NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Two Companies, Cooperhill Investments Limited and Kazou BV, recently filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking to recover $10.8 million that the companies allege the Republic of Seychelles illegally seized from them in 2010. As alleged in the complaint, this seizure is the latest in a campaign of financial piracy by the Republic of Seychelles, which has seized over 100 bank accounts of foreign individuals and companies since 2008. Following a consistent pattern of behavior that has been exposed in two previous lawsuits alleging financial piracy, the Seychelles’ Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), who took the money, has offered no explanation at all for its seizure of the assets. One of these prior lawsuits, according to the Complaint, alleged that Seychelles even kidnapped foreign nationals, threatened them with false drug charges and harassed a teenage girl to meet its goal of stealing money from the plaintiffs in that case.
The Complaint alleges that this program of state-sponsored financial piracy is being undertaken by the Republic of Seychelles in order to rebuild its foreign reserves as the result of an acute financial crisis stemming to 2008. Furthermore, as the Complaint pleads, Seychelles is obtaining financial assistance from both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the African Development Bank, while, at the same time, stealing money from Seychelles’ banking customers. This conduct, the Complaint alleges, is consistent with findings of the U.S. State Department that Seychelles officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.
As alleged in the Complaint, in this most recent example of financial piracy, a BMI Bank manager lured Cooperhill’s patronage from another bank and then helped the FIU illegally take Cooperhill’s funds. The Complaint also alleges that BMI Bank then helped the FIU actually increase the amount of money in the account by surreptitiously blocking withdrawals while at the same time allowing numerous further deposits. The Complaint further alleges that Barclays Bank, as it has done in the past, conspired with the FIU to illegally seize Kazou’s funds. To accomplish this goal, the Complaint alleges, Barclays Bank stalled and asked unnecessary questions in order to prevent funds from transferring out of the account. The net effect, according to the Complaint, was that Barclays helped the FIU to grow the funds that it stole.
Craig Weiner, Esq. of Hofheimer, Gartlir, Gross, LLP, a New York based law firm and lead counsel for the plaintiffs stated: “Few people would believe that in this day and age that their bank assets could be seized by a foreign government without regard to due process of law, banking regulation, or standard business practice. Our complaint alleges that this very condition has existed since at least 2008 in the Seychelles, and we strongly advise investors to be wary of depositing any assets there for that very reason."
The Complaint also pleads that the FIU carried out their illegal actions at the direction of Irish nationals Barry Galvin, Liam Hogan, Declan Barber and Joe Cully (aka Niall Scully), who act as subcontractors to Seychelles, and each have been individually named in prior lawsuit(s) and in this recent Complaint. According to the complaint, Galvin and Hogan are former members of the Irish national police force and secret police and Barber and Cully were members of a secret Irish military unit. According to the Complaint, these rogue subcontractors reportedly receive substantial commissions based on the amount of funds they seize and are compensated far in excess of their Seychelles counterparts, which according to the Seychelles press has resulted in significant discord.
The Complaint alleges that the Seychelles government has continued its policy of financial piracy, even in the face of heightened scrutiny from the prior lawsuits and media attention. This time, as alleged in the Complaint, Seychelles has not even bothered to offer an excuse for why its agents have stolen the funds -- it merely took the money.
Clients are represented by Craig Weiner at Hofheimer, Gartlir, Gross and Avi Pawar in the UK.
Dr. George Xiao sued #DPP solicitor Barry Galvin. Senior #Garda Liam Hogan & Declan Barber for $8.5 million
Xiao said that Garda Hogan & Barber had committed perjury & had brazenly & routinely ignored court orders
Irish Media cover #rte? serious #coverup
http://www.seychellesweekly.com/November%2029,%202009/p43_lawsuit.html
Lawsuit Charges Seychelles Government With Financial Piracy
Complaint Charges that Government Illegally Seized $8.5 Million from Solar Energy Company With Help From Barclays Bank and Three Irish Subcontractors
(December 1, 2009, New York, NY) – Dr. George Xiao today filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking to recover $8.5 million that he alleges the Republic of Seychelles illegally seized from his solar energy company in 2008. The complaint also seeks over $30 million in consequential damages. The Seychelles Government has offered no credible explanation or formal justification for its seizure of the assets deposited in the Barclays Bank branch in Seychelles and refuses to return the money.
As set forth in the complaint, Seychelles embarked upon a course of action wherein it seized the funds without cause and only afterwards sought to “work backwards” and create a viable justification for the seizure. However, no justification exists. In the past year the Government of Seychelles has seized more than 100 bank accounts held by foreign individuals and companies.
Seychelles has been in an acute financial crisis since 2008. The International Monetary Fund has had to step in to save the country from the brink of disaster. Seychelles is also trying to renegotiate its foreign debt, and its foreign exchange reserves are depleted. Adding to its other financial woes Seychelles has recently been tied to the $10 billion Kazakh Bank scandal.
“Our complaint alleges that the Seychelles government is so desperate for money that it has resorted to what amounts to financial piracy, preying on unsuspecting foreign businesses and individuals,” said Craig Weiner, an attorney at Hofheimer Gartlir & Gross, LLP, which represents Dr. Xiao and his company. “Seychelles is using unfounded and unproven allegations of fraud and money laundering as a pretext to seize the bank accounts of non-citizens with no legal or logical justification,” Weiner added, summarizing the allegations made in the complaint.
“Seychelles positions itself as an offshore financial center in order to lure unsuspecting businesses and then misappropriate their funds,” Weiner added, describing the complaint. “Even the U.S. State Department has warned that Seychelles officials often engage in corruption with impunity. If you are thinking of doing business in Seychelles, beware,” Weiner added.
The complaint also alleges that the Seychelles Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has subcontracted its operations to three Irish nationals, Barry Galvin, Liam Hogan, and Declan Barber, each of whom is named individually as a defendant. According to the complaint, Galvin and Hogan are former members of the Irish national police force and secret police. According to the complaint, these rogue subcontractors have no background in banking or financial matters and reportedly receive substantial commissions based on the amount of funds they seize.
The complaint further alleges that Hogan and Barber have committed perjury and have brazenly and routinely ignored court orders. “Anyone who has been convicted of a crime in Ireland on the strength of their testimony should consider petitioning the court for a new trial,” Weiner said.
In December 2008, Dr. Xiao sought to establish a bank account for his company at Barclays Bank in Seychelles in order to receive wire transfers from a client in Asia. According to the complaint filed today, Barclays repeatedly delayed opening the account and failed to provide the necessary account documents and information. It turned out that at the same time, Barclays was working with the FIU to plan the seizure of the funds.
When the account was finally opened, Barclays and Seychelles officials immediately seized the assets. Neither Barclays nor the FIU has ever provided Dr. Xiao with a copy of FIU’s formal justification for seizing the company’s assets. The complaint also alleges that Barclays and Seychelles officials in 2009 engaged in a fraudulent scheme to seize additional deposits made by Dr. Xiao’s company.
An article in a local Seychelles newspaper severely criticized both Barclays and the Seychelles government for what it called “incompetence, a lack of understanding of normal banking procedures and protocol, and extreme arrogance and impunity in the application of the law.”
A copy of the complaint is available upon request. The case number is 09-9845.
About the Republic of Seychelles
The Republic of Seychelles is comprised of 115 islands located approximately 950 miles off the coast of Kenya. Dependent on tourism and fishing for revenue, the Seychelles government is increasingly promoting the country as an offshore business haven. In October 2008, facing the near-depletion of official foreign exchange reserves, Seychelles defaulted on its foreign debt payments, requiring the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to step in and help save the country from bankruptcy.
About Dr. George Xiao
Dr. George Xiao markets and sells proprietary technology used in solar energy production. He is a leading expert in the commercialization of process technology to the solar industry. Dr. Xiao works with a technical team comprised of experts in process design, polysilicon plant integration, plant commissioning and foundational work.
Contact: Jordan Stark, Levick Strategic Communications: (202) 973-1334 or jstark@levick.com.
Innocent gentleman Ted Cunningham who helped so many people throughout his life was framed by senior gardai & DPP solicitors for a crime he never committed
The same gardai & DPP solicitors have been exposed & named in very serious crimes both in Ireland & in the Caymen Island
#gardacorruption
https://www.pressreader.com/uk/irish-daily-mail/20230911/281612424991141
Comments
Post a Comment