Arthur Reynolds

Further information has come our way this month that sheds more light on the collapse of American International Bank and the fiasco that ensued after the same people who caused its problems attempted to transfer the business into another entity they controlled. It seems that American businessman William W. Cooper and his wife, who co-owned AIB, closed down the bank at the end of December, 1997 and transferred its business on January 2 to a new Antigua-registered entity called Overseas Development Bank Ltd.

A battle is taking place for control of the assets of American International Bank Ltd. of Antigua, which went into receivership earlier this year. The bank's demise happened after its principal, William Cooper, tried to set up a new bank called Overseas Development Bank Ltd. to buy AIB, said sources.