Grenada

Nearly three years after obtaining a default judgment for $44,143 against St. Kitts based offshore financial services provider M. Irvin BonCamper, MBNA America Bank NA has finally collected. Attorneys for MBNA acknowledged “full and complete satisfaction” of the judgment in

Criminal Indictment in USA v. Daniel Tepoel and Garry Milosevich at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.

The final two defendants in the criminal prosecution of five former officers and directors of the First International Bank of Grenada have pleaded guilty in the United States, thereby averting a trial into one of the most notorious offshore banking frauds in recent years.Douglas Christie Ferguson, 74, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and Laurent Barnabe, a 68-year-old Canadian national, pleaded guilty to two counts of money laundering at the U. S. District Court for the District of Oregon on March 19 and March 27, 2006, respectively. Ferguson's plea agreement carries a recommendation that he serve 52 months in prison, while Barnabe's recommended prison-term is six years.

The final defendant in the criminal prosecution of five former officers and directors of the First International Bank of Grenada has pleaded guilty in the United States. Laurent Barnabe, a 68-year-old Canadian national, pleaded guilty to two counts of money laundering at the U. S. District Court for the District of Oregon on March 27, 2006 - just seven days before the case was due to be tried. Barnabe's plea agreement includes a recommendation to the court that he be sentenced to six years in prison. Sentencing has been set for June 11, 2007.

The web-sites of two companies whose dubious activities have been highlighted in recent editions of OffshoreAlert have been dismantled over the last few weeks; On February 12, 2007, OffshoreAlert received an email from Kristen Lawson, a “Legislative Advisor” with Miller Thomson LLP, a law firm based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Telecommunications and cable television firms in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands have been dragged into a long-running legal dispute over the ownership of a $900,000 airplane that was damaged in Hurricane Ivan; Under Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, Grenada has become the poster country for corruption and banking fraud; OffshoreAlert recently learned that U. S. Bank N.A. obtained a default judgment for $21 million against British-based alleged fraudster Sendjer Shefket and his British firm Target International Funds Ltd. at federal court in the USA on May 24, 2006; Convicted white-collar criminals who believe they are punished too severely in the United States should be thankful they don't operate in China; and While the U. S. legal system does not yet offer death as a punishment for fraudsters, it is still less than hospitable for convicted white-collar criminals, as Martin A. Armstrong can attest to.

Two companies that at one time or another have been controlled by imprisoned offshore fraudster Terry Neal are plaintiff and defendant in litigation filed recently in the United States.One of them, Crowne Gold Inc., claims that the other, Nevis American Trust Company Ltd., was involved in a conspiracy to defraud it of at least US$2.5 million.

The Government of Grenada has become the latest impoverished nation to suffer the economic consequences of switching diplomatic allegiances from Taiwan to China. The Export-Import Bank of The Republic of China, a Taiwan-based, state-owned specialized bank for export and import credits, is seeking the recovery of $21.6 million, plus interest at $5,761 per day, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York regarding four loans that are in default.

Grenada authorities have turned down the offer of a video tape showing their Prime Minister receiving a $500,000 cash ‘bribe' from investment fraudster Eric Resteiner, OffshoreAlert can reveal.They were notified more than 12 months ago by Resteiner's attorney, John Amabile, that a copy of the six-year-old tape still existed and that it could be obtained through a formal request for assistance to the authorities in the United States, where Resteiner is in custody awaiting sentencing for seven counts of mail and wire fraud to which he pleaded guilty earlier this year at the U. S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

A 74 year old Colorado oilman who accused a Caribbean government minister of corruption in a recently filed civil complaint has been severely criticized by a judge in another case for using “odious tactics”.

The cold reality of life behind bars has persuaded former offshore banker Paul Morgan Jones to start turning over his assets to the Receiver of Cash 4 Titles, which perpetrated one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in history, operating from

Defendant's Sentencing Memorandum in USA v. Eric Resteiner at the U. S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

The Serious Fraud Office in the United Kingdom has asked for records from a United States bank that was allegedly used to launder the proceeds of investment fraud by insiders at a now defunct offshore banking and mutual fund group.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into Jared Brook, Lincoln Fraser and others for alleged investment fraud involving the Imperial Consolidated Group.

Criminal Indictment in USA v. Charles Nolon Bush at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

Two defendants face lengthy prison sentences after admitting their involvement in an investment fraud perpetrated by the First International Bank of Grenada.Robert Skirving and Rita Regale each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering regarding FIBG's fraudulent proceeds at the U. S. District Court for the District of Oregon on July 19, 2006.

Five former insiders in the Imperial Consolidated Group were today each charged with conspiracy to defraud in the United Kingdom. The defendants are Jared Bentley Brook, 36, of Manchester, England; Lincoln Julian Fraser, 35, of Brookenby, Lincolnshire, England; his brother, Nicholas Grant Fraser, 33, of Kirton Lindsey, Lincolnshire, England; William Godley, 58, of Almancil, Portugal; and Robert Statham Raven, 46, of Usk, Gwent, Wales.

The operator of a now defunct offshore bank faces up to five years in prison in the United States and a $250,000 fine after he admitted defrauding investors of up to $7 million in a high yield investment scam.Richard Henry

Judgment in a Criminal Case in USA v. Gary Bentz at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

Joint Sentencing Memorandum in USA v. Gary Bentz at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

Complaint in The Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China v. Grenada at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The former head of a sham offshore insurer has become the third defendant to plead guilty in a criminal case in the United States against former officers and directors of the First International Bank of Grenada. Douglas Christie Ferguson, 74, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering at a change of plea hearing at the U. S. District Court for the District of Oregon on March 19, 2007 just two weeks before his jury trial was set to begin.

An American who is suspected of bribing the Prime Minister of Grenada for appointing him to a diplomatic position has pleaded guilty to unrelated fraud charges in the United States.Eric Resteiner, 46, pleaded guilty to five counts of wire fraud and two counts of mail fraud at a change of plea hearing that was held at the U. S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on February 8, 2006. He is due to be sentenced on May 8. Under a plea agreement, the remaining 53 counts, including 18 regarding money laundering, which carry the harshest penalties, will be dismissed.

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.

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

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.

Liechtenstein-based offshore provider Bryan Jeeves and his Jeeves Group of Companies have been named as defendants in more civil lawsuits alleging racketeering that have been filed at federal courts in the United States regarding South Carolina-registered Derivium Capital LLC; Ex-Bahamas resident and former Grenada diplomat Eric Resteiner is unhappy with the way a criminal action against him is proceeding at the U. S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, where he is defending 42 counts of fraud and 18 counts of money laundering; and In a move that shames its counterparts in the United Kingdom, Japan and other countries in Europe and the Caribbean, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has reprimanded an investment broker and suspended its major shareholder and managing director for three years for “gross negligence” and “serious misconduct” in selling investment products connected with the Imperial Consolidated Group at a time when the group - which was based in the UK and Grenada- was widely known to be suspect.

An analysis of Operation 'Bermuda Short', including which defendants were convicted or acquitted and length of sentences. These defendants were Serdar Kalaycioglu, Martin Chambers, Anthony Damato, Kevan Garner, Walter Dorow, Bruce Bertman, Michael Reiter, Geoffrey Gazda, James Cary Parrish, Jeffrey Senger, Melvin Levine, Jerry Poole, Charles Cini, Lawrence Gallo, Bruce Cowen, Daniel Charboneau, Thomas Steinbach, Gordon Novak, Harold Joliffe, Howard Kerbel, Greg Balk, Barry Berman, Vincent Barone, Dax Ross, David Rich, George Doumanis, Michael Puorro, Blair Valentine, Ray Hutchison, Frank Dickey Jr., Daniel Bender, Paul Lemmon, Bruce Biddick, John Purdy, Ronaldo Horvat, Mark Valentine, Joseph Huard Jr., Cris Sagnelli, Michael Vlahovic, Douglas Rasberry, Richard Greene, Tim Rice, Ashley Sosner, Andrew Proctor, Marshall Klein, Mario Turcotte, Sheldon Mickelson, Richard Carson, Dennis Epstein, Kenneth Liebscher, Michael Hepburn, Charles Arnold, Les Price, James Kelly, Justyn Feldman, Robert Wilder, and Paul deRome.

The IRS has asked a U. S. federal court for permission to serve a “John Doe” summons on Internet money transfer firm PayPal Inc. as part of a clampdown on tax evasion using offshore credit and debit cards.“The records requested in the summons will identify the holders of bank accounts at, or payment cards issued by banks in, the listed jurisdictions, information which is not otherwise readily available to the Internal Revenue Service,” stated the IRS in its petition.

Bahamas resident and former Grenada diplomat Viktor Kozeny faces extradition to the United States after being criminally indicted for a second time in New York.Kozeny, 42, and co-defendants David Pinkerton, 44, who was in charge of American International Group's private equity group, and Frederic Bourke Jr., 59, a private investor, have been accused of participating in a scheme to bribe senior government officials in Azerbaijan from 1997 to 1999 so they could gain control of a state-owned oil company during privatization.

The High Court in the United Kingdom has issued an order freezing the world wide assets of Bill Godley, a former CEO with the Imperial Consolidated Group. It was entered on July 28, 2005 following an application by Imperial's administrators,

Indictment in USA v. Ian Anthony Scott and Bauduin Noel Antoon Hayen at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

Plea Agreement in USA v. Gary Bentz at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

Criminal Information in USA v. Gary Bentz at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

Yet another principal of a fraudulently-operated, Grenada-licensed offshore bank has received a prison-term for fraud in the United States.Carl H. Lane, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $1.058 million at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on June 29, 2005.

United States-based, British national Nigel Scott Grant has reared his head again, a few years after OffshoreAlert exposed his involvement in sham offshore credit unions, at least one of which was used to commit investment fraud; The U. S. District Court for the Central District of California has granted summary judgment in favor of the SEC and against a publicly-traded firm that was closely associated with a closed-end investment fund that was once listed on the Bermuda Stock Exchange; A Commission of Inquiry, which some people believe is a sham, has begun in Grenada regarding a bribery allegation against Keith Mitchell; Still in Grenada, telecommunications firm Cable & Wireless recently settled a libel action brought by sue-happy Keith Mitchell for allowing derogatory messages about him concerning the alleged Resteiner cash bribe to be posted on a web-site it hosted, reported the Associated Press on April 26, 2005; Bruce Cowen is sentenced to prison for his involvement in the fraudulently-operated Lancer Offshore group of hedge funds; The Isle of Man Financial Supervision Commission issues warnings against several businesses; and The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission have entered into an Undertaking on Exchange of Information in Securities Matters.

Please, EU - Newt was kidding!; Bahamas - Who's on $1.00 bill?; Dominica - What is going on?; the Netherlands Antilles; Structural Warnings for Offshore Business - Grenada & Belize.

Third Superseding Indictment in USA v. Gilbert A. Ziegler, a.k.a. Van A. Brink; Rita L. Regale, a.k.a. Rita Brunges; Douglas C. Ferguson, Robert J. Skirving, and Laurent E. Barnabe, a.k.a. Larry Barnabe, at the U. S. District Court for the District of Oregon.

Two more suspected fraudsters have been arrested in the United States in connection with the criminal activities of the First International Bank of Grenada group.Taansen Fairmont Sumeru, a.k.a. David Freeston, of Santa Barbara, California, and JeRu Harold Hall, a.k.a. Jerome

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Grenada into Cecile de Lisle Barker for alleged fraud and money laundering regarding accounts maintained by E-Cafe Ltd., Micro Systems Ltd. and Grenada Development Company Inc. at Capital Bank International.

The Eastern Caribbean's Judicial and Legal Services Commission has rejected the Government of Grenada's nomination of Hugh Wildman as Attorney General. The decision, announced on March 1, 2005, follows a concerted effort by Grenada's legal community to block the appointment of Wildman, whom they believe is unsuitable for such an important position.

Former Bahamas resident and Grenada diplomat Eric Resteiner is considering entering into a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in Boston, where he has been indicted for alleged investment fraud. Details of a possible deal were contained in a joint filing by the U. S. Attorney's Office and Resteiner's counsel at the U. S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on December 2, 2004.

A sixth person has been arrested in the United Kingdom as part of an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into the Imperial Consolidated Group, which collapsed in 2002 owing approximately $400 million. Robert Statham Raven, a 44-year-old British national believed to reside in continental Europe, was arrested on Christmas Eve in Monmouthshire, Wales, where he was apparently spending the holidays.

Government's Response to Defendant's Motion for Release in USA v. Gilbert A. Ziegler at the U. S. District Court for the District of Oregon.

Total Systems Services Inc. has become the latest third party credit card processor to be ordered to turn over client records to the IRS as part of its offshore tax evasion investigation. An order allowing the IRS to serve a

A look at the pros and cons of the Caribbean Court of Justice.

A criminal indictment in the United States against offshore provider Raymond David Finzer has been dismissed more than four years after it was returned.The 33-count indictment for mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering was dismissed with prejudice on July 14, 2004 at the US District Court for the District of Utah, meaning it can never be re-filed.

A Florida-based firm with client-banks in Belize and Grenada has been targeted in the latest court action in the United States as part of an IRS investigation into tax evasion using offshore structures.An order granting an IRS petition to serve a "John Doe" summons on TecniCard Inc., of Coral Way, Miami, was granted by the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on August 5, 2004.

The world's largest processor of credit card payments has been ordered by a United States court to assist the IRS in its investigation into tax evasion using offshore accounts.First Data Corp. must turn over information about transactions by holders of American Express, Visa and MasterCard credit cards that were issued by or on behalf of certain offshore financial institutions.

The Bahamas, St. Kitts & Nevis, Dominica, Grenada, FATF/OECD, ECCB  Nations, Offshore Gaming, and Newt's right - again.

A $6.4 million default judgment in the United States against offshore investment firm Lines Overseas Management Ltd. and an offshore brokerage arm of the Royal Bank of Canada appears to be legally defective.Research by OffshoreAlert indicates that the summonses against LOM and RBC Dominion Securities were served improperly in December, 2001, meaning that the judgment, that was entered on July 1, 2004, should be dismissed if challenged.