Credibility concerns hold up Resource Underwriters
Concerns about the credibility of some of the people involved are holding up the formation in Bermuda of Resource Underwriters, a new $300 million reinsurer whose front-man is Robin Spencer-Arscott.
‘Stolen’ Cayman bank records in hands of the IRS
The liquidator of Cayman-based Guardian Bank & Trust (in liquidation) has lost a petition he filed against the US government for the return of a computer tape containing details of accounts held at the bank.John Mathewson, the former chairman of the bank, handed over the tape to the FBI in June, 1996, as part of a plea bargain agreement after he was charged with money laundering offences in New Jersey.
Harris McLean’s Canadian assets frozen
The British Columbia Securities Commission has frozen an estimated US$9 million held in Vancouver trading accounts on behalf of Cayman-based broker/dealer Harris McLean Financial Group Ltd. and Ana Jimenez, who is the mother of Richard Harris, one of Harris McLean's principals.
Cayman court enforces foreign judgment
In a ruling that could have implications for other offshore ‘paper' companies registered in the Cayman Islands and operated elsewhere, the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands has allowed the enforcement of a foreign judgement against a Cayman entity called Socoa International.The Grand Court rejected one of the main defence arguments that to allow the enforcement of a foreign judgement would be against the national interests of the Cayman Islands and ruled that the Canadian judgement could be enforced without the plaintiff having to prove its case all over again in Cayman.
McKeeva Bush to be fired after First Cayman Bank collapses
McKeeva Bush, a director of First Cayman Bank who lied about his directorship after the bank collapsed amid allegations of fraud, is expected to be officially removed as a government minister when the Cayman Islands Legislative Assembly begins its next session on Friday, October 31.Bush has become an acute embarrassment to the Cayman government since First Cayman collapsed earlier this month, particularly with an international banking conference taking place on the island.
Details about the collapse of First Cayman Bank
Two loans - one of more than $5 million to the owner and another of about $10 million to Texas oil-man Tom Hajecate - form a major part of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority inquiry into the collapse of First Cayman Bank, Offshore Alert can reveal.
These and further details about the bank's financial problems have emerged over the last few days - a period in which this newsletter has been threatened with legal action by government minister McKeeva Bush, who is a director of First Cayman, and warned by his lawyer that we faced criminal prosecution if we continued to pursue the story.
Cayman regulators close down First Cayman Bank and Gulf Union Bank
Cayman regulators yesterday closed down Gulf Union Bank and its subsidiary, First Cayman Bank, after evidence of financial irregularities was found during due diligence carried out by a prospective buyer of First Cayman.
Gulf Union’s bank license suspended in the Bahamas
The Bahamian authorities have suspended the banking licence of the Gulf Union Bank (Bahamas) Ltd. following problems at the bank's financially troubled parent and sister companies in the Cayman Islands.Regulators are investigating allegations that suspiciously large amounts of money have flowed from the Bahamas bank to its Cayman affiliates and possibly on to foreign entities over the last few months.
BSX de-lists NimsTec shares
The Bermuda Stock Exchange yesterday announced that it was de-listing the shares of 3-D firm NimsTec Limited for publishing an inaccurate and misleading share prospectus.
The de-listing of NimsTec's shares is a direct result of an investigation carried out by Offshore Business News & Research which publishes Offshore Alert and Inside Bermuda, into NimsTec earlier this year.
BCCI liquidators awarded US$2.1 billion in damages
The Court of Appeals in the Cayman Islands has awarded damages of US$2.1 billion to the liquidators of BCCI-affiliate International Credit and Investment Company and ICIC-subsidiary Finance International and Investment Limited.
UK GAO report outlines drive to force offshore regulators to co-operate more with foreign authorities
A wide-ranging report into the Dependent Territories by the UK National Audit Office has outlined a further drive by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to force financial regulators in offshore jurisdictions to co-operate more with foreign authorities.
Ansbacher fires its New York correspondent bank
Ansbacher (Bahamas) Ltd. has fired its New York correspondent bank for providing confidential information about its account to the IRS without notifying the offshore bank first.And Ansbacher itself has been reprimanded by the Central Bank of the Bahamas for failing to inform the body quickly enough that the IRS was seeking information about its clients.
Bermuda’s Police Commissioner fired after government minister implicated in drugs sting
British policeman Colin Coxall has been forced to resign as Bermuda's Police Commissioner six months before the end of his three-year contract following pressure from the government. He will step down on October 31.
First Cayman Bank and Gulf Union in financial trouble
The future of First Cayman Bank and its parent, Gulf Union Bank, which also has a Bahamas subsidiary, has been subject to speculation over the last month after the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority blocked the appointment of a new general manager, forced through its own choice and alluded to "problems" at First Cayman.
John Tugwell announces resignation as Bank of Butterfield CEO after just 15 weeks
The shock resignation of Bank of Butterfield CEO John Tugwell last week just 15 weeks into a five-year contract remains a mystery.Unusually for a small community like Bermuda, no-one appears to know with any certainty exactly why Tugwell announced his resignation, which will take effect once a replacement is found.
Cayman tax initiative – latest
Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the UK and Cayman Islands governments are still denying the existence of an initiative from London requesting that Cayman begin co-operating with tax investigations carried out by G7 countries, as was reported last month by Offshore Alert.The ‘does it or doesn't it exist' debate has reached almost farcical proportions, largely as a result of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London refusing to discuss the subject in any depth and the Cayman government refusing to discuss the subject at all.
Over 100 BCCI-related lawsuits filed in Cayman, Crown Prince of Dubai among defendants
Lawyers acting for the liquidator of the Bank of Credit & Commerce International have swamped the Cayman court system by bringing over 100 lawsuits against people who borrowed money from the bank and foreign banks and insurers it did business with.A defendant in two of the actions brought at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands is the Crown Prince of Dubai and the Minister of Defence for the United Arab Emirates, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Existence of Cayman tax directive confirmed by Cayman sources
Offshore Alert can today confirm that the Cayman Islands Governor, John Owen, HAS received a directive from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London instructing the island to introduce legislation to assist foreign countries with tax investigations.Yesterday, we ran a story indicating that the directive existed but also quoting senior government and business sources as categorically stating that it did not.Today, after further investigations, Offshore Alert can clear up any confusion and confirm that FCO correspondence seeking co-operation on foreign tax investigations has indeed arrived in Cayman and its existence is well-known in the top echelons of power.
UK tax initiative in Cayman
Does it exist or doesn't it? That was the question being asked in the Cayman Islands this month after widespread reports that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London sent a directive to Governor John Owen instructing Cayman to pass legislation opening up bank accounts for tax investigations carried out by the world's major countries.
Bermuda Fire & Marine insolvent by $1.4 billion
Bermuda Fire & Marine Insurance Company, which was stripped of over $40 million of assets two years before it went bust without Bermuda's regulators so much as batting an eyelid, is now estimated by its liquidators to be insolvent by an astonishing $1.4 billion. If the figures are accurate, Bermuda Fire would become not only by far the biggest insolvency in Bermuda's history but also one of the biggest insurance insolvencies anywhere in the world.
Bermuda jeweller ‘steals’ name of Caribbean jeweller
In an extraordinary move, a Bermuda jeweller has set up an operation in the name of a leading Caribbean jewellery chain in an apparent bid to disrupt the chain's attempt to muscle in on its territory.The action by HS & JE Crisson Limited is likely to lead to a complicated dispute with Bahamas-based Colombian Emeralds International, which had not trademarked its name in Bermuda.
Cayman trust company caught up in money laundering case
AMEX International Trust (Cayman) Limited and Cayman International Trust Company Limited were innocently used to launder the proceeds of cocaine trafficking from Mexico to the US in the early 1990s, it has been alleged in a Texas court case. Jose Jesus Echegollen and Guillermina Chavez are accused of using a string of Cayman companies to help launder $30 million in cocaine proceeds which were transferred to Cayman from banks in the US and Mexico.
Cayman passes mutual legal assistance law for drug-related offences
The Cayman Islands has introduced another piece of anti-money laundering legislation with the passage this month of the Misuse of Drugs (International Co-operation) Law 1997, which allows foreign countries to apply for legal assistance when investigating drug-related offences.
Deloitte & Touche attacked over bid to increase liquidation fees
Investors in a failed Cayman-registered mutual fund have criticized the fund's liquidators, Deloitte & Touche, for going behind their backs in applying for a large increase in their liquidation fees. A group of about 20 shareholders of The Global Opportunity Fund, who claim to have lost more than $40 million in the fund, have accused the accounting firm of greed and underhandedness.
NimsTec’s appalling track record
Investors thinking of buying into high-tech firm NimsTec, which last month became the latest company to list on the Bermuda Stock Exchange, may want to look closely at the track record of its technology and its senior management before parting with their funds.
Bermuda-based NimsTec, which manufactures and markets 3-D products, including cameras, has raised $3 million so far from investors in Bermuda, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Investors include Deloitte & Touche (Bermuda) partners Bill Jack and Roger Titterton, who have invested $40,000 between them.
The company bears striking similarities to a company called Nimslo, which lost investors in the US, the UK and Bermuda tens of millions of dollars over the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s with the same technology now owned by NimsTec.
Centre Re facing legal action over Anglo American
Bermuda-based Centre Reinsurance Holdings is facing legal action following the recent provisional liquidation of UK firm Anglo American Insurance Company, which Centre Re both owned and reinsured.Inside Bermuda has been told that creditors are going to sue Centre Re, alleging that Centre Re and its parent, Swiss-based Zurich Insurance Company, have misled Anglo creditors and acted in its own interests to the detriment of creditors through a series of actions since 1992.
Money launderer convicted in Cayman
In a case that has triggered investigations on both sides of the US-Canadian border, Pietro Paolo Codispoti, of Montreal, was convicted in the Cayman Islands on May 22 of three counts of money laundering.
North American Fidelity & Guarantee – a Bermuda tragedy
A British television programme claiming that a "mysterious Irishman" called Steven Baker was being sought in connection with the worldwide insurance fraud that goes by the name of Dai Ichi Kyoto Re caused a lot of interest in Bermuda.
One of Dai Ichi's sister companies, North American Fidelity & Guarantee, had a brief but extremely profitable and very fraudulent one-year trading spell in Bermuda in 1992/1993.
The company began life as a shelf company set up in October, 1989, by ambitious Bermuda lawyer Lynda Milligan-Whyte.
Start date set for Bermuda Fire & Marine trial
A trial date has finally been set for what will be one of the most eagerly-awaited business-related civil trials in the history of Bermuda.Bermuda Supreme Court has provisionally set aside a date in the spring of 1998 to begin hearing allegations that some of the island's most influential businessmen stripped Bermuda Fire & Marine Insurance of assets valued at over $40 million even though they allegedly knew the firm was insolvent.
Ken Dart plans $500 m luxury homes development in Cayman
Reclusive billionaire Ken Dart has held secret talks with realtors, lawyers and bankers in the Cayman Islands with a view to a US$500 million that would involve dredging the North Sound Lagoon - and could signal the death of the world-renowned Stingray City tourist attraction.
David Saul quits as Bermuda’s premier
Bermuda was in shock last week following the sudden resignation of David Saul as Premier after just 19 months in office.Saul caught everyone by surprise by giving only a week's notice that he was stepping down as leader and announcing that he was also quitting as an MP a few days after that.His resignation has caused concern among international businessmen, who fear a leadership battle could affect the economy.
Kruger faces second extradition warrant
Swiss national Peter M. Kruger, who cost Credit Suisse, Swiss Bank and others millions of dollars, has been re-arrested in the Cayman Islands on an extradition warrant from Switzerland just six months after his original extradition arrest had been thrown out by the Cayman courts.
Peter Kruger gives up extradition fight in Cayman
Swiss national Peter Kruger, who is wanted in Switzerland on charges of filing a false bankruptcy of US$270 million, has given up his long fight against extradition from the Cayman Islands and has said he will voluntarily return to his homeland in the "very near future".
Interamerican Asset Management Fund allegedly used in multi-million dollar fraud
A Bahamas-based mutual fund was used by one of Ecuador's best-known business families to defraud investors and the Central Bank of Ecuador out of approximately $160 million, it has been claimed.And the scandal has extended to the United States where the Federal Reserve Board has taken steps to safeguard the financial position of the Pan American Bank, in Miami.Both the Bahamian mutual fund - the Interamerican Asset Management Fund Limited - and the Pan American Bank were set up by the powerful Ortega family of Ecuador.
Colorado couple on the run from US creditors celebrate legal victory in Cayman
A Colorado couple on the run from the Internal Revenue Service and a possible prison sentence in the United States have been celebrating a major court victory in the Cayman Islands, whose government has welcomed them with open arms.The Appeals Court of the Cayman Islands reversed an earlier US$721,000 judgment made against Thomas and Sandra Quintin by a lower Cayman court in a case brought by energy giant Philips Petroleum of Oklahoma.
Charles Collis accused of altering Bermuda Fire & Marine minutes
One of Bermuda's most influential businessmen, lawyer Charles Collis, has been accused of doctoring the minutes of a crucial committee meeting to hide evidence that directors of Bermuda Fire & Marine Insurance knew the firm was in financial trouble before they stripped it of $40 million in assets.
Cable & Wireless sues Bermuda government for breaking monopoly
Cable & Wireless is suing the Bermuda government for breaking its monopoly on international calls by granting a licence to newly-formed rival TeleBermuda International. TeleBermuda plans to begin operating next month and is threatening to slash overseas rates by up to 17 per cent for calls to some countries. Sources in Bermuda say Cable & Wireless have not ruled out the possibility of applying for an injunction to prevent TeleBermuda from offering their service until the legal dispute has been determined by Bermuda Supreme Court.
Mello Hollis resigns from Bermuda Fire legal case
Law firm Mello Hollis Jones & Martin resigned from the investigation into Bermuda Fire & Marine Insurance because of "professional disagreements" with a British law firm also involved in the case, we have been told.Its decision to resign - only a few weeks after MHJ&M partner Saul Froomkin had interviewed Bermuda's Fire's top directors - had nothing to do with concerns about the high profile nature of a case that affects some of the most powerful members of the community, according to sources.
Prominent Bermudian businessmen and firms accused of asset-stripping in lawsuit by Bermuda Fire & Marine liquidators
A lawsuit has been filed against some of Bermuda's best-known companies and individuals by the liquidators of Bermuda Fire & Marine Insurance Company Ltd. Although no amount has been stated in the legal action filed at Bermuda Supreme Court on Thursday (Oct. 5), the liquidators said earlier this year that Bermuda Fire's debts could exceed $100 million.
Legal First: Bermuda court declares director ran company knowing it was insolvent
Former government tourism officer and failed travel agency boss Francis Purvey has become the first director of a Bermuda company to be adjudged to have carried on running a firm while he knew it to be insolvent.The Supreme Court has made a declaration that Mr. Purvey fraudulently traded as president and director of World Travel Advisors Ltd., a travel agency he set up in 1985 after leaving the Department of Tourism.
Bermuda expects international business boost after David Saul becomes premier
Bermuda's $29 billion-capitalized international business sector looks set for a renewed boom following the emphatic rejection of independence last month and the appointment of a new, business-oriented premier, David Saul.There are already signs that investors in insurance and other areas who had held off until after the referendum result was known are now going ahead with their plans to form on the island.
US lawyer says Bermuda’s insurance laws fail to protect rights of policholders
Outspoken American lawyer Eugene Anderson, who represents policyholders in actions against insurance firms, has attacked the ability of Bermuda's new insurance laws to protect clients who have claims against the island's insurers.Mr. Anderson, in his second attack on Bermuda's insurance industry over the last 13 months, said Bermuda's laws failed to protect the rights of policyholders.
Bermuda court orders Telecheck owners to repay loans
Brothers Richard and Thomas Burns and Chris Donnachie, the principals of the failed Telecheck financial services group, have been ordered by Supreme Court to repay immediately to the company loans and interest totalling $2.23 million.At a hearing on Wednesday brought by Telecheck's liquidator, accounting firm Kempe & Whittle, the court decided that the three directors of Telecheck Holdings Ltd. did not follow the proper procedures when granting themselves the loans.
Bermuda attorney Graham Collis criticised by US counterpart
Lawyer Graham Collis has been criticised by an American attorney for "a lack of co-operation" in the investigation of two U.S. businessmen accused of defrauding investors of millions of dollars.U.S. investigators into the failed New Jersey-based Sigma commodities group believe that "tens of millions" of dollars of funds were transferred out of the company to bank accounts in London and Bermuda shortly before it collapsed.Attorney William Horton, acting for the U.S. court-appointed receiver of the Sigma Group, which includes Bermuda-registered BTB Group Ltd, said he was "disgusted" at the lack of help given to the receiver by Mr. Collis, of Conyers Dill & Pearman, who represents BTB Group on the island.
Trout Trading criticized by Bermuda court
Trout Trading Fund, a massive mutual fund group catering to high net worth individuals, has been criticized by Chief Justice Austin Ward for preventing a member of the public from exercising his legal right to view its register of shareholders.
But Mr. Ward cannot take action against the Bermuda-based company because, after a legal action was brought against the firm in an effort to force it to open up its share register, a Private Members' Bill was passed a month later in the House of Assembly, exempting Trout Trading from the provisions of The Companies Act 1981 that allows the public access to its register.
Bermuda Fire & Marine lawsuit nears for top businessmen
A decision on whether to sue some of Bermuda's most influential local businessmen for millions of dollars, stemming from the collapse of Bermuda Fire & Marine Insurance, is expected to be made over the next couple of months. At stake is over $100 million owed to creditors of Bermuda Fire & Marine Insurance and the credibility of Bermuda's regulatory and legal system in relation to protecting the rights of foreigners doing business with Bermuda-based insurers and reinsurers.
Strategic Asset Management liquidates SAM Global Fund
Strategic Asset Management Ltd. is liquidating its high-risk derivatives fund after suffering heavy losses over March and April.Following a 7.1 per cent loss in March, nervous investors in the SAM Global Fund redeemed $40 million worth of shares in April.The forced liquidation of market positions to pay these shareholders hindered the fund's performance and contributed to a further loss of 8.5 per cent in April, said Andrew Davisson, one of the fund's three partners.
Hopewell International Insurance sues North American Fidelity & Guarantee
Former head of Bermuda National Bank John Grant Marshall is facing more financial anguish stemming from his spell as a director of controversial reinsurer North American Fidelity & Guarantee.NAF&G, which is already being sued for $3.7 million at Bermuda Supreme Court in a claim last year, has had a new $1 million action brought against it by Bermuda-based Hopewell International Insurance Ltd, which is a reinsurance pool for captive insurance firms.
Top Turf bookmaker investigated by police
Bookmaker Top Turf Enterprises is being investigated by Bermuda police and government after concerns about the way the company is operated, we can reveal.The authorities are worried that Top Turf, which has an office in Hamilton, may have fallen under the influence of an undesirable business element in the US.
Application to wind up Stockholm Re (Bermuda)
An application to compulsorily wind up Stockholm Re (Bermuda) Ltd was made yesterday - ten months after the company went into run off.The company said that "until very recently" the financial position of Stockholm Re indicated that "the reserves would be sufficient to satisfy known claims".
