March 2010

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units are featured in the March 31st "Asset Search News Roundup":

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Bank customers sometimes hide their assets offshore in nominee bank accounts located in high-risk geographical locations like Switzerland.  One such bank customer was ex-watch manufacturer Jack Barouh of Golden Beach, Florida.  As a February 4, 2010 press release basically explained, Mr. Barouh was accused of hiding undeclared revenue from the IRS during an abusive offshore tax avoidance scheme at UBS AG and other foreign banks.

Mr. Barouh’s scheme could have stared in 1976 when he first transferred skimmed monies from his U.S. watch businesses to foreign accounts at UBS of Switzerland.  He reportedly carried out his scheme with the help of two Swiss money managers and a Swiss attorney.  One of these Swiss money managers had even supposedly misappropriated some of Mr. Barouh’s undeclared revenue, although Mr. Barouh may have eventually recovered this revenue via a settlement.

The Swiss attorney and money managers are believed to have opened Mr. Barouh’s nominee bank accounts and / or had been directors of Mr. Barouh’s foreign companies.  These foreign companies were formed in Panama, the British Virgin Islands and Hong Kong and had reportedly been used to open Mr. Barouh’s nominee bank accounts in Switzerland or Hong Kong.  Despite all of the foregoing, the IRS was able to detect Mr. Barouh’s undeclared revenue in his nominee bank accounts.Continue Reading An Ex-Watch Manufacturer & His Nominee Bank Accounts

Today’s "Asset Search News Roundup" reports on "Operation Illegal Motion" and describes the recovery of a 3,000-year-old sarcophagus:

  1. A press release mentions that Robert L. Stevens of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was the 10th person criminally charged as a result of "Operation Illegal Motion".  Operation Illegal Motion is a public corruption probe of the criminal court

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The March 14, 2010 “Asset Search News Roundup” first highlights ex-Detroit councilwoman Monica Conyers and then mentions Madoff Trustee Irving Picard:

*As The Wall Street Journal described at “House Judiciary Chairman’s Wife Sentenced to Prison“and “Lawmaker’s Wife Sentenced to Jail“, ex-councilwoman Monica Conyers was sentenced to 37 months of prison for…

After I wrote my November 28th, 2009 “Asset Search News Roundup” about Minneapolis money manager Trevor Cook, he was incarcerated on January 25, 2010 for civil contempt of court.  As the Court stated in its January 25, 2010 Opinion, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission previously filed for injunctive relief against Mr. Cook.

They sought injunctive relief because Mr. Cook had allegedly participated in a Ponzi-like securities fraud which might have involved at least $190 million taken from 1000 or more victims.  Also according to the January 25th Opinion, Mr. Cook violated a November 23, 2009 asset freeze by dissipating assets.  The Court therefore remanded Mr. Cook to jail until “he purges himself of the contempt” by turning over:

  • $27,061,728.35 in foreign accounts;
  • $670,000 in cash;
  • $62,000 transferred to Mr. Cook’s brother;
  • $6,141,470 paid to preferred persons;
  • $2,005,857.88 in domestic accounts;
  • $53,000 from the sale of a Maserati & Hummer;
  • a computer and documents formerly possessed by Mr. Cook’s assistant;
  • a houseboat & a submarine;
  • his BMW, Lexus 430 & Lexus SUV;
  • his Bon Jovi tickets purchased in 2009;
  • and his collections of Faberge eggs and watches;

Continue Reading Mr. Cook Continues His Incarceration For Civil Contempt

This "Asset Search News Roundup" focuses on "politically exposed persons", some of whom would launder corruption monies.

  1. "Stolen Asset Recovery: Politically Exposed Persons, A Policy Paper On Strengthening Preventative Measures" was published in 2009 and it is available at the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative’s website.  The 2009 policy paper stated at

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At “Target Of Corruption Probe Sues Hip-Hoppers For Supposed Fraud“, I first mentioned the nexus between former Turks & Caicos premier Michael Misick and Hip Hop Weekly Magazine.  The Forbes article “The Premier And The Hip-Hop Magazine” discussed the same thing and also quoted me.

This article specifically examined the Former Premier’s alleged investment in Hip Hop Weekly Magazine through My Way Productions 2.  The Forbes article additionally described Sir Robin Auld’s public corruption investigation of the Former Premier and asked at page 1:

 “How did My Way Productions 2 get its funding? According to the investigation carried out by Sir Robin Auld, Misick supplied a document that showed $300,000 was transferred to My Way Productions 2 in 2007 from a company called Windsor Investment Group. Misick claimed the money was a dividend from that company, which he and his brother partially owned.”

The supposed transfer of $300,000 dollars into My Way Productions 2 had been expressly mentioned at page 146 ¶¶4.75 & 4.76 of Sir Robin’s “Final Report to the Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands“.*  The $300,000 dollars was also apparently discussed at pages 51, 53, & 54 of a transcript from the Former Premier ‘s January 14, 2009 public corruption hearing.  Besides all of the foregoing, assertions made by New Jersey lawyer David J. Finkler might too shed light on the Former Premier’s connection to Hip Hop Weekly Magazine.Continue Reading The Former Premier’s Nexus To Hip Hop Weekly Magazine