Pakistan: Admiral Mansur ul Haq
Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Pakistan into Admiral Mansur ul Haq for alleged corruption.
FBI Agent Gerard Forrester: Letter Supporting Suisse Security Bank & Trust
Letter to Bahamas Central Bank Governor Julian Francis from FBI Agent Gerard Forrester in support of fraudulently-operated Bahamas-based Suisse Security Bank & Trust Ltd., dated January 12, 2001 - two days before Forrester retired from the FBI.
Offshore criminal activity continues unabated in Grenada
Regulators in Grenada are continuing to allow banks belonging to the First International Bank of Grenada group to operate on the island despite FIBG's massive insolvency, we can reveal.
The National Commercial Bank of St. Vincent, which is government-owned, is also continuing to provide banking services despite having its UK assets frozen recently over the FIBG fiasco.
Marc Harris gets temporary reprieve after being closed down
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.
Grenada licenses new FIBG and blocks FBI investigation into fraud
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.
France: Bernard Marche – Memorandum and Order
Order Affirming the Extradition of Bernard Marche from the USA to France.
FIBG victims obtain $373 million asset freeze order
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.
Switzerland: Semyon Donskoy et al
Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Switzerland into Semyon Donskoy, Arik Kislin and Semyon Kislin for alleged bribery and money laundering.
FIBG put into receivership, more amazing revelations from Grenada
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.
South Africa: Dr. Wouter Basson
Application for the appointment of a Commissioner for a criminal investigation in South Africa into Dr. Wouter Basson for alleged fraud, murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, possession of prohibited substances (Cocaine, Mandrax and Ecstasy) and "defeating the ends of Justice".
FIBG chairman calls for ‘positive energy’ to turn bank around
On July 4, 2000, not long before Adrian Ball's audit of the First International Bank of Grenada was completed, the bank's chairman, Richard Downes, sent an extraordinary letter to FIBG's depositors.In the 10-page letter, Downes acknowledged that FIBG was "experiencing a severe cash-flow problem" and asked clients for their "forgiveness".He then called on depositors to help to overcome the problems through "the flow of positive energy" in order to "reverse the polarities" of the "negative energy" surrounding the bank.
UK accountant declares FIBG solvent, triggers disbelief
In a development that will astound many businessmen in the region, a UK-based chartered accountant appears to have given the First International Bank of Grenada a clean bill of health.
German police investigate Marc Harris
The Panamanian authorities have received yet another request for assistance from a foreign agency investigating alleged crimes involving The Harris Organization financial services group.
La Prensa, which is the main newspaper in Panama, reported in June that Interpol in Wiesbaden, Germany, had submitted a written request for help to their counterparts in Panama on March, 8, 2000.
According to La Prensa, the Germans are investigating an alleged fraud committed in Germany and Switzerland and allegedly involving Heinz Richard, 52, someone called 'Hintermeier' and a company named Victus Commerz AG.
Argentina: Juan Pedro Schaerer
Complaint for the arrest of Juan Pedro Schaerer and extradition from the USA to Argentina to face charges of fraud and corruption arising from when he served as the Minister of Public Health for the Corrientes Province of Argentina.
Russia: Industrial State Enterprises of St. Petersburg
Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Russia into alleged corruption and fraud involving Industrial State Enterprises of St. Petersburg.
Grenada regulator Michael Creft is ‘apparently corrupt’, says FIBG auditor
Grenada's Registrar of Offshore Financial Services, Michael Creft, was described last year as being "apparently corrupt" by the first accountant who attempted to audit the books of the First International Bank of Grenada. In a letter to Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, Lauriston Wilson wrote that Creft's actions relating to FIBG were "suspect and lead to the inescapable conclusion that he is apparently corrupt".
Ukraine: Pavel Lazarenko et al
Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Ukraine into Pavlo Ivanovych Lazarenko, a former Prime Minister; Myckola Ivanovych Agafonov, Petro Myckolayiovych Kirichenko and Igor
Olexandrovych Polozhentsev for alleged fraud, embezzlement and corruption.
Argentina: Roberto Fionna et al
Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Argentina into Roberto Fionna and others.
Gerard Forrester: Letter Supporting Mohamad Harajchi
Letter to Bahamas Central Bank Governor Julian Francis from FBI Agent Gerard Forrester in support of Mohamad Harajchi and Suisse Security Bank & Trust, dated February 11, 2000.
Harris Organization moves closer to collapse
There are increasing indications that The Harris Organization financial services group of Panama is edging closer to collapse. Several of the group's clients have contacted Offshore Alert recently to complain that their requests to redeem all or part of their investments have been ignored.
Wellington Bank & Trust – same scam, different name
Offshore Alert has uncovered another highly dubious Grenada-registered bank that is owned by a former bankrupt. Wellington Bank & Trust, which was incorporated on July 27, 1998, is owned by John Edward Brinker Jr. and Gary Joel Bentz, who are both based in Ohio.
Latest on massive Grenada banking fraud
Offshore Alert can this month reveal further disturbing details about the massive financial fraud that is being committed on the island of Grenada in what appears to be a joint effort between the island's government and the private sector. What is currently taking place in Grenada mirrors what happened in Montserrat in the late 1980s when approximately 300 'paper' banks established with phantom capital defrauded foreign clients of tens of millions of dollars before eventually being closed down by the UK police in 1989/90.
FIBG hooks up with Alexander’s World (Or could it be Wayne’s World?)
Two more companies have listed on the sham Grenada-registered World Investors' Stock Exchange, bringing the total number of listed issuers to approximately 20. They are Bahamas-registered Alexander Development International Corporation and St. Vincent-registered Molecular Waste Technologies Inc.
OffshoreAlert Awards For 1999
Annual OffshoreAlert Awards for: Worst Regulator, Worst Regulated Jurisdictions, Lie of the Year, Coward of the Year, Crooks of the Year, Jurisdiction in Most Need of a PR Make-Over, Most Small-Minded Decision, Most Arrogant Jurisdiction, Most Stupid Comments, Here Today, Gone Tomorrow Award, and Most Responsible Regulators.
IDIC moves to Grenada after being closed down in two jurisdictions
Grenada regulators have allowed the sham insurer known as IDIC to incorporate on the island after regulators in Nevis and Dominica closed down the company, we can disclose.
IDIC was closed down by Nevis regulators on January 27, 1999 and, the following month, was shut down in Dominica, where it had moved.
Eurofed Bank goes into receivership
Antigua-registered Eurofed Bank Ltd. has been placed into receivership by the island's regulators over its suspected involvement in money laundering.
Eurofed, which also has a banking license in Grenada, went into receivership on or around November 15 after being implicated in a scandal involving Pavlo Lazarenko, a former Prime Minister of the Ukraine.
FIBG latest: Dodgy share offerings and more ‘paper’ firms list on sham stock exchange
The latest phase of what is turning out to be one of the most extravagant offshore frauds ever involves the sale of shares over the Internet, supposedly to finance a 120-room luxury resort hotel in Grenada and an on-line casino.
Investors in the resort project are "guaranteed" annual dividends of between 25-30 per cent, depending on the amount invested, even before anything has been built, while shareholders of the casino venture are promised 35 per cent annually.
La Prensa newspaper charged over Harris Organization stories
La Prensa newspaper in Panama and some of its journalists have had a criminal libel brought against them after several articles on The Harris Organization financial services group.La Prensa has alleged improper links between The Harris Organization, the Attorney-General, José Antonio Sossa; and a Panamanian attorney, Carlos Jones; allegations which have been denied by the subjects of the articles.
FIBG ‘auditor’ has no CPA licence, co-owner indicted in US
Offshore Alert can this month report further disturbing revelations about the First International Bank of Grenada that make a mockery of the island as a legitimate financial centre.One of the most shocking discoveries is that the annual financial statement filed recently by the bank with regulators was signed by a former bankrupt with a criminal record who is passing himself off as a CPA.Nevada-based accountant Kenneth Nelson Craig had his CPA licence revoked in the US in 1996 after committing an appalling number of offences, including swindling three clients out of $81,000.Equally disturbing is news that one of FIBG's owners, Roger V. Cagle, has been criminally indicted in New Jersey on charges of racketeering, bribery and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Harris Organization appeals libel decision
The Harris Organization financial services group of Panama has served official notice that it will appeal its loss of a recent libel lawsuit against Offshore Business News & Research Inc., which publishes Offshore Alert.
The grounds for the appeal were not known at press time.
Crown Meridian, Sattva Investment Bank and Offshore Investment Services join FIBG scam
Grenada-registered Crown Meridian Bank has followed in the footsteps of its sister bank, First International Bank of Grenada, by promising depositors annual interest rates of 200 per cent and falsely claiming deposits are insured by the sham insurer IDIC, we can disclose.Crown Meridian is run by the same people who control FIBG and was licensed by Grenada's regulators on February 1, 1999 - three days after Offshore Alert exposed FIBG as a scam.
Libel trial judge asks: ‘Where is Marc Harris?’
The libel trial involving The Harris Organization financial services group of Panama and Offshore Business News & Research ended on July 30 with Judge Michael Moore asking: "Where is Marc Harris?"
Harris was nowhere to be seen during six days of testimony even though he was the main subject matter of the March 31, 1998 Offshore Alert article that was being complained about.
Q&A with Grenada reguator Michael Creft over First International Bank of Grenada
Questions and Answers with Grenada's Registrar of Offshore Services, Michael Creft, regarding the First International Bank of Grenada.
First International Bank of Grenada launches Pyramid scheme
The First International Bank of Grenada and the sham insurer known as IDIC have launched an international pyramid scheme as the latest phase of their plan to part investors from their money. There is also concern that FIBG may have become involved in stock manipulation involving a Florida-registered penny stock firm that trades on the NASDAQ over-the-counter market.
Leroy Johnson starts legal fight to reclaim Cayman land
Cayman citizen Leroy Johnson has started legal proceedings as the latest phase of his long battle to reclaim ownership of over 200 acres of quarrying land potentially worth tens of millions of dollars that has mysteriously ended up in the control of the island's Minister of Land, John Bonwell McLean.Johnson, through his attorney Keith Collins, of Collins Broadhurst & Furniss, filed a lawsuit on March 5, 1999 in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands against Cayman's Registrar of Lands, Clarke Buchanan.
First International Bank of Grenada Ltd. et al v. David Marchant et al: Libel Complaint
Libel Complaint in First International Bank of Grenada Ltd., of Grenada; International Depositors' Reinsurance Corporation, Ltd., doing business as IDIC, of Nevis, and World Investors' Stock Exchange, of Grenada v. David Marchant and Offshore Business News & Research, Inc. at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
‘I see no evidence of fraud’, writes Grenada’s Chief Regulator
Letter to the Editor of Offshore Alert from Michael Creft, Grenada's Chief Regulator regarding the First International Bank of Grenada.
‘I see no evidence of fraud by FIBG,’ writes Grenada regulator Michael Creft
Letter to OffshoreAlert from Grenada's financial regulator Michael Creft regarding the First International Bank of Grenada, World Investors' Stock Exchange, Fidelity International Bank, International Exchange Bank, and International Deposit Insurance Corporation. Disturbingly, the letter was faxed to OffshoreAlert from FIBG's office.
Attorneys threaten OffshoreAlert with lawsuit over exposé of insurance-banking fraud
Offshore Alert has received two letters from attorneys threatening to sue us over the banking/insurance scandal involving World Investors Stock Exchange, International Deposit Insurance Corporation, First International Bank of Grenada, International Exchange Bank and Fidelity International Bank, that is exposed in the January 29, 1999 edition of Offshore Alert.
Banking-insurance scam advertisements ask investors to sign away their assets
Avertisement from 'Vincent Lachmi' and 'Dr. Vincent Kumar' starts appearing on the Internet in connection with fraud perpetrated in the names of the International Deposit Insurance Corporation, the World Investors Stock Exchange, Fidelity International Bank, International Exchange Bank and the First International Bank of Grenada.
OffshoreAlert exposes massive offshore banking and insurance fraud
Offshore Alert can today expose a massive fraud involving at least three banks, an insurance company and a stock exchange into which investors are believed to have invested tens of millions of dollars. Participants in the scam include the World Investors Stock Exchange in Grenada, the International Deposit Insurance Corporation in Nevis, the First International Bank of Grenada, the International Exchange Bank, which is registered in either Nauru or Grenada but operated out of Bermuda and Texas; and Fidelity International Bank, which is registered in Nauru but operated from St. Vincent.
In the Matter of Stanford Trust Company Limited: Memorandum of Agreement
In the Matter of Stanford Trust Company Limited, d.b.a. Stanford Fiduciary Investor Services - Memorandum of Agreement - State of Florida Department of Banking and Finance - December 14, 1998
‘Caribbean Bank of Crooks’
Offshore Alert can this month reveal further details about an Internet bank in Antigua that is perpetrating a fraud so crude that it illustrates why the island has developed such a poor reputation in the offshore world.
The fraud is all the more disturbing because the bank's legal representative in Antigua is Steadroy Benjamin, who is a Senator for the ruling Antigua Labour Party and is the Deputy Speaker of the Antiguan House of Representatives.
Marc Harris latest: Liquidity crisis deepens, another client goes to prison
More information has come our way this month that sheds further light on the current and past turmoil of The Harris Organization of Panama, including details of liquidity problems, the conviction of another one of its clients on a drug trafficking charge and allegations of 'bounty hunting' against two of the group's officers.
The financial services group, which we have previously reported as being insolvent, running a Ponzi scheme, ripping off clients and laundering the proceeds of crime, seems to be in financial trouble.
Cayman government continues its immoral ways
In what might rank as one of the most immoral decisions ever made by a democratic government anywhere in the world, Cayman Minister of Land John McLean has been allowed to keep his ministerial position even though a vote to oust him was carried by eight to six in the Legislative Assembly.
Members of the Legislative Assembly who were trying to remove McLean from office for allegedly illegally obtaining over 200 acres of Crown Land worth tens of millions of dollars fell one vote short of the required nine votes needed to pass their motion.
US government battles for jurisdiction over Swiss American Bank
A battle for legal jurisdiction between the US government and four offshore financial institutions in a $7 million forfeiture case contains a number of important issues that will affect all companies and individuals who operate offshore but have US clients.Among arguments being put forward by the US government for jurisdiction over banking entities located in Antigua, Switzerland and Panama is the fact that the offshore companies sell their services over the Internet, which can be accessed in the US; that Swiss American Bank has advertised in the in-flight magazine of American Airlines; and that SAB has correspondent banking relationships with banks in the States.
Scandal-plagued Cayman government faces new crisis over John McLean
The Cayman Islands government is facing its second scandal within seven months following an announcement that Minister of Land John McLean has been cleared of illegally obtaining Crown Land worth tens of millions of dollars - despite evidence to the contrary.
The circumstances of the official whitewash of McLean are such that it calls into question the ability of the current government to administer its affairs in a competent or moral manner, including regulating its offshore financial services sector.
First Cayman Bank liquidators prepare to sue directors
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.
Cayman government back pedals on John McLean land investigation
Following pressure from Offshore Alert, the Cayman government has done a U-turn and launched a fresh investigation into the suspicious circumstances in which Minister of Land John McLean came into possession of Crown Land worth tens of millions of dollars.
In a letter dated March 17, Attorney General Richard Coles, acting on behalf of the Governor, John Owen, wrote to us stating that McLean "is concerned that the matter should be clarified as soon as possible".
Pressure mounts on John McLean to explain Cayman land deal
Pressure was mounting this month on Cayman Minister of Land John McLean to publicly explain how he came into possession of 200 acres of Crown Land with a potential quarrying value of tens of millions of dollars.Cayman Governor John Owen has been asked to investigate the matter and it was raised yesterday on the floor of the Legislative Assembly by Frank McField, who was ruled out of order by the Speaker. McLean, who has not attended recent Legislative Assembly hearings, was not in attendance.
