Program > Fraud & Asset Recovery Track
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Fraud & Asset Recovery Track

OffshoreAlert has a flawless track record of exposing fraud since our launch in 1997 – before fraud became newsworthy. Who better to assist you in detecting financial crime and recovering hidden assets? We don't pay lip service to the topic and we're not jumping on any bandwagon: We've been doing it successfully for 13 years.

 

It is a myth that Offshore Centers are black-holes where assets disappear without a trace. Let us show you laws and techniques and introduce you to experts who can help you.

 

 

Sessions Include:

Terror-Related Asset Recovery: The Emergence of Private Civil Litigation as a Response to International Terrorism

The victims of international terrorism are fighting back in U.S. courts ... and winning, recovering billions in damages from State sponsors of terrorism and from financial institutions that launder money for terrorist organizations. In the process, they are testing traditional notions of sovereign immunity, establishing a new role for national courts and private litigants in regulating rogue State behavior, and holding even brand name financial intermediaries to account for their hidden role as the money men for murderers.

 

Our panelists will explore the cutting edge U.S. legal framework that permits these creative and important lawsuits, with reference to some of the more interesting cases in their portfolio.

  • F. R. Jenkins, Meridian 361 (USA & UK)

Current Trends and Issues in the liquidation of offshore vehicles/funds

  • Effective use of foreign laws and courts
  • Sourcing and raising liquidation and/or litigation funding
  • International cooperation
  • Proprietary Claims over estate assets

 

Offshore hedge funds have been going into liquidation in unprecedented numbers. This informative and interactive session will look at issues that have been thrown up by the plethora of recent litigation involving collapsed funds and other offshore investment vehicles.

  • Nick Matthews, Kinetic Partners (Cayman Islands)
  • Constantine Karides, Reed Smith (New York)
  • Sarah Dobbyn, Harneys (Cayman Islands)

Hedge Fund Collapses: How to Pursue Negligence & Breach of Duty Claims Against Directors, Administrators, Auditors and Other Professional Service Providers

  • What caused the economic demise of a fund?
  • Was management blind-sided by an unexpected turn in the market?
  • Were the directors honest and competent but simply the victims of bad luck? Or did they fall below the standard of care expected of them? Or was there malfeasance or breach of trust in office?
  • How did external service providers perform – with vigilance, incompetence or with a wilfully blind eye to the obvious in the face of fraud?
  • Hugh Dickson, Grant Thornton (Cayman Islands)
  • Jeremy Walton, Appleby (Cayman Islands)
  • Martin S. Kenney, Martin Kenney & Co., Solicitors (BVI)
  • Geoff Varga, Kinetic Partners (Cayman Islands)

Insolvencies and Receiverships Gone Wrong: Fee Pigs and 'The Dripping Roast'

It has been said of insolvency professionals that the following sentiment is all too common:

 

“The sole purpose of an IP is to use up in fees and costs everything that they can recover, and then go down the pub and boast to all their mates about it.”

 

This problem is exacerbated where the Universalist approach to trans-border insolvency is rejected; and the old territorial fight for assets between competing officeholders takes root. The current-day poster child for this will be examined – Stanford International Bank.

  • Edward H. Davis, Jr., Astigarraga Davis (Miami, USA)
  • Martin S. Kenney, Martin Kenney & Co., Solicitors (BVI)
  • Christopher J. Redmond, Husch Blackwell Sanders, (Kansas)
  • Marta Alfonso, Morrison, Brown, Argiz & Farra (Miami)

Fraud Victim Class Actions: Are they Possible and Under What Circumstances?

The delivery of civil justice to thousands of victims is nigh impossible in the absence of a group action. Class actions, representative actions, group actions, and multi-plaintiff actions will be considered.

 

When is a group of plaintiffs sufficiently ‘similarly situated’ to be certified as a class? Who funds the pursuit of the claimant and for what? What about multi-jurisdictional claims – how is a class to be recognised abroad?

  • Edward H. Davis, Jr., Astigarraga Davis (Miami)
  • Jeff Sonn, Sonn & Erez (Fort Lauderdale)
  • Dan Wise, Martin Kenney & Co. (BVI)
  • Bernd Klose, Kanzlei Bernd Klose (Germany)

The State vs. The Victim: What Happens When Proceeds of Crime Forfeiture Laws Collide with Victims' Rights

The State is hungry for assets. The proceeds of crime are ripe for the picking. What happens when the private property rights of the victim get trampled upon by the State in its rush to forfeit assets? When is the State itself a victim? Case studies will be examined.

  • David Ingram, Grant Thornton (UK)
  • Martin S. Kenney, Martin Kenney & Co. (BVI)
  • Andrew Bodnar, Matrix Chambers (UK)
  • Deborah Morrisey, Department of Homeland Security (Florida)
  • Dr. Eronides Aparecido Rodrigues dos Santos, Criminal Prosecutor (Brazil)

Ponzi Scheme 'Clawbacks': How to bring them and how to defeat them

  • What is a fraudulent preference?
  • What are the limitation periods?
  • A look at different approaches – Stanford and Madoff
  • John Moscow, Baker & Hostetler (New York)
  • Bernd Klose, Kanzlei Bernd Klose (Germany)
  • Joseph Wielebinski, Munsch Hardt (Dallas)

Pursuing Unique 'Assets' in Asset Recovery Cases

What is an asset? Inchoate vs. choate assets. Art work. Intellectual property. Equitable interests in land. Investment securities. Obscure choses-in-action. Where and how is value reposed?

  • James Earp, Grant Thornton (UK)
  • Nick Wood, Grant Thornton (UK)
  • Arnold Lacayo, Astigarraga Davis (Miami)
  • Burke Files, Financial Examinations & Evaluations (Arizona)