A
man was recently taken
into custody in Canada
by international law
enforcement authorities,
in what is being described
as a global insurance
fraud scam involving
companies in St. Vincent
and
the Grenadines.
U.S.
officials reported
that both Federal
and California State
authorities said
the international
search for a fugitive
wanted in connection
with an alleged $20
million global insurance
fraud operating via
the Eastern Caribbean,
ended with his arrest
in Canada.
A
federal complaint
filed in Sacramento
charges the 58-year-old
man, using the alias
RobertLewis Brown,
with conspiracy,
mail fraud, and money
laundering and making
false statements.
Brown
was traveling in
Canada when he was
apprehended by the
Toronto Metropolitan
Fugitive Squad on
immigration charges
and a U.S. arrest
warrant. Most recently,
however, he had been
living on his estates
in Ireland and Barbados.
The arrest is part
of a continuing effort
by the FBI, the IRS,
and the California
department of Insurance
Investigation Division
to shut down the
insurance scam that
operated through
two companies in
St. Vincent and the
Grenadines.
Authorities
alleged that, since
January 2000, those
companies, Tri-Continental
Exchange Ltd. and
Combined Services
Ltd., collected $20
million in premiums
from customers throughout
the U.S. for insurance
policies they falsely
claimed were backed
by a collection of
real insurance companies.
In furtherance of
the scheme, Brown
and others set up
a number of offshore
insurance companies
on the island of
Nevis.
Customers
were told to send
payments to post
office boxes in Phoenix,
Arizona. The money
was then forwarded
first to St. Vincent
and the Grenadines,
then to a bank account
in Blaine, Washington,
with some of the
money siphoned off
to foreign bank accounts.
Tri-Continental,
Combined Services,
and a third company,
Alternative Market
Exchange operated
from Marcole Plaza,
Halifax Street, Kingstown,
and St. Vincent.
Investigators from
the St. Vincent Financial
Intelligence Unit,
assisted by U.S.
Agents and Investigators
searched the
Tri-Continental offices
and seized numerous.
insurance documents,
while an Investigator
from the IRS Electronic
Crimes Program also
seized computer evidence.
St. Vincent authorities
have also frozen
Brown's local bank
accounts while extradition
is sought. U.S. investigators
credit the close,
professional co-operation
they received from
St. Vincent authorities
with a major role
in
the success of this
arrest effort. Prosecutors
said at least eight
U.S. states and Canada
have ordered the
companies to stop
selling insurance
in the last eight
years, and Nationwide
Mutual Insurance
Co. obtained a federal
preliminary injunction
against the companies
in 2001 for trademark
infringement.
In
early 2004, it is
also believed that
Brown and Tri-Continental
started a new insurance
company, American
Transport Insurance
Corporation, domiciled
in American Samoa.
The conspiracy, mail
fraud and false statements
charges carry maximum
five-year penalties,
while money laundering
has a maximum 20-year
penalty.
If
you would like more
information regarding
asset protection,
trusts, family limited
partnerships or the
subject of this article
please call or email
our office.
