ID: ARW-110
Leonid Reiman / Jeffrey Galmond / IPOC International Growth Fund Ltd. (Bermuda chapter)
Please see entry case entry for British Virgin Islands. In a Ministerial address of May 18, 2008, Bermuda's then-Minister of Finance Paula Cox stated that on May 7, 2008, in the Supreme Court of Bermuda, Justice Kwaley ordered that a group of companies collectively referred to as IPOC be wound up under the provisions of sections 1232(10)(a) and 161 (g) of the Companies Act 1981. Minister Cox, acting as Finance Minister under authority of section 132 of the Companies Act to initiate investigation of companies, hired the consulting firm, KPMG to investigate the IPOC International Growth Fund. Based on KPMG's findings, the wind-up petition was presented to the Supreme Court in 2007. Bermuda cooperated with British Virgin Islands in that jurisdiction's investigation of IPOC and she stated that "as a result of the criminal conviction in the BVI, some $45 million of assets belonging to IPOC has been confiscated and will be shared equally between the British Virgin Islands and Bermuda. Bermuda's share of these proceeds will be placed in the Confiscated Assets Fund." (Source: Ministerial Statement by Minister Paula Cox, May 18, 2008 at http://www.plp.bm/node/1273, posted at http://www.plp.bm/node/1273.)
According to a judgment by the British Virgin Islands High Court of Justice, in 2008, the IPOC International Growth Fund and three associated international business companies formed in BVI (Lapal Limited, Albany Invest Limited, and Mercury Import Limited) pleaded guilty and were each convicted of two counts of perverting the course of justice and furnishing false information, in violation of the BVI Criminal Code. (Source: Judgement in AG v. IPOC International Growth Fund Limited, Jeffrey Galmond, and others, Claim No. BVIHCV2007/0088, British Virgin Islands High Court of Justice (civil) and In the Matter of the Proceeds of Criminal Conduct Act (No. 5 of 1997) of the Laws of the Virgin Islands, between The Queen v. IPOC International Growth Fund Limited and others, Crim Case No. 12 of 2008, British Virgin Islands, High Court of Justice (criminal jurisdiction).
The prosecuting authority/civil attorney(s) was the Registrar of Companies.
The courts involved were the Supreme Court (Commercial Court) of Bermuda; Court of Appeal for Bermuda; [International Court of Arbitration, Zurich and Geneva].
The basis for international cooperation was Investigative cooperation between British Virgin Islands and Bermuda - exact mechanism unknown.
Contributing factor was a joint investigation by the British Virgin Islands and Bermuda into the corporate vehicles domiciled in their respective jurisdictions. The British Virgin Islands High Court noted in its judgment against IPOC International Growth Fund Limited and co-defendants that "In his concluding remarks, Mr Hodge QC [Queen's Counsel] commended the work done by the Bermuda Police and the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force as well as the Attorney General's Chambers in both jurisdictions saying that well over one-half million pages of documents were produced during the 17 month investigation signifying the complexity and density of this case." (Source: In the Matter of the Proceeds of Criminal Conduct Act (No. 5 of 1997) of the Laws of the Virgin Islands between The Queen v. (1) IPOC International Growth Fund Limited, (2) Lapal Limited, (3) Albany Invest Limited, (4) Mercury Import Limited, The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in the High Court of Justice (Criminal Jurisdiction), Criminal Case. No. 12 of 2008.)