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By Alec Hogg
The waves keep crashing onto the Belvedere Group, the global financial scam masterminded by South Africans Cobus Kellermann and David Cosgrove. After authorities took over Belvedere’s funds in Mauritius and Guernsey last month, yesterday its Cayman Islands operation suffered the same fate after a “forensic investigation” (see official notice at the bottom of the article)
David Marchant’s Offshore Alert, which broke the story in March, reports that the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority has taken over the control of Belvedere’s Brighton SPC.
In his latest piece published today Marchant writes: “Brighton SPC was set up in Cayman last year and was being exclusively used by Mauritius based Belvedere Management Group to continue operating its flagship Kijani Commodity Fund and other fraudulent funds after the Mauritius Financial Services Commission suspended two of Belvedere’s local fund vehicles last October, one of which housed Kijani.
Says Marchant: “In its most recent “Fact Sheet” for “May 2015″, Kijani claimed to have the following assets under administration: USD 135 million, GBP19.5 million, and EUR 11.3 million. However, an investigation by OffshoreAlert discovered that all or most of its “assets” comprise worthless shares in four dubious British shell companies that are listed on stock exchanges in Denmark, England and Germany. The companies are Eligere Investments Plc, Fulhold Pharma Plc, Emerging Market Minerals Plc, formerly LP Hill Plc; and Teyuteme Oil Plc, formerly Azteka Plc.”
The full story and other recent developments relating to Belvedere and Brighton can be accessed on OffshoreAlert by clicking here (subscription required).
Shortly after OffshoreAlert’s expose was published locally on Biznews, the local representative of Brighton SPC attacked Marchant’s allegations with a vigorous defence of the operation in a supportive article on another SA website. He was either lying; was poorly informed or among many who have been duped by this complex international scam that is now unravelling.
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UPDATE:
Since publication of the article above, several regulatory authorities have conducted investigations into the allegations of fraud and of a possible Ponzi scheme and have found as follows:
The Guernsey Financial Services Commission having reviewed their Enforcement Division’s report and accompanying evidence concluded that no further action will be taken and that their proceedings are at an end.
The US based Chartered Financial Analyst Institute stated, after reviewing the information available to them, that their Professional Conduct program decided to close its investigation and to take no disciplinary action, reserving the right to reopen the matter if new information comes to hand.
The Financial Sector Conduct Authority found no evidence of any breaches of the relevant South African financial sector laws.
