Sharon Lexa Lamb & Ryan Bateman & Derek Buntain
MIAMI, USA — Sharon Lexa Lamb, on behalf of the Cayman Islands ‘Gang of Four’, who are alleged to have illegally used client funds in a massive trading scam, has now demanded that the victims release them from all possible claims, before they assist in returning money and securities stolen from them by the very individuals who took their assets.
The victims have declined her offer and only a small amount of money has been recovered thus far.
Lamb has also now claimed that the corporate documents entrusted to her by the victims, a fact that she has previously admitted, are not in her possession, or that of co-director Derek Buntain, and it is feared that they have been destroyed or concealed.
Victims have now filed criminal complaints in Grand Cayman against the Gang of Four, who are:
(1) Lamb, who deceived the victims in believing their assets were safely held at Butterfield Bank, when they were actually being used to trade securities and collect profits by Bateman & Company and Northland Wealth Management, Inc. Lamb was a former senior vice president at Dundee Merchant Bank. She has threatened in writing to ensure that no victim ever receives restitution if she is named as a participant in the scam through the media.
(2) Fernando Moto Mendes, who replaced Bateman as managing director at Bateman & Company, and a number of related shell companies. Mendes remains a defendant in a pending criminal case in Grand Cayman where he allegedly embezzled six figures from a client. When a local Caymanian journalist filed a story about Bateman and Mendes, he made a formal complaint to the police, alleging that he was being blackmailed by the journalist. Mendes’ complaint was found to have no basis in fact. Mendes previously declared bankruptcy in Cayman, when he failed to repay a large debt, apparently owed to a client.
(3) Ryan Bateman, who made the illegal trades, is a fugitive from justice in the Cayman Islands, and under investigation for fraud, grand theft, and money laundering. He is believed to be in Panama. There are multiple complaints against him on record for misconduct associated with client assets that are missing.
(4) Derek Buntain, the former president of Dundee Merchant Bank. He maintains a residence and a large breeding farm on Prince Edward Island in Canada, although sources there state that he has failed to report sufficient income to Canadian tax authorities to account for his substantial wealth and assets.
He was an associate of Lamb, acting together with her in a fiduciary (director) relationship with clients, all of whose funds are now unaccounted for and missing. According to Buntain’s online biography, he resides in the Cayman Islands, where he is president of Winterborne Management Ltd, a private management company.
Civil and criminal filings against the Gang of Four are believed to be imminent, as well as against certain Canadian investment advisers who were also involved in the scam.
Kenneth Rijock is a banking lawyer turned-career money launderer (10 years), turned-compliance officer specialising in enhanced due diligence, and a financial crime consultant who publishes a Financial Crime Blog. The Laundry Man, his autobiography, was published in the UK on 5 July 2012.