International authorities are participating in investigations into Miami-based Providence Financial Investments and its affiliates, which took in the life savings of hundreds of U.S. investors in an investment scheme involving Brazilian “factoring,” the Miami Herald reported today. The company filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection last week following actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to shut it down. On Monday, the Royal Court of Guernsey ordered the appointment of “administrative managers” for Providence Investment Funds and its manager company, Providence Investment Management International Limited. Guernsey, a resort area and financial center, is one of the British Channel Islands where Providence operations were based and where it was actively soliciting investors until late July. The court was acting on the “urgent” request of the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, Guernsey’s regulatory body, and followed the fund’s suspension and resignations of Providence’s directors there on Aug. 4 and 5, less than a week after the company’s U.S. Miami-based unit declared bankruptcy. Read more.
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