Panama: Sergey Osipov
Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Panama into Sergey Osipov and others for allegedly arranging and facilitating international prostitution.
Russia: Vladimir Aleksandrovich Trinev et al
Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Russia into alleged fraud and abuse of power by three former directors of Rostselmash JSC, namely Vladimir Aleksandrovich Trinev, Sergey Pavlovich Beloglasov and Andrey Zakharovich Khata.
Harris Organization moves closer to collapse
There are increasing indications that The Harris Organization financial services group of Panama is edging closer to collapse. Several of the group's clients have contacted Offshore Alert recently to complain that their requests to redeem all or part of their investments have been ignored.
Insider Talking: January 31, 2000
Liquidators of First Cayman Bank reach settlement with former Cayman government minister McKeeva Bush, First Nevisian's Keith Leslie King testifies at civil trial in the Isle of Man, Jordan Bionda denies he is a fraudster, conman Keem Kalfon promotes his Global Heritage Asset Protection 'fund', attorney Julian Hall is declared bankrupt in Bermuda, Bermuda's international business sector voices concern over Government plans to introduce tougher new work permit rules for foreign workers, offshore crook Marc Harris compares himself to Albert Einstein, Florida judge orders Harris Organization to pay costs after losing a libel action against OffshoreAlert's publisher.
OffshoreAlert Awards For 1999
Annual OffshoreAlert Awards for: Worst Regulator, Worst Regulated Jurisdictions, Lie of the Year, Coward of the Year, Crooks of the Year, Jurisdiction in Most Need of a PR Make-Over, Most Small-Minded Decision, Most Arrogant Jurisdiction, Most Stupid Comments, Here Today, Gone Tomorrow Award, and Most Responsible Regulators.
Elderly investor sues Harris Organization representative in Costa Rica
A criminal lawsuit has been filed against the head of the Costa Rica office of The Harris Organization financial services group after an elderly US investor claims she was unable to redeem her investment.
Floyce Capmany, 72, who lives in Nevada, claims she is still owed $37,668 of a $70,000 investment she made through The Harris Organization's sales office in Costa Rica in 1998.
La Prensa newspaper charged over Harris Organization stories
La Prensa newspaper in Panama and some of its journalists have had a criminal libel brought against them after several articles on The Harris Organization financial services group.La Prensa has alleged improper links between The Harris Organization, the Attorney-General, José Antonio Sossa; and a Panamanian attorney, Carlos Jones; allegations which have been denied by the subjects of the articles.
BVI regulator responds to judge’s ruling against The Harris Organization
In the face of an onslaught of pressure from the international community, offshore regulators have been quick to claim over the last few years that they are not havens for criminal activity.However, the proof of the pudding is, as they say, in the eating.
Insider Talking: September 30, 1999
Dominica-registered Overseas Development Bank & Trust has yet to satisfy three judgments totalling US$1.24 million that were entered against it in favor of creditors on January 29, 1999, sham New Utopia jurisdiction claims it is launching "the New Utopia Investment Fund of the Cayman Islands", Ralph Sherman's involvement in the First International Bank of Grenada, comparisons between Van Brink's First International Bank of Grenada and Michael Randy's Canadian Trade Bank, alleged investment fraudster Brent Wagman surfaces in Panama, '60 Minutes' television show goes soft on Alexandre Konanykhine.
Insider Talking: August 31, 1999
In February, Offshore Alert reported about stock manipulation allegations involving Bermuda Stock Exchange-listed Mezzanine Capital; Viktor Kozeny, the 'Pirate of Prague' who allegedly defrauded his countrymen in the former Czechoslovakia of tens of millions of dollars before fleeing, buying an Irish passport and going to live in the Bahamas, has apparently fallen out with the Grenada government, according to Grenada Today newspaper; A letter to the editor that was published in the Caymanian Compass newspaper on August 20, 1999 caused rum amusement in knowledgeable law enforcement circles; and In the ten days after we posted the Harris Organization/OBNR libel judgment on our web-site, 638 people had downloaded the entire 17 pages, making it the most popular document on the 'Free Documents' section of our web-site.
Harris Organization appeals libel decision
The Harris Organization financial services group of Panama has served official notice that it will appeal its loss of a recent libel lawsuit against Offshore Business News & Research Inc., which publishes Offshore Alert.
The grounds for the appeal were not known at press time.
OBNR defeats Harris Organization in libel lawsuit
The Harris Organization financial services group of Panama has lost its libel lawsuit brought against Offshore Business News & Research, which publishes this newsletter, and OBNR's principal, David Marchant.
Judge Michael Moore, sitting in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, issued a strong ruling in favour of OBNR and Marchant on August 10, 1999.
Marc M. Harris et Cie SA et al v. David Marchant et al: Final Judgment, Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law
Final Judgment, Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law in Marc M. Harris et Cie S.A., The Firm of Marc M. Harris, Inc. and Marc M. Harris Trust Company, Ltd. v. David E. Marchant and Offshore Business News & Research, Inc. at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Insider Talking: July 31, 1999
Global Village Market and the World Investors' Stock Exchange, Global Prosperity Group charges attendees $17,000 each for its get-rich-quick conferences, John Mathewson and the FBI, Cayman bank officer lived in home owned by client, says source; Harris Organization tries to subscribe to Offshore Alert, journalists seek information on Michael Ashcroft, Harris Organization officer Alan McAloon professes ignorance over Florida property ownership.
Libel trial judge asks: ‘Where is Marc Harris?’
The libel trial involving The Harris Organization financial services group of Panama and Offshore Business News & Research ended on July 30 with Judge Michael Moore asking: "Where is Marc Harris?"
Harris was nowhere to be seen during six days of testimony even though he was the main subject matter of the March 31, 1998 Offshore Alert article that was being complained about.
Harris Organization/OffshoreAlert trial set to start on July 6, 1999
The civil libel trial between Offshore Business News & Research, Inc., which publishes this newsletter, and The Harris Organization financial services group of Panama will start at the United States District Court for the District of Southern Florida (in Miami) on July 6.
After two postponements by the court because of scheduling problems, a definite date has now been set for the trial, which is scheduled to last for about one week.
Harris Organization-OBNR trial put back by court
The libel trial involving The Harris Organization financial services group of Panama and Offshore Business News & Research, Inc., which publishes this newsletter, has been put back to an unnamed date by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Insider Talking: May 31, 1999
Offshore promoter Adam Starchild's criminal past, Cayman politicians receive huge pay increases, clients of Marc Harris' Threshold Insurance Services claim to have been ripped off.
Insider Talking: April 30, 1999
The saying 'There's one born every minute' was never more evident than during a recent interview OffshoreAlert conducted with an Arizona-based creditor of Gilbert Ziegler, the chairman of the fraudulently-run First International Bank of Grenada; The depths to which The Oxford Club's parent, Baltimore-based Agora Inc., will stoop to attract new business seemingly knows no bounds; In the book the Sovereign Individual, which is co-authored by Lines Overseas Management shareholders Lord William Rees-Mogg and James Dale Davidson, there is a paragraph on Page 188 that seems to advocate an illegal act when advising readers on asset protection; Although we published a list of shareholders for Bermuda-based financial services firm Lines Overseas Management last month, the identities of many of the beneficial shareholders was hidden through companies; We reported last month on an alleged fraud being committed by Threshold Insurance Services, which is an apparently bogus insurer being operated by The Harris Organization of Panama and being investigated by banking and insurance regulators in Florida. We learned this month that official records in Panama show that the company has now been dissolved; and Accounting firm Deloitte & Touche, which is liquidating First Cayman Bank, is still forecasting a pay out of 45 to 55 cents on the dollar.
Marc Harris withdrawn as witness as libel trial draws near
The Harris Organization's libel complaint against Offshore Business News & Research, Inc, which publishes this newsletter, and the company's principal, David Marchant, is due to start on May 24 at the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (in Miami).
We were also notified this month that the group's founder, chairman and sole owner of its common stock, Marc Harris, has been withdrawn from The Harris Organization's witness list.
Florida regulator investigates ‘insurers’ operated by Harris Organization
The Department of Banking and Finance in Florida is investigating an alleged scam involving two insurance companies run by The Harris Organization financial services group of Panama.
It has been alleged that investors were duped into investing funds with Florida-registered Lifeblood Biomedical Inc. on the grounds that their investment was fully insured by Threshold Insurance Services Ltd. and Caribbean General Insurance Corporation, which are both operated by The Harris Organization.
However, following the collapse of Lifeblood Biomedical last year after raising $10 million, the insurance companies have refused to pay investors' claims, alleging that agreements on their letterhead and signed by the President of both insurers, Ilka M. Barria, are bogus.
Insider Talking: March 31, 1999
Further incriminating evidence against Bermuda Stock Exchange-listed Mezzanine Capital, Lines Overseas Management has sophisticated computer software system installed, Marc M. Harris and his Panama bodyguards, 'The Invisible Investor' book provides a plethora of unintentional laughs, Nigerian fraudsters appears in Cayman Islands court, Florida-based scam seeks to take advantage of bona fide firms like Lloyd's Bank and Barclays Bank, Members of Cayman Islands Legislative Assembly shelve plans to award themselves huge pay increases.
Poland: Alexei Bragontchuk
Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in Poland into Alexei Bragontchuk and for alleged fraud and money laundering regarding the proceeds of weapons trafficking.
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.
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).
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.
Marc Harris latest: Senior officers undergo lie detector tests
Information coming from Panama indicates that November has been yet another bad month for The Harris Organization.
All the signs are that the offshore financial services group, which has been accused in this newsletter of running a Ponzi scheme and of massive insolvency, is about to go bust.
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.
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
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.
Marc Harris latest: Liquidity crisis deepens, another client goes to prison
More information has come our way this month that sheds further light on the current and past turmoil of The Harris Organization of Panama, including details of liquidity problems, the conviction of another one of its clients on a drug trafficking charge and allegations of 'bounty hunting' against two of the group's officers.
The financial services group, which we have previously reported as being insolvent, running a Ponzi scheme, ripping off clients and laundering the proceeds of crime, seems to be in financial trouble.
Insider Talking: July 31, 1998
In house counsel Philip Lamarr has become the latest in a long line of officers and employees to quit The Harris Organization, of Panama in recent months. Larry Abraham and his son, Patrick, left in March, trader Alex de Janon
La Firma de Marc M. Harris v. David Marchant: Criminal Complaint
Criminal Complaint alleging defamation in La Firma de Marc M. Harris v. David Marchant and Offshore Business News & Research at the First Judicial Circuit Court of the Province of Panama.
Insider Talking: June 30, 1998
Offshore regulators apparently uninterested in scams exposed by OffshoreAlert; NimsTec's 3-D cameras offered for sale as "collector's items" over the Internet; Marc Harris has t-shirt with the slogan: "David Marchant is alive because killing him would be a crime"; As General Election looms, Progressive Labour Party tipped to win power in Bermuda for the first time; Dominion of Melchizedek offers a variety of fraudulent products and services; and Little Switzerland contemplates legal action after proposed purchase of Colombian Emeralds International falls through.
US government battles for jurisdiction over Swiss American Bank
A battle for legal jurisdiction between the US government and four offshore financial institutions in a $7 million forfeiture case contains a number of important issues that will affect all companies and individuals who operate offshore but have US clients.Among arguments being put forward by the US government for jurisdiction over banking entities located in Antigua, Switzerland and Panama is the fact that the offshore companies sell their services over the Internet, which can be accessed in the US; that Swiss American Bank has advertised in the in-flight magazine of American Airlines; and that SAB has correspondent banking relationships with banks in the States.
Insider Talking: May 31, 1998
Former Cayman banker John Mathewson's sentencing hearing for helping to launder the proceeds of crime has been delayed yet again. Mathewson was due to be sentenced on April 30 by a court in New Jersey in the US but the matter was adjourned until later in the year; If figures compiled by The Wall Street Journal are to be relied upon for accuracy, the Cayman Islands is not the world's fifth largest financial center, as it claims, but is actually the eighth largest; Six months after US$9 million of its assets were frozen in British Columbia as part of an investigation into fraudulent trading, the Cayman-based broker/dealer Harris McLean Financial Group has filed a lawsuit in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands against one of its principals, Richard Harris, and his mother, Ana Harris; and Those of you who have been following our articles on The Harris Organization of Panama might like to read a three-page article on the subject that appeared in the June 1 edition of Business Week.
The colourful world of the promoters of The Harris Organization
One wrote a book describing Albania as a "fairy tale land" and promised he could show investors "how to double your capital at no risk", another sells seemingly dodgy insurance brokerage licences to the gullible, promising they are available within 72 hours to people with no qualifications or even a formal education who will be able to access the Lloyd's of London market; and another has written a book on prostitution showing where "balding, fat guys like your author" can find "Thai virgins".
Marc M. Harris et Cie SA et al v. David Marchant et al: Amended Libel Complaint
Amended Libel Complaint in Marc M. Harris et Cie S.A., The Firm of Marc M. Harris, Inc., and Marc M. Harris Trust Company, Ltd. v. David E. Marchant and Offshore Business News & Research, Inc. at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
The Harris Organization: a $30 million lawsuit, more fraudulent banks and an airplane
Offshore Alert's exposé on The Harris Organization last month has caused quite a stir, with journalists from several international media organizations showing an interest in following up the story.
Marc M. Harris et Cie SA et al v. David Marchant et al: Libel Complaint
Libel Complaint in Marc M. Harris et Cie S.A., The Firm of Marc M. Harris, Inc., and Marc M. Harris Trust Company, Ltd. v. David Marchant and Offshore Business News & Research, Inc. at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
‘The Harris Matrix’ for hiding money from the IRS and your wife
Offshore Alert has obtained confidential documents that are presented to clients of The Harris Organization advising them how to hide their assets from their creditors, be it the IRS or their wives if they are going through a divorce.
The documents are so sensitive that the cover sheet states: "Under no circumstances may this document be utilized outside the offices of The Harris Organization. Misuse or disclosure of this document is subject to civil and criminal sanctions under Panamanian law."
Marc Harris says: ‘We’re cleaner than clean.’
David Marchant, the publisher of Offshore Alert, flew to the Bahamas on Wednesday, March 25 to meet with Marc Harris at the Radisson Grand Hotel in Cable Beach, near Nassau.
Also present at the meeting were Larry Gandolfi, who is a salesman; Christopher Davy, head of computers; and Alan McAloon, head of trust services.
The Harris Organization’s multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme
Offshore Alert can today disclose that Panama's most-hyped financial services group, known as The Harris Organization, is being run as a massive Ponzi scheme in which clients are being defrauded out of millions of dollars.
The situation is so serious that The Harris Organization, which employs 150 people in Panama, is hopelessly insolvent, with net liabilities of at least $25 million, according to sources knowledgeable of the group's financial affairs.
US government sues Swiss American Bank-Inter-Maritime Bank group
The US government has filed a landmark civil lawsuit against banks in Antigua, Panama and Switzerland in an attempt to recover $7 million that it claims are the proceeds of criminal activity.The lawsuit is considered to be of significance to other offshore tax havens because it will test the ability of the US government to enforce home-based judgements in foreign territories against offshore companies who collaborate with money launderers.The US government is suing Swiss American Bank Ltd. and Swiss American National Bank Ltd., which are both registered in Antigua; Swiss American Holding Company S. A. of Panama and Inter-Maritime Bank of Geneva.
Netherlands: Friedrich Adolf Specht
Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the Netherlands into Friedrich Adolf Specht and others for alleged involvement in a scheme to sell fraudulent bonds on behalf of Panama-domiciled Colon Impex, Inc. to third parties through a European company named AGIG Foundation, Private Investment Banking International.
United Kingdom: Parkfield Group Plc (‘Securities Fraud’)
Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence from Maljack Productions, Inc. and Union Bank - pursuant to a request for judicial assistance from the United Kingdom - for a criminal investigation into suspected securities fraud involving Parkfield Group Plc.