New Utopia

The long-awaited criminal trial of Bahamas resident Yank Barry in Texas on charges that he bribed a prison governor to secure a lucrative contract for his soy-based food firm called VitaPro is due to start on August 7, 2001 following previous delays; A look at OffshoreBanc.com; Kevin Mann, Registrar of Mutual Funds in the British Virgin Islands, has issued a Cease and Desist Order against Ian Renert's so-called Equivest Premier Holdings (BVI) Inc., which has been holding itself out to be an offshore mutual fund manager; Evergreen Security - details about creditors and how much they are owed; The 'New Utopia' farce continues; Bahamian Hubert Bowe is still trotting out press releases at www.alexandersworld.net claiming that he is about to "break ground" on a major development called Alexander's World; The last remains of FIBG's sham insurer, IDIC, disappeared recently when its web-site at www.idic-ec.org went off-line; The purchase of about 10 million shares in Manchester United PLC for some GBP28 million (US$40 million) by BVI-registered The Cuban Expression Company Ltd. - pushing its overall stake up to 6.77 per cent - caused quite a stir among business and soccer reporters in England; Further misrepresentation by The Harris Organization of Panama; and Paul de Weerd leaves his position as Superintendent of the Turks & Caicos Financial Services Commission.

Midasco Gold Corp's dubious offshore private placement participants, Turks & Caicos Islands regulator issues warning against Orion Bank & Trust, Canadian lawsuit filed against Bermuda-based investment firm GulfStream Financial Ltd., prospectus for Bermuda Money Funds identifies long-deceased Bermudian attorney as its chairman, Better Business Bureau in Costa Rica angered by Harris Organization's false claim to be a member, New Utopia scam keeps going and going, superseding indictment brought against Nevis-based offshore provider Robin Cotterell.

Ever wondered how you could commit fraud and effectively get away with it even when caught? The case of Lazarus Long, head of the New Utopia fake offshore jurisdiction project, shows how it can be done. Long (a.k.a. Howard Turney) took in $24,000 over 10 months from investors who bought into his dream of building a new offshore center on stilts on shallow coral reefs 100 miles off the coast of the Cayman Islands, according to the SEC. However, he paid no financial penalty and continues to operate his business.

BaTelCo throws spanner in the works of Bahamas International Stock Exchange private placement, Cayman Islands Stock Exchange tells New Utopia to take a hike, trial in Bermuda over European family's wealth costs $600,000 per week, First International Bank of Grenada has difficulty with its math, journalists arrested in Grenada, new sham investment game appears on the Internet, and the growth of the Bahamas is detailed in a prospectus for the new Bahamas International Securities Exchange.

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.

A scheme to build a new offshore tax haven called New Utopia off the coast of the Cayman Islands has collapsed following legal action by the Securities & Exchange Commission. A federal judge in Tulsa, Oklahoma, this month granted the SEC's application to freeze all money raised by Lazarus Long (a.k.a. Howard Turney) for his New Utopia project through a fraudulent bond offering.

Offshore Alert has uncovered evidence that a widely-publicised scheme to build a new offshore tax haven called New Utopia off the coast of the Cayman Islands to, inter alia, compete with Bermuda in offshore insurance appears to be an elaborate advance fee fraud. That allegation is supported by the fact that the public is currently being urged to order New Utopian currency by sending off funds to an Antiguan bank that we exposed as a fraud last month.