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    Latin America Round-Up: September 30, 2004

    CHILETracing the General's secret money The Chilean authorities assigned a special Judge, Sergio Muñoz, to investigate the alleged illegal money linked to former dictator Augusto Pinochet. Judge Muñoz has taken control of $6 million that was held in trusteeship in

    Latin America Round-Up: July 31, 2004

    CENTRAL AMERICA: Gang on Trial; CHILE: Riggs Case Prompts an Investigation; COSTA RICA: Bank Busted; ECUADOR: Filanbanco's Twisted Trail; GUATEMALA: Portillo's Associate on the Line; and MEXICO: Construction Blues.

    Accused fraudster fights extradition to Costa Rica

    A 39-year-old Nicaraguan citizen who is wanted for investment fraud in Costa Rica has been granted an order temporarily staying his extradition from the United States.Carlos Hermoso Mendoza, a.k.a. Carlos Cecilio Hermoso de Mendoza Vigil, a.k.a. Carlos Hermoso Vigil, had initially consented to extradition on June 25, 2004.

    Insider Talking: June 30, 2004

    In separate actions, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority has announced its intention to revoke the Mutual Fund Administrator's license held by Signature Financial Group (Grand Cayman) Ltd., c/o P. O. Box 2494 GT, Grand Cayman, and that it has revoked the unrestricted Class 'B' Insurer's License held by Potomac Indemnity Company, effective April 6, 2004; Controversial newsletter publisher Pirate Investor LLC has obtained a subpoena against Yahoo! Inc. as part of its attempt to identify an anonymous Internet user who is suspected of a breach of copyright; The Isle of Man Financial Supervision Commission issued notices over April-June, 2004 urging the public to "exercise the greatest possible caution" when dealing with several businesses; The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates national banks in the United States, has issued advisories several 'banks'; If anyone wants a blueprint of how not to attempt to transport more than $10,000 out of the United States without correctly filling out the proper Customs forms, they could do a lot worse than study the case of 23-year-old Bahamian national Antunya Shenique Rahming; A Costa Rica-based private bank that targeted expatriates - Corporación Elca, S.A., more commonly known as Banco Elca - has been closed down by local regulator Superintendencia General de Entidades Financieras; Evidence of corruption against Grenada's Prime Minister Keith Mitchell and former Director of Public Prosecutions and current "Special Prosecutor" Hugh Wildman while he was Director of Public Prosecutions was referred to in a Judgment delivered in the UK High Court on June 24, 2004 in a civil lawsuit that had been filed against former First International Bank of Grenada CEO Lawrence Victor Jones by his former fiancé, Kerry Cox; Apart from being home to many a fraudulently-operated offshore company, the South Pacific island of Niue is also one of the biggest producers of Internet pornography in the world; The Australian Securities and Investments Commission announced on June 11, 2004 that it had concluded its proceedings in the Supreme Court of New South Wales against Trans Pacific Insurance Corporation, a Cayman Islands-registered insurers, and Triton Underwriting Insurance Agency Pty Ltd.; and Under the Progressive Labour Party Government, Bermuda — for so long a model, small-country jurisdiction — is hurtling towards being as openly corrupt as any of the islands in the Caribbean that it has historically looked down on.

    USA v. Michael Arthur Reeve et al: Criminal Indictment

    Criminal Indictment in USA vs. Michael Arthur Reeve, John Anthony Claro, Jack H.M. Ferguson, Milton Doke Wilkinson, Gary I. Hoskie, James Arthur Glidewell, and Euan David McNicoll at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

    United Kingdom: Juan David Delvalle et al

    Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into suspected narcotics trafficking and money laundering by Juan David Delvalle and others.

    Insider Talking: November 30, 2003

    Deloitte & Touche has offered $32 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of shareholders of the British Virgin Islands registered Manhattan Investment Fund who bought shares between October, 1995 and January, 2000. D&T's Bermuda office audited

    Latin America Round-Up: October 31, 2003

    COSTA RICAMoney laundering on the rise A report by the Drug Enforcement Administration identifies an increase in Costa Rica's vulnerability to money laundering. According to the report, the real estate sector has become one of the favorite ways of laundering

    Latin America Round-Up: August 31, 2003

    ARGENTINA: Circle around Menem narrower; COSTA RICA: Costa Rica becoming popular; ECUADOR: No foreign holidays for Noboa; MEXICO: Pressure mounts over big banks; NICARAGUA: Alemán in prison: PANAMA: Marc Harris' friends in Panama in trouble?; and PARAGUAY: González Macchi ordered to stay put.

    Ex-janitor who ripped off Bermudians sentenced to 30 years in prison

    A former janitor whose groups persuaded Bermudians to cash in their pension plans and invest in fraudulent 'get-rich-quick' schemes has received a 30-year prison sentence in the United States.John Wayne Zidar, 60, of Gardnerville, Nevada, orchestrated a Ponzi scheme that took in approximately $74 million from about 3,200 people in the United States, Bermuda and other countries.

    US Department of Justice investigates Genesis Fund

    The United States Department of Justice is conducting a criminal investigation into the collapse of a Costa Rica-based investment fund which collapsed with up to $50 million of investor funds missing.The existence of the investigation has been acknowledged in at least two letters sent this year from insiders to investors in The Genesis Fund Ltd., which is incorporated in Nevis.

    Whitney Bank bank fails to quash Villalobos-related subpoena

    A bank in the United States has failed in its bid to quash a subpoena requiring it to turn over records for a criminal investigation in Costa Rica into a business known as 'The Brothers'.Whitney Bank, in New Orleans, Louisiana, had argued it would expose itself to potential civil liability from its clients if it complied with the subpoena without notifying them beforehand.

    Hunt for Villalobos assets turns to Miami

    Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into money laundering, narcotics trafficking and investment fraud - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Costa Rica - that was granted at federal court in the USA on May 27, 2003. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Osvaldo Villalobos Camacho, Luis Enrique Villalobos Camacho, Freddy Villalobos Camacho, Victor Sandino Soto, Kenneth Alvarado Thomas, Bertrand Henri St-Onge, Sandra Kerwin St-Onge, Luc St-Onge, Richard Rivers, Norman Denault, Alejandro Alvarado Miranda, Javier Calderon Granados, Hermanos Villalobos Exchange House (OFINTER SA), Servicios de Soporte al Turismo SA, Casa de Libertad SA, Favillale, Carlos Badilla, Fonseca Vargas Omar, Mario Borges Soubirus, Michael Sterling, David Brown, Forbes & Stobart SA, Framagra SA, Palma de Mayorca SA, Inversiones Haas SA, Danir SA, Compania Mercantil El Desierto SA, Casa de Cambio Ofinter SA, Immobiliaria Internacional Platino SA, Barclays Bank, Whitney Bank, Amtrade International Bank, The International Bank of Miami, and LGT Bank.

    Handcuffed US national commits suicide in Costa Rica

    The on-going investigations into widespread investment fraud in Costa Rica took a turn for the bizarre on June 24 when U. S. national Roy Taylor managed to commit suicide by shooting himself in the head while he was handcuffed following a police raid on his business, which was known as 'The Vault'.

    Insider Talking: May 31, 2003

    In a libel action at Grenada High Court, Grenada attorney Anselm B. Clouden has been awarded $2,500 in damages and $450 in costs against the First International Bank of Grenada and its one time CEO, Van A. Brink. The award

    Costa Rica: Luis Enrique Villalobos Camacho et al

    Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Costa Rica into Osvaldo Villalobos Camacho, Luis Enrique Villalobos Camacho and Freddy Villalobos Camacho for allegedly laundering the proceeds of narcotics trafficking by Bertrand Henri St-Onge, Sandra Kerwin St-Onge, Luc St-Onge, Richard Rivers and Norman Denault.

    Offshore fund head John Lipton arrested in Costa Rica

    A man who headed an offshore fund that collapsed last year amid allegations of impropriety has been arrested in Costa Rica and criminally charged with fraud. United States national John Sherman Lipton, who has homes in Costa Rica and California, was taken into custody in early May, according to a report in A. M. Costa Rica on May 14, 2003.

    Latin America Round-Up: April 30, 2003

    Latin America Round-Up: ARGENTINA: Election is no cause for celebration; BOLIVIA: Former manager of the Peasant Development Fund is imprisoned for embezzlement; CHILE: Beleaguered President Lagos barely surviving; COSTA RICA: Authorities seek foreign help in investigating investment schemes known as 'The Brothers' and Ofinter SA; REGIONAL: ChoicePoint information used to arrest illegal immigrants in the USA; MEXICO: Mexico becoming a heroin production center; PARAGUAY: Elections at a difficult time.

    Latin America Round-Up: March 31, 2003

    ARGENTINA: Investigator investigated; CHILE: A major financial scandal erupts; COSTA RICA: More controls for Costa Rica; GUATEMALA: USA resumes aid; Congress Chair in trouble for alleged corruption; MEXICO: The PRI fined; Divine bank accounts; NICARAGUA: Bolaños presents policy; PANAMA: Portillo's account in the open; REGIONAL: Eleven jurisdictions of "concern" in Latin America and the Caribbean; URUGUAY: Controversy! What controversy?; and VENEZUELA: Chavez under scrutiny.

    Ian Calvert Bleasdale arrested in Panama

    A fugitive investment fraudster was arrested and deported to Costa Rica after being tracked down in Panama by two of his victims on March 8, 2003, according to a report in The Tico Times newspaper. Ian Calvert Bleasdale, 62, a British-born, naturalized Canadian, will now stand trial on five counts of fraud, reported the newspaper on March 14.

    Client accuses European Federal Union Bank of fraud

    A current scam being carried out in the name of European Federal Union Bank may be a successor to a similar fraud perpetrated by the British Bank of Trade & Commerce, a.k.a. British Bank of Commerce. The principals of both businesses are Costa Rica-based John W. Haas and Andover Garcia, according to a representative of clients claiming to have been defrauded of approximately $130,000 by EFUB.

    ARM Trust principal accused of fraud by SEC

    A United States-based businessman set about cheating people he had defrauded once before while he was awaiting sentencing for the first crime, according to an SEC lawsuit. Frank Ray Johnson was convicted of fraud in 1999 after more than 9,000 investors were cheated out of millions of dollars in a scheme known as International Benevolent Fund Trust.

    Latin America Round-Up: December 31, 2002

    ARGENTINA: The long Argentinean "culebrón"; COLOMBIA: Life insurance as laundering instrument; COSTA RICA: Frauds unlimited; NICARAGUA: Lehman Brothers investigated; Money laundering surge; PANAMA: Fraudulent bankruptcies galore; and PERU: Lasnaud's "Montesinos" connection.

    Insider Talking: December 31, 2002

    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.

    Interpol seeks arrest of Costa Rica-based investment promoters

    Two businessmen who operated high yield investment programs in Costa Rica have been placed on Interpol's list of 'Wanted' fugitives.Costa Rican national Luis Enrique Villalobos Camacho, 62, is wanted for fraud and money laundering, while Luis Angel Milanes, 52, who has Cuban and United States citizenship, is wanted for fraud.

    Latin America Round-Up: November 30, 2002

    ARGENTINA Switzerland to investigate Menem's bank accountsSwiss judge Christine Junod will investigate whether beleaguered former president Carlos Menem had money in the country's banking system. Until now, Menem has escaped prosecution in spite of the fact that he has been

    Insider Talking: November 30, 2002

    The British Columbia Securities Commission has scheduled a hearing for December 10 11, 2002 to consider applications to vary asset freeze orders relating to accounts at the Bank of Montreal in Vancouver that were frozen in 2000 as part of

    Latin America Round-Up: October 31, 2002

    ARGENTINA The bankers' parade Michael Smith, of HSBC, declared before judge Claudio Bonadío that bribes were somewhat customary in Argentina. Smith—a British citizen who has been only months in the South American country—was testifying in a new case of alleged

    Insider Talking: October 31, 2002

    In the wake of action taken by Swiss authorities against the Zurich based Sovereign Finance Group, which is being investigated for money laundering involving Russia and the Caribbean, regulators in St. Vincent & the Grenadines are taking action against Sovereign

    Unlicensed Genesis Fund collapses amid fraud allegations

    An ordinary IBC in Nevis that operates as an unlicensed mutual fund has collapsed owing an estimated $50 million to approximately 1,100 shareholders.Approximately $100 million is believed to have gone into The Genesis Fund Ltd. but about half of it was repaid as interest payments, according to a client's representative.

    Latin America Round Up: September 30, 2002

    ARGENTINAMenem off the hook, for the moment Judge Julio Speroni concluded there is not enough evidence to indict former President Carlos Menem in the case of the illegal arms sale to Croatia and Ecuador. Judge Speroni added, though, that Menem

    Insider Talking: September 30, 2002

    The Imperial Consolidated fraud has taken a further turn for the bizarre with the distribution in September of several press releases, masquerading as news stories, by a newly incorporated British company called Matrix International (Management) Ltd., whose commercial address is

    Sovereign Risk writes policy in Costa Rica

    Sovereign Risk Insurance Ltd. has completed a political risk insurance policy for a capital markets transaction in Costa Rica. The policy was issued in support of a $49.7 million securitization of residential mortgage backed bonds, the first such securitization in

    Italy: Marco Bourelly

    Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Italy into Marco Bourelly and Fausto De Berardinis for alleged bank fraud.

    More criminal indictments in Evergreen Security investigation

    Two businessmen whose interests have included Bahamas investment firms and a Bermuda reinsurer have been criminally indicted in the United States for their alleged involvement in a massive investment fraud.Jon Knight, 56, and J. Anthony Huggins, 63, stole $6.5 million from an account at the Bank of Butterfield in the name of British Virgin Islands-registered Evergreen Security, according to the complaint.

    Costa Rica lets one foreign suspected fraudster escape and grants citizenship to another

    In the 'Corruptions Perceptions Index 2002' recently published by Transparency International, Costa Rica was perceived to be the 40th most corrupt of 102 countries reviewed.That might change, however, following two recent incidents in a country that has become a magnet for North American investment fraudsters fleeing criminal investigations in their home countries.

    Three convicted drug dealers own preferred shares in The Harris Organization

    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.

    Latin America Round-Up: July 31, 2002

    COSTA RICA: List of 15 alleged recipients of bribes causes outrage; ECUADOR: Finance Ministry's officials to be arrested; Arms trafficking and Corruption; EL SALVADOR: Investigation of a state company's sale; HONDURAS: INTERFINSA's founder arrested; Another "black list"; MEXICO: US Banker falls in Mexican crackdown; Mexicans take over cocaine business; NICARAGUA: Tangled money; PANAMA: Panama investigates illegal money linked to Nicaragua; PARAGUAY: Bancosur's executives convicted; and URUGUAY: Rohms' dealings in Uruguay; The downfall of "Uruguay's owners"; Banking system in bad shape.

    Luis Enrique Villalobos claims annual returns of 75% for 25 years, denies impropriety

    A 62-year-old Costa Rican businessman who enters into "private loan arrangements" with individuals who are promised annual returns of up to 39.3 per cent has refuted allegations of impropriety.Luis Enrique Villalobos Camacho told OffshoreAlert that he is able to pay such returns because he earns about 75 per cent per year from "buying and selling items such as property, cars and boats".

    Two new lawsuits filed in Evergreen Security bankruptcy

    Two new civil lawsuits have been filed against parties believed to have contributed to the collapse of Evergreen Security, an unlicensed 'mutual fund' that is believed to have defrauded investors of approximately $200 million.On July 9, 2002, Evergreen's Bankruptcy Trustee, Bill Cuthill Jr., announced he had sued Bahamas resident Greg A. White for an amount that could exceed $50 million.

    Bahamas resident sued for more than $50 million by Evergreen Security’s Bankruptcy Trustee

    A civil complaint has been filed against Bahamas resident Greg A. White as part of the investigation into Evergreen Security, whose principals defrauded its clients of more than $200 million.The action, which seeks to recover more than $50 million, was filed at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida, in Orlando, by Evergreen's Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Trustee, R. W. (Bill) Cuthill, Jr.

    Police raid offices of ‘The Brothers’

    Police investigating money laundering and drug trafficking have raided the offices of a Costa Rica-based money exchange operated by Luis Enrique Villalobos.The action has led to financial uncertainty for hundreds of foreigners who have collectively invested millions of dollars in a long-running high yield investment scheme operated by Villalobos and his brother, Oswaldo, who are known locally as 'The Brothers'.

    Latin America Round-Up: April 30, 2002

    ARGENTINA: Former minister Domingo Cavallo indicted, Argentinean justice investigates the "Banco Extrader" case; COLOMBIA: Most wanted thief, Wilson de Jesús Yepes Ardila, is arrested; COSTA RICA: Costa Rica elects Abel Pacheco as its new President; PANAMA: Panama becomes more transparent; Panama-based business operators Yardena Mizrahi Herbroni and her brother Eliahu Mizrahi convicted in New York; PERU: BBVA debacle has a Latin American connection; VENEZUELA: Chaos reigns.

    Four plead guilty to Evergreen Security charges

    Four men have agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges relating to the 'Evergreen Security' investment scam, which defrauded approximately $200 million from more than 2,000 investors.They are Thomas Spencer, 51; Robert W. Boyd, 55; and Martin W. Boelens Jr., 45, all of Orlando, Florida; and Anthony V. Micciche, 72, of Tampa, Florida.Spencer and Boyd are shareholders of Bahamas-based Surety Bank and Trust (in liquidation), which ended up with some of the proceeds from the fraud.