USA

The head of a Bahamas-based investment firm has been arrested in the United States after being charged with laundering $1 billion in proceeds from narcotics trafficking and fraud. Canadian national Martin Tremblay, 43, allegedly laundered the funds through Dominion Investments Ltd., of which he is Managing Director.

The operators of yet another Grenada-licensed offshore bank have been convicted of fraud-related charges in the United States. Taansen Fairmont Sumeru, a.k.a. David Freeston, of Santa Barbara, California, and Jerome Harold Hall, a.k.a. JeRu Hall, of Fairfield, Iowa, were convicted jury of eight counts of securities fraud and nine counts of wire fraud at the U. S. District Court for the Central District of California on January 24, 2006. Sumeru was also convicted of conspiring to launder money and failing to file federal income tax returns for 1999 and 2000.

A U. S.-based professional organization for private investigators has revoked the membership of Cayman Islands-based PI William Claude C. Myles for “professional misconduct” and violations of its code of ethics; What is the going rate for climbing into bed with crooks to ‘throw' a liquidation so the bad guys can continue to profit at the expense of true creditors? Try £1,624 (US$2,870) per day!; A victim of 72-year-old serial fraudster Keem Kalfon, a.k.a. Chaim Kalfon, a.k.a. Chaim Chalfon, has set up a web-site at www.chaimchalfontaxevader.com following the collapse of his latest scheme, known as LifeStyle Master Inc.; Once again proving that there is no hiding place for financial criminals, no matter which country they flee to when looking for a rock to hide under, the U. S. Government recently arranged the deportation from Panama of accused fraudster David Alan Struckman, a co-founder of the Global Prosperity Group; and If Bahamas-based investment scam group Banakor Swisse is indeed behind several menacing telephone calls that have been anonymously made to OffshoreAlert's publisher over several months, as evidence indicates, it would not be the first time that the group has reacted crudely to an investigative journalist writing negatively about its fraudulent activities.

The Receiver for the Lancer Offshore group has filed four new lawsuits against parties in Bermuda, the Bahamas, the United States, Monaco, and France in an attempt to recover $1.48 million. All of the actions were filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on January 11, 2006 by Marty Steinberg, as court-appointed Receiver for Lancer Management Group LLC, Lancer Management Group II LLC, Lancer Offshore Inc., OmniFund Ltd., LSPV Inc., LSPV LLC, Alpha Omega Group Inc., and G.H. Associates LLC.

Article based on an application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged fraud - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Germany - that was filed at federal court in the USA on January 11, 2006. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Erwin Guthoff and Western Union.

Article based on an application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged credit card fraud - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Poland - that was filed at federal court in the USA. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Ryszard Kaminski, Mohamad Nashawi, Household Bank (SB) NA, Ent. Federal Credit Union, MBNA American Bank NA, Advanta Financial Corp., First USA Bank, Citibank, and MBNA International Bank Ltd.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged narcotics-trafficking and money laundering - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance by the Cayman Islands - that was filed at federal court in the USA on January 18, 2006. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Anthony Wayne Watson, Thomas Vincent Watson, Cindy Jo Hair, Cheryl Watson, Forrest Hodgens, Ghady Zeitouni, Chase Home Finance, Western Union, and Mid West American Federal Credit Union.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged fraud - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Hong Kong - that was filed at federal court in the USA on January 27, 2006. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Cassandra Keung Yuen-Mun, PacificNet Ltd., American Stock Trust and Transfer, ViewTrade Securities, Inc., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., Depository Trust Company, and Federal Express Pacific Inc.

Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in the Netherlands by Philip Willem Schreurs, as the Foreign Representative of Vekoma International BV, Vekoma Manufacturing BV, Constructiebedrijf Gebroeders Muurmans BV, Transquest BV, formerly known as MUVO BV; Muurmans Beheer BV, Vekoma Onroerend Goed BV, and Vekoma Technology BV, at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into Andrew James Alexander for allegedly distributing child pornography.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Panama into Eduardo Avila for allegedly defrauding Marco Pompilio Morelli Seeleke of $15,000.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Belgium into Jean-Philippe Pecoraro, Jean-Noel Meinard, Guy De Backere, Albert De Bleecker, Carine Carpin and others for suspected involvement in narcotics trafficking and money laundering.

Complaint for the extradition of In Kyu Chang from the USA to South Korea to face allegations of fraud.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Hong Kong into Cassandra Keung Yuen-Mun for allegedly defrauding PacificNet Limited of approximately US$830,000 between November and December 2004.

Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in Bermuda by Mark Smith, as the Foreign Representative of New World Network International Ltd., at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Prominent offshore businessman Donald Lines has been branded a liar by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Lines, the 73-year-old Chairman and President of Bermuda-based investment firm Lines Overseas Management Limited, is adamant that he was not served with a securities-fraud related subpoena while he was in the U. S. in November, 2005 for emergency heart surgery. After the SEC first made the allegation in a filing at the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia in late December, LOM denied it in a court filing of its own and Donald Lines, a former CEO of the Bank of Bermuda, even went so far as to take out a full-page advertisement in the Bermuda Sun newspaper in which he claimed: “I have never been served a subpoena by the SEC”, adding that: “There has been no contact from the SEC to even notify me that they ever intended to serve any subpoenas or that they, however incorrectly, believed they had served me.”

The head of a Bahamas-based investment firm has been arrested in the United States after being charged with laundering $1 billion in proceeds from narcotics trafficking and fraud. Canadian national Martin Tremblay, 43, allegedly laundered the funds through Dominion Investments Ltd., of which he is Managing Director.

Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in Canada by Peter Farkas, as the Foreign Representative of MuscleTech Research and Development Inc., at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in Japan by Manjiro Yamakawa, as the Foreign Representative of Gestion-Privee Location LLC, at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner for a criminal investigation in the Cayman Islands into alleged narcotics trafficking by Anthony Wayne Watson, Thomas Vincent Watson and Cindy Jo Hair.

Bermuda-based stockbroker Lines Overseas Management Limited has secured more time in its increasingly desperate battle to avoid co-operating with securities fraud investigations being conducted by the SEC. In an order on January 13, 2006, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit temporarily stayed a lower court's order that LOM and its Managing Director, Scott Lines, comply with four SEC administrative subpoenas by January 17. The ruling was in response to an emergency motion for a stay, pending an appeal, filed that same day by LOM and Lines.

Indictment in USA v. Michael Enrest Zapetis, Sr., Karen Carazo Zapetis, Richard Joseph Solomon, William Allen Broughton, Clifton Fred Lees, William L. Clancy, John E. S. Kramar, Peter Ivan Greengrass, Richard William Peterson, and Anthony John Hicks at the U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in South Korea by Ho Seok Lee, as the Foreign Representative of Young Chang Co. Ltd., at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Washington.

A hearing is scheduled to take place at Bermuda Supreme Court on Friday to determine whether offshore stockbroker Lines Overseas Management Ltd. is allowed to release client records to the SEC in the United States. The expedited hearing was requested by the LOM group on January 9, 2006 in what appears to be a last-ditch attempt to avoid complying with SEC enforcement subpoenas that were served on it as long as 22 months ago concerning investigations into alleged securities fraud involving shares issued by Sedona Software Solutions Inc. and SHEP Technologies Inc., both of Vancouver, Canada, and HiEnergy Technologies Inc., of Irvine, California.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Germany into Erwin Guthoff for alleged fraud involving time-sharing agreements.

Letter to the Editor of Offshore Alert from Clifford Pitt, Founder of DIAK Bank.

An offshore bank has accused a United States resident of refusing to return $99,172 that he was over-paid due to an “administrative error” when he closed his account. First Caribbean International Bank (Cayman) Ltd. filed a civil lawsuit against a former client, Joseph Pirelli, of Community Drive, Bath, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on November 30, 2005. The sole count is unjust enrichment.

Article based on an application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into the hacking of computers belonging to NASA - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Slovenia - that was filed at federal court in the USA on November 3, 2005. Those mentioned in the request for assistance include National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Netmaniac, Netninjaz, Wolfman, and Gras.

Article based on an application for the aoppointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into fraud and money laundering - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from the UK - that was filed at federal court in the USA on November 2, 2005. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Operation Molotov, David Anthony Bampton, Peter Stephen Rust, Wassim Soufan, Imad Ajama, Markus Stummer, Sitaram Patel, Theodore Kolb, Kurt Kendig, Wendy Twyman, Jose Martinez, Carl Wilson, Homer Walker, Donald Cochran, Accounting Computer Solutions Ltd., Mikhail Entertainment Ltd., DeAngelis Associates LLC, a.k.a. Dean Delis & Associates LLC; McQuaid Bedford & Van Zandt LLP, Fordyce Curry & Co., Williams Inc., Bertil Garpenhold Ltd., and Kefor Pty Ltd., North West Bank, California North Retail Bank, Riggs National Bank, National City Bank, North Fork Bank, Arvest Bank; Bank of America, and Barclays Bank.

Article based on two applications for the appointment of Commissioners to collect evidence - pursuant to requests for judicial assistance from Lithuania - that were both filed at federal court in the USA on December 20, 2005. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the requests include ABF Lietuvos Tara, UAB Klaipedos kartono tara, Valerijus Karakulovas, Transglobal Holdings LLC, Antanas Drungilas, Worldwide Incorporators Ltd., Belinda Lanyon, Romaldas Petravicius, UAB Myxum, Stasys Bogdonas, and Zilvinas Capas.

Article based on an application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged fraud - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Hungary - that was filed at federal court in the USA on December 22, 2005. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Attila Kulcsar, Tibor Endre Rejto, El Abed Hasan, Mahmoud Abdo, Miklos Bitvai, Dr. Gabor Garamszegi, Dr. Erika Erzsebet Futo, Janos Meszaros, Eva Toth, Katalin Balassa, Hajnalka Pinizsi, Gyula Szeker, Pacific Traders Company LLC, Britton Interinvest Ltd., Atlantic Business Finance Ltd., Canadian Merchant Trading Inc., Megastar Trading Co., Feldman Management BV, Britalia Intenvesi Ltd., Glendale Inter-Management SA, Inter Capital Projects Ltd., Lobagola Investment Inc., Intercorp Holdings LLC, First Capital Invest LLC, Globe International Investment, American-Hungarian Fashionhouse Inc., The Montrade Establishment Ltd., Balmoral Group LLC, Ashmore Investments LLC, Geometax Holdings Ltd., K&H Equities Reszvenytarsasag, K&H Befektetesi Reszvenytarsasag, and JPMorgan Chase.

OffshoreAlert has previously reported about the long-running battle between Taiwan and China for influence in the Caribbean in which impoverished countries receive sizeable financial assistance in return for officially recognizing - or refusing to recognize - Taiwan as a country, depending on who is offering the most attractive deal; The Central Bank of Belize issued a warning about United eXchange International Bank on December 1, 2005; Richard Fogerty and James Cleaver, as joint official liquidators of Bancredit Cayman Limited (in liquidation), have filed two civil lawsuits in the United States in an attempt to collect $2.34 million of allegedly unpaid loans that were issued to customers of the banks; Why did First International Bank of Grenada founder Gilbert Allen Ziegler change his name to Van Arthur Brink in June, 1998?[ Florida-based attorney Nigel Scott Grant and his son, Nicolas E. Grant-St. James, who previously established and, in at least one instance, operated sham credit unions in St. Kitts & Nevis, are back in business together, this time onshore; and Kenneth Krys and Christopher Stride, of RSM Cayman Islands, were appointed as Joint Provisional Liquidators of PFA Assurance Group, Ltd. on September 19, 2005 following an investigation by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority.

Two husband-and-wife teams who specialized in selling sham offshore tax evasion vehicles to U. S. taxpayers via the Global Prosperity Group were dealt with by the criminal courts in December.

The authorities in Australia have requested the extradition from the United States of a 24-year-old U. S. national who is accused of laundering money for a Colombian narcotics trafficking operation. Spanish-speaking John Paul Viana, of N. W. 114th Avenue, Miami, Florida, was arrested in Miami on December 7, 2005 - the same day an extradition complaint was filed against him at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Eight individuals and two companies have been criminally indicted in the United States on multiple counts of fraud and money laundering concerning the construction of Piarco International Airport in Trinidad & Tobago. Prosecutors are also seeking an asset forfeiture order of at least $15 million against the defendants.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged money laundering - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Colombia - that was filed at federal court in the USA on November 30, 2005. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include John Horacio Rueda Polania, Raphael Samuel Adouth, Lourdes Meulener Challiol,  Rosenthal Jewelers Supply Corp., Rosenthall, LLC, Metalor, Republic Metals Corp., Ricardo Coral, Jesus Armando Franco, Julian Octavio Franco Gonzalez, Julio Lopez, Carlos Mantilla, Juan Carlos Rios Mendoza, Carlos Monsalve, Andres Avelino Nunez, Alfonso A. Pinzon, Jose F. Rangle, Javier E. Rincon, Jorge A. Rincon, Jorge Enrique Rincon, Juan Carlos Rincon, William Polania Rueda, William Sanabria Saldana, Mario Esteban Zurek, and Sonia Oyaga.  

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged fraud - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Lithuania - that was filed at federal court in the USA on December 14, 2005. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include JSC Marmedis, Aleksandr Breitmanis, Gasa International Company Inc., M. Daugialos, AB Kazlu Rudos metals, and A. T. Statkevicius.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged theft and fraud - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Russia - that was filed at federal court in the USA on December 27, 2005. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Benhurst Products LLC, Trans-West, Verta LLC, Mechmar LLC, Valentina Kirichenko, Belva Nisbett, Theodor Hobson, Anna Andreou, Alexander Georgievich Gradoboev, Pavel Arkadievich Alyashevich, Sergey Vladimirovich Zimbal, Sergey Victorovich Chirkin, Maxim Valerievich Bolshakov, Kolby Attorneys Co. Inc., and Gris LLC.

Complaint in Borcherding Enterprises, Inc. and Kim E. Borcherding v. Heritage Advisory Group of Southern Indiana, LLC, d.b.a. Heritage Advisory Group; Professional Benefit Trust, Inc., Professional Benefit Trust, Ltd., Handler, Thayer & Duggan, LLC, PBT Administration, LLC, First Fidelity Trust Company, Ltd., Amerus Life Insurance Company, Mark Sims, Robert Brian Beall, Carey L. Sunderlage, Tracy L. Sunderlage, Rex A. Collins, and K B Parrish & Co., LLP at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

Bermuda-based investment firm Lines Overseas Management Ltd. and its Managing Director, Scott Lines, have been given until January 17, 2006 to comply with four administrative subpoenas concerning securities fraud investigations by the SEC. The deadline for the provision of testimony and documents was set by U. S. District Court Judge Richard Roberts, sitting at the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia, on December 30, 2005 when he turned down an application that was filed almost 12 months by LOM and Lines to stay a Magistrate Judge's ruling that it must comply with the subpoenas.

Bermuda-based investment firm Lines Overseas Management Ltd. has denied that it destroyed evidence that is being sought by the SEC for a securities fraud investigation in the United States. LOM has also refuted a claim that the SEC served three administrative subpoenas on LOM's Chairman and President, 73-year-old Donald Lines, on November 10, 2005 while he was in the United States, apparently for an emergency heart operation.

A Turks & Caicos Islands-based stock brokerage firm and its principal officer are engaged in a legal battle with the Securities & Exchange Commission in the United States. The SEC is seeking an order enjoining Temple Securities Ltd. and its President, CEO and Director, David Clayton Knipe, from violating the Securities Act of 1933.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Poland - for a criminal investigation into Ryszard Kaminski and Mohamad Nashawi for suspected credit card fraud.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Russia into suspected fraud involving Benhurst Products LLC.

Just a few weeks after losing a key court ruling that unfroze $500 million of assets, the U. S. government has dropped a civil lawsuit against several parties it suspects of helping medical professionals evade taxes. The government filed notice at the U. S. District Court for the Central District of California on December 16, 2004 that it intended to dismiss without prejudice its action against Doctors Benefit Insurance Company Ltd., of Barbados; xélan Inc,. of California, and related parties.

Defendant's Answer & Counterclaims in Igor Alexeev vs. Diligence LLC at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

USA's Objection to Pre-Sentence Investigation Report in USA v. Derek Guise Turner at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

First Amended Complaint in Gregory S. Milligan, as Plan Trustee of the Warranty Gold Liquidation Trust, v. KPMG LLP, Deloitte & Touche USA, LLP, Deloitte & Touche, LLP, Deloitte Consulting, LLP, Berkley Insurance Company, American Safety Reinsurance, Ltd., and Winterbrook Re Intermediaries, LLC at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Hungary into Attila Kulcsar, Janos Meszaros, Dr. Erika Erzsebet Futo, El Abed Hasan, Mahmoud Abdo and Gyula Szeker for alleged embezzlement and money laundering.

Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in the Cayman Islands by Richard Fogerty and James Cleaver, as Foreign Representatives of Trade and Commerce Bank, at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.