If all else fails then I will need to get to Jersey later in year and see what can be done as private court case without a lawyer.
thanks again
George
I remember stopping to read your placard during your last visit - I vaguely remember saying a few words, probably along the lines of "good luck with that".........
I don't remember the ins and outs of your story, and frankly don't really care - in many respects I have little sympathy for anyone who stuffs there money into things they either don't understand or control, let alone does so using the "magic" of offshore. Appreciate that might sound a bit unsympathetic, but that's just how it is. Just be glad you didn't have any dealings with the average Jersey Trust Company......they make Monkeys writing Shakespeare look competent
.
Having said all that, here is what I would do - play mean!
1) IMO pretty much wasting your time doing anything in Jersey - but nonetheless worthwhile for you to find out how the legal options available to you work in practice.
2) Personalise the dispute. By now you probably have a good idea of the folk involved at SC - what you want is to work out the staff structure and reporting lines from the individual in question up to and including the board of Directors (both at the time and current, if different), and I would also include the Compliance Dept in that. Do some Googling (Linkedin.com will probably be useful, and probably facebook) and build up a file on each person, especially past jobs. some pics would also be nice.....and then plaster the information onto your own website, along with the allegations - keep it factual (don't want to get sued!) but can add a bit of NoTW spin onto what you write (without getting all ranty!)......sooner or later one or more of them will be looking for another job, and the higher up they are the more likely there background will be Googled up.
3) Get their home addresses - and write to them (preferably from a lawyer), don't expect anyone to put there hands up but allows you to ask questions that you can refer to on your Website - with or without answers. NoTW style
. Addresses will also be needed later for the subpoenas.........
4) widen the battlefield - sounds like the products had some connection to the US, even if remote / vague. I would look to raise the matter in the US (New York?) as both a civil and criminal matter - even if you expect things to never progress. Ideally you want a Lawyer or Judge to issue subpoenas / collect depositions not only to SC but to the individuals concerned - not as witnesses, but as co-defendants! (some would have directly profitted from selling you the products, others indirectly). Good fodder for ya Website......plus the US has some real scary laws, which basically mean that if the Govt wants ya - they get ya. Wire Fraud and Conspiracy spring to mind....more than one involved is a conspiracy! anything that passes through US jurisdiction (whether money or e-mails is in their remit), anything involving US Dollar is a US treasury matter.....not just on the original transaction but on the subsequent events (a cover up?!).
Obviously the likely first reaction of the US authorities is SFA to do with them - in many respects the SEC etc are more inept than the JFSC, but there claws and reach are bigger. far bigger. In an ideal world you want to find someone (within either the American judicial system or politically - ideally both) who is interested in scoring some cheap points by going after a soft target in offshore tax havens who are "stealing all the money / jobs of hardworking Americans, blah, blah, blah" - remember it is US election year, everyone likes cheap points! An easy way to also send a shot accross the bows of Offshore world (all the more for Delaware!). The benefits of your case is that you are not a US freindly Saudi Prince, nor a Gulf State Minister for Internal Security - so no fallout for the US. Plus SC is not a US Headquarted bank, so no self interest at play.
If you can get some traction in the US, then my bet is that you will get offered a settlement. Ain't no one from Jersey wants to visit the US risking jail time (first to squeal gets the deal!) - and the Jersey board probably don't want the case discussed at Group level, let alone Group coming to do some digging and then use as an excuse for scapegoating for
other reasons (office politics get meaner the higher up ya get!).......and JFSC probably would be happy to avoid being criticised in passing.....hell, they would be very happy not to appear on the Radar of anything in the US.
Just to clarify, am not a Lawyer - nor have I ever worked at SC.
