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Bahamas-based unlicensed fund manager arrested in New York

April 30, 2005
Less than three months after being featured in OffshoreAlert, the operator of an unlicensed, Bahamas-based investment fund has been arrested in New York.Derek Guise Turner, a New Zealand national, was arrested in Long Island on April 18 - three days after a sealed criminal complaint alleging fraud was filed against him at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Newt Utopia: March 31, 2005

March 31, 2005
Around the Caribbean Offshore Financial Centers BahamasSpring break is in full season and the primary assets are walking around on two legs hibernating from school and snow. Spring break is now probably the largest single revenue event for the Bahamas

Evergreen Security recovers $3.7 m from Bahamas bank

March 17, 2005
Failed hedge fund Evergreen Security has recovered $3.7 million from Bahamas-based Surety Bank & Trust Ltd. (in liquidation). The recovery represents funds that were allegedly stolen by Thomas Spencer and Robert Boyd, who were founders of Evergreen and shareholders of the bank.

BCSC finds no evidence for cease-trade order against Lines Overseas Management

March 8, 2005
For the second time in 57 days, a British Columbia Securities Commission panel has ruled not to ban offshore investment firm Lines Overseas Management from the local market. In a decision on March 4, 2005, the panel determined that, although it was still concerned about LOM's activities, its staff had not met their burden of providing sufficient evidence to justify an order prohibiting LOM, affiliated firms and its senior officers from trading on behalf of undisclosed beneficial owners. However, the panel left open a window of opportunity for its staff by concluding that: "If the Executive Director wishes to pursue the matter, the necessary evidence should be gathered and a notice of hearing issued."

Bahamas court makes substantial costs award against extortionist computer programmer

February 28, 2005
Computer programmer Christopher John Donnachie has been ordered to pay legal costs of $808,653 to a Bahamas banking group from which he tried to extort money. The costs against Donnachie, a British national believed to be residing in the Turks & Caicos Islands, and his Panamanian-registered firm, Pandon Technology S. A., were awarded by Bahamas Supreme Court on December 1, 2004.

SEC sues Bahamas investment fund

February 28, 2005
The SEC has accused a Bahamas-based hedge fund and related parties of defrauding investors of approximately $37 million. Details are contained in a civil lawsuit filed by the Commission at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on February 16, 2005.

Insider Talking: January 31, 2005

January 31, 2005
Search the Internet for 'Caledonian Offshore Ltd.' and you will receive a plethora of hits for web-sites containing allegations that the firm engages in wholesale illegal activity, specifically that it takes money from residents of third-world countries on the false promise that they will be offered jobs in the offshore oil industry; Tthere is still no sign of the US Postal Service taking any action against another up-front-cash-for-non-existent-jobs fraudster - Rommy Kriplani, a few years after OffshoreAlert handed them more than enough evidence to bring a prosecution for mail fraud; Ten months after the closure of Canada-based OFC Publications Inc., which published Offshore Finance Canada and Offshore Finance USA magazines, another publisher of news about offshore financial centers and issues that affect them has closed down; The Financial Services Authority in the United Kingdom has refused an application for 'permission to carry on regulated activities' by Target Asset Management Limited, whose links with accused fraudster Sendjer Shefket were first revealed by OffshoreAlert on June 30, 2003; The Office of the Public Prosecutor of the Second Circuit in Panama has allowed a request from former employees of the now-defunct Harris Organization to freeze US$800,000 of its assets on the grounds that they were fired illegally, according to a report in El Panama America newspaper on December 27, 2004; Bermuda hotelier and former Minister of Tourism David Dodwell has settled litigation with a former business partner that lasted more than 12 years, spanned courts in three countries and was notable for its acrimony; British solicitor Mark Agombar, who was banned as a company director for six years in the United Kingdom last year for his part in a timeshare scam, was named as a defendant in a civil complaint filed by Johnston International Limited at the Turks & Caicos Islands Supreme Court on April 30, 2004; and The Securities Commission of the Bahamas announced on November 16, 2004 that it was "monitoring" a criminal investigation in Switzerland into suspected investment fraud and money laundering by Dieter Behring and "assessing any possible connections Mr. Behring may have with existing licensees or registrants of the Commission.

Eric Resteiner may be close to plea agreement with US prosecutors

January 31, 2005
Former Bahamas resident and Grenada diplomat Eric Resteiner is considering entering into a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in Boston, where he has been indicted for alleged investment fraud. Details of a possible deal were contained in a joint filing by the U. S. Attorney's Office and Resteiner's counsel at the U. S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on December 2, 2004.

Peru: Noe Tsutomu Inafuku Higa

January 28, 2005
Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal prosecution in Peru into Noe Tsutomu Inafuku Higa, AmericoAntonio Ibarcena Amico and others for alleged corruption.

Bahamas judge throws out Imperial Consolidated-related lawsuits, slams local law firm

January 26, 2005
Three civil lawsuits filed at Bahamas Supreme Court against Ansbacher (Bahamas) Limited by investors in the fraudulently-operated Imperial Consolidated Group - which perpetrated a $400 million investment fraud in the United Kingdom and various offshore financial centers - have been thrown out in farcical circumstances. In a written judgment dated November 15, 2004, Justice Hugh Small was scathing about the competency of the law firm of Collie & Collie, representing all of the plaintiff investors who, OffshoreAlert understands, collectively paid it at least $80,000 in legal fees.

LOM wins victory in British Columbia but faces new hearing

January 13, 2005
The British Columbia Securities Commission yesterday dismissed an application for cease trade orders and other sanctions against offshore investment firm Lines Overseas Management Ltd. and its senior officers. However, it was a hollow victory for the respondents since the Commission panel immediately ordered a new hearing to determine whether to ban LOM from the local market for different reasons.

Cardinal International closes amid regulatory investigation

December 31, 2004
Nassau-based Cardinal International Fund Services Ltd. was due to exit the fund administration business effective December 31, 2004, in the midst of an investigation by the Securities Commission of the Bahamas. Cardinal unexpectedly announced its plans to close within weeks in late 2004. In announcing the decision, the firm's Chairman, Stephen Hancock, claimed the Board of Directors "had concluded that the economic outlook for fund administration both internally and as a jurisdiction created insufficient comfort to warrant the continuation of the business". However, the abrupt nature and timing of the closure announcement indicated there were other reasons.

Peru: Jaime Fernando Bellido Romero et al

December 8, 2004
Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Peru into Jaime Fernando Bellido Romero and Jose Fernando Bellido de Lama for alleged money laundering, specifically concealing real and personal properties owned by Jose Enrique Crousillat Lopez Torres and Jose Francisco Crousillat Carreno.

Elderly couple sues alleged fraudster, who then sues offshore firms

November 30, 2004
A purported investment "expert" accused of defrauding an elderly couple out of $2.1 million is seeking to hold three offshore firms and others accountable for the claim.Aslam M. Shaw and his business, Investment Club of America, were named as defendants

United Kingdom: Shinder Gangar et al (Texas)

November 2, 2004
Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into Shinder Gangar and others for alleged investment fraud.

LOM insiders profited from alleged stock manipulation, claim SEC

October 31, 2004
Insiders and privileged clients of investment firm Lines Overseas Management stood to profit from the alleged manipulation of a penny stock by LOM principals Scott and Brian Lines, according to a court filing by the SEC.These included directors such as Graham Collis and Susan Wilson, senior employees like CFO Malcolm Moseley; relatives of the Lines brothers, including two minors, and the manager of a local restaurant, Constanzo Di Meglio.

Securities fraud scheme by Joseph Castiglione’s Bahamas-based Banakor Swisse

October 31, 2004
An unlicensed offshore broker that is headed by a convicted criminal and banned company director appears to be peddling worthless securities to the public, OffshoreAlert can reveal.Evidence suggests that Bahamas-based Banakor Swisse S. A. is cold-calling residents of the United States and attempting to sell them shares in companies that appear to have no bona fide activity.

US taxpayer decides to co-operate following contempt order

October 31, 2004
Six weeks after being hit with a $5,000 per day fine for contempt of court, suspected tax-dodger John Eulich has done a U-turn and turned over records of his Bahamas trust to the IRS.And he is attempting to obtain further records from several Isle of Man-registered entities he is believed to be associated with so that he can also turn them over to the tax agency.

Former trust client sues offshore firms

October 31, 2004
The beneficiary and trustee of an offshore trust are seeking more than $1 million in damages for its alleged mismanagement by Morgan Trust (Cayman).Cheryl Tanenbaum, a resident of New York, and Mark Tanenbaum, a resident of Florida, as beneficiary and Trustee, respectively, of the Cheryl Tanenbaum Family Trust, filed a civil complaint at New York State Supreme Court on September 27, 2004.

United Kingdom: Shinder Gangar et al (Florida)

October 4, 2004
Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation into alleged investment fraud and money laundering by Shinder Gangar and others.

Newt Utopia: September 30, 2004

September 30, 2004
Vanuatu It looks like the future for this failed offshore jurisdictions is in hosting Survivor reality television shows. I can't wait to see Survivor Sealand or Survivor Melchizedek.Bahamas The Bahamian Foundation Act has a few quirks that could have made

Zurich Insurance affiliate registers judgments totaling $5.3 m

September 30, 2004
ZCM Asset Holding Co. (Bermuda) Ltd., which is an affiliate of the Zurich Insurance Group, registered three judgments totaling $5.3 million with the U. S. District Court in Connecticut on September 13, 2004.The judgments were against Sonic Investments Ltd., of

Insider Talking: September 30, 2004

September 30, 2004
Three bankers who allegedly swindled their former employer, NatWest, in a deal involving Enron and a Cayman Islands registered company appeared in court in England on September 28, 2004 as they seek to avoid extradition to the United States. Gary

57 Citco-formed SPVs used in securities fraud, claim plaintiffs

September 30, 2004
The Cayman Islands operation of the Citco Group set up at least 57 special purpose vehicles that were used to commit securities fraud against a publicly traded, United States based firm, it has been alleged. Citco (Cayman) has been named

SEC v. LOM hearing postponed by ten days

September 15, 2004
A court hearing in the United States concerning Bermuda based investment firm Lines Overseas Management and its Managing Director, Scott Lines, has been put back by ten days.Following a joint request by all parties, LOM and Lines must now appear

Insider Talking: August 31, 2004

August 31, 2004
No mention of SEC's securities fraud investigation in publicly-listed Lines Overseas Management's half-monthly letter to shareholders; Fraudster Maurice Lewis Mills loses a civil lawsuit that was filed against him by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; Former offshore provider David Hampton Tedder indicted again; Former banker Mohamad Harajchi claims to have contributed $10 million to the Progressive Liberal Party to fund its successful general election campaign in the Bahamas in 2002; US Gov't tries to kick-start its stalled criminal action against Yank Barry and James Collins; Leadenhall Bank & Trust says its viability has not been affected by the loss of its MasterCard license and its legal dispute with former card administrator Axxess International over the return of millions of dollars of deposits to card-holders; and Axxess International appears to have gone out of business.

US taxpayer fined $5,000 per day for non-production of offshore trust records

August 31, 2004
A United States court has imposed a $5,000 fine on a taxpayer for every day that he fails to turn over records of his Bahamas trust to the IRS.If John F. Eulich, of Dallas, Texas, has not produced them by September 15, 2004 - 30 days after the start of the penalties - the fine will be increased to $10,000 per day.

UK litigation funding flops try again with new group called Strathmore

August 31, 2004
Former insiders of two U. K. litigation funding scams that collapsed with combined losses of nearly $500 million are behind a recycled version of the same scheme, OffshoreAlert can reveal. The new business - operating under the brand name 'Strathmore' - encompasses companies in the Bahamas, Canada, the United Kingdom and Africa.

LOM and Scott Lines ordered to appear before US court

August 19, 2004
Bermuda-based investment firm Lines Overseas Management Ltd. and its Managing Director, Scott Lines, have been ordered to appear before a United States court as part of a securities fraud investigation.The U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an order on August 17, 2004 that they must attend a hearing that is scheduled to start at 9.45 a.m. on October 4.

Czech Republic seeks extradition of Viktor Kozeny from the Bahamas

August 12, 2004
The Czech Republic is to seek the extradition of alleged fraudster Viktor Kozeny from the Bahamas.Kozeny, 40, who lives in the gated-community at Lyford Cay, near Nassau, is wanted on charges relating to a failed coupon privatization scheme in the early 1990s after the collapse of communism. 

IRS receives permission to serve subpoena on First Data Corp.

August 12, 2004
The world's largest processor of credit card payments has been ordered by a United States court to assist the IRS in its investigation into tax evasion using offshore accounts.First Data Corp. must turn over information about transactions by holders of American Express, Visa and MasterCard credit cards that were issued by or on behalf of certain offshore financial institutions.

Banakor Swisse: ‘Not Licensed’

August 10, 2004
Public Notice by the Central Bank of the Bahamas that Banakor Swisse "is not licensed in The Bahamas to carry on banking or trust business".

Saddam’s Laundry: How western money managers ran the offshore network that bankrolled Iraq’s war machine

July 31, 2004
Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Panama and the Bahamas were key elements in the offshore shell company and money-laundering schemes that bankrolled Saddam Hussein for more than 20 years.And Saddam used the same offshore money launderers as Osama bin Laden. His offshore network hid the money skimmed from government oil sales and collected in kickbacks. It was used to pay for Saddam's secret agents and security forces, reward domestic and foreign friends, and buy arms during international embargos. 

Newt Utopia: Around the Caribbean

July 31, 2004
The Bahamas, St. Kitts & Nevis, Dominica, Grenada, FATF/OECD, ECCB  Nations, Offshore Gaming, and Newt's right - again.

Insider Talking: July 31, 2004

July 31, 2004
How absurd has the criminal case in Texas involving Bahamas resident Yank Barry become?; A recent land-mark opinion by the United States Supreme Court that effectively determined federal sentencing guidelines were unconstitutional has formed the basis of an appeal by jailed former offshore services provider Marc Harris against his sentence of 17 years in prison and a financial penalty of $26 million for fraud, money laundering and tax evasion; The Central Bank of Belize has warned that an entity calling itself 'Development & Holding Bank of Belize' is not licensed; In July, the Bermuda Monetary Authority also issued warnings about suspect or bogus companies claiming to have ties to the jurisdiction; The United States FBI is establishing an office in the Bahamas, reported the Nassau Guardian; On July 19, 2004, a United States podiatrist admitted to using an offshore bank and credit card account to launder money and evade New York City state and federal taxes on more than $300,000 in income, according to a press release from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, which prosecuted the case at the state Supreme Court; Germain Bourgeois, the former investment manager of the University of Montreal Pension Plan, is suspected of receiving payments in return for "convincing" three parties to invest "hundreds of millions of dollars" in the Lancer Offshore group of funds; and A civil lawsuit has been filed at the Turks & Caicos Islands Supreme Court against a solicitor who was recently disqualified from serving as a company director in the U. K. by the Department of Trade & Industry for his part in a timeshare scam.

Offshore credit-card holders await refunds as litigation drags on in the Bahamas

July 31, 2004
A bitter legal dispute is taking place in the Bahamas over the refunding of millions of dollars to people who held offshore credit cards issued by Leadenhall Bank & Trust Ltd. Bahamas-based Leadenhall and First Financial Caribbean Trust Company Ltd., a licensed trust company in the Turks & Caicos Islands, each claims the other holds security deposits that are owed to card-holders. 

Offshore bank paid $3 m fraudulent preference before collapse

July 24, 2004
The owner of a Hilton hotel in the Bahamas was the recipient of a $3 million fraudulent preference from a Bahamas-based offshore bank shortly before it collapsed, a court has ruled.Canadian national Ronald Hubert Kelly, a 60-year-old former Catholic priest and convicted pedophile, received the transfer from Americas International Bank on September 4, 2001.

SSBT’s owners lose yet another bid to regain bank license

July 10, 2004
Suisse Security Bank and Trust Company Limited has moved a step closer to full liquidation in the Bahamas following a recent court ruling.In a decision delivered on June 29, 2004 after one-and-a-half days of hearings, the Bahamas Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed what was essentially an appeal of an appeal by SSBT.

Indosuez Eastern Europe Fixed Income Fund Ltd.: Section 304 Petition

July 6, 2004
Section 304 Petition for Assistance in Insolvency Proceedings in the British Virgin Islands by Stephen Akers and Terry Carson, as the Foreign Representatives of Indosuez Eastern Europe Fixed Income Fund Ltd., Clariden Eastern Europe Debt Fund, Ltd., and Safra Eastern Europe Fixed Income Fund, Ltd., at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Insider Talking: June 30, 2004

June 30, 2004
In separate actions, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority has announced its intention to revoke the Mutual Fund Administrator's license held by Signature Financial Group (Grand Cayman) Ltd., c/o P. O. Box 2494 GT, Grand Cayman, and that it has revoked the unrestricted Class 'B' Insurer's License held by Potomac Indemnity Company, effective April 6, 2004; Controversial newsletter publisher Pirate Investor LLC has obtained a subpoena against Yahoo! Inc. as part of its attempt to identify an anonymous Internet user who is suspected of a breach of copyright; The Isle of Man Financial Supervision Commission issued notices over April-June, 2004 urging the public to "exercise the greatest possible caution" when dealing with several businesses; The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates national banks in the United States, has issued advisories several 'banks'; If anyone wants a blueprint of how not to attempt to transport more than $10,000 out of the United States without correctly filling out the proper Customs forms, they could do a lot worse than study the case of 23-year-old Bahamian national Antunya Shenique Rahming; A Costa Rica-based private bank that targeted expatriates - Corporación Elca, S.A., more commonly known as Banco Elca - has been closed down by local regulator Superintendencia General de Entidades Financieras; Evidence of corruption against Grenada's Prime Minister Keith Mitchell and former Director of Public Prosecutions and current "Special Prosecutor" Hugh Wildman while he was Director of Public Prosecutions was referred to in a Judgment delivered in the UK High Court on June 24, 2004 in a civil lawsuit that had been filed against former First International Bank of Grenada CEO Lawrence Victor Jones by his former fiancé, Kerry Cox; Apart from being home to many a fraudulently-operated offshore company, the South Pacific island of Niue is also one of the biggest producers of Internet pornography in the world; The Australian Securities and Investments Commission announced on June 11, 2004 that it had concluded its proceedings in the Supreme Court of New South Wales against Trans Pacific Insurance Corporation, a Cayman Islands-registered insurers, and Triton Underwriting Insurance Agency Pty Ltd.; and Under the Progressive Labour Party Government, Bermuda — for so long a model, small-country jurisdiction — is hurtling towards being as openly corrupt as any of the islands in the Caribbean that it has historically looked down on.