Two BVI companies sued in connection with misappropriation and infringement of trademarks

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Mike

подаръциикона за подаръкLehmanBrown, a leading China-focused accounting, taxation and business advisory firm, is suing Edward Lehman, his wife Karolina Lehman and two of their associated companies, Union Trade Limited and/or Home & Garden Limited, both incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, for misappropriation and infringement of LehmanBrown’s Hong Kong and Chinese trademarks. LehmanBrown is seeking those trademarks to be transferred to it by Court Order, both in Mainland China and Hong Kong.

Edward Lehman is the Managing Director and senior partner of Lehman, Lee & Xu Patent and Trademarks Limited, a Mainland Chinese law firm specializing in intellectual property law, including trademarks and patents.

In 2011, the Companies Court of the High Court of HK resolved a dispute between the two shareholders in LehmanBrown, – the one being a company owned and controlled by Lehman, and the other being a HK company named Effiscient Limited, – in favour of the last one. One of the matters in this action was the misappropriation of LehmanBrown’s marks, with Lehman denying whilst giving his sworn evidence that he never signed an Irrevocable Agreement during November 2001 by which he agreed to transfer the Chinese mark to the company. It was stated by the judge that Lehman’s evidence was a fabrication produced in order to support his denial of signing the agreement in November 2001. He also said that Lehman misappropriated the trademark by transferring it to his Wife’s company, Home & Garden, based in the British Virgin Islands.

Russell Brown, LehmanBrown’s Managing Partner said: “Although Edward Lehman and Lehman, Lee & Xu were trusted to file LehmanBrown’s trademark in China, Lehman arranged to have the mark filed in his own name.”

Effiscient is expecting to receive the assessment of damages in the shareholder action in relation to the misappropriation of the company’s intellectual property and other unfairly prejudicial conduct.

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Madoff scheme: trustee alleges seven firms of investing in BVI “feeder” funds

Posted on March 24, 2012 by Mike

Откъде да купя иконаIrving Picard, the trustee that liquidates Bernard Madoff’s investment firm, filed seven new lawsuits seeking total amount of more than US$200 million from banks and investment firms. In separate filings with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, the trustee sued investors in the Fairfield Sentry and Kingate Global funds, two British Virgin Islands-domiciled “feeder funds” that funneled 95% or more of their clients’ money into Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, before in December 2008 it was discovered that Madoff’s firm actually was an enormous Ponzi scheme.

This time, the suits were filed against following firms and banks:
-a unit of Swiss private bank BSIAG – for US$56.4 million;
- Kookmin Bank of South Korea’s KB Financial Group – for US$42 million;
- CDP Capital-Tactical Alternative Investments, based in Quebec – for US$38.9 million;
- Swiss-based Schroder & Co. Bank AG – for US$30.1 million;
- a unit of Vontobel Holding AG – for US$29.8 million;
- an affiliate of Lloyds Banking Group PLC – for US $11.2 million;
- securities depository Six Sis AG – for US$7 million.

These firms’ representatives did not give any comments yet. In these suits, similar to many others that were filed to recover money that Madoff paid out to investors as part of the Ponzi scheme, the trustee alleges that these seven firms invested with the BVI-registered Fairfield and Kingate funds, which themselves earned returns from Madoff. Then, those firms received distributions from Fairfield and Kingate funds, money that didn’t actually represent legitimate returns, according to the trustee.

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BVI companies not recognized by Latvian court as Ventbunkers shareholders

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Mike

ХудожникAt the end of February, the Latvian Supreme Court Department of Civil Cases did not recognize the British Virgin Islands-incorporated offshore companies Steropes Limited and Gyges Limited as Ventbunkers shareholders, after reviewing the claim by the Dutch company Yelverton Investment B.V.

According to Ventbunkers representative Aivars Gobins, persons close to Steropes Limited and Gyges Limited have disseminated distorted information on the decision of the Senate. Latvian court has not ruled that the BVI companies, which claim to be Ventbunkers shareholders, are indeed legitimate shareholders of the company. But in late 2011 Ventspils court ruled that the meeting in December 2009 with participation of these companies was not the meeting of Ventbunkers shareholders. Also, in January 2012, in Riga court Steropes Limited and Gyges Limited withdrew their claim to Ventbunkers shares against Ventbunkers shareholders Yelverton Investment B.V.

In this particular case, the Supreme Court Senate considered whether the Latvian Civil Procedure Law provides a possibility to impose a ban on attending shareholders meetings and submitting documents to the Enterprise Register, in case if the court satisfies the claim.

Legitimate shareholders of Ventbunkers are companies registered in the Netherlands – Yelverton Investment B.V., Yelverton Investments B.V., SIA IAG, Austrian company IAG Industrieanlagen GmbH, SIA Kement, SIA Topmar Baltic Investments, a/s Optima management, a/s Investment Activity, as well as Aivars Lembergs, Anrijs Lembergs and Liga Lemberga.

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BVI company Cokeville gets commission on Škoda Power sale

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Mike

Top manager of ex-Škoda holding, and later ČEZ chief Martin Roman admitted the fact that he had ties to offshore trusts in the Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands connected to the former Škoda Plzeň, which was sold to its managers. Prague lobbyist Ivo Rittig had been linked to the British Virgin Islands-registered company Cokeville Assets Inc. This BVI company made tens of millions in ‘consulting’ fees on a contract signed by ex-DPP chief Martin Dvořák and power plant equipment maker Škoda Power.

According to the press information, the BVI-registered Cokeville signed a contract in mid-2009 according to which it would provisionally be paid a commission of Kč 130 million following the sale of Škoda Power, a power plant equipment maker that was part of Škoda Plzeň (privatized in 2002 and renamed as Škoda Holding). Also, there is a document in which, based on the contract for “consulting and advising” services, Cokeville requested a payment of Kč 15 million. The law firm from Prague, which represents Rittig and has done the transactions for the BVI company, confirmed the existence of the contract, but refused to “comment on private transactions.” The reason why Škoda Power paid consulting fees to the company located in the offshore jurisdiction of the British Virgin Islands, remains unveiled. The documents that uncovered linking Cokeville to these deals are now being investigated by the police.

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German bank investigates Moscow transaction in connection with BVI company investment

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Mike

Germany’s biggest state-owned lender, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, is monitoring details of a real estate transaction in Moscow on suspicion of corruption. According to German media, the bank’s lawyers began investigating its investment in Moscow’s German Centre due to “inconsistencies.” Landesbank Baden-Württemberg is said to have invested €115 million in the project, of which €33.4 million was paid to the British Virgin Islands-domiciled company named Jacintha Ltd., for the takeover of a Cyprian company Flantier Properties Ltd. This company has a market capitalization of only €2,000, and Süddeutsche Zeitung stated that the bank did not know why the BVI company received the funds or who is the owner of these funds.

A spokesman for the bank said that the bank’s board instructed the investigation of the matter shortly after the appointment of its chairman, Hans Jörg Vetter, in September 2009.

Süddeutsche Zeitung cited a source of the state government of Baden-Württemberg which said that the transaction appeared suspicious due to the fact that the two companies involved were in Cyprus and the British Virgin Islands offshore tax havens.

Posted in BVI Companies, Investigation, Offshore tax havens | Leave a comment

BVI and Belize-based offshore firms investigated on IRBC case

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Mike

БогородицаThe Irish Bank Resources Corporation (IRBC) – formerly Anglo Irish Bank – is seeking to seize European properties linked to unpaid loans advanced to companies registered in the British Virgin Islands and Belize. When considering fraud proceedings, injunctions against two offshore companies were continued by Mr Justice McCloskey.

The BVI and Belize offshore companies have assets (assigned loan agreements) that link them to a Quinn family company called Demesne Investments Ltd. The loan agreements are affecting the ability of IBRC to seize an office block in Moscow, Russia, valued at up to US$180 million and a shopping centre in Kiev valued at up to $60 million. The buildings are believed to be producing annual rental income of approximately $30 million in total, which the state-owned bank has not been able to assert control over.

The Belfast court has told the two offshore companies that they must not deal in the assigned loan agreement or take any steps designed to prevent IBRC from applying to the court to have agreements entered into by Demesne and the offshore companies from being set aside.

The offshore companies named in the case are Lyndhurst Development Trading SA, of the BVI, and Galfis Overseas Ltd., of Belize. The court was told that IBRC has secured a Norwich Pharmacal order from the courts in Belize, instructing Galfis to reveal its beneficial owner. IBRC is pursuing a similar order against BVI-registered Lyndhurst.

Injunction orders were issued in December against Lyndhurst and Galfis. In the case of the BVI company, the court was told that Demesne entered into a loan agreement with another defendant company, Innishmore Consultancy Ltd, and Univermag – the Ukrainian company that operates the Kiev shopping centre, on April 6, 2011. It was also told that Innishmore entered into an agreement with Lyndhurst on October 7, 2011. Then, the BVI company made a supplementary loan agreement with Univermag on November 4, 2011.

On December 26, the judgment order for $45.2 million in favour of the BVI company and against Univermag, registered by the court in Ukraine, was described as “legalised robbery” by IBRC, it also said it expects bankruptcy proceedings to follow.

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Labour Party’s supporter has its business registered in the British Virgin Islands

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Mike

БогородицаLast week, the press informed that tycoon Andrew Rosenfeld who backed companies of Labour leader Ed Milliband based his companies in the British Virgin Islands jurisdiction. The multi-millionaire who has made an estimated £100 million from property investments, registered his international network of businesses in the BVI, using a trust company that boasts that it ‘makes full use of the legal and tax advantages offered by different jurisdictions’.

Mr Rosenfeld had been appointed by by Ed Milliband to mastermind the party’s General Election strategy, after he made a £1 million donation to Labour party.

At the same time since becoming party leader, Mr Milliband has attacked capitalist ‘predators’ and called for a crackdown on tax avoidance. Mr Rosenfield became a tax exile in 2006 when he moved to Geneva and established his Air Capital property empire, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands.

By remaining in Switzerland for five tax years – he returned to the UK last April – Mr Rosenfeld was able to remain exempt from Capital Gains Tax on his property and investments.

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Australian company banned from raising US$35 mln

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Mike

In the end of the year 2011, Fortis Mining Limited, a publicly listed mineral exploration company based in Melbourne, Australia, and focused on potash, gold, nickel, and copper deposits, was banned from raising US$35 mln to fund the purchase of two potash projects in Kazakhstan. The capital raising is now on ice until January 13, after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission issued an interim stop order.

In its November prospectus, Fortis warned of “significant doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern” if the Kazakhstan projects did not go ahead. It said if they didn’t, there was no guarantee it would be able to recover US$30 million already paid to their overseas owners.

While Fortis is buying the projects by acquiring shares in a Hong Kong company, the prospectus shows that payments in money and shares ultimately go to Panama and British Virgin Islands. First, Fortis is purchasing HK-registered company Ji’an Resources Investment from its owners, British Virgin Islands-registered company Mainstar Investment, which holds 75 per cent, and another BVI company, United Delight Holdings, which holds 25 per cent. Mainstar is to receive $US1 million and up to 40 million Fortis shares while United Delight, owned by Ji’an director Ya Chen, is to receive up to 15 million shares. Ji’an is, in turn, buying Panamanian-registered Wiyot from its owners for up to US$215 million in cash and scrip. It has already given them a down payment of $US30 million of Fortis’ money.

The prospectus was updated in November to reflect upheaval on the Fortis board. It is believed ASIC wanted the prospectus to include more information about new board members. However, it seems the company was unable to provide updated information before Christmas.

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New BVI Premier accused by the Opposition of playing tricks with financial figures

Posted on December 26, 2011 by Mike

Hon. Ralph T. O’Neal, Opposition Leader and former Premier of the British Virgin Islands, expressed his quite critical opinion on the Premier and Minister of Finance’s state of the Territory’s finances address. In his radio address, Hon. O’Neal pointed to an attempt to play tricks for excluding monies collected from the financial industry.

On December 6, Premier Orlando Smith told that the National Democratic Party (NDP) Government has found hardly any financial resources and many financial commitments and bills to be paid. He had pointed out that current projections by the Ministry of Finance indicated that based on the spending patterns for this year, total revenue will be in the region of US$268 million, representing a shortfall of US$18 million compared to what was budgeted and approved by the House of Assembly for the 2011 fiscal year.

According to Hon. O’Neal, Premier Smith revealed that cash advances as of November 4 were slightly over US$40,000,000, but did not take into account the receipt from the Financial Services. He added that while he could not say what the exact figure was, based on previous experience the figures for November could from fifty to sixty million dollars.

Hon. O’Neal also spoke on the claim that the Auditor General Report of 2007 showed that the National Democratic Party left healthy cash balances of eighty-two million and was in compliance with all the provisions of the borrowing guidelines. According to the Opposition Leader, on first reading the claim could seem to be true, but he pointed out that in 2010 the Virgin Islands Party Government had to introduce and pass legislation covering some forty-six million for over expenditure in 2006. He also noted that, prior to being voted out of office at the November 7 elections, the Virgin Islands Party Government put in place some austerity measures and therefore did not to lay off any of the people, or reduce salaries.

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BVI company involved in illegal investor’s case

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Mike

Thomas Elvin, accused of depriving investors of €177,000 and operating as an illegal investor between 2003 and 2005, is said to be the head of the company called Pear Shaped Resources. This fact was claimed in court, which was told that this company was set up in January 2004 in the British Virgin Islands, with US dollar share capital.

The prosecutor said that there would be evidence from six of the seven victims of a series of actions by Mr Elvin, and none of them had received the money back.

When the charges were read to him, Mr Elvin said to each before Judge John O’Hagan: “Definitely not guilty.” The trial continues.

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