Alpha Toronto

British law firm rakes in fees for helping fraudster with Invaro scheme

July 5, 2005

A top British law firm helped a serial fraudster client - Bill Godley - set up an investment scheme that wiped out a Japanese pension fund, OffshoreAlert can reveal. Charles Russell solicitors drew up contracts, attended a planning meeting in Portugal, helped with an offshore bank account, and was even asked to help prepare a "due diligence" report to give credibility to the scheme, known as 'Invaro'. The law firm has received more than £2 million ($3.5 million) in legal fees from Godley-related parties, including a Bahamas IBC, said a source.

Insider Talking: September 30, 2004

September 30, 2004

Three bankers who allegedly swindled their former employer, NatWest, in a deal involving Enron and a Cayman Islands registered company appeared in court in England on September 28, 2004 as they seek to avoid extradition to the United States. Gary

UK litigation funding flops try again with new group called Strathmore

August 31, 2004

Former insiders of two U. K. litigation funding scams that collapsed with combined losses of nearly $500 million are behind a recycled version of the same scheme, OffshoreAlert can reveal. The new business - operating under the brand name 'Strathmore' - encompasses companies in the Bahamas, Canada, the United Kingdom and Africa.

‘Thank you for the information about Imperial Consolidated fraud’, writes victim

July 29, 2002

Letter to the Editor of OffshoreAlert from a victim of the Imperial Consolidated Group.

Imperial Consolidated has debts of US$336 million

June 30, 2002

The value of mining rights in economically crippled Argentina will determine the financial condition of the Imperial Consolidated Group. More than 50 per cent of Imperial's total assets - on paper - are in holdings in mining ventures in Tucuman, said a spokesman for the group's UK-based administrator, Mazars Neville Russell Services.

Alpha Toronto denies link with Bermuda-registered fund

February 28, 2002

A new group that is operated from the same offices as Imperial Consolidated by people who are described as ex-Imperial employees has denied that it has become involved with a Bermuda-registered mutual fund. A spokesman for Alpha Toronto described as "incorrect" an article that was recently published in a magazine operated by British-based Charterhouse Communications.

Imperial Consolidated loses lawsuit, accused by judge of backdating documents

December 31, 2001

Imperial Consolidated, whose operations include an offshore bank and offshore mutual funds, has lost a defamation lawsuit that it brought in New Zealand against a former broker. In a judgment in the High Court of New Zealand on December 18, 2001, Judge William Young ruled that defendant David Frederick Stewart was being truthful when he criticized the group on a web-site.

Reorganization continues at scandal-plagued Imperial Consolidated

December 31, 2001

Michael Gilbert, who was severely criticized by a New Zealand judge in a recent court ruling (see separate story), is part of a reorganization that involves the Imperial Consolidated Group and companies with the prefix 'Alpha'.The firm that he is a director of changed its name from Imperial Consolidated (New Zealand) Ltd. to Alpha Equities Asia-Pacific (NZ) Ltd. on November 29, 2001.