Australia

Mourant Ozannes law firm has applied to liquidate MultiBank FX International Corporation in the British Virgin Islands over alleged unpaid legal fees of $77,711. The alleged debtor is part of the MultiBank Group, which claims to have companies or offices in Australia, Austria, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, China, Cyprus, Egypt, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Spain, Turkey, USA, and Vietnam.

Redacted Ruling denying the defendant's application for an order to discharge an ex parte order regarding "articles and hyperlinks to documents in the articles as published on the RG Online" involving Robert Brockman, described as "a US national who is presently under indictment in the United States for charges of tax fraud", in Evatt Anthony Tamine, an Australian lawyer v. Bermuda Press (Holdings) Ltd., publisher of The Royal Gazette daily newspaper in Bermuda, at Bermuda Supreme Court.

Motion for Attorney's Fees and Costs by Brandon Ng and Cookie Choi after a Temporary Asset Freeze Order against them was dismissed in a case in which they have been accused of stealing Bitcoin worth $80 million in Steven Paul Kowalski, a citizen of Australia residing in Dubai, United Arab Emirates v. Binance Holdings Ltd., of the Cayman Islands; BAM Trading Services Inc., d.b.a. Binance US, of Delaware; Binance Asia Services Pte Ltd., of Singapore; Payward Inc., d.b.a. Kraken; Payward Ventures Inc., of Delaware; Brandon Chun Yin Ng, described as a citizen of the United States residing in Texas; Hiu Lam Cookie Choi, described as a citizen of Hong Kong residing in Texas; Wai Kit Lo and Lee Kei Lau, described as citizens and residents of Hong Kong; Nurlan Neqmat Ogly Guliev and Oksana Aleksandrovna Dolgopolova, described as citizens and residents of Russia, at the Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit, in and for Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from Westpac Financial Services Company - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Ecuador - for a criminal investigation into Dmitri Andreevich Grekov, Vadim Vasilenko, Anton Vereshchagin, Oleg Kruglov, all described as citizens of Russia and "members of a drug trafficking organization", and others for suspected money laundering.

The Crowd Machine cryptocurrency group headed by Australian Craig Sproule "raised more than $33 million from hundreds of investors" in a "fraudulent and unregistered" scheme involving entities in Australia, Cayman Islands, South Africa, and United States, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has alleged.

Stipulation Consenting to Judgment in U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Metavine Pty. Ltd., of Australia, at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Stipulation with Proposed Order in U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Crowd Machine Inc. and Metavine Inc. at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Stipulation with Proposed Order in U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Craig Sproule, a citizen of Australia, at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Complaint alleging a "fraudulent and unregistered" cryptocurrency offering that "raised more than $33 million from hundreds of investors" and involved entities in Australia, Cayman Islands, South Africa, and United States in U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Crowd Machine Inc., of Delaware; Metavine Inc., of Delaware, and Craig Derel Sproule, a citizen of Australia, as Defendants, and Metavine Pty. Ltd., of Australia, as Relief Defendant, at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Dubai-based Australian Steven Kowalski is suing 11 individuals and companies in the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Russia, Singapore, and the United States after Bitcoin worth $80 million was allegedly stolen from him in "a sophisticated malware attack" and laundered through accounts at cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Kraken.

For the second year running, the British arm of the self-described "world’s leading cryptocurrency-friendly online travel agency" in the Cayman Islands - which has raised at least £2.2 million from over 1,700 investors - faces strike off for failure to file its annual accounts.

Decision of the Regulatory Tribunal of the Qatar Financial Centre regarding an appeal against an industry ban and a regulatory fine of QAR 273,000 in Nigel Thomas Howard Perera, a citizen of Australia v. Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority a the Qatar International Court.

Transcript of evidentiary hearing on a motion by Brandon Ng and Cookie Choi to dissolve an asset freeze injunction in Steven Paul Kowalski, a citizen of Australia residing in Dubai, United Arab Emirates v. Binance Holdings Ltd., of the Cayman Islands; BAM Trading Services Inc., d.b.a. Binance US, of Delaware; Binance Asia Services Pte Ltd., of Singapore; Payward Inc., d.b.a. Kraken; Payward Ventures Inc., of Delaware; Brandon Chun Yin Ng, described as a citizen of the United States residing in Texas; Hiu Lam Cookie Choi, described as a citizen of Hong Kong residing in Texas; Wai Kit Lo and Lee Kei Lau, described as citizens and residents of Hong Kong; Nurlan Neqmat Ogly Guliev and Oksana Aleksandrovna Dolgopolova, described as citizens and residents of Russia, at the Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit, in and for Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Order dissolving freeze injunction against Brandon Ng and Cookie Choi in Steven Paul Kowalski, a citizen of Australia residing in Dubai, United Arab Emirates v. Binance Holdings Ltd., of the Cayman Islands; BAM Trading Services Inc., d.b.a. Binance US, of Delaware; Binance Asia Services Pte Ltd., of Singapore; Payward Inc., d.b.a. Kraken; Payward Ventures Inc., of Delaware; Brandon Chun Yin Ng, described as a citizen of the United States residing in Texas; Hiu Lam Cookie Choi, described as a citizen of Hong Kong residing in Texas; Wai Kit Lo and Lee Kei Lau, described as citizens and residents of Hong Kong; Nurlan Neqmat Ogly Guliev and Oksana Aleksandrovna Dolgopolova, described as citizens and residents of Russia, at the Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit, in and for Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Director Details for TravelFront, d.b.a. Travala, obtained from the Cayman Islands General Registry on December 27th, 2021.

Application by Credit Suisse Virtuoso SICAV-SIF, of Luxembourg, on behalf of the Sub-Fund Credit Suisse (Lux) Supply Chain Finance Fund, to take discovery from Katerra Inc., of the Cayman Islands, "for use in a planned court proceeding in England against, among potentially other parties, SoftBank Group Corp. and certain of its affiliates including SoftBank Vision Fund LP, SoftBank Vision Fund II-2 LP, SVF Abode (Cayman) Limited, SVF II Abode (Cayman) Limited, and SVF Habitat (Cayman) Limited" involving the insolvent Greensill group, filed at the U. S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

Application by Credit Suisse Virtuoso SICAV-SIF, of Luxembourg, on behalf of the sub-fund Credit Suisse (Lux) Supply Chain Finance Fund, to take discovery from SB Investment Advisers (US), Inc. for use in "an anticipated court proceeding in England against, among potentially other parties, SoftBank Group Corp. and certain of its affiliates including SoftBank Vision Fund LP, SoftBank Vision Fund II-2 LP, SVF Abode (Cayman) Limited, SVF II Abode (Cayman) Limited, and SVF Habitat (Cayman) Limited", filed at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Application by Ringwood Magistrates' Court in Victoria, Australia, to take discovery from Newfold Digital for use in a lawsuit styled as 'Grant Hutchinson v. Peter Adamis', filed at the U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Public Notice by the Malta Financial Services Authority that it has imposed a fine of €2,500 on Solon Director (Malta) Limited for a regulatory breach.

Complaint "to recover significant investment losses suffered as a result of securities fraud perpetrated by Defendants" in Orbis Global Equity LE Fund, of Australia; Orbis Global Equity Fund, of Australia; Orbis Global Balanced Fund, of Australia; Orbis SICAV, of Luxembourg; Orbis Institutional Funds Limited, of Bermuda; Orbis Global Equity Fund Limited, of Bermuda; Orbis Institutional Global Equity LP, of Delaware, and Orbis OEIC, of England and Wales v. Vale SA, described as "an international mining company based in Brazil"; Murilo Ferreira, Fabio Schvartsman, Luciano Siani Pires, Gerd Peter Poppinga, and Luiz Eduardo Froes do Amaral Osorio at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Complaint alleging "a straightforward fraud in which Defendants misled investors about Symantec's financial performance and accounting practices" in Orbis Global Equity Fund Limited, of Bermuda; Orbis Global Equity Fund, of Australia; Orbis Institutional Funds Limited, of Bermuda; Orbis Global Equity LE Fund, of Australia; Orbis Institutional Global Equity LP, of Bermuda; Orbis SICAV, of Luxembourg; Orbis Optimal SA Fund Limited, of Bermuda; Orbis Institutional US Equity LP, of Bermuda; Orbis OEIC, of England; Orbis Optimal Global Equity LP, of Bermuda; Allan Gray Australia Balanced Fund, of Australia, and Orbis Global Balanced Fund, of Australia, all managed by Orbis Investment Management Limited, of Bermuda v. NortonLifelock Inc., f.k.a. Symantec Corporation; Gregory S. Clark; Nicholas R. Noviello, and Mark S. Garfield at the U. S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

Public Notice by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission that it has revoked the license of RAM Cyprus Income Fund Ltd., whose directors appear to be based in Australia, China, and Cyprus.

Application for a Temporary Injunction in Steven Paul Kowalski, a citizen of Australia residing in Dubai, United Arab Emirates v. Binance Holdings Ltd., of the Cayman Islands; BAM Trading Services Inc., d.b.a. Binance US, of Delaware; Binance Asia Services Pte Ltd., of Singapore; Payward Inc., d.b.a. Kraken; Payward Ventures Inc., of Delaware; Brandon Chun Yin Ng, described as a citizen of the United States residing in Texas; Hiu Lam Cookie Choi, described as a citizen of Hong Kong residing in Texas; Wai Kit Lo and Lee Kei Lau, described as citizens and residents of Hong Kong; Nurlan Neqmat Ogly Guliev and Oksana Aleksandrovna Dolgopolova, described as citizens and residents of Russia, at the Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit, in and for Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Complaint in Steven Paul Kowalski, a citizen of Australia residing in Dubai, United Arab Emirates v. Binance Holdings Ltd., of the Cayman Islands; BAM Trading Services Inc., d.b.a. Binance US, of Delaware; Binance Asia Services Pte Ltd., of Singapore; Payward Inc., d.b.a. Kraken; Payward Ventures Inc., of Delaware; Brandon Chun Yin Ng, described as a citizen of the United States residing in Texas; Hiu Lam Cookie Choi, described as a citizen of Hong Kong residing in Texas; Wai Kit Lo and Lee Kei Lau, described as citizens and residents of Hong Kong; Nurlan Neqmat Ogly Guliev and Oksana Aleksandrovna Dolgopolova, described as citizens and residents of Russia, at the Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit, in and for Miami-Dade County, Florida.

A purported blockchain company - DappTricity Plc - transferred its assets to an entity in the British Virgin Islands and closed down while it was failing to comply with an inspection by the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority, according to the regulator.

Complaint alleging breach of contract in John S. Quick, a.k.a. Sebastian Quick v. Blockchain Global Limited, f.k.a. Bitcoin Group; Samuel Xue Lee, Ryan Ling Ziking Xu, and Allen Liang Guo, all of Australia, at the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York.

Complaint for recovery of "short-swing profits" in Mark Rubenstein v. Union Bridge Holdings Ltd., described as a Nevada company based in Hong Kong; Mary Ho, described as a resident of Canada; Moana Ho, described as a resident of Australia, and Lily Ho, described as a resident of Canada, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in Australia by Sheahan and Lock, as the Foreign Representatives of Gerobin Finances Pty Ltd., Erbin Finances Pty Limited, Rawbin Finances Pty Limited, Marbin Finances Pty Limited, Erma Nominees Pty Limited, and Ligon 158 Pty Limited, described as members of "a remarkably complex group of companies controlled and operated by, and used for the personal benefit of, the Binetter family, many of which companies have been the subject of a far-ranging tax investigation by the Australian Taxation Office", filed at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Complaint alleging "fraudulent inducement to invest in cryptocurrency followed by embezzlement of that investment" in Jonathan Lowry, individually and derivatively on behalf of Vix Capital Partners LP v. Gabriel Edelman, , described as a resident of New York and Spain; Vix Capital Partners LP, Edelman Blockchain Advisors, Nehemia Markovits, Louis Taubman, Hunter Taubman Rischer & Li LLC, IFM Investors, of Australia; Interactive Brokers, Chen Edelman, described as a resident of New York and Spain, and Jiyson Edelman at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Criminal Judgment imposing a prison-term of seven-and-a-half years for a cryptocurrency-based securities fraud involving two Cayman Islands-domiciled, New York-based investment funds, Virgil Sigma Fund and VQR Multistrategy Fund, in USA v. Stefan He Qin, a citizen of Australia residing in New York, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Public Warning by the Bermuda Monetary Authority against Think Capital Limited, part of the "ThinkMarkets group of companies", which "falsely claimed to have a licence issued by the Bermuda Monetary Authority" and which, when contacted by the BMA, claimed that "the statement was made in error and that, instead, it should have stated that it had been issued a licence by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority". Editor's Note: On its website at www.thinkmarkets.com, ThinkMarkets claims to operate "a premium multi-asset online brokerage with headquarters in London and Melbourne and hubs in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Europe and South America", and identifies group companies as TF Global Markets Int Limited, of the Seychelles; TF Global Markets (UK) Limited, of England; TF Global Markets (Aust) Limited, of Australia; TF Global Markets (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd., of South Africa; Think Capital Limited, of Bermuda, and TFG (Payments) Limited, of England. Research by OffshoreAlert also discovered other group companies, including one in the Cayman Islands called TF Global Markets (International) Ltd., which is identified on CIMA's website as having received a "Securities - Full" license on April 12th, 2021.

Writ of Summons seeking "damages for conspiracy" in Aspect Properties Japan Godo Kaisha v. Jonathan Cheng, of Australia; Yicheng Chen, of Hong Kong; LC Capital Limited, of Hong Kong; Infinity Capital Group Limited, of the Cayman Islands; LC Capital Limited, of the Cayman Islands, and ICG I, of the Cayman Islands, at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.

USA's Sentencing Submission regarding a cryptocurrency-based investment fraud involving Cayman Islands-domiciled, New York-based investment funds in USA v. Stefan He Qin, a citizen of Australia residing in New York, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Complaint alleging "an ongoing offering fraud" involving "Chinese and Mexican and bearer bonds" that "has raised over $7 million from more than 75 investors" in U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Carl Jensen, described as a citizen of Canada residing in Australia, and Stephen W. Gold, described as a citizen of the United Kingdom residing in California, as Defendants, and Kerry Margolis, described as a citizen of the United States residing in Germany, and Michael Hock, described as a citizen of the United States residing in California, as Relief Defendants, at the U. S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Amended Complaint alleging fraud and unregistered securities regarding the sale of cryptocurrency tokens involving Delaware and Cayman Islands-domiciled Crowd Machine in George Bachiashvili v. Charlie Shrem and Roger Tichenor at the U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in Australia by Nora Pincus, as the Foreign Representative of Boart Longyear Limited, Boart Longyear Australia Pty Limited, Boart Longyear Management Pty Limited, Boart Longyear Investments Pty Limited, and Votraint No. 1609 Pty Limited, collectively described as "the world's leading provider of drilling services, orebody-data-collection technology, and innovative, safe, and productivity-driven drilling equipment", filed at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Fixed Date Claim Form regarding Block Capital Group Ltd., which is involved in legal proceedings in the Cayman Islands, in Sean Wilson Baguley, of Australia v. The Registrar of Corporate Affairs at the British Virgin Islands High Court.

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.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from Citizens Bank NA and Citibank NA - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Estonia - for a criminal investigation into "Estonian citizens Priit Porila, Aivar Riis, Dmitri Fokin, Australian citizen Manjit Singh Hansra, Ukrainian citizen Inna Svyrdovska and others, Estonian Companies OU Feature, Glomus Corp. – Estonia Branch, Har-Lex LLC – Estonia Branch, Command Trade Agency, Inc. – Estonia Branch, and U.S. companies Har-Lex, LLC, Inversio Partners LLC, BPB Holdings LLC, Command Trade Agency, INC, and Ironsale LLC, and others for money laundering".

Winding Up Petition in Block Capital Group Limited, a British Virgin Islands company based in Australia v. Infinity Capital Group Limited, described as a Cayman Islands company based in Hong Kong "website (infinitycapital.hk) states that Infinity is in the business of developing world-class luxury residences and has completed a number of projects in Singapore, Thailand and Japan", at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.

Winding Up Petition in Sean Wilson Baguley, of Australia v. ICG I at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.

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".

Complaint alleging fraud involving cryptocurrency in Jason Bonayer, a U. S. citizen residing in New York, NY, and George Bachiashvili, a citizen of Georgia residing in Tbilisi v. Crowd Machine Inc., of Delaware; Crowd Machine SEZC, of the Cayman Islands; Metavine Inc., of Delaware; Craig Sproule, described as a citizen of Australia residing in San Jose, California; James Hanley, Anne Osborne, Ben Gorlick, Kurt Pfluger, Camden Dore, Roger Tichenor, Charlie Shrem, Bittrex, described as "a cryptocurrency exchange based in the Seychelles", and HitBTC, also described as "a cryptocurrency exchange based in the Seychelles", at the U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Director Details for Crowd Machine SEZC, obtained from the Cayman Islands General Registry on June 24th, 2021.

Public Notice by the Austrian Financial Market Authority that it has imposed a fine of €160,000 on European Lithium Limited "for the dissemination of information and messages that sent out false and misleading signals to the market in relation to a financial instrument". Editor's Note: Research by OffshoreAlert showed that, on its website at https://europeanlithium.com/, European Lithium's "Directors and Senior Management" are described as Tony Sage - Non-Executive Chairman; Dietrich Wanke - Chief Executive Officer; Kimon Gkomozias - Executive Director; Malcolm Day - Non-Executive Director; and Melissa Chapman - CFO & Company Secretary.

Consent Order for Permanent Injunction and Other Equitable Relief in Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Jiongsheng Zhao, a resident of New South Wales, Australia, at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in the British Virgin Islands by Russell Crumpler and David Standish, as the Foreign Representatives of Exential Investments Inc., which is part of the Dubai-based Exential Group that allegedly perpetrated a fraud in which "investors lost investments in the range of at least $250 - $500 million", filed at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in the British Virgin Islands by Paul Pretlove, of Kalo (BVI) Limited, as the Foreign Representatives of FCI Markets Inc., described as part of "a group of Dubai-based forex trading companies ... known as Exential Group" that was found by a Dubai court to be "a Ponzi scheme disguised as a forex trading program" that defrauded investors out of more than $200 million, filed at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Winding Up Petition in Adamas Asia Strategic Opportunity Fund Limited v. Adamas Asian Opportunity Fund Limited at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.

Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in Germany by Dr. Michael C. Frege, as the Foreign Representative of Greensill Bank AG, of Germany, described as "a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Australian company Greensill Capital Pty Limited" that has wholly-owned subsidiaries in Australia, Cayman Islands, and United Kingdom, filed at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.