United Kingdom

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.

United Kingdom: Francis Sherman et al

November 26, 2002

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into alleged tax fraud involving Seawise Insurance Consultants Limited.

United Kingdom: Philip Barton

November 14, 2002

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into suspected fraudulent trading and money laundering by Philip Barton.

Insider Talking: October 31, 2002

October 31, 2002

In the wake of action taken by Swiss authorities against the Zurich based Sovereign Finance Group, which is being investigated for money laundering involving Russia and the Caribbean, regulators in St. Vincent & the Grenadines are taking action against Sovereign

Self-dealing CEO Gregory Pek retires from Brek Energy

October 31, 2002

Canadian national Gregory Pek has retired as President and CEO of loss making Brek Energy, formerly First Ecom.com, and been replaced by 57 year old Richard Jeffs.Pek stepped down only a few months after overseeing Brek's purchase for $770,000 of

Former offshore banker David Taylor arrested in UK fraud investigation

October 31, 2002

The former General Manager of Overseas Development Bank & Trust, of Dominica, and three accountants in the United Kingdom have been arrested as a part of an investment fraud investigation.David Taylor was arrested and granted police bail in Leicestershire, England, in October, along with Shinder Singh Gangar, Alan White and Ian Collins.

United Kingdom: John Abrahamson et al

October 24, 2002

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into alleged fraud by John Abrahamson, Geoffrey Brailey, Roger Eden and Jeffrey Fowler, who were all former directors of Corporate Services Group Plc.

Finland: Ismo Sakari Pentikainen

October 17, 2002

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Finland into Ismo Sakari Pentikainen and Martti Untamo Sihvola for alleged embezzlement.

Belgium: Samih Ossaily

October 16, 2002

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Belgium into Samih Ossaily, Aziz Nassour, Nora Vlasselaerts, Abbas Macky and others for suspected participation in a criminal organization involved in money laundering, arms dealing and illegal diamond trading.  

Imperial Consolidated administrator warns of dubious ‘asset recovery’ scheme

October 14, 2002

Imperial Consolidated administrator Mazars Neville is warning victims of the Imperial fraud to be wary of approaches for money by Weddington Holdings Ltd., which may be an advance fee fraud.Weddington has been telephoning and emailing clients of Imperial and asking them for $2,500 each to purportedly fund an "Asset Recovery Program" outside of that being conducted by Mazars Neville.

United Kingdom: Hercules Holdings

October 11, 2002

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into suspected investment fraud by William Booth Cook and Donald Nutter.

Insider Talking: September 30, 2002

September 30, 2002

The Imperial Consolidated fraud has taken a further turn for the bizarre with the distribution in September of several press releases, masquerading as news stories, by a newly incorporated British company called Matrix International (Management) Ltd., whose commercial address is

Stirling Cooke changes name to AlphaStar Insurance Group

September 30, 2002

Crisis firm Stirling Cooke Brown Holdings has changed its name to AlphaStar Insurance Group Ltd., effective September 30, in its latest attempt to shed itself of its poor image.The firm stated that its "Board of Directors had decided that a

United Kingdom: Neil Edward Walker et al

September 30, 2002

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into Neil Edward Walker, James George Thomas Brooman, Ian David Cale, Irnraan Abid Karim, Barrie John Connor, Timothy Theobald, David Hodgson, Simon Morley, Craig Mark Ireland and Iftekhar Ahmed for alleged tax fraud.

USA v. Richard F. Downes: US Response to Defendant’s Factual Objection

September 17, 2002

United States' Response to Defendant's Factual Objection and Motions for Downward Departure in USA v. Richard F. Downes at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Poland: Mariella Company

September 9, 2002

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Poland into Mariella LLC for alleged tax fraud.

USA v. Richard F. Downes: Objection to Presentence Report

September 4, 2002

Defendant's Objection to Presentence Report and Motion for Downward Departure in USA v. Richard F. Downes at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Germany: Edmund Ballier et al

September 3, 2002

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Germany into Edmund Ballier, Friedrich-Karl Gradl, Detlev Pinnow, Gerd Ullrich, Fritz-Heinz Bosking, Wolfgang Hummer, Philipp Schauer, Ludwig Schauer and others for alleged fraud.

Switzerland: Henderson Pacific et al

September 3, 2002

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Switzerland into Hans Josef Ludwig, Georg Eduard von Boguslawski, Robert Schoch and Lidia Santangelo-Ortoleva for alleged fraud involving Henderson Pacific Private Bank and Henderson Pacific Financial Services AG.

United Kingdom: Nathan Meyyappan et al

September 3, 2002

Application for the appointment of a Commissioner for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into Nathan Meyyappan, Richard Parfett and Ronan Moss for allegedly dishonestly receiving stolen goods, dishonestly arranging to receive stolen goods, conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to receive stolen goods.

Insider Talking: August 31, 2002

August 31, 2002

European Federal Union Bank Ltd. falsely claims to be based in Antigua; Barbados Central Bank revokes license of Keywest Swiss Investment Bank Inc.; DIAK Bank's Clifford Pitt fails in an attempt to quash a subpoena duces tecum; John Wayne Zidar is gound guilty of fraud and money laundering; US federal court approves IRS motion to serve John Doe summons on MasterCard International for investigation into tax evasion using offshore credit cards; Offshore bankers Julien Giraud and Brian Boeger have each been sentenced to 37 months in prison in the United States; and an auction of property belonging to Imperial Consolidated is due to take place in England.

Former Imperial Consolidated insiders set up new investment scam

August 31, 2002

A new investment scam that has arisen out of the ashes of the failed Imperial Consolidated Group is being run along virtually identical lines, OffshoreAlert can reveal. Potential investors in a British Virgin Islands-registered firm doing business as 'Property International' are being offered annual interest rates of 18 per cent by Imperial's former management and promoters.