Australia

In a judgment at Bermuda Supreme Court, Australian barrister Evatt Tamine has been ordered to repay nearly $30 million that he allegedly misappropriated from a Bermuda trust he administered on behalf of U.S. businessman Robert Brockman, who was criminally indicted at federal court in California in 2020 for an alleged $2 billion offshore tax fraud scheme.

Judgment awarding $16.8 million, $5.395 million, and £5 million against the defendants in BCT Limited, a Cayman Islands subsidiary of Maples Group, as Trustee of the A. Eugene Brockman Charitable Trust, and Spanish Steps Holdings Limited, of the British Virgin Islands v. Evatt Tamine, an Australian barrister, and Tangarra Consultants Limited, of Bermuda, at Bermuda Supreme Court.

In an attempt to prevent the IRS from seizing assets in the United States, liquidators in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands have applied for U.S. recognition of their liquidation of a Bermuda company - Point Investments Ltd. - that was allegedly part of a $2 billion offshore tax fraud scheme involving billionaire Robert Brockman, 80.

Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in Bermuda by Andrew Childe, Richard Lewis, and Matthew Clingerman, as the Foreign Representatives of Point Investments Ltd., a Bermuda company whose ultimate beneficiaries include Robert Brockman, a businessman in the United States who is currently awaiting trial for an alleged $2 billion tax fraud scheme involving Point Investments and other entities in Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Nevis, and Switzerland, filed at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

Director Details for LMA SPC, obtained from the Cayman Islands General Registry on March 7th, 2022.

Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in England and Wales by Mark Firmin and Joanne Hewitt-Schembri, as the Foreign Representatives of Orbit Energy Limited (in Administration), of Brighton, England, which "was formed as a joint venture between Energy Global Investments Pty Limited (an Australian company) and Genie", the latter of which was described as "a Delaware registered company with interests in, among other things, United States-based energy supply", filed at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

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.

Fixed Date Claim Form regarding Circa Business Systems (Far East) Limited in Cheerkeep Limited, of London, England v. The Registrar of Corporate Affairs at the British Virgin Islands High 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.

USA's Opposition to Motion to Strike by Bermuda-domiciled Tangarra Consultants Ltd. in USA v. Robert T. Brockman at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.Editor's Note: This document, which is publicly-available from federal court in the United States, is the subject of ongoing legal proceedings at Bermuda Supreme Court in which Tangarra's principal, Evatt Tamine, an Australian lawyer who provided services to Brockman (a software tycoon who was criminally indicted in the US for an alleged $2 billion tax fraud), obtained an injunction that legally prohibits Bermuda Press (Holdings) Ltd., the publisher of local daily newspaper The Royal Gazette, from publishing an exhibit to the document, specifically a 56-page affidavit by Tamine, who is a self-described "cooperating witness" in the US criminal action against Brockman. Bermuda Judge Larry Mussenden ruled that “the confidentiality” of Tamine’s affidavit had not been lost by its “limited publication” on the US Court’s website. To eliminate that as a credible argument, OffshoreAlert has today not only published the contentious document but made it available to everyone for free (both subscribers and non-subscribers). We do so in the public interest. Bermuda Supreme Court has a long history of draconian secrecy, first by denying the general public access to any writs for over 40 years and then, after Bermuda’s Chief Justice acknowledged in 2015 that the practice was essentially illegal, continuing to seal entire business-related cases and writs on a disturbingly-high scale, an inevitable consequence of which is that questionable conduct by Bermuda entities is concealed from existing clients, potential clients, and everyone else.

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".