ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada, CANA:
TWO OF the main figures behind an offshore bank whose licence the Grenada government cancelled this month have been arrested in the United States, according to the Miami-based newsletter Offshore Alert.
The newsletter said David Rowe and Gerard Burns, the principals of the Grenada-registered Cambridge International Bank and Trust, were also being held without bail.
Offshore Alert reported the arrests as breaking news on its Internet website Sunday, but did not say exactly what the two men were being held for. There has been no corroboration of the information.
The reported arrest was said to have followed the filing of a criminal complaint at the US district court for the northern district of California in relation to their activities at Cambridge International.
According to Offshore Alert, Rowe was preparing to leave the United States for Europe when he was arrested in Alabama, while Burns was arrested in Arizona.
Cambridge International was among 17 offshore banks shut down this month by the Grenada government, which said they had breached local banking laws. The 17 are reported to be sub-banks of First International, which collapsed last year after reports that US$150 million in deposits were diverted from it.
The government recently announced the appointment of international accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers to carry out a forensic audit geared at tracing the money to reimburse persons who invested in First Bank.
