serious and persistent breaches of Gibraltar’s financial services legislation.

Financial Services Commission has today, pursuant to Section 11 of the Financial Services (Investment and Fiduciary Services) Act cancelled the licences of the following licensed firms and persons ;
Gibland Secretarial Services Limited ; Licence No FSC00171B
Gibland Nominees Limited ; Licence No FSC00175B
Equity Nominees Limited ; Licence No FSC00174B
Equitar Management Limited ; Licence No FSC00172B
Gibter Management Limited ; Licence No FSC00173B
Cabor Trustees Limited ; Licence No FSC00430B
Meridian Trustees Limited ; Licence No FSC00890B
Marrache, Benjamin John Samuel ; Licence No FSC00736I
Marrache, Solomon S ; Licence No FSC00176I
The decision has been taken following an investigation into the affairs of the licensed entities and persons which in the opinion of the Commission have disclosed serious and persistent breaches of Gibraltar’s financial services legislation.
The Commission,while investigations continue, has taken immediate measures to safeguard the interests of the existing clients of these firms and has appointed Mr Frederick White Managing Director of Grant Thornton (Gibraltar) Limited of 6a Queensway, Gibraltar (Tel. 200 45502) as Authorised Administrator of all the above companies pursuant to the provisions of the Financial Services (Investment and Fiduciary Services) (Temporary Administration of Companies) Regulations 2010.

The Authorised Administrator will work closely with the clients of these firms in assisting them to transfer their business to other licensed entities at the earliest opportunity having regard to the particular needs of individual clients.

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Marrache & Co Gibraltar bank account supposed to hold the company’s cash in fact had a balance of less than nine Euros and no credit facility.

Two senior executives at a prominent Gibraltar law firm, brothers Benjamin and Solomon Marrache, appeared before the Magistrates Court yesterday charged with false accounting in respect of E1.8m of client money.The two men were arrested on Tuesday and spent the night in police cells before being ferried to court in a police van.The two Marrache brothers were ushered by police through a side entrance to Central Police station just before 10am and appeared before the magistrate in a crowded courthouse a short while later.Attorney General Ricky Rhoda, appearing for the Crown, urged the magistrate to impose stringent bail conditions for fear that the two men might flee the jurisdiction.Keith Azopardi, the defence lawyer representing the Marrache brothers together with Samantha Sacramento, said there was no risk of them leaving Gibraltar because both were of previous good character and had strong family ties here.Stipendiary Magistrate Charles Pitto granted bail but set tough conditions on each defendant, in the form of two sureties to the value of £300,000 for each brother. The court also set a further financial condition of £150,000 in their own recognizance for each defendant.In simple terms, failure to appear at future court hearings could cost the defendants and their guarantors up to £900,000 in total.Both men also had to hand in their travel documents and agree to reside at their respective family homes, as well as report twice weekly to police.By the end of the day yesterday, a number of persons had stepped up to provide £600,000 in sureties for the release of the two men.At an hour-long hearing in the evening, Mr Pitto questioned the guarantors closely but accepted the sureties. The two brothers were released from custody later that evening.Yesterday’s developments in court were the opening shots in what will undoubtedly develop into a lengthy and complex case.Mr Rhoda said the sums of money involved “could be quite substantial”.He said the two men were currently facing “holding charges” and that more charges could follow at a later stage. The Attorney General also said there could be further arrests as a result of an ongoing police investigation.Earlier this week police raided several commercial and residential properties linked to Marrache & Co and seized documents and computers.Prosecutors allege that in January this year, the brothers falsified documents to conceal a shortfall of E1.8m of funds belonging to a company called Portino Comercio Internacional. One document, a letter signed by Solomon Marrache, purported to show that the money was held by the brothers on the client’s behalf. Another document, a letter signed by Benjamin Marrache, purported to give authority to Natwest bank to transfer the client’s money to a bank in Ireland.But prosecutors said that the Gibraltar bank account supposed to hold the company’s cash in fact had a balance of less than nine Euros and no credit facility.

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Silvio Berlusconi’s allies denied allegations by the son of a former mobster who said that the Sicilian Mafia had been involved

Silvio Berlusconi’s allies denied allegations by the son of a former mobster who said that the Sicilian Mafia had been involved in the founding of the Italian prime minister’s political party.

Massimo Ciancimino testified in court yesterday that his father, Vito, and Senator Marcello Dell’Utri, a founder of Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party, had together negotiated the mob’s backing before Berlusconi’s first election win in 1994.

“What he said about the party is totally false,” Dell’Utri said in an interview broadcast by Sky TG24. He said Palermo prosecutors are trying to undermine the government.

Ciancimino’s testimony, delivered during an unrelated trial in Palermo, is “an attempt to delegitimize a government that’s fighting the mafia,” Justice Minister Angelino Alfano said. While Berlusconi hasn’t commented, Italian newspapers including Corriere della Sera reported that he said he was “outraged.”

Dell’Utri, a former executive for Berlusconi’s media company, is appealing a 2004 conviction for aiding the mafia while working for Berlusconi. He was sentenced to nine years in prison. Neither Berlusconi nor Dell’Utri are defendants in the trial in which Ciancimino spoke.

Ciancimino was called to testify about the state’s alleged negotiations with the mob in the early 1990s in the trial of two police officials accused of aiding “boss of bosses” Bernardo Provenzano. The Carabinieri, or military police, allegedly told their men not to arrest Provenzano in 1995 when he attended a meeting with other mobsters. Provenzano was arrested in 2006 after spending 43 years as a fugitive.

Before entering politics with Forza Italia, which was merged into the People of Liberty party in 2008, Dell’Utri ran a Berlusconi-controlled advertising company from 1984 to 1995.

Prosecutors in Palermo sought Dell’Utri’s arrest in 1999 for corruption and mafia collusion. He was tried and convicted in 2004. During that trial another turncoat, Antonio Giuffre, testified that the mafia gave Berlusconi’s party electoral support in exchange for a promise of more lenient regulations on the incarceration of mob members. Berlusconi denied the charge

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Members of an Italian mafia group have been arrested after police uncovered their plans to kidnap Mourinho!

Members of an Italian mafia group have been arrested after police uncovered their plans to kidnap Mourinho! What were they thinking? He’d win them all over in quindici minuti! “Giovanni, I like your spirit but you are not listening to me no? I asked you to shave off your beard on Thursday. I don’t like these things. To become European Champion, you must do it or we don’t talk about it,” he’d say while making the table in a spare Lazio shirt.Anyway, the authorities found strong traces of wiretapping, photos and the coach’s home address in one of the mafia’s homes in Genoa. Gattuso was cleared of all charges, however, after being found cutting his fish in his restaurant while listening to Andrea Bocelli.
So all eyes will be on Dopey today as he prepares to announce the seleção that’ll face Ireland next month. Everyone’s wondering about The Dinho but unless he stops himself from hitting all of Milan’s hot spots with Boriello and starts showing some discipline, there’s no chance for a return. Dopey is all about discipline and consistency so never cross the line or he’ll scream “vá embora!” and that’s the end of you.And as for the list of strikers, El Pato has been nursing an injury for 24,241 years so he might not make it. Nilmar has been average (at best) for Villarreal so he might be left out. Fabulousoooo and Robinho will probably get the green light since boot camp ain’t the same without them

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