Accounting

Writ of Summons in Grant Thornton, of the Cayman Islands, as auditor of TCA Global Credit Fund, LP, TCA Global Credit Fund, Ltd., and TCA Global Credit Master Fund, LP v. Robert Press, Bernard Sumner, Bruce Wookey, William Fickling, Tara Antal, and TCA Management Group Corp., all with c/o addresses in Florida, USA, and Alyce Schreiber, of Florida, USA, at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.

Application by Valentina Mata González, Alejandra Mata González, and Maryan Carolina Mata González to take discovery from Prager Metis CPAs, LLC, Zomma Group Management, LLC, Asia Condominium Association, Inc., Ponte S. Trinita Corp., One Tequesta Point Condominium Association, Inc., William J. Segal, P.A., and Hilda Josefina Medrano for use in legal proceedings in Venezuela regarding the estate of Ricardo Mata Fernández (deceased), filed at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Writ of Summons in Global Fixed Income Fund I Limited v. Grant Thornton, of Dublin, Ireland, at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.

A £5 million asset freeze order has been entered in Gibraltar against local accountant Karel Manasco - who is currently involved with a crypto trading firm called BitQuin - following allegations that he misappropriated millions of pounds and euros from Mansion Gibraltar online gaming firm while serving as its CEO and CFO.

Bahamas-based Deltec Bank and Trust and its chairman, Jean Chalopin, are among 18 defendants being sued in Florida for allegedly "aiding and abetting" an alleged $8 billion fraud by Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX crypto group. Other defendants include Silvergate Bank, Signature Bank, and Moonstone Bank.

Class Action Complaint for allegedly "aiding and abetting" an alleged $8 billion fraud by Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX crypto group the defendants in Connor O'Keefe v. Sequoia Capital Operations LLC, Silvergate Bank, Signature Bank, Deltec Bank and Trust Company Limited, described as "an offshore bank licensed and operating in The Bahamas"; Farmington State Bank, d.b.a. Moonstone Bank; Jean Chalopin, described as "a banking executive domiciled in The Bahamas"; Thomas Bravo LP, Paradigm Operations LP, Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited, of Singapore; Softbank Vision Fund (AIV M2) L.P., Ribbit Capital, L.P., Altimeter Capital Management, LP, Multicoin Capital Management LLC, Tiger Global Management, LLC, Sino Global Capital Limited, of the Bahamas; Fenwick & West LLP, Prager Metis CPAs, LLC, and Armanino, LLP at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Judgment issuing a £5 million worldwide asset freeze order for alleged "serious misconduct" by Karel Manasco in Mansion (Gibraltar) Ltd. and Onisac Limited, which "are part of a wider group of companies (“the Mansion Group”) which together comprise and operate an online gaming enterprise known as “Mansion”" v. Karel Christian Manasco, described as "a qualified accountant and Fellow of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants" who served as Mansion Gibraltar's "Chief Executive Officer and de facto Chief Financial Officer", and KM Accountants Limited, of Gibraltar, at the Supreme Court of Gibraltar.

Class Action Complaint alleging crypto fraud involving FTX Group in Samuel Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, Zixiang Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, Armanino LLP, and Prager Metis CPAs LLC at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Class Action Complaint alleging "one of the great frauds in history" in Stephen Pierce v. Samuel Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, Zixiao Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, Armanino LLP, described as "an accounting and consulting firm that was engaged by the FTX Group to perform corporate audits", and Prager Metis CPAs LLC, described as "an accounting and consulting firm that was engaged by the FTX Group to perform corporate audits", at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Complaint alleging "insider trading by Defendant in the stock of four Ernst & Young LLP clients or prospective clients made while he was employed as an EY Business Development Director" in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michael Weiss at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Complaint alleging whistleblower retaliation in Sayantani Ghose, described as someone who "contributed enormously to Ernst & Young, LLP for 15 years, moved up the ranks to partner and became an internationally known expert in transfer pricing, only to have her career at EY end because she refused to sign off on transactions that she believed violated tax and securities laws" v. Ernst & Young LLP, described as a Delaware "audit firm" based in New York, at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Application for an order compelling compliance with an administrative subpoena for an investigation into "potential accounting fraud" in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Ignite International Brands Ltd., described as "a publicly-traded company that is based in Ontario, Canada", at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Director Details for Catalyst Fund Administration, obtained from the Cayman Islands General Registry on June 20th, 2022.

Complaint alleging "the false written and oral representations made by Crowe that caused Plaintiffs to invest tens of millions of dollars into a company whose supposed business was essentially a complete fiction with fictional revenues, fictional expenses and fictional assets", identified as Akazoo Limited, a.k.a. Old Akazoo, in Ursula Capital Partners LP v. Crowe UK LLP, a British accounting firm, at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

Ruling on a Review of Taxation in Robert Patraulea v. The Council of the Cayman Islands Institute of Professional Accountants at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.

Public Notice by the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority that it has disqualified Richard Ian Kissack, an accountant who was sentenced to 13 months in prison in September 2021 after he pleaded guilty to tax evasion in the Isle of Man.

Application by SPS Corp I - Fundo de Investimento em Direitos Creditórios Não Padronizados, described as "a Brazilian entity that purchased the IPI tax indemnification rights of 35 car dealerships in Brazil", to take discovery from General Motors Co., Deloitte & Touche LLP, and Ernst & Young LLP for use in "pending and contemplated Brazilian legal proceedings against GM’s wholly owned subsidiary, General Motors do Brasil LTDA., for monies that GM Brazil owes the Applicant in connection with a three-decade-long tax dispute between GM Brazil and the Brazilian federal government for tax credits paid by several GM car dealerships in Brazil", filed at the U. S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

Public Notice by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission that it has revoked the investment license of AFX Capital Markets Ltd. and imposed collective fines totaling €350,000 on two of its directors, Manuela Mazzacco and Andreas Lianos, who also received industry bans, and two of auditors, BDO Ltd. and Anthimos, Leonidou and Partners Ltd., for regulatory breaches.

British Virgin Islands-based corporate services provider Vistra and accountant Indervir Basra, who works for the group in California, are being sued in the United States regarding audits of DC Solar, which collapsed after swindling investors out of an estimated $1 billion. The audits were allegedly conducted by a group that Vistra acquired just seven months before DC Solar's headquarters was raided by the FBI in December, 2018.

Writ of Summons seeking damages of $17,500 alleging non-payment of "external audit services" in Cohen & Company International (Cayman) v. Ascapia Fund II at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.

Complaint alleging aiding and abetting fraud, concealment, and negligence regarding the auditing of "a multi-billion-dollar fraud" by DC Solar Funds and DC Solar Solutions in East West Bank, East West Bancorp Inc., Progressive Casualty Insurance Company, GEICO Corporation, The Sherwin-Williams Company, People's United Bank NA, People's United Financial Inc., Adhi-Solar LLC, DV VNB Community Renewables Fund LLC, DV VNB Community Renewables Fund III LLC, and Pardee Solar 1 LLC v. Vistra Group Holdings (BVI) Limited, of the British Virgin Islands; Vistra Group Holdings (BVI) I Limited, of the British Virgin Islands, and Indervir Basra, of California, at the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.

Complaint alleging fraud exceeding $55 million by a Trustee regarding the proceeds from the sale of Whole Health Management to Walgreens in Luxemburg Capital LLC, Michael Mears, as the Trustee of the James J. Hummer Family 2008 Dynasty Trust, Irrevocable Trust Agreement for the benefit of James Henry Moore Hummer, Irrevocable Trust Agreement for the benefit of Therese Moore Hummer, Irrevocable Trust Agreement for the benefit of Harlan Thomas Moore Hummer, and Irrevocable Trust Agreement for the benefit of Peter James Moore Hummer; James Henry Moore Hummer, Therese Moore Hummer, Harlan Thomas Moore Hummer, and Peter James Moore Hummer v. Terrence Fergus, described as a Certified Public Accountant; Fairway Sports Management LLC, d.b.a. FSM Capital Management LLC, and Thread Fin Investments LLC at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

Complaint alleging "a spectacular multi-year fraud" by Direct Lending Income Fund LP in Bradley D. Sharp, as the Permanent Receiver for the Estate of Direct Lending Income Fund LP v. EisnerAmper LLP at the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York.

Summons With Notice for damages of $24 million alleging malpractice and fraud involving Zayat Stables in MGG SF Drawdown Master Fund (Cayman) LP, MGG SF Drawdown Unlevered Fund LP, MGG SF Evergreen Master Fund (Cayman) LP, MGG SF Evergreen Unlevered Fund LP, MGG Insurance Fund Series Interests of the SALI Multi-Series Fund LP, MGG SF Evergreen Unlevered Master Fund II (Cayman) LP, and MGG Onshore Funding II LLC v. Leonard C. Green & Co. PA, d.b.a. The Green Group, which describes itself on its website as "an accounting, tax, consulting and advisory firm", at the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York.

Criminal Indictment alleging tax evasion involving companies or accounts in Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Russia, and Switzerland in USA v. Mark Gyetvay, the Chief Financial Officer of Russian gas producer Novatek who is apparently a citizen of Italy, Russia, and the United States, at the U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Application by Peace United Ltd., of England, to take discovery from 1906 Collins LLC, Mathieu Massa, Sabadell United Bank, HSBC Bank USA, Gero Evaul & McClockey, Fiske & Company, and Beilinson Gomez Architects PA for use in legal proceedings in France, filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Complaint for more than $7 billion "brought by two victims of Defendants' massive financial fraud surrounding NMC Health Plc and its related entities" that was "exposed when an investigative market research firm, Muddy Waters Research LLC, released a report questioning the integrity of NMC's audited financials" in Dr. Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty and Neopharma LLC v. Bank of Baroda, of New York; Credit Europe Bank NV, of the Netherlands; Ernst & Young Global Limited, of England; Ernst & Young EMEIA Limited, of England; Prasanth Manghat, Promoth Manghat, Suresh Kumar Vadakke Kootala, and Suresh Kumar Nandiraju, all of India, at the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York.

Administrative Order by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission imposing penalties on PLS, CPA, Chang G. Park, Joseph Yongyun Lee, and Juchi Lee, all accountants, for "improper professional conduct" involving, inter alia, Interactive Multi-Media Auction Corporation, described as "a British Virgin Islands corporation with its principal place of business in the United Kingdom" and "formerly headquartered in Hong Kong".

Public Statement by the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority that it has revoked the registration of Accounts For All Limited. Editor's Note: Research by OffshoreAlert in the Isle of Man Companies Registry showed that Accounts For All Limited was incorporated on September 15th, 2003 and, in its last annual report, for 2017, its directors and shareholders were identified as James John Murphy Forbes, a British accountant, and Angela Michelle Forbes, also British, both of the Isle of Man, the latter of whom resigned as a director effective May 8th, 2019.

SEC's Application for an order to show cause and an order requiring compliance with a subpoena "in connection with its formal investigation into potential violations of the federal securities laws by Back to Green Mining, LLC, a Puerto Rico company purporting to be investing in mining operations in Colombia, and its principals, representatives, and affiliates" in U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Carlos R. Irizarry Santiago, CPA, of Puerto Rico, at the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Public Notice by the Abu Dhabi Global Market Financial Services Regulatory Authority that it has imposed a fine of $5,000 on Crowe Mak LLP for regulatory breaches.

A year after Cayman Islands-based Circumference Group accused him of defrauding clients of his Luxembourg firm Coficom Trust, Nicholas Martin has applied to wind up Circumference's holding company, alleging it is involved in "misconduct".

Winding Up Petition in Nicholas James Martin, of Luxembourg v. Circumference Holdings Ltd., described as "a holding company and corporate parent for the Circumference Group, which is comprised of a number of holding and operating entities engaged in corporate, directorship, trust, fiduciary and accounting services primarily in the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg and The Netherlands", at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.

Public Notice by Singapore's Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority that it has issued a Public Censure to Chung Wan "for being convicted of an offense in the State Courts, in Singapore, of voluntarily causing hurt ... an offence implying a defect in character which makes him unfit for his profession".

Complaint alleging "accounting fraud" in Alger SICAV, Alger Small Cap Growth Institutional Fund, Alger Small Cap Growth Fund, Alger Small Cap Focus Fund, Alger Small Cap Focus Fund, Alger small Cap Growth Portfolio, Alger Weatherbie Specialized Growth Portfolio, Alger Weatherbie Specialized Growth Fund, Alger Dynamic Opportunities Fund, and Alger Dynamic Opportunities Fund, all of Luxembourg v. WageWorks Inc., Joseph L. Jackson, and Colm M. Callan at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Complaint "by more than 130 Plaintiffs who collectively invested over $103 million in Direct Lending Income Fund, L.P., a limited partnership managed and controlled by Direct Lending Investments, LLC and its owner and CEO, Brendan Ross" that "turned out to be a $789 million dollar Ponzi scheme" in Atkins Investment Partnership v. EisnerAmper LLP at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Amended Defense involving allegations of fraud in Northern and Western Insurance Company Limited (in Liquidation), of Nevis, represented by its Joint Liquidators, Keiran Hutchison, of the Cayman Islands, and Roy Bailey, of the British Virgin Islands v. BSG Valentine, an accounting firm in London, England, at the High Court of Justice for England and Wales.

Administrative Order by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission imposing a financial penalty of $1,589,926 on Mancera SC, described as "the Mexican member firm of Ernst & Young Global", and bans on accountants Alejandro Valdez Mendoza, CP and Angel Radames Corral Nieblas, CP, both citizens of Mexico, for regulatory breaches regarding Desarrolladora Homex, SAB de CV, which was described as a construction firm that "engaged in a massive fraudulent accounting scheme over at least a three-year period" and whose shares were listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange.

Writ of Summons in Platinum Partners Value Arbitrage Fund (in Official Liquidation) v. BDO USA LLP, of Chicago, Illinois, at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.

Ruling dismissing "BDO Cayman's application for leave to commence proceedings against Ardent for an injunction to restrain them from continuing the New York proceedings" in BDO Cayman Ltd. , of the Cayman Islands, and BDO Trinity Ltd. , of Trinidad and Tobago v. Ardent Harmony Fund Inc. (in Official Liquidation) at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.

Public Announcement by the Malta Financial Services Authority that it has suspended "the authorisation of Nexia BT to act as an approved auditor" for regulatory breaches. Editor's Note: Research by OffshoreAlert in the Malta Business Registry showed that Nexia BT is part of a group whose officers and directors include Brian Tonna, Manuel Castagna, and Karl Cini, all citizens of Malta.

Criminal Judgment imposing a fine of $500,000 for conspiracy to defraud the United States in USA v. Strachans SA (in Liquidation), of Jersey, in the Channel Islands, and Switzerland, at the U. S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Public Notice by the Malta Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit that it has imposed a fine of €58,952 on Chris Baldacchino & Associates, described as an "Auditor/Accountant/Corporate Service Provider", for regulatory breaches.

The liquidators of an offshore hedge fund and a "pass-through" tax vehicle that were part of the failed $1 billion U.S.-based Platinum Partners investment group have sued the Cayman Islands and New York operations of auditor BDO.

Writ of Summons in Platinum Partners Value Arbitrage Fund (International) Limited (in Official Liquidation) and Platinum Partners Value Arbitrage Intermediate Fund Ltd. (in Official Liquidation) v. BDO USA LLP, of New York; BDO Cayman Islands, and BDO Cayman Ltd., both of the Cayman Islands, at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.

Criminal Information alleging conspiracy to defraud the United States in USA v. Strachans SA (in Liquidation), described as "a Jersey-based accounting and financial services company that assisted U.S. taxpayer-clients and others in evading taxes through the use of offshore trusts and entities and offshore bank accounts" that later moved to Switzerland, at the U. S. District Court for the Central District of California. Editor's Note: In the Criminal Information, the USA stated that Strachans moved from Jersey to Switzerland in 1999 and, in 2009, "began doing business as Elston Management". Research by OffshoreAlert in the Swiss Commercial Registry showed that directors, past and present, of Elston Management SA have included Richard Jepson Egglishaw, a citizen of the United Kingdom residing in Monaco; Dino Ferro, a citizen of Italy; Rachel Laure Dupanloup, Henri Bressoud, and Dominique de Weck, of Switzerland.

Plea Agreement in USA v. Strachans SA (in Liquidation), described as "a Jersey-based accounting and financial services company that assisted U.S. taxpayer-clients and others in evading taxes through the use of offshore trusts and entities and offshore bank accounts" that later moved to Switzerland and "began doing business as Elston Management", at the U. S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Order by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board fining and revoking the registration of HLB Mann Judd and barring and fining Darryl Swindells and Aidan Smith, all of Australia, for violating "rules and auditing standards"

Approved Judgment of $11 million in favor of the plaintiff - a whistleblower - against his former employer, Ernst & Young, regarding a claim for negligence involving suspected money laundering by a client, Dubai-based precious metals dealer Kaloti Jewellery International DMCC, in Amjad Rihan v. Ernst & Young Global Limited, Ernst & Young Europe LLP, Ernst & Young (EMEIA) Services Limited, and EYGS LLP at the High Court of Justice, London.

Defense in Circumference Investments (Europe) Limited, of England; Circumference (Luxembourg) Sàrl, of Luxembourg, and Circumference Holdings Ltd., of the Cayman Islands v. Nicholas James Martin, of Luxembourg, at the High Court of Justice, England and Wales.