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Isle of Man AG thanked by SEC for tracing bankrupt’s offshore assets

November 30, 2000
The Isle of Man Attorney General has been publicly thanked by the US Securities & Exchange Commission for helping to track down the offshore assets of a massively bankrupt businessman. The praise came after a New York court issued an injunction preventing the transfer of ownership of a Florida gaming cruise ship apparently controlled by a bankrupt businessman through three offshore trusts.

Default judgment against BVI firm in $6.2 million fraud case

November 30, 2000
A default judgment has been entered against British Virgin Islands-registered Hedley Finance Ltd. and its administrator, Christian Dante, for involvement in a $6.2 million investment fraud. They participated in a fraud which raised $6.2 million through the sale of bogus prime bank notes to investors who were promised returns of between 20 and 100 per cent every ten international banking days.

New offshore regulator appointed in Nevis

November 30, 2000
The Nevis government has separated its Marketing/Promotion division from its Regulation/Supervision division of its financial services sector in an attempt to improve its much-criticized level of regulation. Thomas Peacock has been appointed as Regulator for Financial Services, while Agatha Jeffers-Gooden has been appointed as Director of Development and Marketing, both effective October 1, 2000.

Barbados and Anguilla firms and Barbados attorney defendants in $323 m fraud lawsuit

November 30, 2000
Companies based in Barbados and Anguilla and a Barbados attorney are at the center of an investigation in the U.S. into an alleged $323 million insurance fraud. The investigation was launched after the liquidation on January 21, 1998 of Pennsylvania-based medical malpractice insurer PIC Insurance Group Inc., formerly known as Physicians Insurance Group.

Marc Harris gets temporary reprieve after being closed down

October 31, 2000
After months of ignoring blatant illegalities, Panamanian regulators finally acted against The Harris Organization financial services group this month and suspended its business operations. However, an Order by La Comisión Nacional de Valores (National Securities Commission) was itself suspended by the Panamanian Supreme Court following an application by The Harris Organization.

Bahamas government allows IBCs to conduct business locally

October 31, 2000
The Bahamas government has announced that IBCs will be allowed to compete for business with local companies. It is now likely that other offshore jurisdictions like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands will follow suit since the change in the Bahamas has only come about because of international pressure.

Court battle looms for control of Hawthorne-Sterling fund group

October 31, 2000
A crucial hearing in the battle for control of the Hawthorne-Sterling group of mutual funds is due to take place at Bahamas Supreme Court on November 1. Florida-based Ian L. Renert wants the court to remove accountant Clifford Culmer as Receiver of 36 companies within Renert's group and be allowed to relocate them to Nevis.

David Gilliland pleads guilty to investment fraud, turns on his co-defendants

October 31, 2000
A guilty plea has been entered by one of the defendants in an alleged $95 million investment fraud in which funds were allegedly laundered through the Bank of Bermuda in the name of an Antiguan 'paper' bank. Benjamin David Gilliland, of Memphis, Tennessee, pleaded guilty on August 22, 2000 to one count each of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Grenada licenses new FIBG and blocks FBI investigation into fraud

October 31, 2000
Grenada Prime Minister Keith Mitchell is being lined up as a potential defendant in a civil fraud lawsuit following the collapse of the First International Bank of Grenada. Depositors have vowed to take action against Mitchell after his government announced that it had granted a license to a new bank called First International Bank of Grenada 2000 Ltd.

Equity Management clients seek other victims

October 31, 2000
Clients of Bahamas-based Equity Management Group, Antigua-based Fullerton Financial Corp. and BVI-based Capital Advisory Corporation are being invited to join legal action that is being prepared against the now defunct companies and their principals.

Regulators issue Cease and Desist Order against Wellington Bank

October 31, 2000
The Indiana Securities Division has issued a Cease and Desist Order against Grenada-registered Wellington Bank & Trust Ltd., which is a sub-bank of the First International Bank of Grenada. Also named in the Order were Nevada-registered Wellington Capital Holdings Limited Inc., Ohio-registered CastleRock Consulting LLC and Ohio residents John E. Brinker Jr. and Gary J. Bentz.

Regulators take action against Tri-West Investment Club

October 31, 2000
Regulators in Texas have issued a Cease and Desist Order against Tri-West Investment Club, which appears to have been operated from the US but also maintained an address in the Bahamas. In an Order issued by the Texas State Securities Board on July 10, 2000, the principal address for the club is listed as East Bay Shopping Center, East Bay Street, Suite A-216, Nassau, the Bahamas.

SEC takes action against Robert Moore, founder of sham jurisdiction

October 31, 2000
The SEC has taken legal action in Hawaii against yet another 'founder' of a fake country who solicited investments over the Internet. Robert F. Moore, who lives in Honolulu, held himself out to be the 'Head of State' of The Kingdom of Enenkio and attempted to raise money in its name, according to an SEC complaint filed on October 5.

Cayman on-line trader expands to Canadian stock markets

October 31, 2000
Cayman-based SEGOES Securities Ltd. has announced plans to offer on-line trading for stocks listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Canadian Venture Exchange. SEGOES, which has a web-site at www.segoes.com.ky, will also provide real-time quotes from these exchanges.

Platinum Indemnity faces financial collapse, moves to segregate assets

October 31, 2000
Bermuda-based rent-a-captive Platinum Indemnity Ltd., which is part of the Powerscourt Group, is facing financial collapse after a reinsurer refused to pay weather-related claims. The firm has admitted that it faces "dire circumstances and imminent ruin of its business" in a recent court filing in New York, where it is being sued by Connecticut-based General Star Indemnity Co.

IRS gains access to offshore credit card accounts

October 31, 2000
A US judge has ordered that American Express and MasterCard must hand over records to the IRS relating to Americans utilizing offshore credit, charge and debit cards through three offshore centers. The ex parte order, issued on October 30, 2000 at the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, specifically relates to accounts linked with Antigua, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands.

Who let the dogs out? Dubious investments of Hawthorne-Sterling fund group

October 31, 2000
Research into publicly-quoted firms linked with Hawthorne-Sterling's mutual funds has revealed an astonishing pattern of alleged stock manipulation, bankruptcies and ties to convicted criminals. There is overwhelming evidence that the companies exist largely so that insiders can benefit at the expense of unsophisticated investors who are sucked in by hype.

Insider Talking: October 31, 2000

October 31, 2000
Midasco Gold Corp's dubious offshore private placement participants, Turks & Caicos Islands regulator issues warning against Orion Bank & Trust, Canadian lawsuit filed against Bermuda-based investment firm GulfStream Financial Ltd., prospectus for Bermuda Money Funds identifies long-deceased Bermudian attorney as its chairman, Better Business Bureau in Costa Rica angered by Harris Organization's false claim to be a member, New Utopia scam keeps going and going, superseding indictment brought against Nevis-based offshore provider Robin Cotterell.

OffshoreAlert Poll: 1 in 4 offshore investors expect 100% annual returns

October 31, 2000
One in four people who voted in an OffshoreAlert Internet poll on their investment expectations believe that offshore entities can legitimately guarantee annual returns of 100 per cent and above. And nearly half of the 155 people who took part in the poll believed that offshore entities can guarantee returns of at least 20 per cent per year.

Accounts in Jersey and BVI used for insider trading

October 31, 2000
A Vancouver-based businessman who used a Jersey-registered trust and a BVI-registered IBC to conduct illegal insider trades in firms he managed has been fined $50,000 by Canadian securities regulators. David Michael Patterson admitted that he did not file insider-trading reports for trades he made through a British Virgin Islands firm in shares of four companies where he was an officer or director.

Anguilla passes new laws to meet international standards

September 30, 2000
Anguilla has become the latest offshore center to introduce new legislation in order to comply with internationally-accepted standards of regulation. "The new legislation is part of the Government's determination to effectively match the growth of Anguilla's financial services with robust and progressive laws that meet international regulatory standards," said John Lawrence, Director/Anguilla Financial Services Department.

Investors claim huge losses with now-defunct Bahamas broker

September 30, 2000
Investors who claim they were swindled by a Bahamas-based stockbroking firm are preparing legal action in a bid to recover approximately $12 million in lost funds. The investors claim they were sold dubious stocks traded on the NASDAQ over-the-counter market by Equity Management Group Ltd., which operated from the Bahamas Financial Centre in Nassau.

FIBG victims obtain $373 million asset freeze order

September 30, 2000
Depositors of the First International Bank of Grenada have obtained an order from the Grenada Supreme Court that allows them to freeze up to $373 million of the bank's worldwide assets, if they can find them.The creditors are calling upon all depositors to join the lawsuit as co-plaintiffs and are seeking contributions of $1,000 each to cover costs.

Marc Harris charged with criminal fraud in Panama, reports newspaper

September 30, 2000
Marc M. Harris, head of The Harris Organization financial services group, has been criminally charged with investment fraud in Panama, according to La Prensa newspaper.Current Harris Organization officer Ilka M. Barria and former employees Alan McAloon, Kenneth Taylor and Christine Ledezma have also apparently been charged.

US Grand Jury investigates ‘offshore bank’;

September 30, 2000
A Grand Jury investigation is currently underway in California into the activities of two people linked with a bank held out to be based in the Turks & Caicos Islands.

Undischarged bankrupt linked with Grenada bank

September 30, 2000
An undischarged bankrupt, whose debts include $4 million owed to a now-defunct Cayman Islands bank, has resurfaced as a director of Grenada-registered Sterling International Bank & Trust. Robert Leroy Bandfield Jr., 56, known as 'Bob Bandfield', went into voluntary bankruptcy in his home state of Oregon on October 30, 1992 with assets of $282,681 and liabilities of $8,610,000.

Bermuda resident penalized by SEC

September 30, 2000
Bermuda resident Susan McKenna Grant has been ordered by a US court to disgorge $135,204 and pay $264,796 in refunds and interest following a lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Grant, who lives at Harbour Road, Paget, was one of three former executives of NASDAQ-listed Alias Research Inc. who were ordered to pay total penalties of $2.4 million on July 24, 2000.

Irvin BonCamper linked with dubious insurers

September 30, 2000
St. Kitts and Nevis-based accountant Irvin BonCamper has been linked to two dubious insurers accused of separately attracting millions of dollars of premiums on the strength of false financial statements. One of the insurers, St. Kitts-based Keyes International Insurance Company Ltd., was affiliated with Banque de Petite Martinique, a Grenada-registered 'bank' that became defunct in 1998 or 1999.

Former Cayman broker and mother penalized for lying to regulators

September 30, 2000
Former Cayman-based stockbroker Richard Harris and his mother, Ana Jimenez, have settled a perjury action brought against them by the British Columbia Securities Commission. Under the settlement, Harris and Jimenez, who now live in Costa Rica, have been banned for ten years from serving as a director or officer of any issuer regulated by the BCSC. They are also prohibited from "engaging in investor relations" in British Columbia for the same period.

Terry Neal settles SEC lawsuit for $2.5 million

September 30, 2000
Nevis-based offshore financial services provider and author Terry Neal has been ordered to disgorge $2.3 million in "ill-gotten gains" and pay a $200,000 penalty to settle a civil fraud lawsuit in the United States. Neal, who is an American citizen, has also been barred from serving as an officer or director of a public company in the United States.

Insider Talking: September 30, 2000

September 30, 2000
As 51-year-old British businessman Leslie Wingham scours the world for places to park millions of dollars allegedly defrauded from clients of Antigua-based Accord Insurance, it is worth taking a look at his none-too-pretty business record over the years; We can report further news on Dominica-based British Trade & Commerce Bank, which acknowledged in our July 31 edition that it was experiencing liquidity and other problems due to having some of its assets frozen in Canada and because of an alleged credit card fraud against the bank; American Eric Resteiner, who bought Viktor Kozeny's luxury home in Lyford Cay in the Bahamas not too long ago, has vacated the property after failing to meet mortgage payments and is believed to be now living in either Switzerland or Cairo, said a source; We recently received another fax from 'Anne Gregory' of The Finance Merchants Group, which purports to sell offshore bank charters from a base in the Bahamas; and We reported last month on how DIAK Bank was being operated without a license in St. Vincent by 'minister of religion' Clifford Pitt and was offering depositors annual interest rates of 25-35 per cent. We have since learned that these rates are peanuts compared with the returns of five per cent per month or 90 per cent annually being offered for five-year certificates of deposits by its sister company, DIAK Asset Management Company Ltd.

James Kelly cashes in MRM shares

September 30, 2000
Mutual Risk Management's Chief Financial Officer, James Kelly, received $2.76 million in August from the sale of 150,000 of the company's common shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

Martin Hoffman discusses his sometimes controversial past

September 30, 2000
American businessman Martin Hoffman has attracted his fair share of publicity in his long career in the insurance industry, which began in the 1960s and has covered markets in the United States, the UK, Bermuda and around the world. Over the next few editions, Inside Bermuda will serialize a comprehensive interview that we conducted with Hoffman in which he addresses several controversial incidents that he has been linked with, including the collapse of US firms Kenilworth Insurance and Cadillac Insurance and the operations of Barbados-based Towers International Re/Knightsbridge International Re. Since December of 1994, Hoffman has been the President of New York-based Eton Management Corporation, which is engaged in a broad range of insurance and reinsurance activities, including the management of an International Marine and Property Program. Prior to founding Eton Management, he ran MIH Consultants, which provided consulting, administrative, software development and processing for small and medium-sized insurance companies and agents. Early in his career, Hoffman was hired to head the Reinsurance Audit Staff at Norman Reitman & Company, an international insurance accounting firm specializing in reinsurance and CIGNA British Companies and Bermuda Reinsurers. After he left Norman Reitman & Company, Hoffman was retained by a London brokerage firm where he was responsible for all accounting activities related to the brokerage firm's business underwritten by production sources in the United States on behalf of Lloyd's of London.

Bahamas fund group forced into receivership

September 30, 2000
An unlicensed, unaudited mutual fund group into which over 550 investors invested approximately $13.2 million has been forced into Receivership by the Bahamas Securities Commission. It has triggered a bitter legal battle for control of the Hawthorne-Sterling family of funds between their Receiver, accountant Clifford Culmer, and their founder, American Ian L. Renert.

Bank of Bermuda sued again over alleged $300 million Ponzi scheme, two arrested

September 30, 2000
The Bank of Bermuda has been sued again over its involvement in the alleged $300 million Cash 4 Titles Ponzi scheme that operated in the United States, the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas. Barely a month after the bank was served with a class action lawsuit in Federal Court in Miami that was filed on behalf of victims, a second action was filed in Illinois on September 19, 2000.

Accused fraudster Michael Richmond used name of First Bermuda Securities when raising funds

September 30, 2000
A businessman - Michael Richmond - criminally indicted in the U.S. for an alleged $8.5 million investment fraud lied about a relationship with First Bermuda Securities when raising funds, claim investigators. Richmond allegedly told potential depositors of his Nauru-registered Royal Meridian International Bank that their accounts would be managed by FBS or Deacon Capital Corporation.

TAC International and Craig Southwood penalized by regulators

September 30, 2000
Bahamas-registered TAC International and its President, Craig Southwood, have been further penalized by the British Columbia Securities Commission after failing to honor a previous settlement agreement. In a ruling on June 9, 2000, shares in TAC International Limited were permanently cease-traded and Southwood was prohibited from trading in securities and serving as an officer or director of a company.

Internet poll shows that Grenada is considered worst ‘real’ offshore center

September 30, 2000
Grenada has finished a close second to the fake jurisdiction of Melchizedek in an Internet poll to determine the worst offshore jurisdiction. In answer to the question 'Which of these offshore centers would you least trust with your money?', Melchizedek came top with 30 per cent of votes cast, while Grenada followed with 21 per cent.

Harris Organization-controlled motel put into receivership

August 31, 2000
A Florida motel controlled by The Harris Organization has been put into receivership after the Panama-based financial services group defaulted on an $11,820 per month mortgage. A receiver for Neptune's Hideaway Motel Inc., in Key Largo, was appointed by the 16th Judicial Court for Monroe County on June 20, 2000 after an application on June 6 by creditor LRJ Realty Inc.

Trenwick-La Salle Re merger nears completion

August 31, 2000
The merger of LaSalle Re Holdings Limited and Trenwick Group Inc., which was announced last December, is close to completion. After clearing SEC red-tape, LaSalle and Trenwick have scheduled meetings of their shareholders to approve the transaction for September 25, 2000.

Keith King panned in Isle of Man judgment

August 31, 2000
A now defunct Isle of Man stockbroking company controlled by offshore businessman Keith King has lost a second civil lawsuit brought by a former client. Defendant City & International Securities was found to have illegally transferred GBP200,000 out of the account of The Mannin Foundation, of Liechtenstein, to fund a new stockbroking firm that collapsed within 12 months and was compulsorily wound up by the Isle of Man High Court.

Religion and high interest rates in St. Vincent

August 31, 2000
Offshore Alert has uncovered an offshore bank that is chartered in Grenada but is operating without a license in St. Vincent, where it is offering depositors annual interest of between 25 and 35 per cent. DIAK Bank is run by Clifford Pitt, a U. S. national who has no prior banking experience and who is described in promotional material as a 'minister of religion' and 'Professor of Theology'.

Trial date set for Sphere Drake-Odyssey Re lawsuit

August 31, 2000
The London Commercial Court has scheduled October, 2001 for the start of a trial relating to a civil lawsuit filed by Sphere Drake Insurance (formerly Odyssey Re-London) against two UK-based subsidiaries of Stirling Cooke Brown Holdings, two former officers of those subsidiaries, and others on February 29, 2000.

SEC lawsuit leads to closure of 21st Century Banking Group

August 31, 2000
Grenada-registered 21st Century Banking Group is closing down after the US Securities & Exchange Commission froze the assets of the investment group that operated the offshore bank. In a lawsuit filed at the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, the SEC has accused six defendants of defrauding 330 investors out of $29.1 million raised since January, 1998.

FIBG put into receivership, more amazing revelations from Grenada

August 31, 2000
After allowing tens of millions of dollars to disappear and the crooks to flee the island, Grenada's government finally took over the First International Bank of Grenada this month. Government accountant Garvey Louison was appointed Receiver of FIBG on August 1 and immediately started preparing to liquidate the bank and all of its sub-banks.