Rachel Ritfeld and Michael Prest from Bank of Nevis International Trust Services Inc (BONITS)
A representative of Bank of Nevis International Trust Services (BONITS) was on hand, at the conference too. No, it's not a bank, it's a licensed trust and "business services" (akin Mossac Fonseca, Panama papers company) provider with post office box as the mailing address.
Britain’s biggest-ever tax fraud — for which five men were jailed in November, after attempting to scam the Treasury out of £107m in tax — involved Nevis-registered companies, which were helping to hide the identity of the fraudsters. The family of a former president of Taiwan used a Nevis trust to help to hide its ownership of corruptly acquired US property. Ukraine’s deposed president, Viktor Yanukovych, used Nevis structures to hide his stolen assets, as did corrupt Russian officials who stole $230m from the budget in 2007. (When the accountant Sergei Magnitsky uncovered the scam, they arrested him and left him to die in jail.) British trader Navinder Sarao, who pleaded guilty to fraud for helping cause 2010’s flash crash, diverted some of his profits to a Nevis structure called the NAV Sarao Milking Markets Fund.
Nevis: how the world's most secretive offshore haven refuses to clean up.
But BONITS is too shady even by Nevis standards, as its full license was revoked, and it operates with a limited licence. Well, operated, since on Sep 27, 2022 its president, Michael Prest, "a seasoned strategic investor with a strong track record of growing successful businesses across a range of industries and sectors in Africa, the Caribbean, Asia and Europe." was unsuccessful in his attempt to stay the execution of two (2) warrants and will now be arresed, charged and tried for two counts of fraud and conversion.
Mihcael Prest, BONITS's President
He is now being sought by police and the local authorities are urging Prest to surrender to the police and submit to the criminal process to avoid Interpol warrant.
In case you doubted, Mr. Prest was also among the distingueshed guests at the summit, you can see him ot the bottom of page 22 of the agenda.
Mihcael Prest, a distinguised guest of Sir Anthony Ritossa
With such an immaculate record, Rachel Ritfeld, BONIT's representative for "Global Business Development" was in its place on a panel with Anthony Ritossa, Markus Lehner, Prince Michel de Yougoslavie, Tatsiana Zaretskaya and Francesco Lombardo.
Full panel: Markus Lehner, Anthony Ritossa, Rachel Ritfeld, Francesco Lombardo, Queen Diambi, Tatsiana Zaretskaya, Prince Michel de Yougoslavie.
Our verdict:
