Investment

A $1 million civil judgment against two now defunct, Bahamas based entities - Leadenhall Bank & Trust Ltd. (in liquidation) and Axxess International Ltd. - may soon be increased to $330 million.That is because U. S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan

Two subsidiaries of alternative investment provider Man Group Plc are seeking to avoid providing details about 24 Cayman Islands funds for use in legal proceedings concerning the collapse of Philadelphia Alternative Asset Management Company, LLC.It is part of the legal

Wachovia Bank is trying to prevent itself from being sued by several hedge funds, including four in the Cayman Islands, that bought claims from creditors of a bankrupt firm in order to try to collect on them.Wachovia has applied to a court in North Carolina for an injunction to enjoin the funds from prosecuting claims against the bank, arguing that such conduct violates “established prohibitions against assignment of tort claims, champerty and maintenance”.

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.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Switzerland into Gyorgy Matrai for alleged fraud, forgery and money laundering.

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.

Final Judgment in U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Larry Michael Parrish at the U. S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

Complaint in Robert Farrell and Joseph Donohue vs. Yorkville Management LLC and Mark Angelo at New Jersey Superior Court.

Articles of Incorporation for Innovatis, Inc. filed with the Florida Secretary of State.

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

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

SEC's Proposed Findings of Fact & Conclusions of Law in the trial of Jonathan Curshen at the U. S. District Court for the District of Colorado.

Witness list for a criminal action filed by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission against Jonathan Curshen at the U. S. District Court for the District of Colorado.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged investment fraud and money laundering - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Belgium - that was filed at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on March 12, 2007. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the complaint include Charles Van Renynghe de Voxvrie, Marc Denaghel, Marc Driesen, Carlton Cambridge, Premier Corporate Services, American Science Developments Group Inc., US Corporation Services, Witt-Wall Street International Trading Trust Inc., International Business Consulting Inc., Worldwide Capital Consulting Corp., Paul Walker, Pan Global Financial Network Inc., The Universal Foundation, Marquis Bernard, Alexis P. de Menars, Business International Consult NV, Bancorp of the Americas, The People Investment Foundation, Steven Cuvelier, Flamtech, Abbott Investment, Abbot Worldwide Inc., Internetwork Ambassadors NV, Bank of America, Investec Ernst En Company, and Jacob Bijl.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged investment fraud - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Liechtenstein - that was submitted to the U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Tampa on March 26, 2007. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Arthur Vogt, Walter Maslowski, Rivercross Foundation, Rudolf Keller, Private Fiduciary Trust, DKZ Forex AG, Geryline Participation Corp., LGT Bank in Liechtenstein AG, Privatbank IHAG, William Douglas, Healthmatrix Inc., Pyramid Healthcare Corp., and Gunther Hackebeil.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged fraud, embezzlement, and money laundering involving - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Russia - that was filed at the U. S. District Court for the District of Delaware on March 16, 2007.

A marathon attempt by Bermuda-based investment firm Lines Overseas Management Ltd. and its Managing Director, Scott Lines, to block an SEC fraud investigation is entering a new phase of appeal in the United States.In a ‘Final Order' on February 21, 2007, U. S. District Judge Richard W. Roberts, sitting at the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia, overruled the objections filed more than two years ago by LOM and Lines to U. S. Magistrate Alan Kay's order on January 7, 2005 that they comply with subpoenas requiring testimony and the production of documents for an investigation into alleged securities fraud involving shares issued by Sedona Software Solutions Inc. and SHEP Technologies Inc., both of Vancouver, Canada.However, in keeping with their practice of challenging every decision that goes against them, LOM and Lines filed a notice on March 27, 2007 that they are appealing the ‘Final Order' to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

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.

The Receiver of a failed hedge fund group that was partially based in the Bahamas has filed a civil complaint against a Cayman Islands hedge fund in an attempt to recover $48,700.Arthur Steinberg, of New Jersey, filed a complaint at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on February 15, 2007 in his capacity as Receiver for Northshore Asset Management LLC, which is based in Chicago, Illinois; Ardent Research Partners L.P., organized in New York; Ardent Research Partners Ltd., incorporated in the Bahamas; Saldutti Capital Management, L.P., organized in New York; Kevin Kelley, a resident of Greenwich, Connecticut; Robert Wildeman, a resident of Chicago, Illinois; and Glenn Sherman, a resident of Chicago, Illinois. The sole defendant is M. Kingdon Offshore Ltd., a hedge fund that is organized in the Cayman Islands and whose shares are listed on the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange.

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.

After a contested legal battle that lasted more than eight months, two former principals of the fraudulently-operated Evergreen Security offshore mutual fund - and a Florida investment firm they ran - have been forced into bankruptcy in the United States.Involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy petitions against Jon M. Knight, of Sorrento, Florida; J. Anthony Huggins, of Orlando, Florida; and their Florida corporation Atlantic Portfolio Analytics & Management Inc. were approved at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida on March 29, 2007.

Hungary has applied to extradite a 54-year-old naturalized United States national who has been accused of embezzlement in her native country regarding an alleged Ponzi scheme.Details are contained in an extradition complaint that was filed against Gyorgyi Vernerne Csongradi Bogdan at the U. S. District Court for the District of Connecticut on March 14, 2007.

An affiliate of Ansbacher (Bahamas) Limited is suing a stock transfer agent and a securities clearing brokerage in the United States for allegedly misplacing $2.7 million of publicly-traded shares.Details are contained in a complaint that was filed by Chester Asset Holdings Limited, a British Virgin Islands corporation, against Computershare Shareholder Services Inc., which is incorporated in Delaware and based in Canton, Massachusetts, and Depository Trust Company, which is based in New York, NY, at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on March 5, 2007.

Criminal Judgment in USA v. Ali A. Yawar at the U. S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Liechtenstein into Arthur Vogt and others for suspected investment fraud.

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.

Plea Agreement in USA v. George Beros at the U. S. District Court for the District of Colorado.

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.

Former Bahamas-based money manager Martin Tremblay was sentenced yesterday to 48 months in prison for money laundering, which is 22 months less than prosecutors were seeking under federal sentencing guidelines. Tremblay, a 44-year-old Canadian national, will receive credit for the 14 months that he spent in custody between his arrest and sentencing, meaning he will be out of prison in less than three years.

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.

Bermuda-based property catastrophe reinsurer RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. has agreed to settle a consolidated shareholder class action lawsuit at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by paying $13.5 million. RenRe announced the settlement on February 14, 2007 - five days after the firm disclosed that it had agreed to pay $15 million to settle a securities fraud lawsuit regarding the same conduct that was brought at the same court by the SEC. Neither settlement required the reinsurer to admit liability.

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.

Securities broker Bear Stearns Securities Corp. has been ordered to pay $159 million to the estate of a failed offshore hedge fund for ignoring red flags about the fund's fraudulent operating practices. The judgment at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York is a huge boost for creditors of the British Virgin Islands-registered, New York-based Manhattan Investment Fund Ltd., whose net insolvency before the ruling was $391 million.

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.

Plea Agreement in USA v. Ali A. Yawar at the U. S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Damages totaling $1.04 million have been awarded against two Bahamas companies for their involvement in a U. S./Cayman Islands-based Ponzi scheme known as Cash 4 Titles. The award against Leadenhall Bank & Trust Limited (in liquidation) and now-defunct Axxess International Limited, which combined to provide accounts and credit cards for victims, was entered jointly and severally at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on February 12, 2007.

Bermuda Supreme Court has set a date of April 27th to hear an application by a local regulator to have a provisional liquidator appointed over a mutual fund group that allegedly exists to launder the proceeds of corruption by a Russian government minister. A petition to involuntarily wind-up IPOC Capital Partners Ltd., IPOC International Growth Fund Ltd., Gamma Capital Fund Ltd., Convergence Capital Ltd., Com Tel Eastern Ltd., First National Telecommunication Fund Ltd., Convergence Capital Management Ltd., Augmentation Investments Ltd., and Telco Overseas Ltd. was presented to the court on January 12, 2007 by Bermuda's Registrar of Companies.

Revocation of the Restricted Mutual Fund Administrators License of Alpha Value Management Inc. by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority.

Property catastrophe reinsurer RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. has agreed to pay a $15 million civil penalty to settle a lawsuit filed against it in New York by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission. RenRe has also agreed to an injunction prohibiting future violations of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and to retain an independent consultant to review internal controls, according to the SEC, which announced the settlement in a press release issued on February 6, 2007 - the same day that the complaint was filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

A class action securities fraud lawsuit has been filed in the United States against Bermuda-based, NASDAQ-listed specialty insurer Quanta Capital Holdings Ltd., seven officers and directors, and two underwriters. The complaint was filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on February 5, 2007 on behalf of all purchasers of Quanta's common and preferred shares between December 14, 2005, when Quanta completed a $135 million equity offering, and March 2, 2006.

Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in the Cayman Islands by David Walker and Lawrence Edwards, as the Foreign Representatives of Amerindo Internet Growth Fund Ltd., at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

A British Virgin Islands company that is managed by a Bermuda entity is seeking damages of at least $1.5 million from a Cayman Islands fund and related parties for alleged fraud and securities violations. Details are contained in a civil complaint that was filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on January 23, 2007.

Fund administrator UBS Fund Services (Cayman) Ltd. has been dragged into litigation concerning a hedge fund group that allegedly concealed $179 million of losses from investors before collapsing. On January 22, 2007, UBS was added as a third-party defendant to an action that was started nine months ago at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Delaware-incorporated, New York-based futures broker Man Financial Inc. and others by C. Clark Hodgson, Jr., as Receiver for Philadelphia Alternative Asset Management Company, LLC (“PAAMCo”), Philadelphia Alternative Asset Fund, Ltd. (the “Offshore Fund”), Philadelphia Alternative Asset Feeder Fund, LLC, Philadelphia Alternative Asset Fund, LP, and Option Capital Fund, LP. The case has been set for trial in May, 2007.

An offshore stock broker has agreed to disgorge $253,346 and pay a civil money penalty of $15,000 to settle regulatory action brought by the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The size of the disgorgement represents commissions that Turks and Caicos Islands-based Temple Securities Ltd. earned through the sale of unregistered securities in Allixon International Corp., stated the SEC.

The Receiver for the Lancer Offshore Group has filed two new complaints against recipients of money transfers that were made while the failed hedge fund group was insolvent. In one case, the defendants are Redwood Financial Group Inc., The Redwood Group Inc., both of Redwood Drive, Westminster, Maryland; Robert D. Maum, of Cowdray Park Drive, Greenwich, Connecticut; and James W. Raker, of Wynfield Road, West Friendship, Maryland. In the other action, the defendants are attorney Kenneth E. Chyten and the Law Offices of Kenneth E. Chyten, both of Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, California.

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.

FINRA Arbitration Award in the matter of 'Leonard and Nancy Becker vs. Global Crown Capital and Rani Jarkas'.

Indictment in USA v. Phillip Bennett, Robert Trosten, and Tone Grant at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.