Cracking the calypso conundrum – Caribbean asset recovery

Caribbean jurisdictions are stereotypically viewed as information black holes, whose minimal filing requirements for companies and trusts facilitate fraud. Robert Stokes switches on his torch.

Ponzi preference

For recent examples of asset misappropriation in the sun-kissed region, think Stanford International Bank and Westbond International Bank, two Antigua-based vehicles for high-profile Ponzi schemes. Further, the Madoffscandal in the US led liquidators of Fairfield Sentry – a British Virgin Islands (BVI)-domiciled hedge fund that was among Madoff’s main victims – to try, unsuccessfully, to claim back money from investors who had legally withdrawn from the fund. This complex case was judged in the BVI-based regional Commercial Court, a division of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC).