Publicity shines a light on fraud

David Marchant, Publisher of Offshore Alert

Monday,  January 9, 2006

It is harder to get away with financial crime now than in the past because of more international regulations and publicity, according to Offshore Alert publisher David Marchant. 

“One reason that it is more difficult to get away with financial crime is because offshore financial centres are being forced to be more responsible in the last few years as a result of international pressure,” said Mr Marchant. 

“And many offshore jurisdictions are passing laws that make it more difficult for fraudsters to operate.”

He said another reason is the impact of the Offshore Alert publication, which is an Internet watchdog news service that focuses on financial crime and fraud with an emphasis on the offshore sector. 

“Offshore Alert contributions have made it more difficult to get away with financial crime. For example Offshore Alert reported on the president of Banakor Swiss SA, which is based in the Bahamas. We reported that Joseph Castiglion was banned from being a company director for securities fraud in the UK, but he still sells sham securities. It is difficult to tell whether it was a direct result of Offshore Alert, but immediately following that report, the Bahamas regulators kicked him off the Island,” he said.

Mr Marchant explained that crooks hate publicity and it is like pulling a stone up and seeing all the insects scurrying for cover. 

“It is difficult for a jurisdiction to ignore illegal activity if Offshore Alert is writing about it,” he said. 

However, more regulations and publicity are not stopping criminals from ripping off some people.

“No matter how much legislation you introduce there will always be people who will break the law because that it what they do to make a living. It is just harder to get away with it,” said Mr Marchant.

He said that sometimes he receives anonymous death threats as a result of the coverage. For example with the Banakor Swiss coverage Mr Marchant has received numerous threatening telephone calls and was told there was a contract on his life. One of those threats can be heard at www.offshorealert.com/threats.mp3. 

Offshore Alert recently hosted a two-day conference, which dealt with all aspects of financial crime and was attended by numerous people from the Cayman Islands financial sector. 

The standing room only session had a panellist discussion of Eurobank, which was one of the largest money laundering cases in the world and collapsed after it was discovered the UK secret service was tampering with the investigation.

Mr Marchant said the panel included Ivan Burges who was one of the Eurobank defendants. 

shurna@caymannetnews.com

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