United Kingdom

Approved Judgment in Gillian Mary Payne vs. Cottage Hills LLC at the London High Court, Chancery Division.

Complaint in USA vs. Bank of Cyprus Plc at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Two subsidiaries of Bermuda-based insurers have been named as “co-conspirators” of reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter in an alleged billion-dollar, price-fixing scheme that Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal claims “illegally inflated insurance costs for insurance companies and consumers nationwide”.Details are contained in a civil complaint filed by the State of Connecticut at the Superior Court for the Judicial District of Hartford, Connecticut on October 4, 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.

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

Giant meat processor Tyson Foods, Inc. is seeking damages of more than $113 million in litigation and arbitrations against insurers in Bermuda and elsewhere for alleged property damage and business interruption losses caused by Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005.Details

Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in the Cayman Islands by Hugh Dickson, Stephen Akers, and Paul Billingham, as the Foreign Representatives of Basis Yield Alpha Fund (Master), at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

A bank and seven investment funds all domiciled in Caribbean countries are among the 20 largest unsecured creditors of a U. S.-based cash management firm that has filed for bankruptcy in Chicago.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Ukraine - for a criminal investigation arising from the publication over the internet of a transcript of a private telephone conversation between the Head of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Ambassador to the Ukraine from Great Britain.

In a recently-filed, colorfully-worded court document that often reads like it could have been written by the man himself, rather than the attorney whose name appears as the author, it is aggressively denied that Stirling Cooke Brown Holdings co-founder Nicholas Mark Cooke was involved in any financial improprieties or had any meaningful role in the group's collapse.

Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in the United Kingdom by Jan Endresen, as the Foreign Representative of Oslo Reinsurance Company ASA and Oslo Reinsurance Company (UK) Limited, at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

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.

Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in the United Kingdom by Philip Heitlinger, as the Foreign Representative of AXA Insurance UK Plc, Ecclesiastical Insurance Office Plc, GLOBAL General and Reinsurance Company Limited, and MMA IARD Assurances Mutuelles, at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Findings of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in  The Law Society v. Timothy Schools, dated July 5, 2007.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for an attempt to seize the proceeds of crime - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from the United Kingdom - that was filed at federal court in the USA on May 17, 2007. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Hiten Patel, Hanasa Patel, Shashikant Patel, Tejal Hiten Kumar Patel, Alpa Patel, Bhavna Patel, Nikul Patel, Tarun Rajnikant Patel, Visa Services Inc., Dawson County Bank, Century South Bank of Dawsonville, United Community Bank, and HSBC Bank.

Condor Insurance Ltd. went into liquidation at the High Court of St. Kitts and Nevis on May 18 following a petition by New York Stock Exchange-listed Infineon Technologies AG, which is registered in Germany.Richard Fogerty, of Kroll (Cayman) Limited, and William Tycon, of Kroll (BVI) Limited, were appointed joint official liquidators. Another creditor, Pro Med Reinsurance Limited, which, like Condor, is incorporated in Nevis, was granted permission to appear in the liquidation.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged securities fraud - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from the United Kingdom - that was filed at federal court on May 1, 2007. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Gordon O'Donnell, Nicholas Westin, Heritage Mergers and Acquisitions Ltd., Edos Inc., Bank of America, First Liberty Clearing LLC, Bank of Cyprus, TA Holdings Corporation, and Crown Noble TA, a.k.a. Crowne Noble TA.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged theft - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from the United Kingdom - that was filed at federal court in the USA on April 19, 2007. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Andrejs Polujanovs, Lloyds TSB Bank, and Cox Communications.

British gaming firm BETonSPORTS Plc has pleaded guilty to a federal racketeering charge in the United States, prosecutors announced yesterday.Under a plea agreement, BETonSPORTS will receive leniency in return for helping with the criminal prosecution of 14 co defendants, who

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into Hiten Patel and family members for alleged money laundering.

Two Bermuda based protection and indemnity clubs have been named as defendants in unrelated civil complaint that were filed recently in the United States.In the first action, Constantin Chirita is suing The United Kingdom Steam Ship Assurance Association (Bermuda) Ltd.,

Several offshore-based parties have been named as defendants in two new civil lawsuits that were filed recently by alleged victims of what they claim was a $1 billion Ponzi scheme. They include legal entities and individuals based in Gibraltar, Hong Kong, the Isle of Man, Liechtenstein, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and the United Kingdom.

Ex Parte Motion by USA to dismiss securities fraud indictment against Marshall Ronald at the U. S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into an alleged fraud perpetrated by Nicholas Westin against Gordon O'Donnell.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom code-named Operation Humanity.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Poland into alleged money laundering involving Poalim Trust Services Ltd., Media Trust SpA and Prokom Investment SpA.

Letter From Law Offices of Jack B. Swerling to Sendjer Shefket.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged phone and credit card fraud - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from the United Kingdom - that was filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on March 7, 2007. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Dariusz Zyla, a.k.a. Sebastian Wrobel, Adam Zemierowski, a.k.a. Roman Zykin, a.k.a. Jaroslaw Drozdowski, a.k.a. Pedro Dadi; Malgorzata Zykin, Krzysztof Rogalski, Hannes Pajusalu, a.k.a. Max Porter; Tiia Pajusalu, Bogdan Pozniak, Andrei Kouterov, also spelt Andrey Kutepov; Sergey Blashchuk, Anastasia Bezushko, Halina Pozniak, Dmitry Zaliznyak, Sergey Kibalnikov, Yana Salikhzhanova, Goldstyle OU, Guarantee Agency Inc., Toom Toomas, Cassel Management Ltd., Loyal Bank, Meelis Ismael, Meelis Laugasson, Arduno OU, Andrew Ittleman, and E-Gold.

KPMG (Vanuatu) is among several defendants who are being sued for $45 million in damages by the Receiver of a failed viaticals company that was allegedly operated as a Ponzi scheme.The lawsuit was filed by Michael J. Quilling, as Receiver for ABC Viaticals Inc. and related parties, at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on March 6, 2007.The defendants are International Fidelity & Surety Limited and International Consultants & Management Ltd., both “allegedly” incorporated in Vanuatu, sharing the same registered agent of Trusco Holdings Limited, at Hawkes Law House, Rue Pasteur, Port Vila, Vanuatu; Surety Marketing Source LLC, incorporated in Michigan; KPMG (Vanuatu), a partnership organized in Vanuatu; Hawkes Law, a Vanuatu accounting firm which has a correspondent relationship with KPMG; KPMG International, organized in Switzerland; Boswell Dermott & Pawlett LLP, formed in the United Kingdom; Mohan & Associates, incorporated in India; David A. Goldenberg, a resident of Michigan; DAG Investments LLC, incorporated in Michigan; LPG Investments LLC, incorporated in Michigan; WED Marketing LLC, incorporated in Michigan; Galax Holdings Ltd., based in the United Kingdom; Mark Wolok, a resident of Michigan; Linda Wolok, a resident of Michigan; and Arie Kotler, a resident of Manhattan, NY.

Motion to Dismiss and Order of Dismissal in USA v. Sendjer Shefket at the U. S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.

Police in the United Kingdom have raided at least three premises as part of a criminal investigation into a group whose insiders include some of the most notorious offshore fraudsters of recent years.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Italy into Antonio Ferreri and others for alleged tax evasion, communications fraud, securities violations and money laundering.

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.

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.

Nine people have been indicted for fraud in the United States regarding an investment scheme that was perpetrated through a Bahamas shell company. The indictment was brought at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia on February 28, 2007 against Shinder Singh Gangar, 45, a United Kingdom national residing in England; Alan White, 48, a U.K. national residing in England; Birgit Mechlenburg, a.k.a. Gitte Mechlenburg, a resident of Massachusetts; Kenneth Mason, a U. S. national residing in Chicago, Illinois; Michael Hardesty, a U. S. national residing in Utah; Mark Smyth, a U. S. national residing in California; Gregory Smyth, 56, a U. S. national residing in California; Mary Dowdell, 49, a U. S. national residing in Charlottesville, Virginia and wife of Terry L. Dowdell, who is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to related fraud charges in June, 2004; and Rebecca Dowdell, 30, the daughter of Terry Dowdell and a U. S. national residing in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Trinidad and Tobago into three former members of the National Lotteries Control Board regarding an agreement between NLCB and G-TECH Corp.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged theft by Dariusz Zyla and others.

Criminal Indictment in USA v. Christopher Harold Tappin, Robert Frederick Gibson, and Robert Thomas Caldwell at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Arrest Warrant in USA v. Christopher Harold Tappin at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Criminal Complaint in USA v. Christopher Harold Tappin and Robert Caldwell at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

The Serious Fraud Office in the United Kingdom has started a criminal investigation into the collapse of British litigation funding firm Invaro Ltd., according to two sources. Invaro went into liquidation in June, 2004 - shortly after being exposed by OffshoreAlert - and is insolvent by approximately $145 million, according to its liquidators, Tony Murphy, Henry Shinners and Robert Horton, of British accounting firm Smith & Williamson.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into John Howarth, Roy Harris, and John Phipps for alleged fraud.

United States-based retail giant Sears is suing insurers in Bermuda and elsewhere for allegedly frustrating the processing and payment of “enormous” claims stemming from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Sears Holdings Corporation, a Delaware corporation based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, filed a civil complaint at the Circuit Court of Harrison County, Mississippi Second Judicial Court on August 25, 2006, with the case being transferred to the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi on December 18, 2006.

The departure from the country's top job of the hapless Alex Scott appears to have taken Independence from the UK off the agenda. Mr. Scott's replacement, Dr. Ewart Brown, has said that, while Independence remains one of his long-term goals, it will not feature high on his to-do list. But our new leader, who admitted he lied to the voters at the last general election for their own good, may not be telling the whole truth. In the first few weeks of his Premiership, Dr. Brown has begun a campaign of destabilising our Governor, the local representative of Her Majesty the Queen.

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.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged child pornography - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from the United Kingdom - that was filed at federal court in the USA on November 7, 2006. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance Operation Glume, Operation Ore, Trevor William Rowell, Wendy Ruth Rowell, Jamie Moses, Citibank International, El Dorado Sales, Inc., Jerry Reynolds, Xcite NCT Inc., CCBill, AC Pay, and Thomas Kiser.

The legal version of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean' is being played out in a Florida court case involving a Bahamas studio where scenes from two movies of the same name were shot. Among the cast of characters is a Bermuda Stock Exchange-listed company, a British Virgin Islands shell company that operates as an “underwriting” vehicle; a dubious Nevis-based insurer that is facing liquidation in a separate, unrelated action; and a Florida attorney who is currently suspended from practicing law for allegedly misappropriating client funds.

A 51 year old German national misappropriated approximately 4.6 million Euros (US$5.86 million) in an investment scam, it has been alleged.Details are contained in an application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence - pursuant to a request

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into Trevor William Rowell, Wendy Ruth Rowell and Jamie Moses for alleged distribution of child pornography.