US Petroleum Holdings Limited: Warning
US Petroleum Holdings Limited - Warning by Nevis Financial Services
Professional Benefit Trust, Ltd. et al v. Internal Revenue Service: Petition to Quash Summons
Petition to Quash Summons in Professional Benefit Trust, Ltd., PBT Administration, LLC, and Tracy Sunderlage v. Internal Revenue Service at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
Jeeves Group says US judgments for $106 m are unenforceable in Liechtenstein
Default judgments totaling $106 million have been entered in the United States against offshore provider The Jeeves Group and related parties regarding an alleged tax-program-cum-Ponzi-scheme operated by one of its clients. The Jeeves Group has denied any wrongdoing to OffshoreAlert and claims the judgments are unenforceable in Liechtenstein, where the group is headquartered.
US couple alleges fraud against offshore asset protection group
A Kentucky-based husband-and-wife claim they were swindled after depositing US$1.9 million in an offshore tax planning and asset protection plan involving insurance, trust, and investment-management companies in Anguilla, the Bahamas, and Nevis.
Dallen Wendt, 53, and his wife, Peggy Wendt, 50, were told the offshore products in which they invested during 2002 and 2003 carried "no-risk" and returned 8% and 8.5% annually, according to a complaint they filed at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on June 24, 2008.
e-gold pleads guilty to money laundering
An Internet-based digital currency business domiciled offshore, its directors and owners and a US affiliate have pleaded guilty in the United States to charges regarding money laundering and the operation of an illegal money transmitting business.
SEC alleges fraud against shell firm domiciled in “bank secrecy haven of Nevis”
The U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a complaint alleging fraud against a Michigan resident and "a shell company chartered in the bank-secrecy haven of Nevis in the West Indies".
US judge rejects e-gold’s argument that it is not a money transmitter
A U. S. federal judge has ruled that Nevis-domiciled alternative currency provider e-gold Ltd. is a money transmitter, as defined by U. S. law, and, therefore, must stand trial on counts that it operated on an unlicensed basis in the country.In a ruling at the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia on May 8, 2008, U. S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer denied a motion by e-gold and four co-defendants to dismiss all three unlicensed money transmitting-counts of a four-count criminal indictment brought against them on April 24, 2007.
Condor Insurance Ltd. v. Condor Guaranty, Inc. et al: Amended Complaint
Amended Complaint in Condor Insurance Limited (In Official Liquidation) v. Condor Guaranty, Inc., PetroQuest Resources, Inc., Harvey Milam, Byron Tyghe Williams, Ross N. Fuller, T. Alan Owen, Intercontinental Development and Investment Corporation, Gymnogyps Management, Inc., and Finpac Holdings, Inc. at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.
First Curacao International Bank depositor sues Central Bank for return of funds
An 'innocent' client of suspected money launderer First Curacao International Bank is suing the Central Bank of the Netherlands Antilles for refusing to release its funds.
Scipio LLC, a Nevis corporation, has accused the regulator of improperly holding on to depositors' funds so that it can earn interest from them after closing down the bank in 2006 amid a criminal investigation in the Netherlands into whether FCIB was laundering the proceeds of a European-based Value Added Tax scam known as 'carousel' fraud.
USA v. Guardian Trust Company, Ltd.: Petition to Enforce IRS Summons Re. Angela Palmer et al
Petition to Enforce IRS Summons regarding Angela Palmer, Warren Palmer, and The Liahona, LLC in USA v. Guardian Trust Company, Ltd. at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
USA v. Guardian Trust Company, Ltd.: Petition to Enforce IRS Summons re. Jimmie Ross et al
Petition to Enforce IRS Summons regarding Jimmie Ross and Global Matrix, LLC in USA v. Guardian Trust Company, Ltd. at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Former peddler of sham Caribbean credit unions indicted for securities fraud in US
More than six years after his St. Kitts & Nevis-based financial services group was exposed in OffshoreAlert for its involvement in fraudulent investment schemes and sham offshore credit unions, Charles Nolon Bush is in custody in the United States after being extradited from Poland.
Insider Talking: January 4, 2008
A public hearing is scheduled to be held before the Colorado Banking Board on January 17, 2008 at which a challenge will be heard to the "emergency order of involuntary liquidation and order for possession" that were entered by the Board on November 19, 2007 against the state's sole remaining offshore bank, American Intercapital Holding LLC., d.b.a. American Intercapital Depository & Trust, f.k.a. American International Depository & Trust; Grenada Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, along with his wife, Marietta Mitchell, was dismissed as a defendant in a civil action at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on December 5, 2007 after all parties agreed that he is entitled to "head-of-state immunity"; Visitors to the "Warnings" page of a web-site operated by the Nevis Financial Services Regulation & Supervision Department will no longer see a warning that the regulatory agency issued on October 19, 2007 against Global Consultants and Services (Nevis) Limited; and The legal validity of Condor Insurance Limited's Amory-assisted continuance from St. Kitts to Nevis was challenged by Condor's principal, Harvey Milam, in a filing at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Mississippi on December 21, 2007.
Condor Insurance’s assets illegally transferred to Bahamas copy-cat firm, say liquidators
The liquidators of a Nevis-licensed offshore insurer have filed a complaint in the United States in an attempt to recover assets that they claim were fraudulently transferred to an unlicensed Bahamas insurer.
Richard Fogerty, of Kroll (Cayman) Ltd., and William Tacon, of Kroll (BVI) Ltd., as liquidators of Condor Insurance Ltd., filed an adversary proceeding at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Mississippi on November 20, 2007. Defendants are Condor Guaranty Inc., a Bahamas corporation with addresses of 15 Lillian Court, Lucaya, Freeport, Grand Bahama, and 1145 Robinson Avenue, Ocean Springs, Mississippi 39564, and PetroQuest Resources Inc., a Nevada corporation headquartered in Arlington, Texas.
Arizona couple claim to be victims of Nevis-domiciled investment scam
An Arizona-based husband and wife are suing a Nevis-registered company and its Florida-based principals, alleging they were defrauded of at least $240,000 in an investment scam.Bill V. Burnham and Clione C. Burnham filed a civil complaint against Shugs Trade LLC, Mirko Schacke and Cara Schacke at the U. S. District Court for the District of Arizona on June 13, 2007.
Condor Insurance Ltd. v. Condor Guaranty, Inc. et al: Complaint
Complaint in Condor Insurance Limited (In Official Liquidation) v. Condor Guaranty, Inc., PetroQuest Resources, Inc., Harvey Milam, Byron Tyghe Williams, Ross N. Fuller, T. Alan Owen, Intercontinental Development and Investment Corporation, Gymnogyps Management, Inc., and Finpac Holdings, Inc. at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.
Gillian Mary Payne v. Cottage Hills LLC: Judgment
Approved Judgment in Gillian Mary Payne vs. Cottage Hills LLC at the London High Court, Chancery Division.
Insider Talking: October 11, 2007
The U. S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has announced that its Division of Enforcement was awarded “a record total of more than $540 million in civil monetary penalties, restitution, and disgorgement from respondents and defendants in actions involving fraud, manipulation, and other misconduct” for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2007; In other regulatory news, here's a list of actions taken recently by regulators in offshore financial centers; and Microsoft Corp. has become the latest big company to sue a business, purportedly domiciled in the Cayman Islands, that registers and warehouses domain names that are confusingly similar to registered Trademarks of established enterprises.
Offshore tax shelter promoters indicted in US
Three promoters of an offshore tax shelter scheme involving legal entities in the U. S. Virgin Islands, Nevis, the Bahamas, and the USA have been indicted in Michigan.
USA v. Peter J. Peggs, et al: Criminal Indictment
Criminal Indictment in USA vs. Peter J. Peggs, Robert D. Larsen, and Craig M. Stone at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.
Sham offshore insurer moves to Bahamas after liquidation in Nevis
The principals of Condor Insurance Limited, which was recently forced into liquidation in Nevis amid allegations of fraud, have set up an identical business in the Bahamas. Even the name of the new company is similar to the old one.
Ex-FIBG insiders receive prison terms in Oregon
Eight years after their offshore scam was first exposed by OffshoreAlert, four former officers of the First International Bank of Grenada were sentenced yesterday to prison terms of between one-and-a-half and eight years.
Nevis Insurance Management Limited et al: Warning
Nevis Insurance Management Limited/T. William Alexander - Warning by Nevis Financial Services
Insider Talking: August 7, 2007
Former offshore services provider Marc Harris, who was sentenced to serve 17 years in prison on May 17, 2004 after being convicted by a jury of conspiracy to defraud the USA, money laundering and tax evasion, turned down a pre-trial offer from prosecutors that would have seen him receive just three years in prison in return for a guilty plea, according to a recently-filed court paper in Miami; New information about what is shaping up to be the latest big offshore hedge fund scandal recently became publicly available in filings at the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, where the U. S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is trying to close down Lake Shore Asset Management Limited, which is incorporated in Bermuda; and Former offshore specialist Nigel Scott Grant, who once participated in a Nevis-based investment scam while working as an attorney in California, is being sued in Florida for allegedly failing to pay legal fees of $16,125 to a Miami-based law firm, Levey, Airan, Shevin, Roen, Kelso, Corona & Herrera LLP.
Sham Nevis ‘credit union’ received $3.8 m of fraud proceeds, claims US regulator
A sham offshore ‘credit union' that was controlled by the now-defunct, fraudulently-operated Global Prosperity Group received $3.8 million from a United States-based investment scam, it has been claimed.Prosperitas Internationale, described as “a purported ‘credit union' purportedly operating out of Nevis”, has been named as a relief defendant in a complaint for a permanent injunction that was filed by the U. S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Washington on August 1, 2007.
Condor Insurance Ltd.: Chapter 15 Petition (Saint Kitts and Nevis)
Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in Saint Kitts and Nevis by Richard Fogerty and William Tacon, as Foreign Representatives of Condor Insurance Limited, at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.
Nevis-domiciled Condor Insurance goes into liquidation
Condor Insurance Ltd. went into liquidation at the High Court of St. Kitts and Nevis on May 18 following a petition by New York Stock Exchange-listed Infineon Technologies AG, which is registered in Germany.Richard Fogerty, of Kroll (Cayman) Limited, and William Tycon, of Kroll (BVI) Limited, were appointed joint official liquidators. Another creditor, Pro Med Reinsurance Limited, which, like Condor, is incorporated in Nevis, was granted permission to appear in the liquidation.
Nevis insurer, Bahamas ‘stock broker’ & Swiss ‘trust’ company sued for fraud in US
Two dubious groups that have featured separately in exposés by OffshoreAlert appear to be business partners and have been jointly accused of perpetrating an advance fee fraud in a civil lawsuit filed recently in the United States.
Certusia Reinsurance, whose operations include a Nevis-based insurer, and Nexxus One, whose operations include a Bahamas-based ‘securities' firm and a Swiss ‘trust' firm, are defendants in a complaint that was filed at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of California on May 1, 2007.
Insider Talking: May 14, 2007
Nearly three years after obtaining a default judgment for $44,143 against St. Kitts based offshore financial services provider M. Irvin BonCamper, MBNA America Bank NA has finally collected. Attorneys for MBNA acknowledged “full and complete satisfaction” of the judgment in
Offshore firms laundered proceeds of alleged $1 b Ponzi scheme, claim plaintiffs
Several offshore-based parties have been named as defendants in two new civil lawsuits that were filed recently by alleged victims of what they claim was a $1 billion Ponzi scheme.
They include legal entities and individuals based in Gibraltar, Hong Kong, the Isle of Man, Liechtenstein, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and the United Kingdom.
Alleged offshore life insurance fraud victims seek evidence in Florida
Litigants in the British Virgin Islands who claim to have been defrauded of $11 million in an alleged offshore insurance scam masquerading as a U. S. tax avoidance scheme have turned their attentions to the United States in their search for evidence.Alleged victims recently obtained an order from the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida compelling the appearance for deposition of, and production of documents by, Michael Rosenbaum, a former employee of The Kleinfeld Law Firm, of Miami, and they have just made a similar application concerning Jerome M. Hesch, who is a Miami-based attorney with Greenberg Traurig law firm.
Insider Talking: March 9, 2007
The web-sites of two companies whose dubious activities have been highlighted in recent editions of OffshoreAlert have been dismantled over the last few weeks; On February 12, 2007, OffshoreAlert received an email from Kristen Lawson, a “Legislative Advisor” with Miller Thomson LLP, a law firm based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Telecommunications and cable television firms in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands have been dragged into a long-running legal dispute over the ownership of a $900,000 airplane that was damaged in Hurricane Ivan; Under Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, Grenada has become the poster country for corruption and banking fraud; OffshoreAlert recently learned that U. S. Bank N.A. obtained a default judgment for $21 million against British-based alleged fraudster Sendjer Shefket and his British firm Target International Funds Ltd. at federal court in the USA on May 24, 2006; Convicted white-collar criminals who believe they are punished too severely in the United States should be thankful they don't operate in China; and While the U. S. legal system does not yet offer death as a punishment for fraudsters, it is still less than hospitable for convicted white-collar criminals, as Martin A. Armstrong can attest to.
Terry Neal-related companies sue each other
Two companies that at one time or another have been controlled by imprisoned offshore fraudster Terry Neal are plaintiff and defendant in litigation filed recently in the United States.One of them, Crowne Gold Inc., claims that the other, Nevis American Trust Company Ltd., was involved in a conspiracy to defraud it of at least US$2.5 million.
Real Estate Professionals Insurance Company: Warning
Real Estate Professionals Insurance Company - Warning by Nevis Financial Services
Another lawsuit filed against Condor Insurance
Nevis-based insurer Condor Insurance Limited is being sued yet again, this time by a Hawaii-based development group that claims to have been cheated out of $491,464.
The latest lawsuit against the insurers was filed by Signature Homes of Hawaii LLC and Signature Development of Hawaii LLC, both incorporated and based in Hawaii, at the U. S. District Court for the District of Hawaii on December 13, 2006.
Borcherding Enterprises, Inc. et al v. Heritage Advisory Group of Southern Indiana, LLC et al: Dismissal
Stipulation of Dismissal with Prejudice in Borcherding Enterprises, Inc. and Kim E. Borcherding v. Heritage Advisory Group of Southern Indiana, LLC, d.b.a. Heritage Advisory Group; Professional Benefit Trust, Inc., Professional Benefit Trust, Ltd., Handler, Thayer & Duggan, LLC, PBT Administration, LLC, First Fidelity Trust Company, Ltd., AmerUs Life Insurance Company, Mark Sims, Robert Brian Beall, Carey L. Sunderlage, Tracy L. Sunderlage, Rex A. Collins, and K B Parrish & Co., LLP at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
Insider Talking: December 7, 2006
Nearly six years after being forced into Receivership and then provisional liquidation, Suisse Security Bank & Trust Limited has finally gone into official liquidation in the Bahamas; MBNA America Bank NA obtained an order of garnishment at the Circuit Court for the 11th Judicial Circuit, Miami-Dade County, Florida on October 30, 2006 that allows it to garnish assets up to $44,143, plus costs of $198, at Eastern Financial Bank that are beneficially owned by St. Kitts-based financial services provider M. Irvin BonCamper; The Swedish Financial Services Authority, known as Finansinspektionen, has issued a public warning about Charterhouse Trust Credit Union, which was exposed by OffshoreAlert as long ago as May 31, 2002; An order to compulsorily wind-up International Alliance Insurance Limited was entered at the Royal Court of Guernsey on April 4, 2006, with Anthony Christian Pickford and James Robert Toynton, of Chandlers Limited, appointed joint liquidators; and The U. S. SEC announced on November 28, 2006 that the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a preliminary injunction on November 14, 2006 barring Ian Scott from pursuing litigation in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Real-life ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ now showing at Florida court
The legal version of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean' is being played out in a Florida court case involving a Bahamas studio where scenes from two movies of the same name were shot.
Among the cast of characters is a Bermuda Stock Exchange-listed company, a British Virgin Islands shell company that operates as an “underwriting” vehicle; a dubious Nevis-based insurer that is facing liquidation in a separate, unrelated action; and a Florida attorney who is currently suspended from practicing law for allegedly misappropriating client funds.
German creditor seeks to wind-up Condor Insurance
A New York Stock Exchange-listed creditor is attempting to wind-up a Nevis-licensed offshore insurer that cannot pay its debts despite having an audit that shows shareholders' equity of over US$250 million.Infineon Technologies AG, which is incorporated in Germany, filed an action at the St. Kitts & Nevis High Court on August 30, 2006 in which it is seeking the court's permission to present a winding-up petition against Condor Insurance Limited, which is controlled by Harvey Thompson Milam and his wife, Joycelyn T. Milam, of Ocean Springs, Mississippi.
Gillian Payne v. Denis Kleinfeld, et al: Complaint
Complaint in Gillian Payne v. Denis Kleinfeld and The Kleinfeld Law Firm, LLP at the Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit, Miami-Dade County, Florida.
‘It’s St. Kitts, not Sin Kitts’
Letter to the Editor of OffshoreAlert from Martin Kenney and Dan Wise regarding the Angelus Hotel.
Nevis insurers battle it out in US & local courts over $2.7 m payment
A legal battle between two dubious offshore based insurance groups was recently fought out at courts in Nevis and the United States.The outcome is that Condor Insurance Limited has been ordered to comply with an arbitration panel's ruling that it
Re: “Nevis — More dangerous than the most any US City”
Dear Sir Madam Re “Nevis — More dangerous than the most any US City”Please allow us to draw your attention to the above captioned matter. In the September 30th 2006 edition of Offshore Alert we noted the following extract published
‘Nevis does not have a high murder rate’, says resident
Dear Sir I read your magazine every month and I usually view your publication as accurate, insightful and current. However, in this month's issue, the story titled "Nevis Deals With High Murder Rate" made me question deeply my assumptions about
Capita Strategies, L.L.C.: Warning
Capita Strategies, L.L.C. - Warning by Nevis Financial Services
Oxbridge International Limited: Warning
Oxbridge International Limited - Warning by Nevis Financial Services
Tropical Paradise Enterprises, LLC: Warning
Tropical Paradise Enterprises, LLC - Warning by Nevis Financial Services
Timothy von Kaay says he is ‘retiring’ from financial services after OffshoreAlert asks him about his criminal record
The head of an offshore financial services group said he is selling his group and “retiring” from the business after being asked about his criminal record by OffshoreAlert.Timothy von Kaay, a 40 year old Canadian national and resident of Ontario,
Pro Med Casualty Insurance Ltd.: Warning
Pro Med Casualty Insurance Ltd. - Warning by Nevis Financial Services
USA v. Charles Nolon Bush: Criminal Indictment
Criminal Indictment in USA v. Charles Nolon Bush at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
