Investment

A default judgment for $6.4 million has been entered in the United States against offshore investment firm Lines Overseas Management Ltd. and an offshore brokerage arm of the Royal Bank of Canada in connection with an allegation of banking and securities fraud.The judgment against LOM and RBC Dominion Securities, of the Turks & Caicos Islands, was entered at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama on July 1, 2004 after they failed to defend a civil complaint after being served in December, 2001, according to court records.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the Slovak Republic into alleged investment fraud involving  B-Stavreal Inc.

Section 304 Petition for Assistance in Insolvency Proceedings in the British Virgin Islands by Stephen Akers and Terry Carson, as the Foreign Representatives of Indosuez Eastern Europe Fixed Income Fund Ltd., Clariden Eastern Europe Debt Fund, Ltd., and Safra Eastern Europe Fixed Income Fund, Ltd., at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Regulators in three countries have taken action recently against Cayman Islands-based financial services group known as SEGOES or its CEO, United States national John David Kaweske. The flurry of activity began on March 25, 2004 when the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange suspended the membership of SEGOES Securities Ltd.

An Argentina-based family is suing Merrill Lynch's operation in the Cayman Islands and New York for $1.3 million, alleging mismanagement of funds held in a trust. The beneficiaries of the Trust of Raquel Calles de Edelman claim that Merrill Lynch money managers in the Isle of Man lost that amount by altering the Trust's investment profile from "conservative" to "moderate to aggressive" without authorization.

A court has issued an order allowing the United States Government to seize up to $1.1 million in a Panamanian bank account that is believed to be the proceeds of insider trading by Panama residents. The target is an account at Banco Uno S. A., in Panama City, Panama, in the name of "Yan Abecassis and/or Atlantic 1 Corp., and all related funds".

The principal of a British Virgin Islands-registered hedge fund administered by the Bank of Bermuda has been arrested in Hong Kong on suspicion of defrauding investors of approximately $56 million. Charles Schmitt, who operated the CSA Absolute Return Fund Ltd., was released on bail on June 17 pending further investigation by local police and the Hong Kong's Securities & Futures Commission.

Article based on an application to collect evidence - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance by the United Kingdom - that was granted by federal court in the USA on March 3, 2004. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Roddam Quintin Twiss, Emile Coury, The Grosvenor Trust, Grosvenor Ventures Inc., Westfield Capital Investments Ltd., Al Grillo, Michael Grillo, Dragon Group, Swepstone Walsh, William Hedley, Solicitors Indemnity Fund, Robin Kobacher, M. Rachid Safa, and Arab Bank.

An offshore firm is seeking to raise millions of dollars from the sale of an unlicensed investment product that investors are told is "very low risk" and pays out a "guaranteed" annual return of 10.5 per cent. British Virgin Islands-registered Puritan International Limited has launched a "Loan Stock Offering" for investment in the widely abused personal injury litigation funding industry in the United Kingdom.

Article based on an application to collect evidence - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance by Belgium - that was granted at federal court in the USA on April 22, 2004. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Didier Meimoun, a.k.a. Didier Meimoun Santerre, a.k.a. Didier Santerre, a.k.a. Didier Abaroudi, a.k.a. Daida Meimoun; Silvia Lescure, Anita Winckler, M&M International, M&M Distribution or M&M Interest, SPRL M&M Distributions, SPRL DMS Market Globus, M&M Group, M&M Europe, M&M Helvetia, M&M Diffusions, M², M³, M&M Swisswatch, Black Stone Services SA, Lucky Invest SA, N&N SA, Bank Vontobel AG, UBS AG, BNP, Chase Manhattan, Mellon Bank, Sanwa Bank, Bank of America, Bank of New York, Citibank, Salomon Smith Barney, KeyBank, Gilles Benisti, Frederic Toussaint, Michel Pallacci, Eddie Levon, Stephane Noel, Claude Hec, and Simon Bretholz.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Liechtenstein into Ilan Mika Arbel, Alan Berkun and Reinhold Wohlwend for suspected investment fraud.

Order granting CFTC's Motion for Summary Judgment and awarding damages of $6.7 million in Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Sterling forex LLC and Maurice L. Mills at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

The former boss of a fraudulently-operated offshore investment group has been convicted of illegally possessing two high-voltage stun guns that were found at his home in England during a raid by the UK Serious Fraud Office. Lincoln Julian Fraser, 33, who co-founded the now-collapsed Imperial Consolidated Group, admitted possession of the guns during an appearance at Lincoln Magistrates Court, reported the Market Rasen Mail newspaper, in England.

Former Grenada diplomat Eric Resteiner has been extradited from Singapore to the United States to answer a 60-count criminal indictment for fraud and money laundering. Resteiner, who is a United States national, was extradited to the United States from Singapore, where he was arrested on February 11, 2004, after losing his fight against extradition proceedings. He made his first appearance at the U. S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on June 18, 2004.

Bermuda-based investment firm Lines Overseas Management Ltd. has denied allegations of securities fraud made against it by the SEC but is still refusing to co-operate with the regulator's investigations. LOM has reiterated its stance that its affairs are governed by the laws of Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands, where it has offices, and not the USA and Canada, where it makes much of its revenue.

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Bermuda-based investment firm Lines Overseas Management Ltd. and its principal officers, Scott and Brian Lines, are being investigated for alleged securities fraud in the United States. It has been alleged that the Lines brothers and LOM customers profited by more than $6.4 million from fraud and market manipulation and that the firm caused false statements to be filed with the SEC and altered its internal records to impede an investigation.

UK-based financial services firm Invaro Ltd. is insolvent and intends to apply for voluntary liquidation, along with two associated companies, which are believed to be Wishsprite Plc and Medico-Legal Reports Ltd. An announcement about Invaro's demise was made yesterday - only ten weeks after an OffshoreAlert article raised concerns about Invaro's legitimacy and provided evidence of its links to the fraudulently-operated Imperial Consolidated Group.

Two prominent Bermuda businessmen were arrested at their offices on May 6 by police investigating the alleged theft of $145,000 from a development company. They are Arthur Jones, 52, who owns Bermuda's biggest realtor, Coldwell Banker JW Bermuda Realty, formerly

Collapsed broker AlphaStar Insurance Group may seek compensation from one of its founders, Nicholas Brown, over the alleged mismanagement of the company.In other news, the company has drastically revised a controversial bonus plan to pay bonuses totaling $1.6 million to

Two Bank of Bermuda clients who once ran an illegal gaming business from an office of Hemisphere Management before it was bought by Mutual Risk Management have gone on trial for another scheme.Lewis Denton Rowe, 75, and Patrick Thomas Tibbetts,

Two prominent Bermuda businessmen were arrested at their offices on May 6 by police investigating the alleged theft of $145,000 from a development company.They are Arthur Jones, 52, who owns Bermuda's biggest realtor, Coldwell Banker JW Bermuda Realty, formerly Jones

Alleged Cash 4 Titles Ponzi scheme insider Patrick Thomas Tibbetts, who is currently on trial for money laundering in the Cayman Islands, has been criminally indicted in the United States.Tibbetts, a 51 year old U. S. national who lives on

Another civil complaint alleging fraud has been filed in the United States against a United States national who once helped operate the Nevis based Global Dominion Group.The latest complaint against C. Nolon Bush, d.b.a. Cornerstone Institute, of Kitsap County, Washington,

A house painter who held himself out to be an international currency trader and funneled the public's money through offshore accounts has been criminally indicted in the United States. Russell Warren Brent Cline, of Oregon, faces 39 counts of mail

Sweden has requested interviews of two officers of a multi level marketing scheme known as Prosper International League Limited as part of an investigation into an alleged Internet gaming scam. They have asked the United States authorities to obtain witness

Last month's article in OffshoreAlert about an allegation that Grenada Prime Minister Keith Mitchell accepted a $500,000 bribe from German fraudster Eric Resteiner has caused uproar on the island. As news of the story began to circulate in the country,

Two men who allegedly masterminded a $206 million offshore fraud and then fled to Uganda are back in the United States following a shoot-out that left a bodyguard dead.Former First International Bank of Grenada principals Van Arthur Brink, a.k.a. Gilbert Allen Ziegler, 53, and Douglas C. Ferguson, 71, were arrested by police at their residential complex in Kampala, Uganda on May 28.

Former offshore financial services provider Marc Harris was sentenced today to 17 years in prison in the United States.Harris, 39, was also fined $20.32 million, and ordered to pay restitution of $6.58 million by Judge James Cohn, sitting at the

Plea Agreement in USA v. Sylvia Hermann at the U. S. District Court for the Central District of California.

United States national Eric Resteiner has become the second former diplomat of scandal plagued Grenada in six months to be criminally indicted in the United States.Resteiner, once a General Ambassador for the Caribbean island, was indicted on 33 counts of

Complaint in Tony Dutson, as Trustee of Diamond Productions International and NW Atlantis Inc., v. Charles Nolon Bush at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

The United States Probation Service has recommended that former offshore provider Marc Harris be sentenced to between 15.66 and 19.58 years in prison.The recommendation is contained in a Pre Sentence Investigation report that will be read by U. S. federal

A criminal complaint was brought against three principals of a long running scam known as Global Prosperity Group and the Institute of Global Prosperity at U. S. District Court for the Western District of Washington on May 4, 2004.Defendants are

Notice from the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority to the Directors of Signature Financial Group (Grand Cayman) Ltd.

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged fraud - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Austria - that was filed at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas on April 2, 2004. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Oliver Pracherstorfer, Elke Reiter, Russel La Rue, Jens Wutzke, Peter Kuss, OPCM Ltd., Worldwide Formation and Management Ltd., and JPMorgan Chase Bank.

Fund administrator Citco Fund Services is still "the most significant stumbling block" in the winding-up of the Lancer Group, it has been claimed.Auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers is also not being helpful, according to a report dated April 23, 2004 by SEC-appointed Receiver Marty Steinberg that was submitted to the federal court in Miami, Florida.

A now-defunct offshore bank and two of its former principals have lost key court rulings in a fight for control of more than $5 million with the Receiver of a Ponzi scheme group known as Cash 4 Titles.

Accounting firm KPMG is facing two multi-million dollar lawsuits over its involvement in a failed offshore investment group.The actions concern KPMG's provision of auditing and other services for the now-defunct, Turks & Caicos Islands-based Atlas Financial Group. 

Complaint in ABN AMRO, Inc. v. Capital International Limited and Eirles Four Limited at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Former Canadian Space Agency engineer Serdar Kalaycioglu has been sentenced to 27 years in prison for his role in an offshore banking fraud. The sentence was delivered on April 26, 2004 by Judge Daniel Hurley at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in West Palm Beach and is one of the longest ever handed down for an offshore-related scam.

2004 Annual Report for First Financial Caribbean USA, Inc., filed with the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations.

Complaint in Smart Video Technologies, Inc. v. Rene Hamouth at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Belgium into Didier Meimoun for alleged fraud.

A company secretly controlled by British fraudsters Lincoln Fraser and Jared Brook has gone into liquidation with an estimated net deficiency of £94,614 (approximately US$170,000). Matrix International (Management) Ltd., d.b.a. Matrix Investigations, went into creditors' voluntary liquidation by way of an extraordinary resolution passed by its shareholders on April 6, 2004 - nearly 19 months after being formed on September 17, 2002.

The United States authorities have been asked to temporarily release four white-collar criminals from federal prisons so they can travel to the Cayman Islands to testify at a money laundering trial.They are Charles Richard Homa, 57; Michael Gause, 47; William Henry Black, 47; and James Albert Franklin, 36, who were all convicted of offenses involving a Ponzi scheme known as Cash 4 Titles.

Summary of Contents of Final Notice by U. K. Financial Services Authority of Refusal of Application Submitted by Target Asset Management Limited.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the Cayman Islands into alleged money laundering by Lewis Rowe and Patrick Tibbetts regarding the Cash 4 Titles Ponzi scheme.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Austria into Oliver Philipp Pracherstorfer, Elke Reiter, Russel La Rue, Jens Wutzke, Peter Kuss, OPCM Ltd. and others for alleged investment fraud based around day-trading.

Promotional Material Entitled 'Puritan Launch Low Risk - High Return Fund' for Puritan International Ltd.