Evergreen Security Brokers Sued By Bankruptcy Trustee

Tax-News.com, New York

13 May 2002

According to a report by Offshore Business News & Research (www.offshorebusiness.com) a web-site which specialises in offshore frauds and scams, seventy-six lawsuits have been filed in Miami against the promoters of an offshore 'mutual fund' known as Evergreen Security.

Defendants include The Private Trust Corporation, Lion's Gate Management Ltd. and United Republic Ltd., all of the Bahamas, and International Wealth Management Ltd., of Bristol, England. The claims total US$8m out of an estimated deficiency of $200m.

The Bankruptcy Trustee alleges in the suits that that the defendants acted either as a financial advisor or broker in a Ponzi scheme which involved the sale to public investors of Evergreen Certificates.

The Trustee's press release says: "Evergreen was formed primarily to operate as an offshore mutual fund. Most funds invested in Evergreen were nominally held in the name of various trusts including Intrados, SA, a Costa Rican corporation, Ansbacher (Bahamas) Limited, a Bahamian corporation, and Surety Bank & Trust Company Limited, a Bahamian corporation."

Investment advisors included West Side Advisors, Atlantic Portfolio Analytics & Management, Inc., and International Portfolio Analytics, while custodians included the Bank of Butterfield and Bear Stearns, according to the press release.

At the time that Evergreen filed for bankruptcy in Florida in January, 2001, its board of directors consisted of Patrick Thomson, Hernan Castro-Gehrels, and Edgar A. Rohrmoser and its ultimate owners have included entities controlled at various times by Greg White, of the Bahamas, and William J. Zylka, of the United States.

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