Gulf Union Bank

Notice entitled 'Websites with Cayman Addresses Not Registered nor Licensed in the Cayman Islands' issued by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority.

Bahamas-based businessman George L. J. Wilson has been released from prison in the United States on a technicality three years into a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in 1999 of multiple counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering, mail fraud, and engaging in monetary transactions involving property derived from specified unlawful activity, following a jury trial at the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Part of the estimated $5.5 million allegedly looted from the First Cayman Bank/Gulf Union Bank group in 1997 went to satisfy a $1.75 million fraud judgment in the United States, according to the liquidators.The fraud had been committed by Sheikh Abdus Shimmy Qureshi and his now defunct Florida firm Escue Management Inc., it was alleged.

The liquidators of Gulf Union Bank (Bahamas) Ltd. have reached an out of court settlement with a former professional athlete in the United States who borrowed money from the bank. Fred D. Barnett Jr., who played in the National Football League between 1990 and 1997 for the Philadelphia Eagles and Miami Dolphins, had received a loan of about $70,000 from the bank to buy a sports car, said a bank representative.

Final Judgment against Syed Asadullah Kazmi in Gulf Union Bank (Bahamas) Limited v. Sheik Abdus Shimmy Quraeshi, Escue Management, Inc., Shahid S. Quraeshi, Crown Capital Advisors, Sohail S. Quraeshi, and Syed Asadullah Kazmi at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Motion for Final Judgment Against Syed Asadullah Kazmi in Gulf Union Bank (Bahamas) Limited v. Sheik Abdus Shimmy Quraeshi, Escue Management, Inc., Shahid S. Quraeshi, Crown Capital Advisors, Sohail S. Quraeshi, and Syed Asadullah Kazmi at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Bahamian businessman George Wilson was this month sentenced to 20 years in prison by a Texas judge after previously being convicted of 18 offences relating to a $50 million dollar fraud.

Liquidators of First Cayman Bank reach settlement with former Cayman government minister McKeeva Bush, First Nevisian's Keith Leslie King testifies at civil trial in the Isle of Man, Jordan Bionda denies he is a fraudster, conman Keem Kalfon promotes his Global Heritage Asset Protection 'fund', attorney Julian Hall is declared bankrupt in Bermuda, Bermuda's international business sector voices concern over Government plans to introduce tougher new work permit rules for foreign workers, offshore crook Marc Harris compares himself to Albert Einstein, Florida judge orders Harris Organization to pay costs after losing a libel action against OffshoreAlert's publisher.

Letter to the Editor of the Caymanian Compass newspaper regarding First Cayman Bank.

Transcript of the Deposition of Syed Asadullah Kazmi in Gulf Union Bank (Bahamas) Limited v. Sheik Abdus Shimmy Quraeshi, Escue Management, Inc., Shahid S. Quraeshi, Crown Capital Advisors, Sohail S. Quraeshi, and Syed Asadullah Kazmi at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Complaint in Gulf Union Bank (Bahamas) Limited v. Sheik Abdus Shimmy Qureshi, Escue Management, Inc., Shahid S. Quraeshi, Crown Capital Advisors, Sohail S. Quraeshi, and Syed Asadullah Kazmi at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the Cayman Islands into Syed Asadullah Kazmi for alleged fraud and theft regarding First Cayman Bank and Gulf Union Bank.

The liquidators of First Cayman Bank have opened negotiations with the bank's directors and officers with a view to holding them financially accountable for their responsibilities. A lawsuit for negligence is also being considered against the bank's auditors. This and the fact that professional fees and disbursements totalling $1.16 million were incurred in the first 23 weeks of provisional or official liquidation were the highlights of the second report of FCB's liquidators, Ian Wight and Michael Pilling, of Deloitte & Touche, dated May 14.

Eyebrows were raised in Cayman this month when a lawsuit was filed at the Grand Court by Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani against Strand Overseas Investment Limited. The Al Thani family, you may recall, owns Gulf Union Bank and its subsidiaries, First Cayman Bank and Gulf Union (Bahamas).

After a hearing that lasted half a day, the Bahamas Supreme Court officially placed Gulf Union Bank (Bahamas) into liquidation on March 26 but deferred a decision on whether to appoint the current provisional liquidators as permanent liquidators. The court first ruled on two preliminary legal issues regarding the competence and appropriateness of the National Insurance Board, which is a government agency, in being allowed to petition for the winding-up of the bank.

A fierce battle has been taking place behind closed doors in the Bahamas over the last month to prevent the government from controlling the winding-up of Gulf Union Bank (Bahamas) Limited.Depositors are concerned that a government-controlled liquidation will lead to a whitewash of the regulatory role in the bank's collapse of the Central Bank of the Bahamas.

Investigators have uncovered strong evidence that First Cayman Bank was looted of millions of dollars before it was closed down, partly through the granting of fraudulent loans to related parties and its participation in a scheme to defraud investors in Sweden and the US.The minimum amount of the alleged fraud perpetrated at First Cayman Bank is estimated to be US$5 million and the bank itself is insolvent by at least $6.1 million, according to documents filed at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands as part of the bank's proposed liquidation.

Winding Up Petition in Governor in Council v. First Cayman Bank Ltd. at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.

In the Matter of Gulf Union Bank Ltd. - Grand Court of the Cayman Islands

Two loans - one of more than $5 million to the owner and another of about $10 million to Texas oil-man Tom Hajecate - form a major part of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority inquiry into the collapse of First Cayman Bank, Offshore Alert can reveal. These and further details about the bank's financial problems have emerged over the last few days - a period in which this newsletter has been threatened with legal action by government minister McKeeva Bush, who is a director of First Cayman, and warned by his lawyer that we faced criminal prosecution if we continued to pursue the story.

Cayman regulators yesterday closed down Gulf Union Bank and its subsidiary, First Cayman Bank, after evidence of financial irregularities was found during due diligence carried out by a prospective buyer of First Cayman.

The Bahamian authorities have suspended the banking licence of the Gulf Union Bank (Bahamas) Ltd. following problems at the bank's financially troubled parent and sister companies in the Cayman Islands.Regulators are investigating allegations that suspiciously large amounts of money have flowed from the Bahamas bank to its Cayman affiliates and possibly on to foreign entities over the last few months.

The future of First Cayman Bank and its parent, Gulf Union Bank, which also has a Bahamas subsidiary, has been subject to speculation over the last month after the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority blocked the appointment of a new general manager, forced through its own choice and alluded to "problems" at First Cayman.

Cayman Islands resident Syed Bilal Ahmed, the vice-president of Cayman-based Gulf Union Bank Ltd. and First Cayman Bank Ltd. is still listed as missing in the Bahamas after he disappeared from the Radisson Cable Beach Resort in Nassau on September 5, 1996.

Gulf Union Bank Limited vs. James M. Bodden, Jr.. - Grand Court of the Cayman Islands

Gulf Union Bank Limited vs. Ducan Ebanks - Grand Court of the Cayman Islands

Gulf Union Bank Limited vs. Ian Moncrieffe et al. - Grand Court of the Cayman Islands