Trading in shares of Bramer Banking Corp. of Mauritius was suspended after the lender’s license was revoked, its accounts transferred to another bank and the prime minister said there’s “evidence” of a Ponzi scheme. The central bank pulled Bramer’s license “following strong evidence that BBCL is engaged in a Ponzi scheme which exceeds 25 billion […]

Cobus Kellermann, Stellenbosch University graduate now in his late 30s who runs Cape-based money manager Clarus Capital, has been fingered as a mastermind behind a massive global Ponzi scheme run out of Mauritius. Kellermann’s company also manages eight South African unit trusts under the Met Collective Investments banner. They have been entrusted with R1.35bn in […]

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – A Hoover man was charged today with fraud and money laundering in connection with an illegal Ponzi scheme in which investors lost more than $3 million, federal and state officials announced today. Bryan W. Anderson, 40, is charged with one count each of wire fraud, money laundering and securities fraud, according to […]

In Financial Conduct Authority v John Cecil Anderson, Kenneth Alan Peacock and Kautilya Nandan Pruthi [2014] EWHC 3630 (Ch) the High Court gave directions for the allocation of monies to depositors in Ponzi schemes pursuant to a restitution order. The Court held that as the shortfall between the actual losses and amount recoverable was substantial, […]

NOVEMEBER 2014, Trendon Shavers, aka “Pirate@40,” was arrested on securities fraud and wire fraud charges stemming from his involvement in a Bitcoin-related Ponzi scheme*. Shavers was the founder and operator of Bitcoin Savings and Trust (BCS&T), which offered and sold Bitcoin-based investments through the Internet. In total, Shavers raised at least 764,000 Bitcoin in BCS&T […]

Bernie Madoff once told a reporter from his prison cell in North Carolina that JPMorgan “doesn’t have a chance in hell” of avoiding liability in connection with his 20-year Ponzi scheme. After all, JPM served as Bernie’s principal banker from 1986 on and enabled him to launder the $17.3 billion he swindled from thousands of […]

The Court of appeal has confirmed that ‘helping out’ a family member (or anyone else) who is engaged in criminal breaches of financial services legislation can lead to prosecution. Kathleen Margaret O’Neil v Faye Gale [2013] EWCA Civ 1554 (6 December 2013) confirms both that FSMA breaches can give rise to criminal prosecutions for accessories […]

The island nation is in process of implementing several of Indian regulations to fight financial crime.  Mauritius plans to provide more teeth to its financial market regulator and is also setting up a serious fraud office to combat financial frauds, apparently taking a leaf out of the Indian regulatory framework. The island nation, with a […]