CAYMAN GANG OF FOUR MOVED STOLEN MILLIONS INTO HEDGE FUND

Derek Buntain

Private investigators have reported that two of the Cayman Gang of Four, Derek Buntain and Sharon Lexa Lamb*, the fired president, and senior vice president, respectfully, of closed Dundee Merchant Bank, used their shell company, Winterborne Management Ltd (WML), to secretly steal and move tens of millions of dollars,  into a Cayman islands-based hedge fund that they were connected to. The Cayman Gang of Four illegally transferred client funds to WML, without authorization, and the money has disappeared. Fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, and racketeering have been allegedly among the many criminal acts that both Buntain and Lamb have committed.

Sharon Lexa Lamb

Winterborne is not to be confused with Winterbourne, though many financial criminals forms companies with names that are deceptively similar to those of well-established firms with a long track record, which leads the victims to believe that they are dealing with an old legitimate company.

Sharon Lexa Lamb, who, as a fiduciary, was personally responsible for millions in client assets, has repeatedly threatened victims, who were seeking their money, with notification to taxing authorities, claiming tax evasion. 

While the circumstances surrounding the termination of Buntain and Lamb, from their senior positions at Dundee, are not known, it is believed to be upon the grounds of fiduciary misconduct. Buntain has also been dismissed as a director of Dundee Precious Metals, Inc.

Mak-Ro Capital International Ltd., a Cayman-based hedge fund, whose local representative in Grand Cayman is Winterborne, and which reported new investment capital, in the amount of $22m in 2015, is reportedly the recipient of funds stolen by Buntain & Lamb, from elderly Canadian pensioners who believed that their life savings was safe, and on restricted deposit, in the Bank of Butterfield. Calls to Mak-Ro Capital One, the offices of the fund administrator, have resulted in a blanket denial of its relationship with Buntain and Lamb, and even a denial that the listed executive, Michael Kaufmann, exists. Buntain and Lamb are both listed as directors of Mak-Ro in public filings with regulators.

 A civil suit is pending, in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, against Lamb. Two civil suits, seeking information from Leon Frazer & Associates, Inc., which are two Canadian companies that reportedly transferred some of the victims' funds, are also pending.

An investigation into Buntain's relationship with the public Canadian company, High Liner Foods, Inc.,  where he is a director, is ongoing. it has not yet been confirmed whether Buntain used part of the stolen funds to invest, directly or indirectly, in High Liner stock. Other Buntain/Lamb companies under active investigation, for possible participation in the conspiracy, include Fordsar (Cayman) Limited, SEI Investments and Global Fund Services Ltd., both of which are reportedly controlled by Derek Buntain and Sharon Lexa Lamb. The Solar Fund has also been linked to both Winterborne and Fordsar.

Angus Buntain, far left, Derek Buntain, far right. 

Additionally, there are questions being asked as to the Source of Funds for the purchases, by Buntain's son, Angus Buntain, of a number of standardbred/thoroughbred horses that are currently being entered, by Angus, in the Ontario racing circuit this season. Did Buntain launder the stolen funds through his horse purchases ?

Researchers and investigators who are seeking the missing millions have now broadened the scope of their searches, as the pool of probable destinations of the missing money has expanded, but all of the criminal conduct appears to have been conducted by the Cayman Gang of Four, and specifically Buntain and Lamb. Efforts to locate Buntain in Canada, for the purposes of service of process, which have been unsuccessful, are continuing.

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* The Cayman Gang of Four are:
(1) Sharon Lexa Lamb, formerly of the isle of Man, and currently a resident of the Cayman Islands.
(2) Derek Buntain, a Canadian national, presently in hiding somewhere in Canada.
(3) Ryan Bateman, another Canadian, is also in hiding; he is thought to be living in Alberta, Canada.
(4) Fernando Moto Mendes, a Portuguese citizen, residing in the Cayman Islands.