Government & Politicians

Criminal Complaint alleging visa fraud, making false statements to the FBI, and acting illegally as a foreign agent of Russia in USA v. Elena Branson, a.k.a. Elena Chernykh, a dual citizen of Russia and the USA, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Notice of Ukraine's Motion to Quash or Modify Third-Party Subpoenas served on 52 financial institutions, claiming that "in the context of Russia’s imminently threatened invasion of Ukraine, a Russian oil company with close ties to the Russian government should not be permitted to use discovery in aid of a judgment as a pretext for demanding sensitive information bearing on Ukraine’s military, national security, and monetary stability" in Ukraine v. PAO Tatneft at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Complaint for damages of $10 million alleging breach of contract and unjust enrichment in Preble-Rish Haiti SA v. Republic of Haiti and Bureau de Monétisation des Programmes d'Aide au Développement at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Mongolia's former Prime Minister Sükhbaataryn Batbold, his son, Battushig Batbold, and entities in the British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, Mongolia, South Korea, and Switzerland are being sued in the BVI for alleged corruption.

Petition to Enforce Arbitration Award in the amount of $55.6 million, plus interest of $9.4 million and costs of £2.5 million, in Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd., of China v. Republic of Nigeria at the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Petition to Recognize Arbitration Award in Republic of Guatemala v. IC Power Asia Development Ltd., of Israel, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Complaint "to recognize and enforce the judgment of the High Court of Zambia ... in favor of Plaintiffs and against Defendants Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation and the Chief Mining Commissioner, Ministry of Mines of Zimbabwe" in Amaplat Mauritius Ltd. and Amari Nickel Holdings Zimbabwe Ltd., both of Mauritius v. Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation, The Chief Mining Commissioner, Ministry of Mines of Zimbabwe, and the Republic of Zimbabwe at the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Judgment regarding "whether the Integrity Commission of the Turks and Caicos Islands has the power under section 20 of the Integrity Commission Ordinance to issue a summons to a third party requiring them to produce documents as part of an informal investigation, or whether that power can be exercised only in connection with a formal inquiry under section 46 of the Ordinance" in the Integrity Commission of the Turks and Caicos Islands v. Anthony Kikivarakis, as Official Liquidator of TCI Bank Ltd. (in Liquidation), at the Privy Council for the United Kingdom.

Complaint for "the principal amount of $14,200,000, plus all unpaid interest" alleging debt default in Glacial Capital LLC and TRSE Holdings LLC, both of Delaware v. The Province of Buenos Aires at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Petition to Enforce Arbitral Award of €26.5 million in AES Solar Energy Coöperatief U.A. and Ampere Equity Fund B.V., both of the Netherlands v. The Kingdom of Spain at the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Petition to Enforce Arbitral Award of €28 million in RWE Renewables GmbH, of Germany, and RWE Renewables Iberia S.A.U., of Spain v. Kingdom of Spain at the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

As part of what its lawyers claim "could become the largest international asset recovery effort of all time", Libya has applied to take discovery from eight major banks in its hunt for an estimated $100 billion allegedly misappropriated by former leader Muammar Gaddafi. The effort is being led by lawyers Oren Warshavsky, of BakerHostetler, and Warren Gluck, of Holland & Knight.

Application by the Libyan Asset Recovery and Management Office to take discovery from Bank of America N.A., Citigroup Inc. d.b.a. Citibank; JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., UBS Group A.G., HSBC Bank, Credit Suisse Bank N.A., Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, and Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas for use in foreign legal proceedings regarding "tens of billions of dollars stolen by Muammar Muhammed Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi over the course of his 32-year dictatorship", filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Petition to enforce Atbitration Award in Oriental Republic of Uruguay v. Italba Corporation at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Judgment regarding Defendants' strike out applications in Kuwait Ports Authority and The Public Institution for Social Security, described as "Kuwaiti state-owned enterprises" v. Port Link GP Ltd., of the Cayman Islands; Mark Eric Williams, of the USA; Wellspring Capital Group Inc., of the USA, and KGL Investment Company Asia, of the Cayman Islands, at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.

Complaint in 111Repair LLC, of Florida v. El Consorcio Venezolano de Industrias Aeronauticas y Servicios Aereos SA, a.k.a. CONVIASA, described as "an airline that is owned and operated by the Venezuelan government", at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Complaint seeking the removal of the plaintiff from OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List in Norbert Basengezi Katintima, a citizen and resident of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and "formerly the Vice President to the National Independent Electoral Commission of the Democratic Republic of the Congo" v. Bradley T. Smith and the U. S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control at the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Complaint for damages of $9.9 million alleging the default of Notes in Lebanese Company for Financial Investment SAL, of the Lebanon v. Córporación Eléctrica Nacional, as successor by merger to C.A. La Electricidad de Caracas, a.k.a. Corpoelec, described as being "owned 75% by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (the “Republic”) and 25% by Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (“PDVSA”), which is, in turn, majority owned by the Republic", at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Registration of a judgment for $968 million in Rusoro Mining Limited, of Canada v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela at the U. S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

Petition to Confirm and Enforce Arbitral Award in Hidroeléctrica Santa Rita SA, of Guatemala v. Corporación AIC SA, of Guatemala, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Complaint seeking damages of $10.6 million for "the unlawful takings and retakings of certain properties belonging to Plaintiffs in Ethiopia in violation of international law" in Fremichael Ghebreyesus, individually and as Trustee of the Estate of Ghebreyesus Ghebrelul Fremichael, deceased; and Simret Zerai Yohannes, a.k.a. Semret Zereyohans Keleb v. the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, the City of Addis Ababa, the Sub-City of Bole, Addis Ababa; the Federal First Instance Court of Ethiopia, and Brook Bekele Beshah, of Las Vegas, Nevada,, at the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Complaint "to collect his unpaid federal penalty assessments and interest related to his financial interests in foreign bank accounts" in USA v. Vladimir Mrvic, described as "a dual citizen of the United States and Serbia", at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Consent Order in which Mashreqbank PSC, of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, agreed to pay a fine of $100 million to the New York State Department of Financial Services for regulatory breaches involving "USD transactions of the Bank relating to Sudan".

Order to Show Cause in U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Gerald Fauth at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Editor's Note: Although the application in this case was filed under seal, it appears to be related to an investigation into whether U.S. Senator Richard Burr and members of his family, including Fauth, who is his brother-in-law, traded on non-public information gathered through his work in the Senate, as revealed last year by non-profit investigative news organization ProPublica.

Case Cover Sheet and Docket regarding an Application for and Order to Show Cause and for an Order Requiring Compliance with Administrative Subpoena in U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Gerald Fauth, of Alexandria, Virginia, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Editor's Note: In May 2020, New York-based non-profit investigative news service ProPublica reported that Fauth and his brother-in-law, U. S. Senator Richard Burr, had both sold a “significant portion” of their holdings in several publicly-traded companies last February just before the stock market crashed as a result of COVID-19 and that Burr was “under federal investigation over whether he traded on non-public information gathered through his work in the Senate”. Today’s “Show Cause” application was filed under seal and, therefore, OffshoreAlert does not know whether it is connected to the investigation described by ProPublica.

Deferred Prosecution Agreement in USA v. Credit Suisse Group AG, of Switzerland, at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Plea Agreement regarding a fraud involving Mozambique in USA v. Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited, described as "a wholly-owned subsidiary of Credit Suisse headquartered in London, United Kingdom", at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Criminal Information alleging conspiracy to commit wire fraud involving Mozambique in USA v. Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited, described as "a wholly-owned subsidiary of Credit Suisse Group AG headquartered in London, United Kingdom", at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Criminal Information alleging conspiracy to commit wire fraud involving Mozambique in USA v. Credit Suisse Group Ag at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Credit Suisse's operations in Switzerland and England have admitted swindling investors and agreed to pay $475M in penalties as part of a "Coordinated Global Resolution" of fraud and corruption allegations regarding loan and securities offerings involving the Republic of Mozambique.

Administrative Order by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission imposing penalties totaling $6.4 million on VTB Capital Plc regarding "material omissions and misleading statements in a 2016 bond offering for which VTB Capital Plc, a London-based investment bank, acted with Credit Suisse Group AG as joint-lead manager".

Administrative Order by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission imposing penalties totaling $99 million on Credit Suisse Group AG, of Switzerland, regarding "an offering fraud and violations of the internal accounting controls and books and records provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ... in connection with three interconnected transactions involving, among others, United Kingdom-based Credit Suisse entities and Mozambican state-owned entities".

Criminal Indictment alleging conspiracy to commit money laundering and bribery of a public official in Ecuador and involving companies in Panama in USA v. Jorge Cherrez Miño, described as a citizen of Ecuador who managed "U.S. Investment Fund Companies", and John Luzuriaga Aguinaga, described as a citizen of Ecuador who was "Risk Director" of the Instituto de Seguridad Social de la Policia Nacional, a.k.a. ISSPOL, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Application by the British Virgin Islands Attorney General to take evidence from Signature Bank for use in legal proceedings in the British Virgin Islands "against Lester S. Hyman", described as "a now-suspended member of the District of Columbia and Massachusetts Bars" for "for fraud and deceit and breaches of trust and loyalty and of his contractual obligations owed to the BVIG", filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The British Virgin Islands Government intends to add three more US citizens - Scott Weisman, Jerry Willoughby, and Bruce Bradley - as defendants to a lawsuit it filed against "now-suspended" US lawyer Lester Hyman alleging fraud and corruption involving plans to operate an air service between the BVI and Miami.

Criminal Indictment alleging money laundering involving bribery in Venezuela in USA v. Alvaro Pulido Vargas, a.k.a. German Enrique Rubio Salas, a citizen of Colombia; Jose Gregorio Vielma Mora, a citizen of Venezuela and a former Governor of the Venezuelan State of Tachira; Emmanuel Enrique Rubio Gonzalez, a citizen of Colombia; Carlos Rolando Lizcano Manrique, a citizen of Colombia, and Ana Guillermo Luis, a citizen of Spain and Venezuela, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Application by the Attorney General of the British Virgin Islands to take discovery from Pauline E. Jones for use in legal proceedings in the British Virgin Islands against Lester S. Hyman, described as "a now-suspended member of the District of Columbia and Massachusetts bars", for "fraud and deceit and breaches of trust and loyalty and of his contractual obligations owed to the BVIG", filed at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

First Amended Complaint alleging a $6.7 million fraud involving “non-existent doses” of a COVID-19 vaccine “for the purpose of vaccinating nearly 300,000 citizens of the island of Barbados” in Radical Investments Ltd., described as a St. Lucia company based in Barbados v. Good Vibrations Entertainment LLC, of Florida; Alex Lee Moore, a.k.a. Flex Moore; Prestige Pegasus LLC, of Colorado; Moniladae Coley, a.k.a. Moniladai Coley; Charles Stein, a.k.a. Charlie Stein, a lawyer in California, and Davidovich Stein Law Group LLC, a law firm California, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Walkers law firms in the Cayman Islands and Dubai are being sued for alleged negligence by two Kuwait state-owned entities regarding a fund whose Arab investors were allegedly swindled out of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Petition to Enforce Arbitral Award of €30M in Hydro Energy 1 Sàrl, of Luxembourg, and Hydroxana Sweden AB, of Sweden v. Kingdom of Spain at the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

A Caribbean firm operated by Barbadian developer Mark Maloney that says it was hired by the Barbados Government to procure one million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine for the country's population claims to have been swindled out of $6.7 million. It's not clear from a complaint filed at federal court in the U.S. last week whether the amount originated from the Government or the company, Rational Investments Ltd.

Complaint alleging a $6.7 million fraud involving "non-existent doses" of a COVID-19 vaccine "for the purpose of vaccinating nearly 300,000 citizens of the island of Barbados" in Radical Investments Ltd., described as a St. Lucia company based in Barbados v. Good Vibrations Entertainment LLC, of Florida; Alex Lee Moore, a.k.a. Flex Moore; Prestige Pegasus LLC, of Colorado; Moniladae Coley, a.k.a. Moniladai Coley; Charles Stein, a.k.a. Charlie Stein, a lawyer in California; Davidovich Stein Law Group LLC, a law firm California, and RDS Cargo Group DWC LLC, described as a Polish company based in the United Arab Emirates, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Petition to Enforce Arbitral Award of $164 million in Border Timbers Limited and Hangani Development Co. (Private) Limited, both of Zimbabwe v. Republic of Zimbabwe at the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Ruling on Ewart Brown's application for the recusal of the judge in Ewart Frederick Winslow Brown, a former Premier of Bermuda who was criminally indicted for alleged corruption in March 2021 v. The Director of Public Prosecutions, Attorney General, and Deputy Governor at Bermuda Supreme Court.

Complaint alleging securities fraud in GIC Private Limited, which is "wholly-owned by the Government of Singapore" v. Celgene Corporation, Scott A. Smith, Terrie Curran, and Philippe Martin at the U. S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Fixed Date Claim Form in The Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Vistra (BVI) Limited at the British Virgin Islands High Court.

Judgment Registration in Casa Express Corp., as Trustee of Casa Express Trust v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Criminal Indictment alleging conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering involving entities in Australia, Thailand, and Venezuela in USA v. Jorge Luis Nobrega Rodriguez at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Registration of a Judgment for $42 million in Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Europe, of France v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela at the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Petition to Enforce Arbitration Award of $320 million in Titan Consortium 1 LLC, of Delaware v. The Argentine Republic at the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia.