DUNDEE BANK IN GRAND CAYMAN OPERATED BY CRIMINALS & FRAUDSTERS

FROM THE - CHRONICLES Of Andrei Slavenkov Netherlands – Analyst For Wanted SA ~ Contributed & Written By Kenneth Rijock ~

DUNDEE BANK - OPERATED ILLEGALLY BY FRAUDSTERS - ABRUPTLY CLEANED OUT WHEN SUIT FILED

Grand Cayman's Dundee Merchant Bank,* though ordered liquidated years ago, and which was operating illegally, was abruptly cleaned out, and its computers and bank records removed post haste yesterday, when the news broke that a major civil suit had been filed against it.

The bank has been a base for a $450m trading fraud, perpetrated by the Cayman Gang of Four, a quartet of financial scoundrels who stole from Canadian and American retirees and pensioners.

A review of Cayman Islands public records showed that no liquidation, nor receivership, nor any other permitted class of dissolution of the bank, has ever been initiated, let alone completed, notwithstanding that Canadian regulators has ordered it closed a long time ago. 

The bank has only a Class B banking license, which requires a full-service financial institution as a parent organization, and Canada's Dundee Corporation had sold off its banking arm years ago. Financial media, and even reputable reference materials, have listed Dundee as "in liquidation" for years, meaning that this disinformation was deliberately leaked to the financial press.

The bank had never been liquidated, though Dundee Corporation has claimed that it had completed the necessary actions, and handed off the liquidation to bank management, headed by President Derek Buntain. Mr. Buntain is missing, and is believed to be hiding somewhere in Canada's Atlantic Provinces, possibly Prince Edward Island, where his family resides.

Dundee President Buntain

Witnesses stated that Sharon Lexa Lamb, the Senior Vice President of Dundee Bank, ordered the bank's small Grand Cayman offices stripped, after she was notified by a staff member at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands that a Statement of Claim had been filed, against her, and the bank, alleging massive breaches of fiduciary duty to account holders**.

There are three unanswered questions that deserve attention:

(1) If the bank was in clear violation of Cayman banking laws, why was it allowed to remain in operation by CIMA, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, the relevant government agency charged with regulating the financial sector ? No liquidation was filed, yet media was declaring it as fact. Who was guilty of regulator malpractice at CIMA, and should they not be disciplined for this abject failure ? Also, why didn't CIMA catch Dundee's parent's sale ? Is this not gross negligence ?

(2) If Dundee Corporation did, as it claims, sign off on the liquidation, why was there never any on-site inspection and report, to confirm that it actually was accomplished ? That is basic due diligence, and the fact that a document was issued, under the bank's name, recently, showing Dundee Corporation's Toronto address for Dundee Merchant Bank, in a mailing to clients, suggests that it knew, or should have known, that the bank was still in operation.

(3) Where is Canada's financial regulator, the National Bank of Canada, in all this ? There is no publicly-available document that tells consumers and investors the details of the ordered liquidation, and the authority through which it was ordered. Investors were blindly following word of mouth. Should we not have regulatory filing transparency, especially regarding high-risk, and non-CDIC/FDIC, financial institutions located in offshore financial centers ?

One wonders where the bank's computers, and books & records are. Perhaps someone at the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service might want to step in here, and pay Ms. Lamb, and the rest of the Gang of Four,  a visit.

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* The bank was also trading under the name of Dundee Bank.
** This case shall be covered in a subsequent article.

GARY JAMES LUNDGREN CHAIRMAN OF INTERPACIFIC INVESTORS SERVICES COMMITS “BEARER SHARE FRAUD” IN PANAMA |

FROM THE - CHRONICLES of Monte Friesner – Criminal & Intelligence Analyst and Consulaire for WANTED SA~

~Contributed & Written by Kenneth Rijock ~

HOW PANAMA'S BEARER SHARE FRAUD SCHEMES OPERATE

While we have discussed a number of cases, all occurring in the Republic of Panama, where expats become victims of bearer share fraud, we have not covered the actual tradecraft employed by the fraudsters. There are basically two varieties that I am familiar with:

(1) In the first method, the seller of real estate, or his lawyer, advises the purchaser, usually a national from North America, or Europe, that he will rent out the condominium or home, that the victim just purchased, to produce an income stream for the client, and to do so, he needs possession of the bearer shares, of the corporation that is in title, to demonstrate that he has the power to rent out the realty.

After the client leaves Panama, the fraudster transfers title into an entity he owns or controls. When the victim next returns to Panama, he finds out that:

(a) He is no longer the owner; and

(b) The corrupt criminal justice system will not assist him, because the police and/or the prosecutor have already been paid off by the fraudster to bury any complaint.

(c) If he wants to stay in his own property, he will have to pay rent to the fraudster.

(2) The second method involves outright forgery of stock certificates and other interests. In that case, any instruments given to the fraudster by the victim, form the basis of forged assignment of bearer shares, bills of sale, corporate resolution, and other closing documents.

Again, any efforts by the victim to seek legal redress through the court system is frustrated by files intentionally lost at the police station and the prosecutor's office, bogus counter-charges filed by the fraudster's lawyers, and other intentionally dilatory tactics.

There are no statistics on how many expats have lost their real estate investments to these scammers, but it certainly numbers in the hundreds, if not more.

Most victims, having experienced the dark side of Panamanian justice, do not engage in further investments, especially after their attorneys give them a quick tutorial on the corrupt civil court system, where cases can languish for a decade, unless corrupt Supreme Court of Justice judges are paid off.

One of the most active fraudsters in the Republic of Panama, according to his victims, is Gary James Lundgren, whom we have covered here before, due to his curious partnership with Panama's President, Ricardo Martinelli, and his relationship as the "investment advisor" to David Eduardo Murcia Guzmán, the convicted Ponzi schemer. Mr. Lundgren has reportedly defrauded a large number of purchasers of the Bellagio Tower, by forging documents, and illegally taking title to the real estate investments of others.

Now that his "godfather," President Martinelli, is about to leave office, you will see that a number of the pending lawsuits against Lundgren, by victims, will move forward.

The role of his in-house attorney, Alcides Peña, in Lundgren's fraudulent activity, is being examined, as his widespread use of obviously forged documents, and documents that are inconsistent on their face, raises the issue of his culpability in these frauds.

The new president of Panama, who has vowed to attack corruption and white-collar crime, will hopefully see to it that bearer share fraud is vigorously prosecuted.

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FAT CRIMINAL PRETENDS TO BE MUSIC PRODUCER

FROM THE - JOURNALS of Monte Friesner – Criminal & Intelligence Analyst and Consulaire for WANTED SA ~ Contributed & Written by Kenneth Rijock

 

CAREER CRIMINAL LIVED A LIFE OF LUXURY IN MIAMI UNTIL ARREST
 

Recently released from Federal Prison, the career white-collar fraudster lived the Miami Vice high life this summer; He stayed at several Miami luxury hotels, leaving behind unpaid bills that total $275,000 when he skipped out, only to vicitimize the next hotel. How did this happen ?

 

James Sabatino, with a number of Federal criminal convictions on his record, posed as a business executive for some of the entertainment industry's largest companies. using the alias "James Sabat," the fraudster obtained luxury accommodations at several Miami-area hotels, asking that the bills be placed on his purported company's tab.

 

While staying in luxury suites, Sabatino, who was at all times wanted by the law on other charges, reportedly ordered over $100,000 in high-end champagne, some of which was seized from his vehicle after his arrest, while staying at the most expensive rooms these hotels had to offer.

 

 Exactly how did this fraudster pull this off ?

 

(1) He showed up during the summer, the slow season for Florida hotels, when they welcome all the business that comes in the door with open arms.

 

(2) He went to hotels where his "employers" had previously booked rooms, and had current payment arrangements with the hotels for direct billing of accommodations charges. He had some prior experience in that industry, and was familiar with its policies and practices.

 

(3) Entertainers, and executives at prestigious entertainment companies, who spent extravagantly at hotels, are very desirable guests. They are also very demanding, colorful personalities, whose residence is thought by the hotels to raise their prestige, and therefore the demand by non-celebrities to stay there.

 

What did the hotels not do, and which, in my humble opinion, is compliance malpractice?

 

(A) Check with the "employers" to verify that "Sabat" was an executive authorized to stay there at company expense.

 

 (B) Check out the guest online; if you have someone's Florida driver's license, you can run the number through the Florida Department of Highway Safety, and  see if it is valid. If it is a fake, that's the biggest red flag you might ever see as a hotelier. If Sabatino gave his real license to the desk clerk, and it checks out, you then google that name.

 

Sabatino has been in prison several times, and once was charged with threatening the life of then-President Clinton,  and several Federal Judges, and threatened to blow up a courthouse in Fort Lauderdale.

 

All this would have been found, if the clerk had only done a minimal amount of research. he appears to be linked to organized crime, in both New York and Florida.

 

At five feet six inches tall, and 365 pounds, this fraudster does not fit the profile of a successful executive, but he picked the entertainment industry as his alleged employer, for it is known to have  many unconventional characters in its ranks.

 

The moral of the story: every business must perform a minimum of due diligence on its customers, lest it suffer a painful loss, as well as reputation damage, when the fraud becomes public. 

 

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