Post by kranker on Nov 8, 2005 23:16:26 GMT -4
A Co-Conspirator to Refco found hiding in Austria – November 8, 2005
David Patch
In late December 2003 the Department of Justice issued arrest warrants for two former executives of Rhino Advisors. Thomas and Andreas Badian were wanted for criminal conspiracy securities fraud in connection with the stock manipulation of Pennsylvania based Sedona Corporation (OTCBB: SDNA).
As identified in the arrest warrants, the DOJ had in their possession audio recordings whereby Andreas Badian was recorded bribing two brokers who reportedly worked for Refco Securities to “sell with unbridled levels of aggression.” Badian later telling the brokers to “be merciless” when selling Sedona’s stock. The arrest warrants also identified that the recordings finally concluded with congratulations to the brokers on the “collapse” of Sedona.
These audio recordings being delivered to the DOJ after the Securities and Exchange Commission concluded a multi-year investigation into Rhino Advisors with a $1 Million fine in February 2003. The executives of Rhino Advisors never contested the SEC’s allegations.
This complete story, including the text of the arrest warrants, was fully covered by the Wall Street Journal, Canadian Newspaper Stockwatch as well as the Faulking Truth and I at Stockgate Today.
As for this Rhino Advisors enforcement action, this case has been the SEC’s poster child of reference to all nay Sayers who have claimed the SEC has taken few steps to enforce the illegal acts of naked shorting and stock manipulation. The SEC referenced Rhino Advisors in all communications to members of Congress seeking out responses to constituent concerns over naked shorting abuses and a lack of regulatory enforcement and cites this action in their proposal for Regulation SHO and the follow on Q & A sessions posted by the Division of Market Regulation.
Needless to say, the SEC is rather proud of themselves for taking a $1 Million fine on a $50 Million or more scheme to defraud.
With arrest warrants in hand following the SEC action, US Atty. Marsha Isaacson was able to apprehend Andreas Badian for criminal securities fraud violations. Miraculously brother Thomas, CEO of Rhino Advisors, fled the country for whereabouts unknown. There was rumor that Thomas Badian was able to flee the country based on an inside tip from a regulatory official but as of this report the rumor has not been substantiated.
In a TIME Magazine exclusive, reporter Dan Kadlac broke the news that Thomas Badian has in fact been located and that a subpoena was served on Badian in August 2005 by the legal team representing Sedona in the civil lawsuit against Rhino Advisors and several other Wall Street Institutions. Badian’s whereabouts – Austria.
Now what is fascinating about Austria is that it seems to repeatedly come into play when the topic is securities fraud.
Recall earlier that it was Andreas Badian who was recorded bribing brokers reportedly working at Refco Securities to manipulate Sedona. Yes the same Refco that has recently imploded in a securities scandal of its own which involved offshore Hedge Funds, bad debt, and illegal accounting practices.
At the time of the Refco implosion, the US Attorney arrested CEO Phillip Bennett as he was reportedly seeking to leave the country. The location on the plane ticket … Austria. In addition to that coincidence it was a small Austrian bank that had, just 2 earlier, provided Bennett with a $430 Million loan to cover the bad debt that suddenly appeared on the Refco Ledger. Within a week of the loan, the bank declared that they could absorb the loss should it have to as Refco filed for bankruptcy. The collateral for the loan being shares of Refco stock Bennett owned that went from $30.00 to $0.65.
You got to be kidding. An Austrian bank is willing to absorb a $430 million loss in a matter of 7-days for a guy in the US? Sign me up for a loan.
Seems Austria is not that small after all.
A spot of a country that is nestled between the borders of Austria and Switzerland is Liechtenstein. This tiny little country of 76 sq. kilometers and roughly 34,000 inhabitants is listed as being in the top 15 for countries with lax money laundering controls.
Why and how does Liechtenstein thus come into this party of Phillip Bennett and Thomas Badian?
Some believe the connection comes in through Dr. Dr. Herbert Batliner [no that is not a typo he holds a double doctorate degree] who operates his business out of Liechtenstein and who has direct connections to Rhino Advisors and the offshore Swiss Hedge Fund AMRO. It was AMRO after all with whom Rhino Advisors was illegally shorting on behalf of through Refco Securities when Sedona Corporation was being manipulated.
Dr. Dr. Batliner himself was reportedly under investigation in Europe back in the 2001 for securities related violations according to Stacey Mosher of TheDeal.com, a NY based investment and finance site. In addition the PIPE’s Report identified that, Batliner was the subject of investigations by German intelligence, reports of which were leaked to Der Spiegel, linking the doctor-doctor to money laundering operations with the Russian mafia, the Medellin drug cartel, the Ferdinand Marcos family, and Kohl’s Christian Democratic Union party.
Dr. Dr. Batliner appears to be player to be reckoned with.
As for the Swiss Fund AMRO, they have been specifically linked to over $47 Million Private Investment in Public Equity deals (PIPE) involving Rhino Advisors. Sedona Corporation just being a percentage of that overall total PIPE placements.
It could be safe to assume that with the audio recordings obtained by the DOJ, Rhino Advisors had a long-standing relationship with Refco Securities and these particular brokers took the orders from Mr. Badian on more than simply the Sedona PIPE deal. You don’t just make first contact over the phone and discuss manipulating a stock with people you do not know you can trust.
So how many more Sedona manipulations are out there that the SEC has failed to respond to?
The answer probably lies in Austria where Thomas Badian is pent up hiding from an outstanding DOJ arrest warrant here in the United States.
How Sedona’s Attorney can issue Badian a subpoena, and a TIME Magazine reporter can knock on his door for an interview, yet the DOJ hasn’t been able to obtain custody of Badian in nearly 2-years is a question we should all be wondering.
Hiding in Austria, Badian can work his fraud through phone connections as easily as if he was still in his NY Office. He just has to work the time zones a little differently. How do we know he isn’t? We don’t!
Where are the Federal regulators? They are handing out bonuses on Wall Street for the Christmas Season. Apparently when they drafted the ‘grandfather’ clause into Regulation SHO some at the SEC Directors and Commissioners got the message wrong and thought it said “Santa” clause. It is a busy time and lots of bonuses to be handed out for ill-gotten revenues from securities fraud.
For the record, the TIME Magazine reports that Badian’s Attorney, Perrie Weiner denies any wrongdoing by his client. Weiner citing dismissed lawsuits in cases such as Sedona’s. The problem for Attorney Weiner and Thomas Badian is that Sedona’s case has not been dismissed by the US Courts and certainly hiding from an arrest warrant is no sign of innocence.
www.investigatethesec.com/DP20051108.htm
David Patch
In late December 2003 the Department of Justice issued arrest warrants for two former executives of Rhino Advisors. Thomas and Andreas Badian were wanted for criminal conspiracy securities fraud in connection with the stock manipulation of Pennsylvania based Sedona Corporation (OTCBB: SDNA).
As identified in the arrest warrants, the DOJ had in their possession audio recordings whereby Andreas Badian was recorded bribing two brokers who reportedly worked for Refco Securities to “sell with unbridled levels of aggression.” Badian later telling the brokers to “be merciless” when selling Sedona’s stock. The arrest warrants also identified that the recordings finally concluded with congratulations to the brokers on the “collapse” of Sedona.
These audio recordings being delivered to the DOJ after the Securities and Exchange Commission concluded a multi-year investigation into Rhino Advisors with a $1 Million fine in February 2003. The executives of Rhino Advisors never contested the SEC’s allegations.
This complete story, including the text of the arrest warrants, was fully covered by the Wall Street Journal, Canadian Newspaper Stockwatch as well as the Faulking Truth and I at Stockgate Today.
As for this Rhino Advisors enforcement action, this case has been the SEC’s poster child of reference to all nay Sayers who have claimed the SEC has taken few steps to enforce the illegal acts of naked shorting and stock manipulation. The SEC referenced Rhino Advisors in all communications to members of Congress seeking out responses to constituent concerns over naked shorting abuses and a lack of regulatory enforcement and cites this action in their proposal for Regulation SHO and the follow on Q & A sessions posted by the Division of Market Regulation.
Needless to say, the SEC is rather proud of themselves for taking a $1 Million fine on a $50 Million or more scheme to defraud.
With arrest warrants in hand following the SEC action, US Atty. Marsha Isaacson was able to apprehend Andreas Badian for criminal securities fraud violations. Miraculously brother Thomas, CEO of Rhino Advisors, fled the country for whereabouts unknown. There was rumor that Thomas Badian was able to flee the country based on an inside tip from a regulatory official but as of this report the rumor has not been substantiated.
In a TIME Magazine exclusive, reporter Dan Kadlac broke the news that Thomas Badian has in fact been located and that a subpoena was served on Badian in August 2005 by the legal team representing Sedona in the civil lawsuit against Rhino Advisors and several other Wall Street Institutions. Badian’s whereabouts – Austria.
Now what is fascinating about Austria is that it seems to repeatedly come into play when the topic is securities fraud.
Recall earlier that it was Andreas Badian who was recorded bribing brokers reportedly working at Refco Securities to manipulate Sedona. Yes the same Refco that has recently imploded in a securities scandal of its own which involved offshore Hedge Funds, bad debt, and illegal accounting practices.
At the time of the Refco implosion, the US Attorney arrested CEO Phillip Bennett as he was reportedly seeking to leave the country. The location on the plane ticket … Austria. In addition to that coincidence it was a small Austrian bank that had, just 2 earlier, provided Bennett with a $430 Million loan to cover the bad debt that suddenly appeared on the Refco Ledger. Within a week of the loan, the bank declared that they could absorb the loss should it have to as Refco filed for bankruptcy. The collateral for the loan being shares of Refco stock Bennett owned that went from $30.00 to $0.65.
You got to be kidding. An Austrian bank is willing to absorb a $430 million loss in a matter of 7-days for a guy in the US? Sign me up for a loan.
Seems Austria is not that small after all.
A spot of a country that is nestled between the borders of Austria and Switzerland is Liechtenstein. This tiny little country of 76 sq. kilometers and roughly 34,000 inhabitants is listed as being in the top 15 for countries with lax money laundering controls.
Why and how does Liechtenstein thus come into this party of Phillip Bennett and Thomas Badian?
Some believe the connection comes in through Dr. Dr. Herbert Batliner [no that is not a typo he holds a double doctorate degree] who operates his business out of Liechtenstein and who has direct connections to Rhino Advisors and the offshore Swiss Hedge Fund AMRO. It was AMRO after all with whom Rhino Advisors was illegally shorting on behalf of through Refco Securities when Sedona Corporation was being manipulated.
Dr. Dr. Batliner himself was reportedly under investigation in Europe back in the 2001 for securities related violations according to Stacey Mosher of TheDeal.com, a NY based investment and finance site. In addition the PIPE’s Report identified that, Batliner was the subject of investigations by German intelligence, reports of which were leaked to Der Spiegel, linking the doctor-doctor to money laundering operations with the Russian mafia, the Medellin drug cartel, the Ferdinand Marcos family, and Kohl’s Christian Democratic Union party.
Dr. Dr. Batliner appears to be player to be reckoned with.
As for the Swiss Fund AMRO, they have been specifically linked to over $47 Million Private Investment in Public Equity deals (PIPE) involving Rhino Advisors. Sedona Corporation just being a percentage of that overall total PIPE placements.
It could be safe to assume that with the audio recordings obtained by the DOJ, Rhino Advisors had a long-standing relationship with Refco Securities and these particular brokers took the orders from Mr. Badian on more than simply the Sedona PIPE deal. You don’t just make first contact over the phone and discuss manipulating a stock with people you do not know you can trust.
So how many more Sedona manipulations are out there that the SEC has failed to respond to?
The answer probably lies in Austria where Thomas Badian is pent up hiding from an outstanding DOJ arrest warrant here in the United States.
How Sedona’s Attorney can issue Badian a subpoena, and a TIME Magazine reporter can knock on his door for an interview, yet the DOJ hasn’t been able to obtain custody of Badian in nearly 2-years is a question we should all be wondering.
Hiding in Austria, Badian can work his fraud through phone connections as easily as if he was still in his NY Office. He just has to work the time zones a little differently. How do we know he isn’t? We don’t!
Where are the Federal regulators? They are handing out bonuses on Wall Street for the Christmas Season. Apparently when they drafted the ‘grandfather’ clause into Regulation SHO some at the SEC Directors and Commissioners got the message wrong and thought it said “Santa” clause. It is a busy time and lots of bonuses to be handed out for ill-gotten revenues from securities fraud.
For the record, the TIME Magazine reports that Badian’s Attorney, Perrie Weiner denies any wrongdoing by his client. Weiner citing dismissed lawsuits in cases such as Sedona’s. The problem for Attorney Weiner and Thomas Badian is that Sedona’s case has not been dismissed by the US Courts and certainly hiding from an arrest warrant is no sign of innocence.
www.investigatethesec.com/DP20051108.htm