Share Register of Mezzanine Capital
Share Register of Mezzanine Capital, accurate as of February 10, 1999.
Two more Harris Organization clients indicted in the US
Less than a year after two clients pleaded guilty to cocaine trafficking charges in California, a criminal indictment has been brought in Florida against two more clients of The Harris Organization of Panama. The indictment was filed against Aurelio Anthony Vigna and his son, Joseph R. Vigna, on December 17, 1998 at the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Aaron Day, Arnold Goldstein and two non-existent Bahamas companies
Nine months after threatening to sue us for alleging that he promoted the services of The Harris Organization of Panama, Florida-based attorney and offshore author Arnold Goldstein has written to thank us for calling his attention to a dubious web-site that promotes his products and services.
Mutual Risk Management officers in heavy selling
Senior officers of Mutual Risk Management engaged in heavy selling of their company's stock from November 20-December 14, 1998, collectively off-loading 247,214 shares for $9,121,767 on the New York Stock Exchange.
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.
Insider Talking: January 29, 1999
Cayman Islands Government award members huge salary increases, McKeeva Bush offers $200,000 to settle $1 million liability, according to First Cayman Bank liquidators; Antigua journalist Tim Hector continues to publish despite printing presses being destroyed in an arson attack, the dubious past of New Utopia conman Prince Lazarus Long, a.k.a. Howard Turney; First Nevisian Group forms Life Offshore Group of Companies, Barron's magazine rips into Agora's The Oxford Club.
Marc Harris-OBNR lawsuit due to be tried in May
The Harris Organization's $30 million libel action against Offshore Business News & Research, Inc. and its principal, David Marchant, is scheduled to go to trial in May of this year at the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida (Miami).
Clarendon Insurance-Hannover Re deal may be off
Robert Ferguson, who is the President of the US/Bermuda-based Clarendon insurance group, was in Germany from January 20-23 in a last ditch bid to save the proposed sale of the company to German giant Hannover Re, we have been told. Although the outcome of his visit was not known to us at publication time, Ferguson told acquaintances before the trip that the deal was "99 per cent dead", according to a source.
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.
Bahamas company may be committing illegal acts in the US
Bahamas-registered Global Investments Inc. appears to be selling unregistered securities in the US in which investors are investing on the belief they are likely to get high rates of return. Some investors in Alabama have been putting their life savings into the scheme and some have even borrowed against their pensions, OffshoreAlert has been told.
Balmore Funds SA et al v. NCT Audio Products Inc. et al: Notice of Removal
Notice of Removal in Balmore Funds SA, if the British Virgin Islands, and Austost Anstalt Schaan, of Liechtenstein v. NCT Audio Products Inc. and NCT Group, Inc., formerly known as Noise Cancellation Technologies Inc., at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The International Trust Company of Liberia et al v. Lester S. Hyman et al: Amended Complaint
Amended Complaint in The International Trust Company of Liberia, of Liberia; International Registries Inc., of Virginia; Liberian Services Inc., of Liberia; Marshall Islands Maritime & Corporate Administrators Inc., of Virginia; The Trust Company of the Marshall Islands Inc., of the Marshall Islands; Administrative Control Services Inc., of Virginia; Archibald N. Stewart, of Virginia; F. A. Guida, of Washington, D.C., and Guy E. C. Maitland, of New York, NY v. Lester S. Hyman, of Washington, D.C.; Kenneth I. Schaner, of Maryland; Yoram 'Jay' Cohen, of Maryland; Richard W. Fields, of Virginia, and Liberia International Ship & Corporate Registry LLC, of Delaware, at the U. S. District Court for the District of Delaware.
Archer Capital Inc.: Karl Martell Letter to Florida Division of Corporations
An apparent attempt by Karl Martell to distance himself from Archer Capital, Inc. following criminal action in Germany against his former business partner, Klaus Weyers, for alleged securities fraud. In this letter to Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, Martell claimed that Archer Capital Inc. and the officers of the company "do not have an association to the address 9423 Chelsea Dr N. Plantation, FL. 33324" and that it is "a private residence owned by Karl Martell", notwithstanding the fact that the address was the official registered office for Archer Capital, Inc., of which Martell was the Company Secretary, and also the contact address for Martell and Archer Capital directors Weyers and Dirk Mohrmann in filings with the Florida Division of Corporations. Martell resigned as Company Secretary approximately one week prior to sending this letter.
New Utopia appears to be an advance fee fraud
Offshore Alert has uncovered evidence that a widely-publicised scheme to build a new offshore tax haven called New Utopia off the coast of the Cayman Islands to, inter alia, compete with Bermuda in offshore insurance appears to be an elaborate advance fee fraud.
That allegation is supported by the fact that the public is currently being urged to order New Utopian currency by sending off funds to an Antiguan bank that we exposed as a fraud last month.
Investors allegedly defrauded of $5 million in Bahamas/Florida bond scheme
The SEC has obtained a federal court order against a Bahamas-registered IBC, a Florida company and businessmen in the United States who participated in an allegedly fraudulent bond sale and prime bank note scam that earned nearly $5 million.
According to the SEC's complaint, the bonds offered for sale were historical bonds, including those issued in the 19th Century by now defunct railroads and allegedly backed by gold.
Antigua regulators issue order against AC Banking Group
Regulators in Antigua - where scams run by Eastern Europeans seem to be rife - have issued a cease and desist order against a Latvian-linked group that falsely claims to be licensed in the jurisdiction.
The offending parties are Atlantic Caribbean Bank and Trust Ltd. and its associate firm AC Banking Group Ltd.
Archer Capital, Inc.: Karl Martell Resigns as Registered Agent
Resignation of Karl Martell as Registered Agent of Archer Capital, Inc., filed with the Florida Secretary of State on or around December 31, 1998. Six weeks later, an arrest warrant was issued in Germany against Archer Capital director Klaus Peter Weyers, who was accused of securities fraud.
Archer Capital, Inc.: Karl Martell Resigns as Secretary
Resignation of Karl Martell as Secretary of Archer Capital, Inc., filed with Florida Secretary of State on or around December 30, 1998, which was a few weeks before an arrest warrant was issued in Germany for Archer Capital director Klaus Peter Weyers, who was accused of securities fraud.
Gulf Union Bank (Bahamas) Ltd. v. Sheik Abdus Shimmy Quraeshi et al: Complaint
Complaint in Gulf Union Bank (Bahamas) Limited v. Sheik Abdus Shimmy Qureshi, Escue Management, Inc., Shahid S. Quraeshi, Crown Capital Advisors, Sohail S. Quraeshi, and Syed Asadullah Kazmi at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Stratton Oakmont, Inc.: Transcript of BANCAP Docket With Preface
Transcript of BANCAP docket with preface In the Matter of Stratton Oakmont, Inc. at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
Spain: Monzer al-Kassar
Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Spain into Monzer al-Kassar, Omar a-Ahmad Bourmerched, Kamal Abdul Gawad Chazoul, and Mohamed Gadhan for attempted murder.
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
Swiss American Bank wins lawsuit brought by US government
The US government has lost its bid to recover $7 million from banks in Antigua, Panama and Switzerland that were the proceeds of marijuana smuggling carried out in Massachusetts.
Judge William Young, of the Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Boston, dismissed a lawsuit brought against Swiss American Bank and Swiss American National Bank (both of Antigua), Swiss American Holding Company S.A. of Panama and Inter-Maritime Bank of Geneva.
James Dale Davidson, Agora Inc, Lines Overseas Management and William Rees-Mogg
OffshoreAlert has uncovered more evidence that casts a negative light over the claims of investment success of James Dale Davidson, whose business interests in Bermuda include Lines Overseas Management and Strategic Advisors Overseas.
Insider Talking: November 30, 1998
Apart from The Harris Organization of Panama, other financial services providers promoted by Florida-based attorney and offshore author Arnold Goldstein have less than distinguished records over recent years, OffshoreAlert can disclose; After responding to an advertisement in the International Herald Tribune that invited readers to call a Bahamas telephone number for details about obtaining an offshore banking licence without any qualifications, we were faxed details of various licences available; The Bahamas Government appears to have changed its mind about how it should privatize the Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation; The Securities Industry Bill, which will, inter alia, provide for the establishment of a Bahamas International Stock Exchange, was introduced to the House of Assembly this month; and the liquidators of First Cayman Bank try to collect $1 million from former Cayman government minister McKeeva Bush.
‘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.
Netherlands: Herman Lodewijk Gazan
Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the Netherlands into Herman Lodewijk Gazan, a textile merchant, for alleged fraud, receiving stolen goods and tax evasion.
USA v. Kenneth Thenen: Judgment
Judgment in USA v. Kenneth Thenen at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
USA v. Kenneth Thenen et al: Thenen’s Witness List
Kenneth Thenen's Witness List in USA v. Kenneth Thenen, Daniel Morris, Scott Thenen, Philip Carallo, Paul Braid, Dennis Farber, Richard Schuman, Melvin Brink, Charles Valvo, John Michael Flynn, Alexander McKenzie-Ross, Fernando Colon, Daniel Post, Stacey Thenen Demet, F. Larry Robinette, Dean Henrichs, Eugene Shirley, Kelly Thomas, Marcelli Martinez, Michael Philipson, Gabriel Aboy, Gilbert Harding, Lang Lewis, Peter Tobeck, Jeffrey Berman, Maurice Durbin, John Grifo, Rolando Viadero, Kurbanali Ramzanali, Patricia Dennis, Henry Geringer, Guy Benamati, Nicholas Paun, Harold Schumacher, Michael McClendon, and Dana Schuman at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
MRM’s Legion Insurance fined for selling unapproved policies
Legion Insurance, the Philadelphia based subsidiary of Mutual Risk Management, has been fined $75,000 by regulators in Washington State for violating state insurance laws.The fine was levied earlier this month "for continuing to market and sell medical malpractice insurance in
Everest Capital in arbitration with Manley Management
Bermuda based hedge fund management company, Everest Capital Limited, that is reported to have lost almost half of its $2.7 billion in assets this year through poor trading decisions, is currently involved in an arbitration hearing with Manley Management Inc.The
US private banking officers fail to comply with guidelines on offshore accounts
Private banking officers of US banks that provide accounts to offshore entities are failing to comply with Federal Reserve Bank 'know your customer' guidelines that recommend they find out the identities of beneficial owners. That is one of the conclusions
Insider Talking: October 31, 1998
A funny thing happened a few days after our expose of The Highlander Club in last month's Offshore Alert. I received from them a spam letter - sent a week before we published - stating "Congratulations You have been approved
The Harris Organization forms UK PLC to raise much-needed cash
The cash strapped Harris Organization of Panama has formed a UK public limited company in an apparent attempt to raise up to £5 million ($8.5 million) by selling shares to the public. The Marc M Harris Group PLC was registered
James Dale Davidson and Agora Inc.: Sorting out fact from fiction
Investment adviser James Dale Davidson, an American businessman with extensive offshore interests who featured prominently in last month's expose of investment clubs run by Baltimore-based Agora Publishing, was taken aback recently when a subscriber to Agora's newsletter Strategic Investment posted the following message on its web-site: "I have been an eager reader of your insightful speculations about the world and its rapid devolution from nation-state boundaries. I am thus perplexed by the witless investment advice promoted as 'intelligence' within these hallowed halls of the privileged and elitely 'connected' 'sources'."
NASD disciplinary actions against Hamilton Partners LP and First International Capital Limited
While scouring the US National Association of Securities Dealers' web-site recently, Offshore Alert came across two disciplinary actions that were taken last year against firms either registered or operated from Bermuda.
Sealed indictment in Dai Ichi Kyoto Re, Kobe Re and North American Fidelity & Guarantee fraud
The US Attorney's office has filed sealed indictments against two people believed to have been responsible for one of the world's biggest insurance frauds, involving Dai Ichi Kyoto Re, Kobe Re and North American Fidelity & Guarantee, Offshore Alert can reveal.
Antigua’s regulators fight to close down Caribbean Bank of Commerce Ltd.
The Caribbean Bank of Commerce Limited, which operates as an Internet bank and appears to have Russian connections, has won the latest battle in an attempt by Antiguan regulators to take away its banking licence and strike it off the Companies Register.
But the authorities are continuing their fight to close down the bank, one of whose officers with a heavy Russian accent called the offices of Offshore Alert this month and told us that "you don't know who you're dealing with" after we had started making inquiries about their operations.
Former US regulators lend support to white-collar criminals in Antigua
A report that we have been told was paid for by powerful banker Allen Stanford and presented to the Antiguan government in January of this year as part of the review of Antigua's offshore financial services sector contained a recommendation that would have severely hindered efforts to combat rampant white-collar crime.
Belvedere Insurance Company Ltd.: Section 304 Petition
Section 304 Petition for Assistance in Insolvency Proceedings in Bermuda by Malcolm Butterfield and Anthony McMahon, as the Foreign Representatives of Belvedere Insurance Company Limited, at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
State of Maine v. The Boston Group et al: Notice of Amendment
Notice of Amendment in State of Maine Bureau of Banking, Securities Division v. The Boston Group, Anthony Peter Allocca, Michael Allocca Jr., Mark Antony Angelo, Angelo Achilles Armenta, Jeffrey Scott Blitz, Francis Joshua Coady, Nils Christian Hellpap, Clifford Frederick Mastricola, Andrew DeWayne Morgan, Jackie Eugene Rumph, Kevin Erick Scannell, and David Leonard Sheppard.
Sidney Kohl v. Winchester Global Trust Company Ltd et al
In the Matter of In the Matter of the Evidence Act 1905, and In the Matter of Order 70 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Bermuda, and In the Matter of a Civil Matter now pending before the Circuit County Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit Court in and for Broward County, Florida in the United States of America between Sidney Kohl, as General Partner of D&S Partners, a general partnership and TLRES L.P. Real Estate Fund Inc., Riverside Capital Advisors Inc., RTL Partners L.P., RTL Trust, Winchester Global Trust Company Limited, Gulfstream Financial Advisors Inc., Steven Massey and Thomas J. Ryan III. - Bermuda Supreme Court
Global Currency Trust shuts down
Global Currency Trust, which has claimed at various times to be based in Nevis and the Bahamas, although it may not be registered anywhere, appears to have closed for business, leaving behind at least one angry investor.
Lines Overseas Management’s close ties with owner of dubious investment clubs
Links between Lines Overseas Management and the Agora Group.
Insider Talking: September 30, 1998
Receivers of the Florida Employers Safety Association Self-Insurers Fund sue David Sanz, share price of Stirling Cooke falls to new low on NASDAQ, Elite International Services offers dubious offshore products, Marc Harris on the move, prison inmate Ronald Williams apparently continues to rip people off during his day-release program, Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham puts both feet in his mouth during press conference for murder of foreign national.
Details of Clarendon insurance group’s past shady dealings
An extract that mentions the Clarendon Insurance Group that appeared in the 'Failed Promises' report into the insurance industry that was published in the early 1990s by a US Congressional committee chaired by John Dingell.
Agora’s investment clubs – complaints galore
Fancy making an annual 100 per cent return on your investment with minimum risk? Or how about receiving immunity against cancer, diabetes and senility? It might sound too ridiculous for words - and of course it is - but people are actually falling for this promotional spiel put out by two private investment clubs run by Baltimore-based Agora Publishing, which has close business ties to Lines Overseas Management, a Bermuda-based financial services firm, and also Lord William Rees-Mogg, former editor of The Times newspaper of London.
Cops 0, Robbers (Alleged) 1
The first real test of Cayman's anti-money laundering Proceeds of Criminal Conduct Law 1996 has ended in victory for the alleged money launderers and defeat for the US government - all because the US authorities were a day late in meeting a key filing deadline.
Although not agreeing with his interpretation of at least two key points of the PCCL, Cayman's Court of Appeal nevertheless upheld a decision by former Chief Justice George Harre to discharge a restraint order freezing $7 million in three accounts at the Royal Bank of Canada that were controlled by Americans William J. McCorkle and his wife, Chantal.
Ultimatum for bankrupt who hid assets offshore
A former high-flying Wall Street options trader who fell on hard times has been given a difficult choice by a Miami bankruptcy judge: either hand over the estimated $7 million that he placed in an offshore trust to avoid paying his debts or never have his $20 million bankruptcy discharged.
This novel approach to combating debtors who hide their money offshore rather to avoid paying their debts was adopted by Judge Thomas A. Utschig.
