Ursula Williams

A default judgment for $6.4 million has been entered in the United States against offshore investment firm Lines Overseas Management Ltd. and an offshore brokerage arm of the Royal Bank of Canada in connection with an allegation of banking and securities fraud.The judgment against LOM and RBC Dominion Securities, of the Turks & Caicos Islands, was entered at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama on July 1, 2004 after they failed to defend a civil complaint after being served in December, 2001, according to court records.

Bermuda-based investment firm Lines Overseas Management and Turks & Caicos Islands-based RBC Dominion Securities are among 72 defendants in a civil fraud lawsuit filed in the United States by clients of Cambridge International Bank & Trust, of Grenada. They are in good company, with fellow defendants including household names such as J&H Marsh McLennan and Lloyds TSB Bank (Isle of Man).

Offshore Alert's story about the banking/insurance scam that appeared in last month's edition of the newsletter has created quite a stir in the Caribbean. Several newspapers in the region followed up on the scandal, including those in Nevis, St. Vincent and Bermuda, and we received requests for assistance from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the the FBI.