Current News about the Cayman Islands in the Foreign Press

Tuesday,  June 21, 2005

Utilities scam Oregon ratepayers using Cayman subsidiaries

PORTLAND, USA – According to BlueOregon columnist Dan Meek, for several years, the large electricity and gas utilities regulated by the Oregon Public Utility Commission have been charging to Oregon ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars for “state income taxes” and “federal income taxes” that in fact have not been paid to any government.
How do the utilities get away with this, despite their very large annual net incomes? Most of these utilities are parts of corporate conglomerates and do not even file their own tax returns. The returns are filed by their corporate parents, such as Enron, which deduct billions of dollars in alleged losses experienced by the corporate parents and affiliates, through their subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands and equally attractive business locations.

Option proceeds went to Grand Cayman

MONTREAL, Canada – The Montreal Gazette reports that a Quebec judge has authorized bailiffs to seize the assets of Norshield Financial Group and its embattled CEO, John Xanthoudakis, in the latest effort by Cinar Corp. to retrieve US$59 million the company says it is owed.

In 1999, Norshield Composite Ltd. purchased a basket of options from RBC Dominion Securities. The options were ceded to the Univest Multi-Strategy Fund II Ltd. - another company allegedly connected to Xanthoudakis - which cashed US$15 million of the options.

“It is quite possible that the US$15 million cashed by Univest Multi-Strategy Fund II Ltd. ... went to Grand Cayman as will any further amounts paid in respect of these options,” said Wesley Voorheis, the chairperson of Cinar’s litigation committee in an affidavit..

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