United Kingdom

Ex-ODBT operators set up new investment scheme

July 31, 2003

Two businessmen who previously helped to operate the now-defunct, scandal-ridden Overseas Development Bank & Trust in Dominica are involved in a new investment scheme in the United States. Terence de'Ath, a British national, and Gary Lynn McDuff, a citizen of the United States, are behind The Avenger Fund Business Trust, which was formed in Nevada on March 22, 2002. 

UK firm denies business relationship with Target Group

July 31, 2003

A UK-based forex trading and spread betting firm has denied that it entered into a business partnership with the Target Group of Companies, two of whose principals are subject to arrest warrants in the United States."A number of months ago IFX did have discussions with Target with regard to entering in to a business relationship," said Alex Hartley, Compliance Director of IFX Markets. "However, nothing came of this. The relationship has now ceased."

Switzerland requests information about accounts at US banks for fraud investigation

July 31, 2003

Article based on an application to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged fraud and money laundering - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from Switzerland - that was filed at federal court in the USA on April 22, 2003. Individuals and businesses mentioned in the request for assistance include Gunter Tschudin, Gabriele Borjan, Raymond Schmitt, Luigi Piffaretti, Sidney Management Ltd., Scoote AG, Packaline AG, Lincoln Door SA, Tresor Line Inc., Lane Consulting Ltd., Kelly Pahl & Associates Ltd., James Larkin Pahl , Joseph Kelly, Jansons Solicitors, NAJA Establishment, General Surety Company Ltd., Harleysville National Bank and Trust Co., NationsBank, Charles Weaver and Michael Adkins.

United Kingdom: Versailles Group Plc

July 16, 2003

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into alleged fraud by Versailles Group Plc.

Ex-Imperial Consolidated attorney struck off in UK

July 15, 2003

An attorney has been struck off by the Law Society in the United Kingdom, primarily for helping the Imperial Consolidated Group defraud the public. Michael John Harvey was struck off on July 2, 2003 following a hearing on July 1-2 before a professional disciplinary tribunal, the Law Society confirmed to OffshoreAlert.

United Kingdom: Stephen Thomas Harriott

July 11, 2003

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into Stephen Thomas Harriott for alleged child pornography.

Stirling Cooke loses High Court judgment to Sphere Drake Insurance

July 8, 2003

Two UK subsidiaries of the Bermuda-based AlphaStar Insurance Group, formerly Stirling Cooke Brown Holdings, have lost a UK High Court judgment that has implications for many related reinsurance lawsuits and arbitrations around the world.AlphaStar's share price fell from 13 cents to seven cents per share after the judgment was released today and many in the industry expect the decision to render the long-troubled firm insolvent.

United Kingdom: Harold Rios Alvarez et al

July 3, 2003

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into murder and kidnapping in the United Kingdom.

Insider Talking: June 30, 2003

June 30, 2003

The Bank of Bermuda sacked 14 staff in June after catching them distributing pornographic e-mails, reported The Royal Gazette newspaper; Imperial Consolidated co-founders Jared Brook and Lincoln Fraser are close to being arrested by the Serious Fraud Office in the United Kingdom, according to the June 12, 2003 edition of 'Private Eye', a British satirical magazine; Meanwhile, UK-registered financial services firm Kingsbridge Holdings PLC has partly blamed its "very disappointing" loss of £1.397 million (US$2.3 million) for the six months ended February 28, 2003 on Imperial Consolidated; While owners of web-sites in the United States are legally protected against libel actions from people who believe they have been defamed on Internet message boards, that does not appear to be the case in the Cayman Islands; In the United States, where there is a tax protester, there is usually an illegal offshore investment scheme not far behind and Eddie Ray Kahn, who lives in Sorrento, Florida, is no exception; The British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission issued a warning about Richmont Investments Inc. on April 10, 2003; Former Bank of Bermuda (Cayman) officer Marc Vanmarsenille, who lost his job in the aftermath of the Cash 4 Titles fiasco, is a defendant in a civil lawsuit filed at the Turks & Caicos Islands Supreme Court on November 7, 2002; At the same court, a lawsuit has been filed against TCI-registered Sealand Housing Corporation in an attempt to collect on a judgment awarded in the UK High Court; Two businessmen previously exposed in OffshoreAlert for their involvement in the sale and operation of sham offshore credit unions involving Nevis, Panama and the United States have each been sentenced to 25 years in prison, ten of which is suspended, for defrauding a 101-year-old woman out of her life savings; and If creditors of Bahamas-based Suisse Security Bank & Trust were wondering why the winding-up of the bank is taking so long, they should read the prelude to the recently-released written judgment by Bahamas Supreme Court Justice Austin Davis in which he turned down the bank's attempt to regain its banking license, which was suspended on March 5, 2001 and revoked on April 2, 2001.

Arrest warrants issued for directors of UK/offshore-based investment group

June 30, 2003

Two businessmen whose investment group includes an offshore IBC that was held out to the public as an investment fund have had arrest warrants issued against them in the United States. British national Sendjer Shefket, 43, and U. S. citizen Yen Lung Chen, 51, have been accused of operating a high yield investment scam.

United Kingdom: Larry Claxton et al(2)

June 25, 2003

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into Larry Claxton and others for alleged terrorism in Northern Ireland.

$130 million judgment against securities fraudster

June 22, 2003

A federal court in the United States has entered a $130 million judgment against a businessman who perpetrated an investment fraud using several offshore structures. The judgment, entered on June 6, 2003 at the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, requires Terry Dowdell to pay disgorgement of $121.2 million, $8.6 million in prejudgment interest and a fine of $1 million.

Sharon Haugh sues Schroders (Bermuda) – again

May 31, 2003

An American businesswoman who last year sued Schroders' U.S. and Bermuda operations for alleged age discrimination after being fired at 56 has filed a new, unrelated lawsuit against her former employer.In her latest action, Sharon Haugh has accused Schroders PLC,

Ralph Milo and Robert Ferguson seek $25 m from reinsurers for ‘interference’ with Clarendon sale to Hannover Re

May 31, 2003

Parties who sold the Clarendon Insurance Group to Hannover Re in 1999 had to accept $25 million less than an agreed price because two reinsurers stopped paying claims during sale negotiations, it has been alleged. The reinsurers, The John Hancock

CFTC sues forex firm whose ‘head’ trader’ was a house painter

May 31, 2003

A federal judge in Oregon has frozen the assets of several parties accused of operating an alleged foreign currency trading scam headed by former house painter Russell Cline and with ties to the Caribbean island of Dominica.

Judge calls Imperial Consolidated principals ‘greedy and unscrupulous’

May 31, 2003

The Imperial Consolidated Group swindled the United States Securities & Exchange Commission out of approximately $1 million in 1998, according to evidence contained in a judgment at the High Court in the United Kingdom. It was part of a catalog

France: Peter Ritchie et al

May 28, 2003

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in France into Peter Ritchie, Patrick Portier and others regarding an alleged cashback fraud involving Garantie Commerciale de France, Intervest Capital Ltd. and other businesses.

Imperial Consolidated founder ordered to turn over bank records

May 20, 2003

A U.K. High Court judge today ordered bankrupt British businessman Lincoln Julian Fraser to turn over his bank records to the administrator of his failed Imperial Consolidated Group, which went bust in June, 2002 with liabilities of approximately $345 million.He

Imperial Consolidated founders declared bankrupt

May 7, 2003

Lincoln Julian Fraser and Jared Bentley Brook, co-founders of the Imperial Consolidated Group, were both declared bankrupt at Grimsby County Court, England on May 2, 2003. It is the second bankruptcy in just over seven years for Fraser at the age of just 31-years-old.

Lincoln Fraser and Jared Brook: Bankruptcy

May 7, 2003

Press Release by petitioning creditor Deighton International regarding bankruptcy orders against Lincoln Fraser and Jared Brook over debts associated with the Midland Grand Hotel in Morecambe, England.

Insider Talking: April 30, 2003

April 30, 2003

Nevis Premier Vance Amory seeks independence yet again, Panama ignores multi-million dollar frauds against foreigners but leaps into action when foreigners defraud locals of a relative pittance, U. S. helps BVI authorities obtain evidence against Canadian national Terry Turl, judgment for $2.7 million entered against David Rose, criminal proceedings in Texas against Yank Barry take another extraordinary twist, Towry Law seeks to recover £30 million defrauded from clients, Grenada intends to revoke license of Bank Crozier, Patrick English ordered to testify at trial of civil action involving the Bank of Bermuda, criminal action stated against Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine branch of Parex Bank, Cayman prosecutors drop money laundering charges against Melvin Taves because of his age, and Banca del Gottardo files complaint in Switzerland against unnamed parties who alleged that it held accounts in the name of ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, including one in the Bahamas. 

Imperial administrator bills US$1.9 million for nine months of work

April 30, 2003

Mazars Neville Russell, a firm of business advisers and accountants, has billed £1.2 million (US$1.9 million) for its first nine months as administrator of the Imperial Consolidated Group.

UK attorney awaits sentencing for offshore tax fraud scheme

March 31, 2003

A former attorney with UK solicitors Radcliffes Le Brasseur is still awaiting sentencing in the United States six months after admitting his part in a scheme to defraud the IRS using offshore structures. Jeremy A. Franks pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on September 27, 2002 and was released on bail of $100,000.

Bankruptcy petitions filed against Imperial Consolidated founders

March 31, 2003

Bankruptcy petitions have been filed against Lincoln Fraser and Jared Brook, co-founders of the fraudulently-operated Imperial Consolidated Group, which collapsed owing more than $300 million. The petitions were filed at Grimsby County Court, England on March 7, 2003 and are scheduled to be heard on May 2, 2003, according to a court spokesperson.

Dozens arrested as FBI targets investment fraudsters at home and abroad

March 31, 2003

Dozens of people in the United States and six other countries have been targeted in a massive police clampdown on alleged perpetrators of high yield investment frauds. Some of the people targeted in the clampdown were: Charles Ellis Halvorsen, Christopher Michael Taylor, William Joseph "Bill" Herisko, Leonard Kalish, Seymour "Sy" Taub, Mario Piccolino, Elson Quon Lui, Nicholas Roblee, a. k.a. Nicholas Richmond, Linda June Eaton, Joseph Lawrence Finney, Raj Mallick, Ronald Gaopalelwe Mokwena, Jack Louis Schrold, William Bruce Harper, John Cocoman, Gregory Smith, Larry Taylor, Rebecca Taylor, James "Doc" McCall, Victor Carl Vaccaro, Robert Downing II, Thomas Patterson, Antonius Maria Heijnen, Rudolfo Nieto, Henry Young, Charles Judson "Judd" Strader, Marion "Bowden" Atherton, James Joseph Honse, Harry Livingston, Alexander Moorehead Sr., Mark Scott Petkovich, Kenneth Samuel Harrison, Rosemary O'Connor, Garrett Oldhouse, Pamela Weeks Clark, Kitten Otto, William Patrick Bailey, Peter Johnson, Harmondev "Hardev" Bal, George Rieg, Alok Basudev, Kevin McKee, Sendjer Shefket, Yen Lung Chen, Tom Hauser, Karl Kortmeyer, and Marius Vermaak.

Praise the Lord! (Or should that be Mammon?)

March 31, 2003

A man whose public relations firm published several statements on behalf of the Imperial Consolidated Group that turned out to be false and now represents a spin-off firm peddling a similarly fraudulent investment product actually fancies himself as a moral-minded man of God. George Pitcher is training to become a religious minister in the UK who will, inter alia, advise journalists on morality and ethics, reported The Independent newspaper on March 25, 2003.

USA v. Yen Lung Chen: Criminal Complaint & Arrest Warrant

March 7, 2003

Criminal Complaint and Arrest Warrant in USA v. Yen Lung Chen at the U. S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.

USA v. Sendjer Shefket: Criminal Complaint & Arrest Warrant

March 7, 2003

Criminal complaint and arrest warrant against Sendjer Shefket for alleged investment fraud at the U. S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.

United Kingdom: Ram Nagrani et al

March 7, 2003

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into Ram Nagrani and Import Trader Limited for suspected tax fraud.

Whatever you do, don’t mention the $300 million fraud

February 28, 2003

OffshoreAlert has obtained details of yet another unregistered securities offering being carried out by former officers of the Imperial Consolidated Group, including ex-British policeman Gary Alexander Lyons. Anglo Canadian Securities Inc., which is based in Canada and the UK, is raising funds for a personal injury litigation product that is virtually identical to one previously offered by Imperial.

Netherlands: Hyperion NV et al

February 20, 2003

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the Netherlands into Hyperion NV, Lin Michael Arthur Leadbetter and William H. Kuhl for suspected tax evasion.

Imperium Bank Ltd.: Section 304 Petition

February 7, 2003

Section 304 Petition for Assistance in Insolvency Proceedings in Grenada by Marcus Wide, as the Foreign Representative of Imperium Bank Ltd., at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Imperial Consolidated Ltd.: Section 304 Petition (England)

February 7, 2003

Section 304 Petition for Assistance in Insolvency Proceedings in the United Kingdom by Philip Lyon and Alistair Wood, as the Foreign Representatives of Imperial Consolidated Ltd., a.k.a. Imperial Consolidated Group Plc and Imperial Consolidated Plc, at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Insider Talking: January 31, 2003

January 31, 2003

In all of the hullabaloo surrounding the collapse of the Euro Bank trial in Cayman after the judge determined that the island's senior anti-money laundering officer, Brian Gibbs, had lied and destroyed evidence, it was easy to overlook a snippet in Gibbs' November 26, 2002 witness statement about Johnny Johnson; An order for the extradition of offshore banker William Cooper from Antigua to face a money laundering indictment in the United States was thrown out by a judge in Antigua on January 13, 2003 because the application was made before an extradition treaty between the two countries was ratified and before money laundering was criminalized on the Caribbean island; Edouardos Stamatiou, whose Argentina-based firm Tucuman Land Holdings Ltd. received £151 million ($237 million) of the $345 million defrauded from clients of the Imperial Consolidated Group and won't give it back, is a former principal of The Cayman Financial Brokerage House, which … surprise, surprise … was forcibly closed down in October, 1999; Another post-Imperial Consolidated scam, known as Property International, is in financial trouble after not very long in business; And, to conclude our segment on Imperial Consolidated, we have been passed the name of yet another company which allegedly brokered client funds into the fraudulently-operated group - Lighthouse Strategies; Canadian national David Voth has been fined CDN$12,000 in Canada for failing to file tax returns; Bahamas-based Suisse Security Bank & Trust, which is in provisional liquidation, has asked a U. S. judge to order two parties who unsuccessfully sued the bank in New York to place $1.3 million into court to cover its legal fees and damages; Trading on the over-the-counter market of shares in a company that Bermuda-based Lines Overseas Management was helping to do a reverse take-over of has been temporarily suspended pending an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States; and Famed U. S. attorney Johnnie Cochrane may be helping to broker a settlement in the long-running battle for control of the assets of Eurofed Bank in Antigua.

Lincoln Fraser staves off bankruptcy (for now)

January 31, 2003

Imperial Consolidated co-founder Lincoln Fraser has staved off personal bankruptcy - at least for the time being - after a commercial rent debt of £16,599 (US$26,600) was paid at the eleventh hour. A petition to have Fraser declared bankrupt was due to be heard at Grimsby County Court, England on January 20, 2003. It did not proceed after payment in full was made earlier in the month, said a spokesman for the petitioning creditor, Nadan Properties Ltd., of London.

Client accuses European Federal Union Bank of fraud

January 31, 2003

A current scam being carried out in the name of European Federal Union Bank may be a successor to a similar fraud perpetrated by the British Bank of Trade & Commerce, a.k.a. British Bank of Commerce. The principals of both businesses are Costa Rica-based John W. Haas and Andover Garcia, according to a representative of clients claiming to have been defrauded of approximately $130,000 by EFUB.

United Kingdom: Kevin Dooley et al (Washington)

January 13, 2003

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from Asia, Europe and Americas Bank - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from the United Kingdom - for a criminal investigation into "a high Yield investment scheme in which 8 investors made investments after having been promised up to 1200% return on their 9 funds, only to see the funds disappear without any return".

Newt Utopia: The tale of Jawad Mahmoud Hashim

December 31, 2002

Jawad Mahmoud Hashim has a doctorate in Economics from the London School of Economics and, by all accounts, he is a smooth and very sophisticated individual who has kept his head while many around him lost theirs.

Insider Talking: December 31, 2002

December 31, 2002

UK-based Capital City Finance Limited, which was formed on August 20, 2001 as a spin-off from the Imperial Consolidated Group, is three and a half months overdue with the filing of its annual return with Companies House for England and Wales; If clients of St. Vincent-licensed Omnicorp Bank needed further evidence that they are being taken to the cleaners by the bank's management, there has been plenty of it recently; Investment fraudster Tracy Calvin Dunlap, Jr. was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison on December 19, 2002 at the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.; Steve Saemmler Klein, who operates a dubious Belize-based offshore group known as Grupo CAT, has apparently gone missing; and Alyn Richard Waage, 56, of Canada, and James Michael Webb, 40, of California, were extradited on December 19, 2002 from Costa Rica to Sacramento, California to face numerous federal charges relating to the Tri-West Investment Club, an Internet-based investment fraud scheme that allegedly netted more that $60 million.

Endurance Specialty announces $200 million IPO

December 31, 2002

Almost 12 months to the day after it began operations, Bermuda-based Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. filed a registration statement with the SEC to raise up to $200 million in an initial public offering.Endurance Specialty, which provides property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, intends to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker 'ENH'.

Sham business that plagiarized Bayshore Bank web-site goes off-line after OffshoreAlert inquiry

December 31, 2002

The web-site of a sham bank purporting to be based in the Cayman Islands was taken down in December within 24 hours of OffshoreAlert emailing questions to the operators asking about their business.Citi Finance Corporation had set up a web-site at www.citifinancecorp.com whose design and content had clearly been plagiarized from an unrelated, bona fide bank, Bayshore Bank & Trust, of Barbados.

ACE announces Lloyd’s of London capacity cutback

December 31, 2002

ACE Ltd. announced on December 4 that it is to cut its underwriting at the Lloyd's of London insurance market by more than a third next year.ACE, which is one of the largest investors at Lloyd's, will cut its capacity to approximately $1 billion (£650 million) in 2003 from about $1.4 billion this year.

Doubts raised about latest Imperial Consolidated spin-off

December 31, 2002

Citigroup has cast doubt on the legitimacy of a new investment scheme whose participants include two key players in the $345 million fraud perpetrated by the Imperial Consolidated Group.Edouardos Stamatiou and Robert Raven are involved in an attempt by United Financial Corporation S. A. to sell $110 million one-year Certificates of Deposit bearing annual interest of up to 14 per cent.

Terry Dowdell pleads guilty to fraud

December 31, 2002

A business associate of the now-closed Overseas Development Bank & Trust Ltd., of Dominica, has pleaded guilty to 20 felony charges, including securities fraud, money laundering and wire fraud.The charges relate to a multi-million dollar fraudulent trading program that Terry L. Dowdell operated through his Bahamas-registered firm, Vavasseur Corporation, starting in 1998.

The Queen v. Brian Cunha et al: Findings of Fact on Abuse of Process Application

December 27, 2002

Findings of Fact on Abuse of Process Application in The Queen v. Brian Cunha, Donald Stewart, Ivan Burges, and Judith Donegan at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, Criminal Side.

Lloyd’s of London suspends Stirling Cooke

December 12, 2002

Lloyd's of London has banned Stirling Cooke Brown Insurance Brokers Ltd. from transacting any new business in the market, effective December 4, 2002.

Insider Talking: November 30, 2002

November 30, 2002

The British Columbia Securities Commission has scheduled a hearing for December 10 11, 2002 to consider applications to vary asset freeze orders relating to accounts at the Bank of Montreal in Vancouver that were frozen in 2000 as part of

Mazars Neville and Pannell Kerr Forster fall out over Imperial Consolidated

November 30, 2002

Imperial Consolidated's UK administrator is seeking an investigation into the sale of group assets to Imperial's ex management by accounting firm Pannell Kerr Forster.Mazars Neville Russell has also indicated that it may challenge fees that were paid to PKF for

False claims about World-Check and the 9/11 terrorists

November 30, 2002

Claims in news articles that a British provider of Know Your Customer information to financial institutions had the names of 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers in its due diligence database BEFORE the attacks are false, OffshoreAlert can reveal.Global

Vancouver regulators raid boiler room that promoted stock of Brek Energy

November 30, 2002

A raid on an alleged boiler room in Vancouver is further evidence that the Bank of Bermuda may have been conned out of $14.3 million when it invested in First Ecom.com Inc.