Wilshire Publishing

A man who made a living selling offshore shell banks to unsophisticated clients who invariably used them to commit criminal activity has been sentenced to six months in prison.Jerome Schneider, 53, a resident of Vancouver, Canada, was sentenced at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of California on December 6, 2004 - ten months after pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. He was ordered to pay a fine of $4,000 and a $100 special assessment. He previously paid $100,000 in restitution.

Offshore shell bank broker Jerome Schneider has agreed to help the IRS investigate his clients in return for a lenient sentence after pleading guilty today to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. "I will tell the government about any contacts I may have with any co-defendants or subjects of investigation, or their attorneys or individuals employed by their attorneys," states Schneider in his Plea Agreement dated February 11, 2004 filed at federal court in San Francisco, California.

Offshore promoter Jerome Schneider and his alleged business partner, Eric J. Witmeyer, are expected to be arraigned next week after they were criminally indicted in the United States.Although they were indicted on December 19, 2002, neither was required to put in a court appearance by year-end, which prosecutors said was due to the difficulties of the Holiday season.