Civil complaints have been brought against parties from nine countries, including former Sotheby's Chairman Alfred Taubman, in an attempt by the Receiver for the failed Lancer Offshore group of hedge funds to recover allegedly fraudulent transfers. Among the defendants in two actions filed at the U. S. District Court for the District of Florida this month are companies from Bermuda, Canada, Isle of Man, Netherlands Antilles, Jersey, Kuwait, Switzerland, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Several Bermuda-registered companies or their clients have been affected by the failure of a hedge fund group which allegedly defrauded its investors of more than $600 million. Subsidiaries or affiliates of the Bank of Bermuda, Bank of Butterfield, Conyers Dill & Pearman, Lines Overseas Management, and the Meridian Group are on the service list for filings at federal court in Miami.
The curse of American businessman Jerry Nims and his 3-D camera technology, whose many failures over two decades have cost Bermuda-based investors millions of dollars, has claimed another victim. NimsTec North America Inc. filed for voluntary bankruptcy at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Georgia on November 6, 2000.