Bill Godley

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Insider Talking: July 6, 2010

July 6, 2010
Nevis Court of Appeals issues bizarre ruling against Millennium Financial fraud victims and in favor of their alleged tormentor (Ian Scott, who is currently under indictment in California); in a separate action, asset planners in the US allegedly portrayed Nevis as the perfect place to hide money from creditors, according to a client who claimed to have been defrauded by those selling him the plan; The U. K. Serious Fraud Office suffers another reverse as a jury acquits former Imperial Consolidated principals Jared Brook and Lincoln Fraser on one fraud count and is undecided on another; and the SFO hopes to have better luck with recently-filed fraud charges against Terry Lindon and Giles Hutchinson, who were involved in an Imperial Consolidated spin-off known as Invaro.

UK police raid premises in Invaro investigation

March 20, 2007
Police in the United Kingdom have raided at least three premises as part of a criminal investigation into a group whose insiders include some of the most notorious offshore fraudsters of recent years.

Invaro Latest: UK SFO opens criminal investigation, victims file civil lawsuit in Japan

January 22, 2007
The Serious Fraud Office in the United Kingdom has started a criminal investigation into the collapse of British litigation funding firm Invaro Ltd., according to two sources. Invaro went into liquidation in June, 2004 - shortly after being exposed by OffshoreAlert - and is insolvent by approximately $145 million, according to its liquidators, Tony Murphy, Henry Shinners and Robert Horton, of British accounting firm Smith & Williamson.

Insider Talking: October 5, 2006

October 5, 2006
Two corporations formed in Florida by former Nevis-based offshore financial services provider Nigel Scott Grant did not last long; OffshoreAlert has previously reported about the propensity of Bahamas Supreme Court judge Jon Isaacs to issue rulings that are favourable to suspected crooks, particularly those accused of narcotics trafficking; The All Japan Liquor Merchants Co-operative Association filed a civil lawsuit at Tokyo District Court, in Japan on August 17, 2006 against Credit Suisse, Haruo Kusakabe, who was a Vice President, Private Banking of Credit Suisse at the time of the incident at the heart of the action, and investment broker Fabio Takeshi Sunago; The liquidators of offshore stockbroker SEGOES Services Ltd. have obtained a court judgment for US$3.9 million against the firm's principal director, John Kaweske, Jr.; and Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro filed a motion at the U. S. District Court for the District of Southern New York on October 3 requesting that the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio be appointed lead plaintiff in a securities class action lawsuit filed in August against Scottish Re Group Ltd.

Insider Talking: August 8, 2006

August 8, 2006
Lennox Gibbs is well-paid for his role in dubious penny stock Strategy International Insurance Group Inc.; Law firm Charles Russell and financial advisors Smith & Williamson, continue to be handsomely rewarded for their lmismanagement of the iquidation of Invaro Ltd.; and the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations' 'Tax Haven Abuses: The Enablers, The Tools and Secrecy' is not without its humorous side.

Insider Talking: June 7, 2006

June 7, 2006
A British company that is at the heart of a liquidation scam being perpetrated against creditors of failed litigation funding firm Invaro Ltd. has missed a statutory deadline for filing its first accounts and is now subject to penalty fees; Former Panama-based, offshore financial services provider Marc Harris, 41, has lost his appeal against his November 24, 2003 conviction in the United States on multiple tax fraud, tax evasion and money laundering charges and May 21, 2004 sentencing to 17 years in prison, a fine of $20.3 million, and restitution of $6.6 million; and An unlicensed Canada-based forex dealer with a checkered past appears to be behind a purported offshore investment provider that was the target of a warning by the Bermuda Monetary Authority earlier this year, OffshoreAlert can disclose.

Godley Group investment broker arrested in Japan

February 16, 2006
Japanese police today arrested the Tokyo representative of a group headed by former Bahamas resident Bill Godley for allegedly helping to swindle a pension fund out of 80% of its assets. Fabio Takeshi Sunago, 44, was arrested along with Hideo Seki, 49, the former Secretary General of the All Japan Liquor Merchants Association, according to a report by the Kyodo News Agency.

Insider Talking: February 4, 2006

February 4, 2006
A U. S.-based professional organization for private investigators has revoked the membership of Cayman Islands-based PI William Claude C. Myles for “professional misconduct” and violations of its code of ethics; What is the going rate for climbing into bed with crooks to ‘throw' a liquidation so the bad guys can continue to profit at the expense of true creditors? Try £1,624 (US$2,870) per day!; A victim of 72-year-old serial fraudster Keem Kalfon, a.k.a. Chaim Kalfon, a.k.a. Chaim Chalfon, has set up a web-site at www.chaimchalfontaxevader.com following the collapse of his latest scheme, known as LifeStyle Master Inc.; Once again proving that there is no hiding place for financial criminals, no matter which country they flee to when looking for a rock to hide under, the U. S. Government recently arranged the deportation from Panama of accused fraudster David Alan Struckman, a co-founder of the Global Prosperity Group; and If Bahamas-based investment scam group Banakor Swisse is indeed behind several menacing telephone calls that have been anonymously made to OffshoreAlert's publisher over several months, as evidence indicates, it would not be the first time that the group has reacted crudely to an investigative journalist writing negatively about its fraudulent activities.

OffshoreAlert Awards: Best and Worst of 2005

January 4, 2006
It was the usual round of lies, broken promises, incompetence, and losses in 2005 in the murky world that OffshoreAlert forces itself to inhabit to investigate and expose financial crimes. As each year passes, it becomes increasingly obvious to us that illegal, immoral, unethical, and incompetent behavior in business are the norm, rather than the exception. OffshoreAlert has dumpster-dived through all the trash that we have found during the year, picked out the smelliest items, and used them as the basis for our ‘Best and Worst' awards.

Pension fund advised to write-off $125 m investment

January 4, 2006
A Japanese pension fund that invested 80% of its assets in a British litigation funding scam has been advised to write-off its $125 million investment. That was the recommendation of Hori Hiroshi Law Office, which the All Japan Liquor Merchants Association hired to look into the mess and advise how to proceed.

Court freezes assets of former Imperial Consolidated CEO

September 27, 2005
The High Court in the United Kingdom has issued an order freezing the world wide assets of Bill Godley, a former CEO with the Imperial Consolidated Group. It was entered on July 28, 2005 following an application by Imperial's administrators,

Fraud group cleans up in Invaro liquidation

August 3, 2005
About 80 per cent of all assets realized in the first 12 months of the liquidation of British litigation funding firm Invaro Ltd. have gone to a Canadian shell entity controlled by serial fraudster Bill Godley. That was the statistic that jumped out of the first report to creditors and members by liquidators Tony Murphy, Robert Horton and Henry Shinners, of Smith & Williamson, on July 21, 2005.

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: April 30, 2005

April 30, 2005
The biggest creditor in the bankruptcy of Christopher Davy, who was once a senior officer of the tax evasion group The Harris Organization, is none other than the IRS; the dubious liquidation of Imperial Consolidated spin-off Invaro Ltd.; and Canadian Timothy Ryan Babuin receives an eight-year prison sentence for a telemarketing scam against mainly elderly people that ended up causing huge losses for the Bank of Bermuda and Bermuda-based credit card processor First Atlantic Commerce.

Bill Godley arrested in England

April 20, 2005
British police today arrested Bill Godley and took him away for questioning about the collapsed investment group known as Imperial Consolidated, of which he is a former CEO. Godley, a 57-year-old South African national who is believed to reside in Portugal and South Africa, was picked up by officers in London in the early afternoon, local time.

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.

Imperial Consolidated spin-off Invaro to go into liquidation

June 10, 2004
UK-based financial services firm Invaro Ltd. is insolvent and intends to apply for voluntary liquidation, along with two associated companies, which are believed to be Wishsprite Plc and Medico-Legal Reports Ltd. An announcement about Invaro's demise was made yesterday - only ten weeks after an OffshoreAlert article raised concerns about Invaro's legitimacy and provided evidence of its links to the fraudulently-operated Imperial Consolidated Group.

Group with ties to Imperial Consolidated fraudsters forms new UK-based PLC

March 31, 2004
A financial services group with close ties to fraudulently-operated Imperial Consolidated and offering similar products has formed a new public limited company in the United Kingdom.Wishsprite Plc was incorporated on September 2, 2003 - 25 days after the formation of affiliates Wishsprite Financial Services Ltd., Wishsprite Investment Services Ltd., Wishsprite Legal Services Ltd., Wishsprite Marketing Ltd., and Wishsprite UK Ltd.

Pinsents pulls out of Imperial Consolidated scheme

November 30, 2003
A leading UK law firm has pulled out of a dubious asset recovery scheme after OffshoreAlert alerted them it was being organized on behalf of the crooks who were responsible for the loss of assets.Pinsents acted swiftly after being informed

Imperial Consolidated creditors can expect 11 cents in dollar

September 24, 2003
Unsecured creditors of one of the main companies within the Imperial Consolidated Group have been told to expect a dividend of approximately 11 cents in the dollar. That is the "estimated outcome" for parties owed money by Imperial Consolidated Financiers Ltd. as forecast by the firm's administrators, Philip Lyon and Steve Woods, of Mazars Neville Russell.

Imperial Consolidated administrator awaits results of geological survey in Argentina

July 31, 2002
The results of an independent geological survey of 4.5 million acres of land in Argentina to which the Imperial Consolidated Group has mining rights are expected to be known by the end of August. They will go a long way to determining the level of dividend creditors can reasonably expect, said a spokesman for Imperial's UK-based administrator, Mazars Neville Russell.

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.

Lincoln Fraser and Jared Brook resign from Imperial Consolidated

April 30, 2001
Three weeks after OffshoreAlert exposed their role in a failed hotel in England, Lincoln Fraser and Jared Brook resigned their positions with the UK-based Imperial Consolidated Group. The resignations of Fraser and Brook as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, respectively, of Imperial Consolidated was announced in a press release dated April 23.

Imperial Consolidated principals resign

April 23, 2001
Three weeks after OffshoreAlert exposed their role in a failed hotel in Morecambe, England; Lincoln Julian Fraser and Jared Bentley Brook have resigned as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, respectively, of the UK-based Imperial Consolidated Group, with immediate effect.

Insider Talking: August 31, 2000

August 31, 2000
Granger Brewster Whitelaw, the founding CEO of one of Bermuda's first e-commerce companies, EOCnet.com, pleads guilty to a criminal misdemeanor in New York, arrest warrant issued for Canadian chartered accountant Steven Brown following fraud investigation in the Turks & Caicos Islands, Panama Attorney General Jose Antonio Sossa orders arrests of four journalists, liquidators of Bermuda-based Telecheck group complete liquidation, Imperial Consolidated (Bahamas) boss Bill Godley receives compensation of $65,000 per month.