Canada

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into an alleged investment fraud against former Manchester United Football Club chairman Martin Edwards.

Deposition of Kevin Hamilton for a libel complaint filed by Hamilton against KYC News, Inc. and David Marchant at Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Canada.

Canada-based offshore financial services provider Peter Sabourin and related parties have been accused of cheating investors and clients out of more than $600,000.The allegation is contained in a civil complaint filed by Lori Claymont, a resident of New York City, NY, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on September 21, 2007.

Cayman police have confirmed they are investigating a complaint from the UK that a former island resident defrauded more than 2,000 people in Britain in a phony credit card application scheme.Eric Ralls, 26, of Phoenix, Arizona, is alleged to have advertised in the UK that he could obtain a guaranteed credit card for applicants in return for a US$100 fee.

Complaint by Lori Claymont vs. Peter Sabourin, George Irwin, George Keaveney, Sabourin and Sun Canada Inc., 1261746 Ontario Inc., Sabourin and Sun Group of Companies Inc., Sabourin and Sun Inc., Sunseeker Group Ltd., Sabourin and Sun BBI Trust, Intervest Direct Inc., and OverweightPeople.com Inc. for alleged investment fraud.

A jury in Texas has awarded 41 investors clients damages of $8.8 million, plus annual interest of 8.25% backdated to December 12, 2002, against Atlas Financial Group Ltd. and Atlas Private Trust Ltd., which collapsed in the Turks and Caicos

Reinsurers in Bermuda and elsewhere are seeking to force a Vermont based captive and its NYSE listed parent to arbitrate a dispute involving claims from a fire at a chemical manufacturing plant.A motion to compel arbitration was filed against International

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged environmental offenses - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Canada - that was filed at federal court in the USA on July 23, 2007. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Metalex Products Ltd., Davis Trading & Supply Ltd., Gregory E. Ortiz, and Daniel E. Sheehan.

Former offshore services provider Marc Harris, who was sentenced to serve 17 years in prison on May 17, 2004 after being convicted by a jury of conspiracy to defraud the USA, money laundering and tax evasion, turned down a pre-trial offer from prosecutors that would have seen him receive just three years in prison in return for a guilty plea, according to a recently-filed court paper in Miami; New information about what is shaping up to be the latest big offshore hedge fund scandal recently became publicly available in filings at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, where the U. S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is trying to close down Lake Shore Asset Management Limited, which is incorporated in Bermuda; and Former offshore specialist Nigel Scott Grant, who once participated in a Nevis-based investment scam while working as an attorney in California, is being sued in Florida for allegedly failing to pay legal fees of $16,125 to a Miami-based law firm, Levey, Airan, Shevin, Roen, Kelso, Corona & Herrera LLP.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Canada into Metalex Products Ltd. and Davis Trading & Supply Ltd. regarding the allegedly illegal importation of hazardous waste.

A contempt of court motion has been filed in the United States against a Bermuda-based firm that manages several hedge funds registered in the British Virgin Islands and also has ties to Canada and Switzerland.Lake Shore Asset Management Limited, which is believed to manage at least $466 million, has refused to turn over documents to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in breach of a Statutory Ex-Parte Restraining Order issued seven days earlier, stated the regulator in its contempt motion at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on July 3, 2007.

Application for the appointment of Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Canada into Nebosja Ned Maodus for alleged assault.

A complaint to extradite 60-year-old Douglas Anthony Blomert from the USA to Canada was filed at the U. S. District Court for the District of Nevada on March 30, 2007.A warrant for the fugitive's arrest for breach of his parole conditions was issued on July 9, 1997, by the Ville Marie Parole Office in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, it was stated in the complaint.

SEC's Closing Argument at Trial of Jonathan Curshen in SEC v. Jonathan Curshen, C. Jones & Company, Carter Allen Jones, Timothy Miles, and Gaylen Johnson at the U. S. District Court for the District of Colorado.

SEC's Closing Argument in a securities fraud complaint filed by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission against Jonathan Curshen at the U. S. District Court for the District of Colorado.

A Canadian national and a Cayman Islands registered hedge fund he controls have been implicated in an alleged multi million dollar securities fraud that is being investigated by a United States regulator.They are Stephen Chesnowitz, who appears to be based

Two subsidiaries of alternative investment provider Man Group Plc are seeking to avoid providing details about 24 Cayman Islands funds for use in legal proceedings concerning the collapse of Philadelphia Alternative Asset Management Company, LLC.It is part of the legal

Article based on an application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged death threats against two Canadian journalists - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Canada - that was filed at federal court in the USA on April 23, 2007. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Sikhsangat.com, Kim Bolan, Terry Milewski, Sukhdev Singh, and Domains by Proxy, Inc.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Canada into alleged harassment of journalists Kim Bolan and Terry Milewski via a web-site at www.sikhsangat.com.

SEC's Proposed Findings of Fact & Conclusions of Law in the trial of Jonathan Curshen at the U. S. District Court for the District of Colorado.

Former Bahamas-based money manager Martin Tremblay was sentenced yesterday to 48 months in prison for money laundering, which is 22 months less than prosecutors were seeking under federal sentencing guidelines. Tremblay, a 44-year-old Canadian national, will receive credit for the 14 months that he spent in custody between his arrest and sentencing, meaning he will be out of prison in less than three years.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Belgium into Charles Van Renynghe de Voxvrie for alleged fraud, forgery and money laundering.

A Bahamas-based business operated by Mohamad Harajchi and his son, Michel Harajchi, that was exposed in the October 31, 2006 edition of OffshoreAlert has stopped accepting new business; Andreas Ihrke has agreed to be extradited from the United States to Germany, where he has been charged with fraud and falsification of documents; British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported on December 23 that the U. K. Government “is set to announce within weeks an amnesty scheme for tax evaders who have stashed money in offshore bank accounts"; OffshoreAlert has uncovered a securities fraud complaint that was filed - and later dismissed - at the U. S. District Court for the District of Nevada in 2003 against a company that has featured prominently in the newsletter in recent months, Bermuda-based River Capital Limited; A Costa Rica-based brokerage firm has reached a settlement with the British Columbia Securities Commission after admitting to unregistered trading to B. C. residents; and Bancafe International Bank Ltd., which is the fifth largest unsecured creditors of bankrupt commodities broker Refco, with a claim for $204 million, had its operations closed by the Central Bank of Barbados, effective October 23, 2006.

The Ontario Securities Commission has ordered a suspected fraudster and his associates to stop selling offshore investment products that have raised more than C$23 million from investors over the last five years.Peter Sabourin, a former school janitor, and his Sabourin and Sun group offered investors annual returns of up to 22%, according to the Commission.

A Toronto-based group controlled by a former janitor that specialized in helping Canadians move their money offshore has collapsed owing more than US$10 million to at least 25 creditors.Details are contained in court filings at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, where Sabourin and Sun is in litigation with Judith Laiken, an elderly client who claims to have been defrauded.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Canada into alleged negligence by Armour Pharmaceuticals, Michael Rodell, Roger Perrault, Donald Wark Boucher and John Feresz regarding the distribution of blood infected with the HIV virus.

Former Bahamas based money manager Martin Tremblay pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of money laundering in the United States. The 43 year old Canadian national is due to be sentenced on February 14, 2007 at the U. S. District

Canada has requested the extradition of a suspected narcotics trafficker Patrick Odjick, 31, from the United States.Details are contained in an extradition complaint that was filed at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of New York on

A senior officer with the Bahamas based Banakor Swisse financial group has been criminally charged with fraud in his native Canada concerning an alleged high yield investment scam.Ted Chadwick, a 77 year old Canadian national residing in Beeton, Ontario, was

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Italy into Giovanni Cristalli for alleged tax evasion and bankruptcy fraud regarding Cristalli Motors.

The head of an offshore financial services group said he is selling his group and “retiring” from the business after being asked about his criminal record by OffshoreAlert.Timothy von Kaay, a 40 year old Canadian national and resident of Ontario,

Libel complaint filed by Kevin Hamilton against KYC News, Inc. and David Marchant at Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Canada.

Bahamas-based attorney Anthony Thompson has emerged as a key player in another securities scheme by a group whose allegedly fraudulent activities were exposed in the previous edition of OffshoreAlert. Thompson is the sole officer and director of two offshore companies that beneficially own 43.8% of the common stock of Reliant Home Warranty Corporation, a Florida-registered, Canada-based “mortgage banking” firm whose shares are currently trading for six cents each on the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board in the United States.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged tax fraud by Clifford Siegel - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Canada - that was filed at federal court in the USA on July 31, 2006.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Canada into alleged tax fraud by Clifford Siegel.

Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in St. Vincent and the Grenadines by Malcolm Butterfield, Brian Glasgow, and Simon Whicker, as the Foreign Representatives of Tri-Continental Exchange Ltd., Combined Services Ltd., and Alternative Market Exchange Ltd., at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California.

A wannabe Bermuda insurer whose license application was turned down in 2004 has resurfaced in Barbados, where it has teamed up with a group whose principals include a convicted criminal. The Barbados Supervisor of Insurance issued an insurance license to River Reinsurance Limited on December 16, 2005. 

A publicly-listed company in the United States whose subsidiaries include an offshore insurer is being sued in New York by investors who claim they were victims of a $50 million securities fraud. Strategy International Insurance Group Inc., whose shares are currently trading on the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board at just six cents per share, misrepresented its assets and concealed “material negative facts” about some of its “principal executives and directors” in a private placement memorandum, according to the plaintiffs, who include investment funds in the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands. 

A British company that is at the heart of a liquidation scam being perpetrated against creditors of failed litigation funding firm Invaro Ltd. has missed a statutory deadline for filing its first accounts and is now subject to penalty fees; Former Panama-based, offshore financial services provider Marc Harris, 41, has lost his appeal against his November 24, 2003 conviction in the United States on multiple tax fraud, tax evasion and money laundering charges and May 21, 2004 sentencing to 17 years in prison, a fine of $20.3 million, and restitution of $6.6 million; and An unlicensed Canada-based forex dealer with a checkered past appears to be behind a purported offshore investment provider that was the target of a warning by the Bermuda Monetary Authority earlier this year, OffshoreAlert can disclose.

An unlicensed Canada-based forex dealer with a checkered past appears to be behind a purported offshore investment provider that was the target of a warning by the Bermuda Monetary Authority earlier this year, OffshoreAlert can disclose. Dominic Longpré, of Montreal, Canada, was fined CDN$90,000 at the Court of Quebec, Criminal and Penal Division, on September 7, 2004 after he pleaded guilty to 42 counts of illegal acts, stated a press release issued a day later by the Autorité des marches financiers, which brought the charges.

Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in the United Kingdom by Alan Boyce, as the Foreign Representative of NRG Victory Reinsurance Limited, at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

A United States court has ordered former insiders of British Virgin Islands incorporated Evergreen Security Ltd. to repay $10.4 million that they received in fraudulent transfers from the unregistered offshore mutual fund before it collapsed in 2001. In a judgment

A New Jersey based manufacturer has sued several insurers, including two that are incorporated in Bermuda, in an attempt to enforce a $350 million limit insurance policy.Formosa Plastics Corporation USA claims they have breached the terms of the contract concerning

If a Canadian stock broker had provided the same type of allegedly sham services to the collapsed Canada based Portus Group of hedge funds as those provided by the Cayman Islands operation of Bermuda based investment firm Lines Overseas Management

Bermuda-based investment firm Lines Overseas Management Ltd. claims to have started turning over client records to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission after losing yet another court ruling. In a filing at the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia on February 21, 2006, LOM stated that it “has begun producing documents to the SEC” pursuant to four SEC administrative subpoenas that were served on its Managing Director, Scott Lines, as long ago as April, 2004.

Complaint filed by Pandora Select Partners LP, Pandora Select Advisors, LP, JMG Capital Partners, LP, JMG Triton Offshore Fund, Ltd.,  Aviator Fund Management, LP, Aviator Overseas Fund II, Ltd., Aviator Master Fund, Ltd., Whitebox Hedged High Yield Advisors, LP, Whitebox Hedged High Yield Partners, LP, Whitebox Convertible Arbitrage Advisors, LLC, and Whitebox Convertible Arbitrage Partners, LP against Strategy International Insurance Group Inc., Strategy Real Estate Investments, Ltd., John Hamilton, Sandro Sordi, and Stephen Stonhill at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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.

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.

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.