Brent Wagman

Unlicensed fund manager Ian Renert has abandoned his defense of a $22 million securities fraud lawsuit in the United States and apparently moved overseas to start a new investment scheme.After more than two years of fighting an action filed by

Selected Clients of The Harris Organization - August 31, 2002

A firm whose insiders included the now defunct Hawthorne Sterling mutual fund group of the Bahamas has been accused of stock fraud in the United States.The stock of Trans Energy Inc. was artificially inflated by the dissemination of several false

A sham insurer operated by The Harris Organization financial services group of Panama is being sued by creditors of Lifeblood Biomedical Inc., which is in bankruptcy in the United States.Threshold Insurance Services Ltd. has been accused of providing "fictitious insurance coverage" for about $10 million of Promissory Notes issued by Lifeblood Medical, which itself was a sham firm.

Offshore Alert has uncovered another dubious investment fund being promoted by The Harris Organization financial services group of Panama. The objective of the Washington Pacific Investment Fund is "to achieve a rate of return of 100% per annum" by investing in "mortgage backed securities and liens", according to a prospectus.

The Bahamas-based HINT MasterCard credit card program that was offered by the Imperial Consolidated Group has been terminated by the issuing bank, Leadenhall Bank & Trust, and the data processor, Axxess International, which are both based in the Bahamas. In other news, Brent Wagman has been sentenced to five years in prison in Texas and fined $19.7 million for investment fraud.

Two more clients of The Harris Organization have been arrested in Panama and deported to their native United States to face trial on criminal charges. Anthony Vigna, 68, and his son, Joseph, 35, were arrested on November 9, 2000 as they left their homes in Panama and immediately flown to Miami, where they are being held in custody.

Marc M. Harris, head of The Harris Organization financial services group, has been criminally charged with investment fraud in Panama, according to La Prensa newspaper.Current Harris Organization officer Ilka M. Barria and former employees Alan McAloon, Kenneth Taylor and Christine Ledezma have also apparently been charged.

Harris Organization client and business partner Brent Wagman has pleaded guilty to securities fraud and criminal contempt of court in Texas.Wagman, 42, is due to be sentenced on August 3 and faces up to five years in prison for masterminding a scheme that defrauded mainly elderly Americans out of approximately $30 million.

A fugitive American businessman who has been helping The Harris Organization run investment schemes through IBCs set up in the Bahamas and the BVI was deported this month from Panama to the US. Within days of his deportation, Brent A. Wagman was criminally indicted in Texas on charges of masterminding a scheme that defrauded mainly elderly victims of approximately $30 million.

Dominica-registered Overseas Development Bank & Trust has yet to satisfy three judgments totalling US$1.24 million that were entered against it in favor of creditors on January 29, 1999, sham New Utopia jurisdiction claims it is launching "the New Utopia Investment Fund of the Cayman Islands", Ralph Sherman's involvement in the First International Bank of Grenada, comparisons between Van Brink's First International Bank of Grenada and Michael Randy's Canadian Trade Bank, alleged investment fraudster Brent Wagman surfaces in Panama, '60 Minutes' television show goes soft on Alexandre Konanykhine.

Global Village Market and the World Investors' Stock Exchange, Global Prosperity Group charges attendees $17,000 each for its get-rich-quick conferences, John Mathewson and the FBI, Cayman bank officer lived in home owned by client, says source; Harris Organization tries to subscribe to Offshore Alert, journalists seek information on Michael Ashcroft, Harris Organization officer Alan McAloon professes ignorance over Florida property ownership.

The Department of Banking and Finance in Florida is investigating an alleged scam involving two insurance companies run by The Harris Organization financial services group of Panama. It has been alleged that investors were duped into investing funds with Florida-registered Lifeblood Biomedical Inc. on the grounds that their investment was fully insured by Threshold Insurance Services Ltd. and Caribbean General Insurance Corporation, which are both operated by The Harris Organization. However, following the collapse of Lifeblood Biomedical last year after raising $10 million, the insurance companies have refused to pay investors' claims, alleging that agreements on their letterhead and signed by the President of both insurers, Ilka M. Barria, are bogus.