Gary Lyons

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.

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.

Two corporations formed in Florida by former Nevis-based offshore financial services provider Nigel Scott Grant did not last long; OffshoreAlert has previously reported about the propensity of Bahamas Supreme Court judge Jon Isaacs to issue rulings that are favourable to suspected crooks, particularly those accused of narcotics trafficking; The All Japan Liquor Merchants Co-operative Association filed a civil lawsuit at Tokyo District Court, in Japan on August 17, 2006 against Credit Suisse, Haruo Kusakabe, who was a Vice President, Private Banking of Credit Suisse at the time of the incident at the heart of the action, and investment broker Fabio Takeshi Sunago; The liquidators of offshore stockbroker SEGOES Services Ltd. have obtained a court judgment for US$3.9 million against the firm's principal director, John Kaweske, Jr.; and Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro filed a motion at the U. S. District Court for the District of Southern New York on October 3 requesting that the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio be appointed lead plaintiff in a securities class action lawsuit filed in August against Scottish Re Group Ltd.

A British company that is at the heart of a liquidation scam being perpetrated against creditors of failed litigation funding firm Invaro Ltd. has missed a statutory deadline for filing its first accounts and is now subject to penalty fees; Former Panama-based, offshore financial services provider Marc Harris, 41, has lost his appeal against his November 24, 2003 conviction in the United States on multiple tax fraud, tax evasion and money laundering charges and May 21, 2004 sentencing to 17 years in prison, a fine of $20.3 million, and restitution of $6.6 million; and An unlicensed Canada-based forex dealer with a checkered past appears to be behind a purported offshore investment provider that was the target of a warning by the Bermuda Monetary Authority earlier this year, OffshoreAlert can disclose.

It was the usual round of lies, broken promises, incompetence, and losses in 2005 in the murky world that OffshoreAlert forces itself to inhabit to investigate and expose financial crimes. As each year passes, it becomes increasingly obvious to us that illegal, immoral, unethical, and incompetent behavior in business are the norm, rather than the exception. OffshoreAlert has dumpster-dived through all the trash that we have found during the year, picked out the smelliest items, and used them as the basis for our ‘Best and Worst' awards.

A Japanese pension fund that invested 80% of its assets in a British litigation funding scam has been advised to write-off its $125 million investment. That was the recommendation of Hori Hiroshi Law Office, which the All Japan Liquor Merchants Association hired to look into the mess and advise how to proceed.

About 80 per cent of all assets realized in the first 12 months of the liquidation of British litigation funding firm Invaro Ltd. have gone to a Canadian shell entity controlled by serial fraudster Bill Godley. That was the statistic that jumped out of the first report to creditors and members by liquidators Tony Murphy, Robert Horton and Henry Shinners, of Smith & Williamson, on July 21, 2005.

A top British law firm helped a serial fraudster client - Bill Godley - set up an investment scheme that wiped out a Japanese pension fund, OffshoreAlert can reveal. Charles Russell solicitors drew up contracts, attended a planning meeting in Portugal, helped with an offshore bank account, and was even asked to help prepare a "due diligence" report to give credibility to the scheme, known as 'Invaro'. The law firm has received more than £2 million ($3.5 million) in legal fees from Godley-related parties, including a Bahamas IBC, said a source.

The biggest creditor in the bankruptcy of Christopher Davy, who was once a senior officer of the tax evasion group The Harris Organization, is none other than the IRS; the dubious liquidation of Imperial Consolidated spin-off Invaro Ltd.; and Canadian Timothy Ryan Babuin receives an eight-year prison sentence for a telemarketing scam against mainly elderly people that ended up causing huge losses for the Bank of Bermuda and Bermuda-based credit card processor First Atlantic Commerce.

Three bankers who allegedly swindled their former employer, NatWest, in a deal involving Enron and a Cayman Islands registered company appeared in court in England on September 28, 2004 as they seek to avoid extradition to the United States. Gary

Former insiders of two U. K. litigation funding scams that collapsed with combined losses of nearly $500 million are behind a recycled version of the same scheme, OffshoreAlert can reveal. The new business - operating under the brand name 'Strathmore' - encompasses companies in the Bahamas, Canada, the United Kingdom and Africa.

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.

A financial services group with close ties to fraudulently-operated Imperial Consolidated and offering similar products has formed a new public limited company in the United Kingdom.Wishsprite Plc was incorporated on September 2, 2003 - 25 days after the formation of affiliates Wishsprite Financial Services Ltd., Wishsprite Investment Services Ltd., Wishsprite Legal Services Ltd., Wishsprite Marketing Ltd., and Wishsprite UK Ltd.

The value of mining rights in economically crippled Argentina will determine the financial condition of the Imperial Consolidated Group. More than 50 per cent of Imperial's total assets - on paper - are in holdings in mining ventures in Tucuman, said a spokesman for the group's UK-based administrator, Mazars Neville Russell Services.

Michael Gilbert, who was severely criticized by a New Zealand judge in a recent court ruling (see separate story), is part of a reorganization that involves the Imperial Consolidated Group and companies with the prefix 'Alpha'.The firm that he is a director of changed its name from Imperial Consolidated (New Zealand) Ltd. to Alpha Equities Asia-Pacific (NZ) Ltd. on November 29, 2001.