on their 9 funds, only to see the funds disappear without any return".

UK-based Capital City Finance Limited, which was formed on August 20, 2001 as a spin-off from the Imperial Consolidated Group, is three and a half months overdue with the filing of its annual return with Companies House for England and Wales; If clients of St. Vincent-licensed Omnicorp Bank needed further evidence that they are being taken to the cleaners by the bank's management, there has been plenty of it recently; Investment fraudster Tracy Calvin Dunlap, Jr. was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison on December 19, 2002 at the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.; Steve Saemmler Klein, who operates a dubious Belize-based offshore group known as Grupo CAT, has apparently gone missing; and Alyn Richard Waage, 56, of Canada, and James Michael Webb, 40, of California, were extradited on December 19, 2002 from Costa Rica to Sacramento, California to face numerous federal charges relating to the Tri-West Investment Club, an Internet-based investment fraud scheme that allegedly netted more that $60 million.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into Neil Edward Walker, James George Thomas Brooman, Ian David Cale, Irnraan Abid Karim, Barrie John Connor, Timothy Theobald, David Hodgson, Simon Morley, Craig Mark Ireland and Iftekhar Ahmed for alleged tax fraud.

New evidence obtained by OffshoreAlert shows that THREE convicted drug dealers are beneficial owners of the British Virgin Islands-registered parent of The Harris Organization financial services group. The traffickers all own preferred shares, which purport to pay annual interest of 10% in the case of Wallace Stull and James Somerville, and 7% for Lawrence Boulanger.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from Pinebank - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from the United Kingdom - for a criminal investigation into "Kevin Dooley, John Silver and others for theft and conspiracy to defraud".

A California court has approved a request by the Internal Revenue Service for leave to file "John Doe" summonses on VISA International as part of an investigation into tax evasion using offshore credit cards. The order, issued on March 28, 2002, allows the IRS to examine the records of VISA credit or debit cards issued "by, through, or on behalf of banks or other financial institutions" in 31 offshore jurisdictions.

Information Memorandum for LOM (Holdings) Limited, filed with the Bermuda Stock Exchange.

An offshore mutual fund that has collapsed amid debts of $200 million and allegations of massive fraud had close links with Bahamas-based Surety Bank & Trust, OffshoreAlert can reveal. SBT's relationship with British Virgin Islands-registered Evergreen Security Ltd. appears to be the reason why the bank chose voluntary liquidation late last year over being sold as a going concern.

Indictment in USA v. Daniel Leveto and Donald Turner, a.k.a. Don Wood, at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

A Vancouver-based businessman who used a Jersey-registered trust and a BVI-registered IBC to conduct illegal insider trades in firms he managed has been fined $50,000 by Canadian securities regulators. David Michael Patterson admitted that he did not file insider-trading reports for trades he made through a British Virgin Islands firm in shares of four companies where he was an officer or director.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into Michael Stanley Buchanan and Stanley George Mole for suspected theft, forgery and conspiracy to steal.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Jersey, in the channel Islands, into suspected fraudulent offenses perpetrated on the Royal Bank of Canada (Jersey) Ltd. by persons unknown regarding the account of Edward John Erlendsen.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner for a criminal investigation in South Africa into Dr. Wouter Basson for alleged fraud, murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, possession of prohibited substances (Cocaine, Mandrax and Ecstasy) and "defeating the ends of Justice".

The much-vaunted publication of a tax haven 'hit list' by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has been put off for at least a year. The OECD had planned to name those territories deemed to engage in "harmful tax practices" in June of this year, after which the 29 OECD member countries would seek to punish those on the list by introducing "defensive measures".