Horizon Bank International

The Royal Bahamas Police Force has launched a murder investigation following the death on May 8, 2009 of Bahamas based offshore provider Hywel Jones, who had been in a coma since he was shot in the head 16 days earlier

Former Canada-based offshore services provider Peter Sabourin and related parties, including companies he controlled in the British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas, have been ordered to pay $1.77 million in compensatory and punitive damages, plus costs and fees, to the victim of an investment scam they perpetrated; Creditors of St. Vincent and the Grenadines-licensed Horizon Bank International Limited (in liquidation) took a massive hit at Bermuda Supreme Court on March 31, 2008 when Justice Ian Kawaley awarded damages of $20 million against the bank for conspiracy to defraud and breach of fiduciary duty in a civil complaint filed by Canadians Allen Walsh and Hans Taal; and Alleging fraud, segregation and false reporting violations involving $562 million in client funds, the U. S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a complaint against Sentinel Management Group Inc. (in bankruptcy) and two of its former officers, Eric Bloom and Charles Mosley, at federal court in the USA on April 28, 2008.

Four civil lawsuits have been filed in Bermuda against Horizon Bank International, which is licensed in St. Vincent & The Grenadines. The separate actions were filed at Bermuda Supreme Court  on December 7, 2004 by FX Bridge Limited, Transworld Management Consultants Corporation, International Monetary Services Inc., and Four Square Partners Inc.

A Caribbean offshore bank closely associated with the Bermuda-based Grosvenor Group has been accused of perpetrating a $20 million fraud against two of its clients. The allegation against Horizon Bank International Limited, which is licensed in St. Vincent & the Grenadines, was made in a civil complaint filed at Ontario Superior Court of Justice, in Canada.

If you ever needed proof as to how far the Russian mafia has infiltrated Antigua's government, you need look no further than Clare K. Roberts, who was Antigua's Attorney General until last year, and Steadroy Benjamin, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives; The Caribbean Bank of Commerce featured in an alert sent out by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to US banks and regulators on November 13, 1998 that advised that the bank was operating illegally from an address in the United States, namely 17 Chestnut Street, Ridgewood, New Jersey; Bermuda Supreme Court last month appointed the Official Receiver to take over the financial affairs of Bermuda attorney Julian Hall, who used to be an MP for the Progressive Labour Party when it was in Opposition; A French chateau hotel venture run by outspoken former Bermuda-based insurance boss Jonathan Crawley seems to be heading the way of several insurance companies he helped run; The name of Antigua-registered American International Bank, which is now in receivership after being mismanaged by its owner William Cooper and its CEO John E. Greaves, has cropped up in several official investigations into criminal activity involving money laundering; and The Cayman Islands government wasted yet more of the public's money by first obtaining a court injunction against the Cayman Free Press preventing its Caymanian Compass newspaper from reporting the contents of the government's agreement with telecommunications carrier Cable & Wireless and then inexplicably dropping the matter without any explanation just before a court hearing to hear the pros and cons of the case.

A battle is taking place for control of the assets of American International Bank Ltd. of Antigua, which went into receivership earlier this year. The bank's demise happened after its principal, William Cooper, tried to set up a new bank called Overseas Development Bank Ltd. to buy AIB, said sources.