MasTec Acquisition of Pacer Construction and Subsequent Pursuit/Recovery of Purchase Funds

Securities Investor Fraud In June 2014, MasTec (NYSE: MTZ) purchased Pacer Construction and its related entities from Richard Pelletier, who was the founder and CEO of Pacer, his company Richard Pelletier Holdings Inc. and two others.  MasTec Inc. paid RP/RPHI a cash sum of approximately Can$59 million for his proportionate equity interest in Pacer.  At the time of the purchase, Pelletier was a resident of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. However, in the year 2015, Pelletier and his family moved to the Cayman Islands. Following the acquisition, it became apparent that Pelletier had falsely represented the financial condition of the companies.  In... Read More...

Alberto Chang Rajii, The Chilean ‘Madoff’

Securities Investor Fraud On April 12, 2016, a Chilean businessman wanted for an investigation into one of the biggest financial frauds in Chile, was identified by a Chilean camera crew in Malta in the reception of a hotel in Valletta. Alberto Chang Rajii (“Chang”), founder of the Arcano Group had left Chile on March 12, 2016 on a flight to the United States. In mid-April 2016, Chang’s bank accounts in Chile were frozen and the Chilean prosecutors delivered the search warrant that would later become an international arrest warrant. Previously, an anonymous complaint against the Arcano Group had been sent... Read More...

Anwar, et al., vs. Fairfield Greenwich Ltd, et al. re: Bernie Madoff

Securities Professional Negligence, Investor Fraud Firm was retained by Counsel, namely Boies, Schiller & Flaxner, LLP on behalf of the plaintiffs in a matter known as 'Anwar, et al., Plaintiffs vs. Fairfield Greenwich Ltd, et al., Defendants' where the subject matter is Bernie Madoff and his Ponzi scheme. The engagement was as a testifying expert on forensic accounting matters in the Anwar class action. Lindquist issued a “Rebuttal Expert Report” to opine on issues raised in three “Expert Reports” that essentially expressed the opinion that the defendants could not have “uncovered the Madoff Ponzi scheme because it was so sophisticated... Read More...

Bre-X Minerals, Calgary, AB

Securities Investor Fraud Many Fools’ Gold May 5, 1997 Headlines: Bre-X Minerals Limited was a “Canadian mining exploration company that falsified the gold strike (in Indonesia) and then hyped its stock price to the heavens” from Wall Street Journal. The Washington Post headlines read “A Lode of Lies: How Bre-X Fooled Everyone No Deposit, No Return”. The Calgary Sun, home city of Bre-X in Canada headlines read “Bre-x: There’s No Gold - MASSIVE FRAUD”. Two days earlier, before the story had broke, I had arrived in Calgary to attend a meeting in the boardroom of Bre-X the next day with... Read More...

IBM, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Securities Investor Fraud A Personal Pension? The internal auditor for this Fortune 100 Company raised kickback allegations involving someone in management responsible in Europe for investments made with the company’s pension fund. Counsel retained me to conduct an investigation in the Netherlands. When company documents were examined, it became apparent that these allegations had been raised without considering alternative explanations and situations that, in the end, did answer the issues. However, to be safe, the investigation was extended to include meetings with certain brokers used extensively by the pension director. There was no foundation for the allegations. Read More...

Guarantee Company of North America v. Gordon Capital Corp, Toronto

Securities Fidelity Claim, Management Fraud A Lesson in Derivatives Gordon Capital was an investment dealer and brokerage firm in Toronto that carried a $25 million fidelity insurance policy with Guarantee for “dishonest and fraudulent acts committed by an employee…” and Eric Racher was a Gordon partner responsible for the Derivative Products Group in Toronto. Bottom line: Because of Rachar’s misrepresentations, Gordon accepted worthless collateral which exposed the firm to high risk. On June 14, 1991, the CEO of Gordon received a phone call from a third party who expressed some concerns and two weeks later I received a phone call... Read More...

Law Firm

Securities Tax Evasion Taxing the rules Taxing authorities bring a different dimension when counsel’s client is a target. International transactions that are complex and perhaps unique seem to attract a more eager level of interest, especially if the target has some profile. As noted in an earlier high profile case, it is very important to address the allegations early in the process, if one is to persuade the taxing authority that another interpretation is available for a set of transactions. First hand information gathering by the forensic accountant is essential for maximum creditability with the tax authorities, so some international... Read More...

Regina vs. John Pullman (Switzerland), Roger St. Germain and Robert Keyser

Securities Investor Fraud Buy Stock and Rent a Corner Gas Station Robert Keyser was the President of Aquablast Inc., and pled guilty to conspiracy to defraud European investors in a stock promotion involving a water blast industrial cleaning system in March 1977. While renting a corner gas station in Toronto, Aquablast boasted in Europe that it had a paper value of $5 million. My role was that of a consultant and not a witness. Accordingly, I was able to examine financial records seized in Switzerland by the RCMP from John Pullman who was the apparent moneyman for Meyer Lansky, a... Read More...

Regina vs. Sid Rosen, Irving Kott and others

Securities Investor Fraud Flogging in Somed Mines This was a stock market scheme involving shares of an obscure Quebec company called Somed Mines Ltd. The case heard in May, 1976 involved allegations of stock market manipulations, which included bribes to stockbrokers to encourage selling to their clients. Unique to this case was my role as a witness. Crown Counsel (now Honourable Justice) David Doherty felt it unnecessary to call me as his final witness because his case submissions had gone well. However, defense counsel decided to call me as their witness and in the box I went. This was an... Read More...