Eugene Chusid: ‘Mr. Get Rich Quick’
A look at the sordid business career of Eugene Chusid, one of the architects of an investment scam known as Le Club Privé.
Religion and high interest rates in St. Vincent
Offshore Alert has uncovered an offshore bank that is chartered in Grenada but is operating without a license in St. Vincent, where it is offering depositors annual interest of between 25 and 35 per cent. DIAK Bank is run by Clifford Pitt, a U. S. national who has no prior banking experience and who is described in promotional material as a 'minister of religion' and 'Professor of Theology'.
Trial date set for Sphere Drake-Odyssey Re lawsuit
The London Commercial Court has scheduled October, 2001 for the start of a trial relating to a civil lawsuit filed by Sphere Drake Insurance (formerly Odyssey Re-London) against two UK-based subsidiaries of Stirling Cooke Brown Holdings, two former officers of those subsidiaries, and others on February 29, 2000.
Bank of Bermuda targeted in class action lawsuit
The Bank of Bermuda (Cayman) Limited is a defendant in a class action civil lawsuit filed in the United States on behalf of over 1,000 victims of an alleged $300 million Ponzi scheme known as Cash 4 Titles. The bank appears to be the 'deep pocket' of the eight named defendants in the complaint, which has been filed in Miami, Florida, under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
FIBG put into receivership, more amazing revelations from Grenada
After allowing tens of millions of dollars to disappear and the crooks to flee the island, Grenada's government finally took over the First International Bank of Grenada this month. Government accountant Garvey Louison was appointed Receiver of FIBG on August 1 and immediately started preparing to liquidate the bank and all of its sub-banks.
SEC lawsuit leads to closure of 21st Century Banking Group
Grenada-registered 21st Century Banking Group is closing down after the US Securities & Exchange Commission froze the assets of the investment group that operated the offshore bank. In a lawsuit filed at the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, the SEC has accused six defendants of defrauding 330 investors out of $29.1 million raised since January, 1998.
USA v. Mack Obioha et al: Motion for Letters Rogatory
Defendant Obioha's Motion for Issuance of Letters Rogatory in the case of 'USA vs. Mack Obioha et al' at the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
Mannin Foundation v. City and International Securities Ltd.: Judgment
Judgment in Mannin Foundation v. City and International Securities Limited and Edenbridge Investments Limited v. Sunil Pabari at the Isle of Man High Court.
State of Florida v. John McGarrity et al: Amended Information (2000)
Amended Information in State of Florida v. John McGarrity James T. Staples, Joseph Monaco, James Deas, Francis Clarkson, John McGarrity, John Manion, Jeff Mann, Rich Mann, David Trotter, Steven Schaefer, Jeno Koch, and Julie Gilvary at the Circuit Court of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, in and for Seminole County, Florida.
Stock Generation out of business
Dominica-registered Stock Generation, which was a Ponzi scheme dressed up as an Internet investment game, appears to be out of business.
US criminally indicts 11 in alleged $95 million investment fraud
The US government has criminally indicted 11 people, including four attorneys, for an alleged $95 million investment fraud in which money was partially laundered by an Antigua-based 'paper' bank called 'AMPAC Bank and Trust' that maintained accounts with the Bank of Bermuda in Bermuda.
LOM obtains judgment in $2.67 m stock fraud case
Bermuda-based investment firm Lines Overseas Management has obtained a default judgment against five New York-based businessmen accused of defrauding LOM's Bermuda and Guernsey operations of $2.67 million in a share ramping scheme.
FIBG chairman calls for ‘positive energy’ to turn bank around
On July 4, 2000, not long before Adrian Ball's audit of the First International Bank of Grenada was completed, the bank's chairman, Richard Downes, sent an extraordinary letter to FIBG's depositors.In the 10-page letter, Downes acknowledged that FIBG was "experiencing a severe cash-flow problem" and asked clients for their "forgiveness".He then called on depositors to help to overcome the problems through "the flow of positive energy" in order to "reverse the polarities" of the "negative energy" surrounding the bank.
UK accountant declares FIBG solvent, triggers disbelief
In a development that will astound many businessmen in the region, a UK-based chartered accountant appears to have given the First International Bank of Grenada a clean bill of health.
Germany: Klaus Peter Weyers
Complaint for the arrest of Klaus Peter Weyers and extradition from the USA to Germany to face charges of forgery of securities, theft and fraud.
Germany: Klaus Peter Weyers(2)
Complaint for the arrest of Klaus Peter Weyers and extradition from the USA to Germany to face charges of forgery of securities, theft and fraud.
The Mannin Foundation vs. City & International Securities Ltd.: Plaintiff’s Closing Submissions
The Mannin Foundation vs. City & International Securities Limited - Plaintiff's Closing Submissions - Isle of Man High Court of Justice - July 13, 2000
Petroleum Products Ltd. et al v. Bahamas Securities Commission: Judgment
Judgment in Petroleum Products Limited and Fabian Investments Limited v. Securities Commission of the Bahamas at Bahamas Supreme Court.
Bahamas-registered TAC penalized by Canadian securities regulators
Bahamas-based TAC International Ltd. and its President, Craig Southwood, have been penalized by the British Columbia Securities Commission for promoting an unregistered and fraudulent investment program.
Galtney files to sell MRM shares
Insider transaction by Mutual Risk Management's William Galtney, Jr.
Former SG Hambros COO charged with $700 million offense
Craig Major has been criminally charged with issuing false letters of credit for amounts totaling $700 million while serving as Chief Operating Officer for SG Hambros Bank & Trust (Bahamas) Ltd. in Nassau.As COO, Major had approximately 80 staff under him at the bank and, before his current problems, had been publicly held out as a role model for Bahamians by Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham.
Barbados attorney Yolande Bannister appears to drop two suspect banks
Barbados-based attorney Yolande Bannister claims that her law and company management firms no longer represent two fraudulently-run banks.
Offshore Alert has previously reported that Bannister's Alpha & Omega Law Chambers/YBG Management in Bridgetown, Barbados, served as the administrative office for the crooked Digital Commerce Bank.
SEC freezes the assets of Dominica-based Stock Generation
The SEC has frozen the assets of Dominica-registered Stock Generation, which Offshore Alert exposed nine months ago as operating a Ponzi scheme masquerading as an Internet investment game.In doing so, the SEC has acknowledged the co-operation of the Economic Crime Division of the Central Criminal Police of Estonia, a country where Stock Generation maintained bank accounts.
German police investigate Marc Harris
The Panamanian authorities have received yet another request for assistance from a foreign agency investigating alleged crimes involving The Harris Organization financial services group.
La Prensa, which is the main newspaper in Panama, reported in June that Interpol in Wiesbaden, Germany, had submitted a written request for help to their counterparts in Panama on March, 8, 2000.
According to La Prensa, the Germans are investigating an alleged fraud committed in Germany and Switzerland and allegedly involving Heinz Richard, 52, someone called 'Hintermeier' and a company named Victus Commerz AG.
More revelations about the great Grenada banking scandal
Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, the great Grenada banking scandal reached new levels of farce this month.One bank is operating without a banking licence, another is capitalized by a painting and the First International Bank of Grenada was still open for business at the end of June. Open, that is, to accept deposits but not to pay interest to its depositors, many of whom have complained to the island's regulators that they have not received interest payments for several months.Even allowing for corruption and incompetence, the refusal of the Grenada government to close down FIBG has led to one of the most bizarre situations in the history of offshore banking.
16 defendants added to Cash 4 Titles lawsuit
The US Securities & Exchange Commission has added 16 defendants to a lawsuit filed in connection with an alleged $300 million Ponzi scheme known as Cash 4 Titles.Several of them are legal entities registered in the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas, where most of the proceeds of the US-based scheme were allegedly laundered.
Licensing of Bermuda investment companies begins
Bermuda-based companies offering investment services had until June 30 to be licensed by the Bermuda Monetary Authority under the Investment Business Act or otherwise seek an exemption.
Sale of unregistered stock in Bahamas-based IBC comes to a halt
An offering memorandum for shares in a Bahamas-registered IBC was taken off the Internet recently immediately after Offshore Alert began asking questions about it.Offshore Alert had downloaded a "Memorandum" relating to the sale of up to 2.5 million shares for $10 each in a company called ecombahamas.com Ltd., which was incorporated on August 3, 1999.
Regulators freeze assets in $40 m ‘fraud’ case
As Bermuda struggles to cope with a recent influx of investment scam operators, one of the schemes heavily promoted on the island has had its assets frozen in the United States. The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington State issued a temporary restraining order on May 10 against several parties accused by the SEC of committing a $40 million fraud. Defendants in the lawsuit are John Wayne Zidar, John Wesley Matthews, Elizabeth Anne Phillips, Oakleaf International, Rosewood International and Meliorations Management Teem.
Yet another Grenada investment scam – Joi de Vie Ventures
OffshoreAlert has come across yet another investment scam being perpetrated in Grenada, this one involving a company called Joi de Vie Ventures Inc. The firm promises to pay depositors "100% profit per year" and informs them in promotional material that there is a "money-back guarantee".
Resumption of Isle of Man trial involving Keith King company
A civil trial in the Isle of Man involving a company controlled by Keith King, the founding boss of the First Nevisian group in Nevis, was due to resume on May 30.The trial, which was adjourned earlier in the year, concerns a claim for GBP200,000 (approximately US$300,000) made against King's firm City & International Securities by former clients Virginia Anne Callow and Dr. Herbert Batliner, as Trustees of The Mannin Foundation.
Another Harris Organization client on his way to jail, stock fraud continues
Harris Organization client and business partner Brent Wagman has pleaded guilty to securities fraud and criminal contempt of court in Texas.Wagman, 42, is due to be sentenced on August 3 and faces up to five years in prison for masterminding a scheme that defrauded mainly elderly Americans out of approximately $30 million.
Business card belies former plumber’s bank directorship denials
Parties involved with Grenada-registered Meridian Investment Bank are still denying that former plumber Sheldon Mickelson and Burdett Streeter are directors of the bank, despite evidence to the contrary.The denials on behalf of Mickelson are particularly bizarre since he has recently been handing out business cards in the US that read 'Meridian Investment Bank Ltd., Sheldon Mickelson, Director'.
Regulators freeze assets of bank controlled by Terry Neal
A Nauru-registered bank that is operated out of Nevis by offshore provider and author Terry Neal is at the centre of a major stock fraud investigation in the United States and Canada.Investigators allege that Exchange Bank and Trust helped launder millions of dollars from illegal trading in US stocks through bank and brokerage accounts in Vancouver and Nevis-registered entities.
Eugene Herbert threatens legal action over Nevis credit union fiasco
Nevis-based offshore provider Eugene Herbert is contemplating legal action against California-based attorney N. Scott Grant in relation to an entity called World Investors Credit Union LC.Herbert, who runs Nevis International Trust Company Ltd., said he was disturbed to learn in last month's Offshore Alert that he was being described in promotional material as Managing Director of WICU.
A look at the dubious GTrade ‘stock exchange’ and its principal, Andy Mann
Nevis-based Hanver Trust Company boss Robin Cotterell, who was arrested on May 23 for allegedly laundering the proceeds of securities fraud, is also the chairman of a dubious Internet stock exchange, Offshore Alert can reveal.
Cotterell has set up several companies and provided a number of services to the 'exchange', which is known as GTrade, and his firm may have even partially operated it in Nevis without a licence.
Robin Cotterell arrested after FBI sting involving a client
Nevis-based trust officer Robin Cotterell, who was arrested recently in the US Virgin Islands for alleged money laundering, was set up in an FBI undercover operation involving a client, Offshore Alert can disclose.
Compagnie d’Escomptes Financiers CEF SA v. Georgian Bay Holdings Corporation et al: Writ of Summons
Writ of Summons in Compagnie d'Escomptes Financiers CEF SA v. Georgian Bay Holdings Corporation, Anchorage International Fund Management Limited, Bank of America Trust and Banking Corporation (Cayman) Limited, and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.
Aristocrat Endeavor Fund Ltd. et al: Ex Parte Originating Summons
Ex Parte Originating Summons by Aristocrat Endeavor Fund Ltd., Aristocrat Corporate Finance Limited, and Jeffrey A. Weston at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.
Seto and Rusnak banned from securities industry for role in offshore exchange
Two Canadians have been banned from the securities industry by the Alberta Securities Commission for their role in operating an offshore Internet stock exchange. In an Order dated March 31, 2000, Orest Rusnak and Kim Seto were prohibited from acting as a director or officer of any issuer for 20 years and five years, respectively.
Grenada regulator Michael Creft is ‘apparently corrupt’, says FIBG auditor
Grenada's Registrar of Offshore Financial Services, Michael Creft, was described last year as being "apparently corrupt" by the first accountant who attempted to audit the books of the First International Bank of Grenada. In a letter to Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, Lauriston Wilson wrote that Creft's actions relating to FIBG were "suspect and lead to the inescapable conclusion that he is apparently corrupt".
Attorney Scott Grant accused of selling sham offshore credit union
Attorney Nigel Scott Grant has been reported to the California Bar Association by a client who claims to have been ripped off over the purchase of a Nevis-registered 'credit union'. California-based Johnson Richards & Co. is seeking to recover about $53,000 in legal fees and other costs allegedly paid to acquire a fully-functioning credit union from Grant and prepare for its operation.
Meridian Investment Bank run by former plumber
One of the banks linked with the First International Bank of Grenada group is co-owned and partly run by a former plumber and two former bankrupts, Offshore Alert can reveal. The ex-plumber is Florida resident Sheldon A. Mickelson, 40, who we have been told by two sources is one of the senior partners in Meridian Investment Bank, which is one of the many 'sub-banks' sponsored by FIBG.Â
Insider Talking: April 30, 2000
The low-down on Imperial Consolidated's City UK Ltd., Antigua-based Accord Insurance goes to ground; and Mezzanine Capital's Eric Chess Bronk, complaints to SEC about clampdown on broker activities.
‘It all seems very strange’ – A look at the Imperial Consolidated Group in the UK
In the course of our inquiries into the Imperial Consolidated Group, which has regional offices in the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and Grenada, Offshore Alert talked with a local journalist in Lincolnshire who visited ICG's offices at Brookenby about 12-18 months ago. His report, which appears below, confirmed that the group is one of the largest private employers in the area and has added to the mystique that surrounds ICG, which has become one of the highest profile offshore companies over the last few years.
U. S. regulator issues warning against Digital Commerce Bank
The Caribbean Bank of Commerce, which had its banking license revoked in Antigua last year, has been up to its old tricks again. On March 29, 2000, the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency put out a warning about something calling itself Digital Commerce Bank Ltd., which is one of the names CBC now operates under.
United Kingdom: Peter Paul Gellatly et al
Application for the appointment of a Commissioner to collect evidence for a criminal investigation in the United Kingdom into an alleged advance fee fraud by Peter Paul Gellatly, David Robertson and David Tallant.
Alberta Securities Commission claims jurisdiction over Internet exchange
In a landmark decision, the Alberta Securities Commission has found that an Internet stock exchange that was once registered in the Cayman Islands before moving to Antigua was in breach of local securities laws. The case against the World Stock Exchange, Thomas Kim Seto and Orest Rusnak was the first time that a Canadian securities commission had reviewed the activities of a stock exchange operating over the Internet.
STW Fixed Income Management expalins why it is leaving Bermuda
In announcing its decision to relocate from Bermuda, STW Fixed Income Management, which employs 18 people on the island and managed about $10 billion in assets, was highly critical of the PLP government. The company's CEO, American national William H. Williams, issued a news release in which he essentially accused the PLP government of not understanding the needs of international businesses and of implementing policies which he said would be "disastrous" to the economy.Â
Bear Stearns accused of preferential treatment over failed BVI fund
Bear Stearns has been accused of tipping off privileged clients so that they could cash out of the BVI-registered Manhattan Investment Fund before it collapsed in January with losses of about $450 million. It has also been claimed that the broker exceeded "generally accepted margin limitations" in extending credit to the fund, thus contributing to the size of its losses.