St. Vincent Trust Service

Default judgments totaling $106 million have been entered in the United States against offshore provider The Jeeves Group and related parties regarding an alleged tax-program-cum-Ponzi-scheme operated by one of its clients. The Jeeves Group has denied any wrongdoing to OffshoreAlert and claims the judgments are unenforceable in Liechtenstein, where the group is headquartered.

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.