Clyde Hood

Less than a month after they were taken down as a result of an OffshoreAlert investigation, references to Grenada-registered Euro Caribbean Bank have been reinstated on the web-site of the 'Stock Exchange' of the sham country known as the Dominion of Melchizedek; Caribbean Media Corporation, which operated the Caribbean News Agency, popularly known as CANA, has suspended operations; Another web-site that has shut down, albeit for different reasons, is that of Prosperitas Internationale Credit Union at www.prosperitasinternationale.com; Vanuatu-domiciled International Seminars Ltd., which organizes offshore seminars at which get-rich-quick schemes are promoted, is operating under a new name - Global Wealth Education Ltd.; John Bourbon resigned as Managing Director of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, effective January 16, 2002 - 18 months after taking up the position, citing "personal reasons"; An ex-SEC officer is critical of his former employer in a book he has written about how the stock markets and the Internet are used to commit fraud against the unsuspecting public; Clyde Hood, the 67-year-old retired electrician from Mattoon, Illinois who persuaded thousands of people from all around the world to collectively send him more than $12 million by offering a return of 5,000 per cent in 275 days, has been sentenced to serve 14 years in prison; A web-site has been set up to raise funds to defend Kenneth R. Weare, of Belize-based J&K Global Marketing, against an SEC lawsuit filed on April 10, 2001, even though the case has ended without the defendants or their legal representatives ever putting in an appearance; The Isle of Man government has granted an online gaming license to Action Online Entertainment (IOM) Limited, which is the fifth firm to receive such a license; Imperial Consolidated is blaming its lawyers for its loss of a libel lawsuit in New Zealand, in which the judge determined they had fabricated documents submitted as evidence and questioned the legitimacy of their investment products; and Justice Hugh Small, sitting at the Bahamas Supreme Court, issued an order on December 20, 2001 that the voluntary liquidation of Americas International Bank Corporation Ltd. be continued but under the supervision of the court.

Clyde Hood, the 66-year-old electrician who persuaded gullible investors to send him millions of dollars by promising 5,000 per cent returns, has pleaded guilty to fraud-related charges in the United States. Hood pleaded guilty on April 10, 2001 to one count each of conspiracy to commit fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and filing a false tax return.

During the course of 2000, Offshore Alert received many telephone calls and e-mails from clients of The Harris Organization financial services group in Panama who claimed to have been defrauded of various amounts of money; After Tony Vigna was recently deported from Panama to face criminal charges in Miami, further details emerged of a fake British passport that was obtained for him by The Harris Organization when he fled the US before being indicted; Standard Hellier Bank and Allianz Trade Reinsurance web-sites become inactive after investigation by Offshore Alert; We have been told by the Grenada Supreme Court that between 10 and 15 civil lawsuits have now been filed against the First International Bank of Grenada group; The default judgment entered against the Bank of Bermuda in favor of the Receiver of the Cash 4 Titles alleged Ponzi scheme at a US federal court on November 20, 2000 was set aside ten days later; Clyde DHood, the small-town electrician in Illinois who persuaded thousands of suckers all over the world to mail him millions of dollars just by promising high returns, remains in jail after his bail application was turned down; Canadian crook Jordan Bionda seems to subscribe to the philosophy that 'the best form of defense is attack'; and Americans are regarded virtually all over the world as being parochial in that they tend not to travel abroad, generally know little about other countries or world affairs and, rather insultingly to the rest of the world's population, give themselves titles such as 'World Champions' when they win a national championship, be it in basketball, baseball, American football or whatever.

One of the longest-running investment farces ever ended this month when 19 people were criminally indicted in relation to a so-called 'offshore trading program' known as Omega Trust and Trading Ltd. The scheme has been going on since at least January, 1994 and has raised at least $12.5 million, according to an indictment filed at the US District Court for the Central District of Illinois on August 18.