Operation Bermuda Short

U. S. federal prosecutors have secured convictions against 88% of the 56 people arrested three years ago in one of the biggest ever investigations into financial crime, known as Operation ‘Bermuda Short'.Forty five defendants pleaded guilty to securities fraud and

An analysis of Operation 'Bermuda Short', including which defendants were convicted or acquitted and length of sentences. These defendants were Serdar Kalaycioglu, Martin Chambers, Anthony Damato, Kevan Garner, Walter Dorow, Bruce Bertman, Michael Reiter, Geoffrey Gazda, James Cary Parrish, Jeffrey Senger, Melvin Levine, Jerry Poole, Charles Cini, Lawrence Gallo, Bruce Cowen, Daniel Charboneau, Thomas Steinbach, Gordon Novak, Harold Joliffe, Howard Kerbel, Greg Balk, Barry Berman, Vincent Barone, Dax Ross, David Rich, George Doumanis, Michael Puorro, Blair Valentine, Ray Hutchison, Frank Dickey Jr., Daniel Bender, Paul Lemmon, Bruce Biddick, John Purdy, Ronaldo Horvat, Mark Valentine, Joseph Huard Jr., Cris Sagnelli, Michael Vlahovic, Douglas Rasberry, Richard Greene, Tim Rice, Ashley Sosner, Andrew Proctor, Marshall Klein, Mario Turcotte, Sheldon Mickelson, Richard Carson, Dennis Epstein, Kenneth Liebscher, Michael Hepburn, Charles Arnold, Les Price, James Kelly, Justyn Feldman, Robert Wilder, and Paul deRome.

Two career criminals whose undercover work for the FBI was the mainstay of Operation ‘Bermuda Short' have been rewarded with light sentences for a securities fraud they committed nearly ten years ago.David William Jones, 44, received a one-year prison term, while Robert Schlien, 56, escaped prison altogether, receiving just five years of probation, during sentencing at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on June 17, 2005. They must also jointly and severally pay restitution of $4,591,773. They had each previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud concerning criminal activity that ended in February, 1996.

Two securities fraudsters whose undercover work for the FBI led to multiple indictments in 'Operation Bermuda Short' two years ago are finally being dealt with for the crimes that prompted them to co-operate.Robert Schlien, 56, and William David Jones, 43, each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on October 29, 2004. Their scam caused losses of between $20 million and $40 million to investors in Sky Scientific Inc. and The Jockey Club Inc., both of Florida.

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.

Just 20 days after being criticized by a federal judge for being too lenient on criminals, a U. S. Attorney has entered into a plea agreement that calls for a white collar criminal to serve his 'prison' sentence at home

Former Canadian Space Agency engineer Serdar Kalaycioglu has been found guilty of fraud involving an offshore bank and a bogus mutual fund following a jury trial in the United States that spanned seven weeks. After 21 days of hearing testimony and four days of deliberations, the jury found 40-year-old Kalaycioglu guilty of 11 counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Three ex-offshore bankers who were criminally indicted in 'Operation Bermuda Short' in 2002 have each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.They are Sheldon Mickelson, 44, a former plumber of West Palm Beach, Florida; Mario Turcotte, 49, of Canada; and Richard Carson, of Westmount, Quebec, Canada, who helped to operate Meridian Investment Bank Ltd., a now-defunct bank once licensed in the crime-ridden Caribbean island of Grenada.

Vancouver based attorney Martin G. Chambers, 63, is due to be sentenced on December 5, 2003 after being found guilty of five counts of money laundering.Chambers was convicted of all counts against him by a jury at the U. S.

Stock promoter Kevan Garner was sentenced to 87 months in prison at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on March 25, 2003 after previously pleading guilty to money laundering. Garner, a Canadian national, is currently out on bail and must surrender to the authorities by May 27 to begin his jail-time.

Offshore businessman Paul D. Lemmon, who was arrested in the widely-publicized 'Bermuda Short' operation, has entered into a plea bargain agreement with Federal prosecutors in Florida.Lemmon, a 40-year-old Canadian national, has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud in a case in which he is a co-defendant with Mark Valentine.

Bermuda company director Paul Lemmon has been refused bail in the United States after the judge ruled there was a "serious risk" that he would flee or obstruct justice if released on bail."The weight of the evidence against the Defendant

Bahamas accountant Michael M. Hepburn, who has been arrested and charged with money laundering in Miami, has a history of involvement with crooked companies, OffshoreAlert can reveal. Hepburn, 54, has provided fake audits for several offshore insurers that have collapsed amid heavy losses and allegations of impropriety, including Paramount Reinsurance Ltd., formerly First Reinsurance Ltd., of Barbados; and Alpine Assurance Ltd. and Savoy Reinsurance Co. Ltd., both of the Turks & Caicos Islands.

Canadian authorities who took part in Operation 'Bermuda Short' which led to 58 indictments, including two directors of a Bermuda-based firm, have praised offshore regulators for their level of co-operation."It's a fallacy that offshore centers do not co-operate with such investigations," said Garry W. G. Clement, Superintendent with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, told OffshoreAlert. 

Fifty-eight people have been criminally indicted in the United States following a two-year undercover investigation into white-collar crime. As of lunch-time today, 53 of those indicted had been arrested, including Bahamas-based accountant Michael Hepburn, who helps to operate Barbados-licensed Keywest Swiss Investment Bank.