Bogus letters - Chancery Trust Company Limited

The Commission has previously issued general advice regarding bogus letters falsely purporting to have been issued by genuine Isle of Man institutions.

The Commission has recently become aware of letters falsely purporting to originate from the genuine holder of an Isle of Man Corporate Service Providers Licence, Chancery Trust Company Limited. The bogus letters appear to have been generated by reproducing in facsimile the letterhead of the genuine institution. The letters also include a false signature purporting to be that of an officer of the genuine institution.

For identification purposes we reproduce below an extract from the text of the bogus letters (the text in bold has been added or amended by the Commission in order to preserve the anonymity of the recipients and other innocent parties ).

“It is the final ruling of the Trust Administrator that funds in the total amount of $10.5 Million USD are to be released pending the requisite five day suspension of the Treasury Escrow Account held by (A Company) being held at (A Bank in the US), for further credit to Account Number (An account Number), ABA/Routing (An ABA/Routing Number). Funds derived from this transfer are to be utilized expressly and solely for the benefit of the Beneficiary Trustee, (A Named Individual), and in so doing are at law devoid of the jurisdictional tax protections in accordance with applicable regulations accorded to all British Dependent Territories.”

Any persons receiving correspondence purporting to originate from Isle of Man Financial Institutions and who have any doubts about the authenticity of the correspondence should contact the alleged originator who should be able to rapidly confirm whether or not it is genuine. Persons should not rely on telephone or fax numbers included within the suspect correspondence as these may have been entered by the forger of the document. You should contact the institution using a telephone, fax, email or postal address that you already know to be genuine or as an alternative one that you have obtained via a trusted third party. The Commission website contains details of all of our licence holders including details of their genuine postal addresses. These details may be used to contact the relevant institution or be used to obtain other genuine contact details by trusted methods.

Persons who have received correspondence matching that described above and who have concerns may contact the Enforcement Division on +44 1624 689313 or by email to fsc@gov.im

Persons who have queries as to the veracity of documents purporting to have been issued by Chancery Trust Company Limited may wish to confirm the position via the genuine institution by writing to Mr Keith Jones, Director, Chancery Trust Company Limited, 1st Floor, East Wing,Shearwater House, Nunnery Mills,Old Castletown Road, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM2 1QA ;Telephone: + 44 1624 647171; Fax: +44 1624 647172; Email: kjones@chancerytrust.com

Any persons who have paid away funds or given credit in relation to correspondence matching the above description, and which they have established by contacting the alleged originator is not genuine, should consider contacting their local police fraud unit without delay.

FSC Reference: JPM/32/2006