MOTA MENDES, IN CHARGE AT PONZI SCHEME, B & C CAPITAL, INELIGIBLE TO ACT AS MANAGING DIRECTOR

Fernando Mota Mendes, the sole surviving officer at  B & C Capital, Ltd., now indicates that he is merely the "office manager," notwithstanding that he previously represented himself to be the Managing Director. He quickly changed his title when it was pointed out that, due to his prior bankruptcy, and pending and unresolved felony grand theft charges, he could not hold the position of MD under Cayman law.

The problem is, Mota Mendes is the sole officer left at the company whose total staff has now been reduced to a single clerk, plus Mota Mendes. How can anyone actually believe that he is not the MD, especially when he has been acting to defend B & C in a civil suit in Grand Cayman, and has executed affidavits in its behalf ? He is obviously illegally occupying the position of Managing Director, and his repeated self-serving statements about his title and duties untrue.

He should be removed from the premises, taken into custody, and B & C Capital Ltd., closed and placed into liquidation, with the books & records preserved, to facilitate the resolution of  the pending criminal investigations.

DID VENEZUELAN FIGHTER JETS TEST AMERICAN AIR DEFENSE READINESS OFF FLORIDA FOR RUSSIA ?

The FARC leader and his Venezuelan (PDVSA) transport

Although it was not covered by North American media, the Latin American press recently focused upon a disturbing event: When the leader of the FARC recently traveled to Havana, to continue the ongoing peace talks with the Government of Colombia, his route, and mode of travel, demonstrated that the Maduro regime in Venezuela is a staunch ally of the global terrorist organization. You may not like to read this, but it is the truth. A computer seized by Colombian armed forces in a raid revealed a $300m payment, made by Venezuela, directly to the FARC.

The FARC leader, Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, alias Timochenko, first traveled out of Colombia, and into Venezuela, where he boarded a Beechcraft 1900 aircraft, owned by PDVSA, Venezuela's national oil monopoly, near the frontier, in an a restricted military area.You can clearly see the PDVSA logo and color scheme on the aircraft.

During his flight to Havana, Chacín was escorted by two Venezuelan Air Force Sukhoi 30 fighter jets. If you are wondering why he was protected by military aircraft, it is because he has been accused of supervising the manufacturing and shipment of tons of cocaine into North America. There is a $5m reward, offered by the United States, for any information leading to his capture. Considering that much of that cocaine transits Venezuela, en route the US & Canada, and senior members of the Government of Venezuela share in the profits, it is not surprising that Venezuela desires to protect Chacín, who has been accused of ordering torture, murder, kidnapping, and several other war crimes.

Venezuelan Air Force SU-30

Why did the North American media ignore this story ? Perhaps because the FARC is not the hot topic that it is in Latin America, where issues of inequality and rigid class structure are far more severe than in the United States & Canada. In any event, there is a non-public aspect to this story which should concern those who live north of the Rio Grande; the reported probe of North American airspace by Venezuela.

According to reliable sources, who are former senior officers in the US Air Force, those two Su-30 Venezuelan fighter jets, which are manufactured by Russia, intruded into the North American Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), which is airspace close enough to the continental United States to be regarded as a potential national security threat. Unknown aircraft entering the ADIZ must be immediately identified, to rule them out as a military or terrorist threat.

That is what occurred, according to my sources, who stated that four US military aircraft were scrambled to meet a potential threat. Given that the ADIZ begins a distance north of Cuba, what were the Venezuelan fighters, who were allegedly serving as escorts to the FARC leader, doing north of Havana ?  Considering that both Russia and China have recently sent aircraft to test American response time, in a number of locations, the question persists: Was Venezuela testing the US, to see what the military reaction time was to ADIZ intrusions south of Florida, and was this operation carried out for the benefit of Russian intelligence agencies ? Perhaps President Maduro can enlighten us.

A DESPERATE GANG OF FOUR VIOLATE CAYMAN ISLANDS SECRECY LAWS

Lamb, Bateman, Buntain

The Cayman Gang of Four*, facing not only whistleblowers, who have exposed their fraudulent use of investors funds, in a massive trading scam, but victims who are initiating civil suits, and criminal prosecution, have resorted to publishing confidential information about their victims, violating the laws of Cayman Islands, and exposing them to additional criminal charges. They have not only made illegal disclosures that will result in additional charges, and prison time, but will make them, as investment professionals, pariahs in the Cayman Islands financial community.

Sharon Lexa Lamb, the former Dundee Bank Senior Vice President, has illegally published customer identification information regarding the victims, in an efforts to discredit them, and their claims. Details about specific bank accounts, the ownership of corporations, and other bank secrecy information, all of which may not be disclosed under the laws of the Cayman Islands, have been sent to multiple individuals, and entities, in a futile effort to interfere with victims' current banking relationships. She was assisted by Bateman & Company Managing Director, Fernando Mota Mendes.

 Efforts to conceal the source of this information have been detected,  but since the Gang of Four was in sole possession of this restricted financial data, they are the obvious originators of this criminal act. The victims have notified the appropriate Cayman Islands law enforcement authorities, and will be pressing criminal charges.

Sharon Lexa Lamb in Cuba

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* The Gang of Four are:
Sharon Lexa Lamb
Ryan Bateman
Derek Buntain
Fernando Mota Mendes

TD BANK REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENT TO PLEAD GUILTY IN SCOTT ROTHSTEIN PONZI SCHEME

Frank Spinosa

Frank Spinosa, the TD Bank Regional Vice President in the Scott Rothstein Ponzi scheme scandal, will  apparently be changing his plea to guilty, as a Superseding Information has been filed against him, on a single charge of Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, and his case has been removed from the trial calendar. Spinosa allegedly facilitated Rothstein's billion dollar Ponzi scheme, where investments in non-existent court settlements were sold to victims. The filing of an Information generally means that a plea agreement has been, or shortly shall be, entered into, settling the charges against the defendant, in exchange for a guilty plea.

The Information alleges that Spinosa used the "prestige and legitimacy of TD Bank, and defendant Spinosa's position as Regional Vice President, to give the Broward investors a false sense of security, and induce them into investing in the confidential investments. " Spinosa also was involved in the preparation of false statements, the so-called "Lock Letters,"claiming that funds were frozen.

The change of plea hearing has been set for October 8, 2015. Will Spinosa's cooperation result in new indictments against other individuals, especially senior TD Bank executives ? We cannot say, but there may be Statute of Limitations issues that bar new charges, in some cases, though it is possible that certain Federal conspiracy laws might be applicable.

The lack of a trial, where testimony and documents might have further clarified the role of TD Bank in the Rothstein Ponzi scheme, will unfortunately fail to transparently reveal the bank's internal actions to the public; the full extent of its involvement will remain unknown to the public.

IF TSA WON'T ACCEPT CERTAIN DRIVERS' LICENSES FOR ID IN 2016, DO NOT TAKE THEM NOW FOR COMPLIANCE

In 2016, unless certain states upgrade the security in their driver's licenses, those means of personal identification will be insufficient for commercial airline travel, entry into US Government buildings, and other restricted government areas. I suggest that, in your Customer Identification Programs, you immediately downgrade these items to supplemental ID only; do not accept them as primary means of identification.

The states and territories that are ten years behind the rest of the pack, with these 9/11 security requirements, known as the Real ID Act, are:

(1) New York
(2) Louisiana
(3) Minnesota
(4) American Samoa
(5) Arizona
(6) New Hampshire

Drivers' licenses from these states still fail to meet government-mandated security standards two ways:
(A) There are insufficient security features built into the cards to meet Federal standards promulgated several years ago.
(B) The state has insufficient verification of identity, or immigration status, in its licensing process.

Listen, I get it; some of the states have privacy issues, regarding the ability of the Federal Government to have ready access to this information, but since counterfeit licenses are an easy method for financial criminals, and terrorists, to gain access to a US bank account, I agree that the points made by the Department of Homeland Security are valid. These outdated licenses are just too easy to counterfeit.

If the US Government says that the licenses from the above jurisdictions fail to meet its standards, then I suggest that you hereafter require any new bank customers, with identification from those states, to produce an additional, primary means of photo identification, such as US Passport, or Passport Card.   

FINANCIAL PACIFIC CASE AGAINST FORMER PRESIDENT OF PANANA BOGS DOWN IN SUPREME COURT OF JUSTICE

Ayú Prado

In a clear demonstration of how the Panamanian Supreme Court of Justice is the biggest obstacle to reform in the country, Justice José Ayú Prado, who is in charge of the Financial Pacific insider trading case against former President Ricardo Martinelli, as refused to disqualify himself, notwithstanding a clear conflict of interest. Call for him to step down have been ignored by the justice, who is himself under investigation for corrupt activities, namely accepting bribes to fix cases.

Ayú Prado, who was appointed by Martinelli, was also the Attorney General of Panama when the Financial Pacific/Petaquilla Mining scandal broke, several years ago, and he failed to conduct an investigation into allegations of illegal activities, committed by Martinelli and many in his Cabinet. It is alleged that many millions of dollars in illegal profits were taken, at the expense of Canadian & American investors who bought the stock at inflated prices.

This case illustrates the problem; so long as Martinelli appointees remain on the court, also accused of bribery and corruption, Martinelli will not face justice in Panama. Should the Supreme Court bench be emptied by President Varela, and a complete roster of new justices be appointed ?  It may be the only way to truly clean up corruption in Panama; Radical steps are necessary.

VIKTOR BOUT, IN NEW TRIAL MOVE, SAYS WITNESS COMMITTED PERJURY

                       

Counsel for the convicted ams trafficker, Viktor Bout, in a supplemental filing in support of his Motion for a New Trial, asserts that the statement of a Bulgarian national, who was unavailable to the defense during the trial, and beyond the reach of process, proves that a key government witness committed perjury on the stand. Bout states, in his latest filing that "the Mirchev Declaration constitutes newly discovered evidence, and supplied sufficient basis for a new trial.*"

The other issues argued in the Reply:
(1) The evidence presented, regarding Smulian's role as a Government operative is strong, at at least calls for an Evidentiary Hearing.
(2) While Bout's post-arrest statements may not have been presented to the Grand Jury, the Government's failure to inform the Court of Agent Zachariaisewicz's testimony before the Grand Jury, when seeking a revision of the credibility finding, militates in favor of a New Trial.

The case has generated a large amount of global public interest. Many Russians believe that Bout's case was politically motivated, and they think that he was entrapped by US agents, into agreeing to supply missiles to individuals whom he believed were Colombian terrorists. Whether the ending of Bout's prior relationship with America's intelligence community was a factor has been hotly debated among those who knew of his involvement with both covert, as well as open, operations, in support of US objectives in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
________________________________________________________________
* Defendant's Corrected Reply to the Government's response to Defendant's Motion for New Trial, based upon newly Discovered Evidence, at 24.

RAMPANT CORRUPTION MEANS THAT YOU SHOULD DECLINE ALL PALESTINIAN PEPS

A 2015 report, from EU auditors, stating that more than two billion dollars in donations, made to the Palestinian Authority over the past six years, cannot be found, and was not applied to any of the projects which it was intended to support, reinforces my opinion that one simply cannot accept any Palestinian PEPs as clients, for any purpose, as universal corruption means their money is probably diverted from its original purpose. Any international bank that accepts their money does so at a huge risk.

Additional information, released this year, reveals that Palestinian PEPs are spending much of the aid and donation funds on themselves. The most prominent candidate to succeed retiring PA President Abbas reportedly spent over $2m on a lavish wedding for one of his children, in Cairo, this summer. Where did all that money come from ? He does not earn a salary from any known source, but does receive aid money intended for Palestinian projects.

Another PEP asked for $4m, from a Gulf country donor, so that luxury housing could be constructed in the West Bank, allegedly to block Israeli settlements there, but the area he has proposed for the homes is not near any settlement activity. If this makes no sense, remember that it is estimated that there are 1700 millionaires living in the Territories, where unemployment exceeds 50%, and most jobs are in local government, or an NGO or non-profit organization.

The prudent path is to decline all individuals who wish to open accounts:

(1) Who advise that they intend make a large initial deposit, or to carry large balances.
(2) Who have Jordanian passports, but their place of birth is located in Israel.
(3) Cannot be identified as business owners, with established businesses that you can verify.

If you, by the process of elimination, has established that the prospective client appears to be, by the  weight of the evidence, to be a Palestinian PEP, then you would be well advised to decline his business, for some corrupt PEPs have been charged by their government, and their dirty laundry exposed in the media, which would probably cause reputation damage to your bank. Also, what if the PEP funds a terrorist act in the EU or North America, through your bank ?

More ominously, some PEPs, are affiliated with Hamas, meaning terrorist funding issues could arise, and even in the West Bank, others have ties to Hamas, and are receiving funding from Hamas' overseas operational headquarters in Turkey. The potential problems are just too high; avoid these potential customers, as part of your risk-based compliance program.

ANTIGUA STRIKES BACK AGAINST MEDIA REPORTING ON SYRIAN ACCESS TO ECONOMIC PASSPORTS

Attorneys for the Government of Antigua & Barbuda have ordered a major online offshore information provider to delete an article that it published, accusing Antigua of of selling economic citizenships to Syrian nationals. Antiguan diplomats have reportedly been inundated with inquiries, from other countries, requesting verification that there is no basis in fact for these allegations.

Most compliance officers are painfully aware that, due to the lack of reliable information from Syria, it is presently impossible to ascertain whether specific Syrian nationals are war criminals, human rights violators, terrorists, or even Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).

The article which offends Antigua claims that Syrians, now armed with Antiguan passports, are using them to enter the US Virgin Islands. Once an individual arrives in an American possession, he or she is deemed to have entered United States territory, and may enter the Continental United States, without passing through US Immigration procedures.

We have previously, here on this blog, covered the allegations that foreign nationals, from countries that are sanctioned by the United States, Such as Iran & Russia, are reportedly obtaining Antiguan passports through the citizenship by investment program. Allegations of large payments made to passports, and of widespread governmental corruption in the passport program, are disturbing, and represent a clear & present danger of possible terrorism.

 Compliance officers, who are already displaying caution when dealing with passport holders from the Federation of Saint Kitts & Nevis, due to reports of passport acquisition by high-risk individuals, should consider whether to add Antigua & Barbuda to their list of possible problem jurisdictions. At the very least, they should carefully examine the place of birth of the potential client, to see whether he or she might be holding an economic passport, and therefore be high-risk.

NY ACCOUNTANT IN MADOFF PONZI SCHEME AVOIDS PRISON, BUT LOSES HIS LAW LICENSE

 

In any large Ponzi scheme, even those on the fringe must face justice. Paul Konigsberg, the New York accounting firm executive who assisted Bernard Madoff in his massive Ponzi scheme, but rendered substantial assistance, in the subsequent Federal investigation, has been disbarred, thereby losing his license to practice law in the State of New York. Konigsberg, who  did not receive either prison time, or any form of probation or supervision, from the District Court at sentencing, was required to forfeit $4.4m, which represented the amount he earned from his business with Madoff. His age (79) was probably a factor in the extremely lenient sentence handed down by the District Judge. Technically, he was sentenced to Time Served, but he had bonded out shortly after his arrest.

Konigsberg had previously plead guilty to:
(1) Conspiracy to falsify books & records of a broker-dealer, and of an investment adviser; and obstructing and impeding the due administration of the Internal Revenue Service.
(2) Falsifying records of a broker-dealer.
(3) Falsifying books and records of an investment adviser.

The defendant, who attempted to resign from the bar, through an application filed after his guilty plea, had his petition denied, as he was automatically disbarred, by virtue of his felony conviction. (Appellate Division Case No.; 2014-06085).

TENTATIVE AGREEMENT BETWEEN FARC & COLOMBIA DOES NOT INCLUDE FARC NARCOWEALTH

If you were paying attention to detail, as you should, you may have noticed that the FARC thus far has stubbornly refused to apply its billions of dollars, earned from narcotics trafficking, kidnapping, extortion, and other forms of mayhem, to aid victims of the 40-year civil war that it started. This means that, pending the final solution of all phases of the agreement, whereby the FARC will lay down its arms, and rejoin civil society, all that narco-cash remains in its bloody hands.

Just as some forward-looking intelligence officers "liberated" wealth entrusted to them for government operations, when the Soviet Union collapsed into Russia and other states, you can expect some corrupt FARC leaders, no longer committed Communists, but now wealthy beyond their wildest dreams, with drug profits and other criminal proceeds, will be wanting to divert that money for their own use; after all, who will miss it ?

The first thing that those opportunists will do is move funds out of the tax haven accounts where they presently reside, construct a credible cover story as to the Source of Funds, and transfer it to safer jurisdictions. Assuming that the final deal between the parties is a year away, or less, they will now be planning how to take the money and run with it.

This means that one should be alert for new clients, with substantial assets, who profess to be wealthy, successful Latin American businessmen. While they may employ local counsel, when they do enter your bank, their Colombian Spanish slang may give them away, or their thin corporate cover. In any case, be aware that they are coming, and soon; Watch for them.

CAYMAN GANG OF FOUR EMPLOYED TRADECRAFT COMMON TO FINANCIAL CRIME OPERATORS

The Cayman Gang of Four, Sharon Lexa Lamb, Derek Buntain, Ryan Bateman, and Fernando Mota Mendes, employed techniques commonly used by money launderers and financial criminals. The purpose of these strategies was to deceive the victims, hide the true criminal purpose of their operation, and cover their tracks while taking illicit profits, and diverting the victims' money to their own use.

Here are a number of them that have been identified in our investigation:

(1) Telling the victims that their money was going into special accounts at the Bank of Butterfield, and showing the purported account information in the wire transfer data given to them, when, in truth and in fact, the money was all going into trading accounts, in the name, and under the control of fraudster/trader Four member Ryan Bateman. The wire transfer instructions, which I have seen, perpetuate this myth, giving false comfort to the victims.

(2) Purchasing shelf corporations in the British Virgin Islands, all of which were bearer share companies, for the victims. A shelf company (not to be confused with a shell company, which is a corporation without any business or assets) is one that was formed years earlier, by a corporate service provider, in a tax haven jurisdiction, to literally sit on the shelf until sold. Shelf companies appear to be, by virtue of their age, existing and operating entities, actually in business, when this is not true. The corporate documents bear this out.

(3) Moving victim funds between companies with deceptively similar, or virtually similar, names, formed in separate jurisdictions, to make transfers seamless, or appear to be merely internal transfers, when they are actually international in scope. Bateman had companies with the same names as his Cayman entities in Panama, and one in the UK.

(4) Trading in securities in well-known old line financial institutions in the United States, showing the money being traded as that of the fraudsters' companies, and not the property of the victims. Two prominent banks, one in Canada, and one in the US, were used in this manner.

(5) Leaving only nominal amounts in accounts in banks located in Grand Cayman, so that, in the event that funds are frozen, there will only be a loss, in acceptable levels, for the fraudsters. The accounts were "swept," or emptied, and the vast bulk of funds sent overseas. While amounts frozen by the banks, when they received actual notice that financial crimes had occurred, are in the low seven figures,  they only represent less than one per cent of the missing amounts.

As you can see, the Gang of Four have used tried-and-true tactics of financial criminals to obtain, launder, and retain the proceeds of their criminal activities.  

___________________________________________________________________

Three of the Cayman Four; Lamb, Bateman & Buntain

US TARGETS AMERICANS WITH ACCOUNTS IN BELIZE

With its campaign in Switzerland, against American tax cheats hiding their money in Swiss banks, well in hand, the Internal Revenue Service has now turned its attention to Belize. So-called "John Doe" summonses have been applied for, in the Southern District of Florida*, to be served, ex parte, upon Bank of America NA, and Citibank, NA offices in Miami, Florida, seeking corespondent account information relating to these entities:

(1) Belize Bank International, Limited
(2) Belize Bank Limited
(3) Belize Corporate Services

The parent entity for the above is BCB Holdings, Limited.

Readers interested in the details of how the tax evasion operations are conducted in Belize are advised that there is a detailed memorandum of law, in support of the petition, as well as an affidavit of the Internal Revenue Agent in the Offshore Compliance Initiatives Program. The complete text of these filings can be accessed here**.

The District Court has approved those requests for information,which requests data on US taxpayers who has direct or indirect interests in any accounts in those Belize banks named, and the corporate service provides, between 12/31/2006 and 12/31/2014. There were no further action requested, and the Court administratively closed the case on 9/18/2015.

Belize Bank staff

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*In the Matter of the Tax Liabilities of: John Does, Case No.: 15-mc-23475-UU (SD FL).
** http://www.justice.gov/opa/file/772096/download

VENEZUELA DEPLOYMENT OF TROOPS TO FRONTIER WITH GUYANA RAISES COUNTRY RISK

The Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana has asserted that Venezuelan has deployed a large contingent of its military to the border between the two nations, raising the risk that President Nicolas Maduro, suffering from a failed domestic economy, and a falling approval rating, will seek to divert attention by using force take Guyanese territory Venezuela is now claiming, notwithstanding a century-old treaty. The offshore territory claimed would, if conceded by Guyana, effective render it landlocked, as the small remaining national territorial waters would be surrounded by those of Venezuela, and neighboring Surinam.

Whether or not Venezuela believes that the the United States and the European Union will ignore such action, and limit themselves to diplomatic protests, as occurred when Russia invaded Crimea, Country Risk for Venezuela, as elevated as it is presently, will climb off the charts if a cross-border invasion ensues. In that event, widespread US and EU sanctions should be expected. OFAC sanctions would block the repayment of outstanding bank debt, as well as accounts receivable owed to clients and bank customers.

Therefore, immediate action, by US & EU banks, to limit their financial exposure to Venezuelan clients, as well as corporate entities based there, would constitute a prudent response at this time. Though reasonable expectations are that military action will not occur, the leadership in Venezuela has been irrational in the past, and should not be trusted to act rationally.

THE CAYMAN GANG OF FOUR ATTEMPT TO BRING BOGUS CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST WHISTLEBLOWERS AND VICTIMS

If you are a close follower of events in Grand Cayman, you know that, this past summer, in a futile effort to silence the only local Cayman media source that was exposing Ryan Bateman, one of the fraudsters in the Gang of Four, as well as Fernando Moto Mendes, the successor Managing Director of the insolvent B & C Capital, Ltd., Mendes filed blackmail charges, with the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service. Mendes had the temerity to go after the editor of a small web-based news service.

 Of course, reporting the truth has never constituted blackmail in any English common law jurisdiction that I am aware of, and the charges went nowhere. It was merely an illustration of the desperate moves of the Gang of Four, who are looking more and more like career criminals each day, and obviously feeling the heat.

Now, the Gang of Four, specifically those members of the quartet who are not on the run, meaning former Dundee Bank Senior Vice President & Director, Sharon Lexa Lamb, and B & C Capital MD, Fernando Moto Mendes, have now filed blackmail charges against yours truly, as well as one of the victims of the scheme, and an intelligence analyst who has been a whistle blower in this matter; Imagine their arrogance.

 Obviously, the charges are not only without any factual basis, either in fact, or at law, but demonstrate the level of desperation of the Gang of Four, whose misdeeds are presently reverberating not only all over the Cayman Islands, but across Canada as well, where the Four are facing a large number of unhappy, and newly penniless, pensioners, many of whom have lost millions, in the Four's Ponzi scheme.

 We have been following the unfolding developments in this Ponzi scheme in the Cayman Islands. You can expect to see the venue now move to the Canadian Province of Ontario in the coming days; Watch for it.