Banks & Trusts

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into Marcos Marcelino De Oliveira, Jose Samuel Benzecry,Ourvoida Serruya Benzecry, Leonardo Dias Mendonca and others for suspected money laundering, smuggling, foreign currency evasion, and tax evasion.

A Spanish court has issued an order that allows an international arms dealer and a related firm to freeze $8.5 million of assets belonging to the Imperial Consolidated Group. The order was issued on March 8, 2002 by the Court of the First Instance, in Marbella against Imperial Consolidated Inc., of Delaware; Imperium Bank, of Grenada; and Consolidated Mining Corporation Inc., of the Bahamas.

A telemarketing scam has caused a potential gross loss of approximately $5.3 million for the Bank of Bermuda, which provided credit card processing services to the crooks believing their business to be clean. The liability was incurred when victims of the scam began doing charge-backs, leaving the bank, as card processor, ultimately responsible for losses.

A Receiver has been appointed for St. Vincent & the Grenadines-licensed Mariner International Bank Ltd. following a court application from a creditor claiming to be owed US$818,379. The local High Court appointed chartered accountant Linton A. Lewis as Receiver of MIB on March 15, 2002. Lewis is a former head of the Offshore Finance Authority in St. Vincent.

A Venezuelan businessman who was CEO of Dominica-based British Trade and Commerce Bank before it was forced into Receivership has been charged with money laundering in the United States. Rodolfo A. Requena, 51, was arrested on November 13, 2001 after a sealed complaint was filed against him eight days earlier at the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, in Miami.

Recently-unsealed court documents have thrown up allegations of money laundering and "unsafe banking practices" that led to the forced closure in January of Miami-based Hamilton Bank, which provided correspondent services to many offshore banks. This activity included receiving deposits of approximately $1.9 billion per year via courier from Latin American countries without conducting any checks as to its legitimacy, it has been alleged.

The Provisional Liquidator of Bahamas-based Suisse Security Bank and Trust has taken steps to recover approximately $13 million of the bank's assets held in the United States. Raymond Winder filed a petition at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on February 22, 2002.

The Bank of Bermuda has announced plans to drastically cut back on its operations in the Cayman Islands. The bank is moving much of its Cayman business to its headquarters in Bermuda and intends to slash its workforce in Cayman from 50 to approximately eight people.

The Bank of Bermuda today announced plans to drastically cut back on its operations in the Cayman Islands. The bank is moving much of its Cayman business to its headquarters in Bermuda and intends to slash its workforce in Cayman from 50 to approximately eight people.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the Slovak Republic into Henry Pregmar for alleged check forgery.

It has been brought to OffshoreAlert's attention that funds are being solicited from the public in the name of Bancommerce Ltd., whose literature creates the impression that it is licensed in St. Lucia. A client of this business, who claims it has defrauded him of $20,000 through a product called an "Instruction of Invoice", is currently taking steps to try to recover his money.

Following the convictions of William Abraczinskas and Malcolm West for money laundering only three months after their arrest, five more offshore bankers who were indicted in the same month must wait to see how the cases against them develop. Julien Giraud, of Dominica; Brian Boeger, of the United States; Richard F. Downes and Pamela Butson, who live in Spain; and Thierry Nano, formerly of St. Vincent & The Grenadines, all still have cases pending.

A banking consultant whose firm is under contract with the Montana Department of Commerce to vet applicants for its Foreign Capital Depository Program has been convicted of money laundering. William Joseph Abraczinskas, 38, was found guilty of one count of money laundering and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, in Miami, on February 13.

Section 304 Petition for Assistance in Insolvency Proceedings in the Bahamas by Raymond Winder, as the Foreign Representative of Suisse Security Bank and Trust Ltd., at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Liechtenstein into Christos N. Lialioutis and Harald Buhler for alleged fraud.

Plea Agreement in USA v. Leo Malcolm West at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Letter to the Editor of OffshoreAlert from Richard Ferrett, Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, Bank of Butterfield.

Grenada-licensed VistaBank Ltd. and its President, Carl H. Lane, have been named as defendants in three separate lawsuits field recently in the United States. In two of the actions, the plaintiffs have alleged fraud against the bank, while the other complaint accuses Lane of ignoring an order to stop operating the bank from Atlanta, Georgia without a license.

Verlin D. Swartzendruber, 58, has joined the growing band of Americans who have obtained Grenada passports under second names and started raising funds from the island with the lure of high returns. Under his new name of Joseph Severin, Swartzendruber runs Grenada-registered Preferred Trust and Management Ltd, which raises money through continuous stock offering in various companies it manages.

A threatened winding-up application against Overseas Development Bank & Trust, of Dominica, had still not been filed by December 31, 2001.

Part of the estimated $5.5 million allegedly looted from the First Cayman Bank/Gulf Union Bank group in 1997 went to satisfy a $1.75 million fraud judgment in the United States, according to the liquidators.The fraud had been committed by Sheikh Abdus Shimmy Qureshi and his now defunct Florida firm Escue Management Inc., it was alleged.

A principal of two offshore banks has told OffshoreAlert that he no longer has anything to do with the Dominion of Melchizedek, despite his name appearing on literature associated with the fake nation.Peter Drakoulakos, who heads Euro Credit Bank A.D., of Montenegro, and Euro Caribbean Bank Ltd., of Grenada, was once listed as the South American "Ambassador" for Melchizedek on its web-site.

First Swedish Savings, formerly known as First Baltic Savings, is being investigated by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen).First Swedish maintains identical web-sites at www.firstswedish.com and www.firstbaltic.com where, inter alia, it promotes an "offshore hedge fund" called Athena Growth Fund, which, apparently, is "a registered trademark and dba of (sic) Direct Trading Partners (Nevis) LLC".

A civil lawsuit filed by Leon Denning against his former Cayman Islands-based banker, John Mathewson, has been moved from Denning's home state of Illinois to Texas, where Mathewson resides.

New Bank Ltd., which was operated in St. Vincent by the Nano family, has featured in a criminal investigation in Austria, according to documents filed in a Florida court.Details of the matter are contained in an application to collect evidence - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Austria - that was filed at the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida on November 14, 2000.

A United States firm has been forming IBCs in Panama and selling them to North Americans at a huge mark-up on the basis that they are "financial institutions", OffshoreAlert can reveal.At least five of the IBCs are currently offering investment products and services from web-sites hosted in Montana or the Bahamas even though none holds a license.

The new Anti Terrorism Bill that has been passed into law in the United States will make it more difficult for offshore entities to operate bank accounts in the U.S.Under the new law, all U.S. financial institutions must establish anti

Panama's Superintendency of Banks and the National Securities Commission have taken control of Banco DISA and DISA Securities, respectively, reported The Panama News (www.thepanamanews.com). DISA Securities is the holding company that owns the shares of Banco DISA, with businessman and

Suisse Security Bank and Trust chairman Mohamad Harajchi and the bank's CEO, Christopher Lunn, filed a civil complaint against Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham in October, alleging that Ingraham defamed them in a public speech that he gave in Nassau.

An application may be made to wind up Dominica based Overseas Development Bank & Trust in the first week of December if it does not honor a demand for payment from a creditor, we have been told.Attorney Michael Bruney told

A claim by St Vincent &the Grenadines that it is serious about combating financial crime was dealt a blow on November 22 when it allowed suspected money launderer Thierry Nano to avoid an arrest warrant.Nano flew from the island on

A client of financial services provider Marc Harris has confirmed to OffshoreAlert that he is taking legal action in Panama in an attempt to recover an investment of approximately $1 million.An article was published in La Prensa newspaper in November

A fund manager whose interests have included a Bermuda reinsurer and a Bahamas bank is being sued for $8.5 million by the Bankruptcy Trustee of a fraudulently run offshore investment firm.Defendants are Atlantic Portfolio Analytics and Management Inc., a.k.a. APAM

Canadian businessman Scott Turner, who is subject to an arrest warrant in the Turks & Caicos Islands for suspected fraud, has issued a letter attacking other members of his failed stockbroker Atlas Securities Inc.Nowhere in the five page letter, which

Four offshore bankers were arrested by United States law enforcement agencies in November and charged with money laundering.Two more have also been charged with money laundering but are still at large after warrants were issued but not executed.Those arrested were

Bahamas-based Americas International Bank Corporation Ltd. is insolvent and was used primarily as "a vehicle to launder funds" received from investment fraud, according to its liquidator.Accountant Clifford Culmer painted a bleak picture of the bank's activities in an affidavit filed with the Bahamas Supreme Court on November 19, 2001.

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.

Indictment in USA v. Julien Giraud and Brian Boeger at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Indictment in USA v. William Abraczinskas and Leo Malcolm West at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Criminal Complaint in USA v. William Abraczinskas at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Originating Summons in First Cayman Bank Ltd. (in Liquidation) v. The Attorney General of the Cayman Islands and Eurobank Corporation at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.

The Imperial Consolidated Group has changed its corporate structure for the second time in nine months.Changes include its British-based holding firm, Imperial Consolidated PLC, re-registering from public to private status three days before its year-end of September 30, 2001.

A Nauru-licensed bank that is operated from Nevis was used to launder most of the more than $30 million in profits from a fraudulent stock trading ring, it has been alleged.Exchange Bank and Trust, which is operated by Terry Neal's Nevis American Trust Co., has been named as a relief defendant in three of four related lawsuits filed by the SEC in the United States.

 The settlement between the Bank of Bermuda and victims of the Cayman-based Ponzi scheme known as Cash 4 Titles has received approval of the United States courts."On Friday 12 October 2001, the court gave final approval to the settlement of the Illinois and Florida Cash 4 Titles litigation," stated the Bank in a press release.

Americas International Bank Corporation Ltd. has become the latest Bahamas-based private bank to stop operating.AIBC's shareholders passed a special resolution on October 11, 2001 that the bank, which was licensed on September 23, 1994, should go into voluntary liquidation.

Americas International Bank Corporation Ltd. has become the latest Bahamas-based private bank to stop operating.AIBC passed a special resolution on October 13, 2001 that the bank should go into voluntary liquidation.

How concerned is the Financial Times newspaper about being used to facilitate fraud? Not enough to stop publishing bogus valuations for the Cayman Islands domiciled Aristocrat Endeavor Fund. The FT is continuing to accept and publish sham Net Asset Values

The SEC is seeking to have a former principal of a Grenada based offshore bank held in contempt of court in the United States for allegedly breaching an asset freeze order.Gary Joel Bentz, who helped run Wellington Bank and Trust,

Meridian Investment Bank, whose principals include a plumber and an officer with the Canadian Space Agency, has become the latest bank in Grenada to have its license revoked amid allegations of fraud.MIB's banking license was revoked effective September 4, 2001

Nevis Trust Ltd. and Nevis resident Gillian Hobson are among several parties being sued for $9.6 million by the former owner of a Nauru registered bank who was recently imprisoned for fraud. A civil complaint was filed by Michael D.