Guernsey justice? Guernsey criminal Ponzi operators fined £55k and banned!!!!

By way of reminder

• 'Antonio Buzaneli orchestrated a massive fraud scheme that victimised hundreds of individual investors around the globe. In April 2018,  Buzaneli pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud
• His co-conspirators, Jose Manuel Ordonez, jr., and Julio Enrique Rivera, each admitted one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
• Guernsey was among the jurisdictions worldwide where Buzaneli and Ordonez set up Providence-affiliated entities,

Some key dates

• In 2011 - Under the Providence global operations in Guernsey, Mr Antonio Carlos de Godoy Buzaneli fraudulently solicited and caused others to fraudulently solicit more than £ 37 million from European investors by falsely representing that money invested in the Guernsey funds would be used to factor accounts receivable in Brazil.
• On the 7th day of June 2016, the SEC filed a Complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, Case No. 16-cv-01877-WMW-FLN, against Providence Financial and Providence Fund, among others, alleging the violation of various securities laws, which resulted in an order appointing a receiver. 86.
• On the 9th day of August 2016, by Order of the Royal Court of Guernsey on the application of the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (the "GFSC"), Andrew Isham and Phil Bowers of Deloitte LLP were appointed as the Administration Managers to Providence Investment Funds PCC Limited and its manager Providence Investment Management International Limited.
• http://providencetrustee.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/ECF-214-Adversary-Complaint-re-Grant-Thornton-LLP-Cadwalader-Wickersham-Taft-LLP-and-Green-Espel-.pdf
• ON the 19th day of April 2018 - Antonio Buzaneli, The chief executive of Providence Companies Group, admitted to orchestrating a $150m scam that mainly duped elderly and vulnerable people worldwide. Buzaneli entered a guilty plea for one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud to a court in the US on the 19th day of April 2018.

On 4^th March 2021,

• The GFSC has Imposed a £55,000 discretionary financial penalty on Mr Jose Eduardo Paula de Lima Araujo.

Also, the GFSC prohibited the following from performing any function on behalf of a regulated entity. 

• Mr Jose Eduardo Paula de Lima Araujo. (Providence Managing Director – Brazil),
• Mr Antonio Carlos de Godoy Buzaneli (Providence Founder and Chief Executive Officer) and
• Mr Jose Manuel Ordoñez (Providence Chief Operating Officer)
• (collectively the "Individuals")

Also

• The exemption set out in section 3(1)(g) of the Regulation of Fiduciaries, Administration Business and Company Directors, etc. (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2000 (which would otherwise permit an individual to act as a director of not more than six companies without a fiduciary licence) has also been disapplied in respect of the Individuals.

These sanctions were imposed on the above-named persons as a result of their failure to meet the minimum criteria for licensing.

• GFSC LINK = https://www.gfsc.gg/news/mr-antonio-carlos-de-godoy-buzaneli-mr-jose-manuel-ordonez-and-mr-jose-eduardo-paula-de-lima

Remind yourself about Providence Financial

• http://providencetrustee.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/ECF-214-Adversary-Complaint-re-Grant-Thornton-LLP-Cadwalader-Wickersham-Taft-LLP-and-Green-Espel-.pdf
• https://archive.comsuregroup.com/investigation-into-providence-financial-expands-globally/
• https://international-adviser.com/lawsuit-over-collapsed-providence-fund-challenged/
• https://guernseypress.com/news/2018/05/02/ceo-of-providence-admits-his-part-in-150m-scam/