September 2009

Minnesota money managers Trevor Cook, Patrick Kiley, Christopher Pettengill, Jason Bo-Alan Beckman and Gerald Durand, have been sued by 57 investors for alleged securities fraud.  The Minneapolis Star Tribune wrote about the lawsuit in “Investment fraud suit grows more complex” and earlier on July 12, 2009.

The investors’ second amended complaint at part 1 and part 2 herein, pleaded causes of action for: fraud, conversion, civil theft, negligent misrepresentation, civil conspiracy, deceptive trade practices, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duty.  It asserted that the money managers had converted about $16 million belonging to the investors by inducing the investors to place monies in a foreign currency arbitrage program.

This second amended complaint specifically claimed that some of the money managers had aired radio broadcasts to solicit investments for the foreign currency arbitrage program.  Money manager Christopher Pettengill reportedly described this arbitrage program to two investors, by drawing what might be nothing more than a meaningless link chart:

(Click On The Link Chart To Enlarge It)

 Continue Reading Money Laundering By Minneapolis Money Managers?

The criminal conviction of former Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian; the death of suspected Ponzi schemer Danny Pang; and the dismissal of a Holocaust-era assets case; are the subjects of this week’s "Asset Search News Roundup":

  •  Former Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian’s arrest was discussed in the November 19, 2008 "Asset Search News Roundup".  As

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This "Asset Search News Roundup" is about two New York criminal defense attorneys who among other things, were accused of violating privacy law by possessing illegal eavesdropping equipment.  On August 20, 2009, attorneys Robert Simels and Arienne Irving were found guilty of importing and possessing illegal eavesdropping equipment in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§2512 (1)…

The U.S. Department of Justice believes that seizing assets from Mexican drug cartels can generally help combat cross-border murder, kidnapping, robbery, etc.  Through the person of the Criminal Division’s Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer, the Department of Justice reiterated its desire to seize the illicit assets of illegal narco-traffickers.

Assistant Attorney General Breuer stated at a July 22, 2009 conference, that U.S. asset forfeiture and money laundering laws gave authorities the necessary tools to trace and then seize illicit drug-related assets.  He stressed the importance of disrupting the finances of narco-traffickers because their existence was fueled by large sums of cash.  The Assistant Attorney General also said that prosecutors should conduct financial investigations and add asset forfeiture claims to indictments in their criminal cases.

He additionally stated in a July 9, 2009 hearing before a committee of the U.S.House of Representatives, that: “… seizing the financial infrastructure of the cartels undermines their very existence“.  During the Assistant Attorney General’s July 9 and July 22 statements, he specifically mentioned Operation Xcellerator, which had targeted the Sinaloa drug cartel.  A May 17, 2007 news release also discussed Sinaloa narco-trafficking.  It.claimed that Ismael Zambada Garcia, (as a supposed Sinaloa trafficker), had laundered drug monies via the following financial network:

 (To Fully View This Image, Click On It)

Continue Reading A Strategy Of Seizing Sinaloa Drug Cartel Assets

An August 25 Newsweek article mentioned that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had fallen prey to identity thieves after Mr. Bernanke’s wife had her purse stolen.  One of the people believed to have been responsible for that identity theft is Clyde Austin Gray, Jr.  Mr. Gray had conspired to commit identity theft nationwide, according to…