To blackmail someone is one of the lowest crimes in my book.

Last August 4th I published the beginning of this email whilst awaiting legal advice.

Those of you who read it (http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/the-editor-speaks-criminal-blackmail/) will know I was warned by the RCIPS recently that I “COULD” be charged with criminal blackmail. I was left a stunning, confused and stuttering puzzled human being. Someone, a Fernando Moto Mendes, had made a charge against me, Colin George Wilson, of trying to blackmail him.

Here now is a very much watered down version of the original Editorial I didn’t publish back in August. I hope you think it is worth the wait.

Let’s go back to the beginning – a very good place to start. (I am not going to sing!)
Some of you may have seen the retraction and apology note iNews Cayman ran on the front page under Breaking News – “BATEMAN FINANCIAL LTD & ORS RE: CAYMAN iNEWS APOLOGY & RETRACTION”. The link is http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/ryan-bateman-fugitive-from-grand-cayman-hunted-by-bounty-hunters-in-usa/

The offending articles we published were ““Ryan Bateman fugitive from Grand Cayman hunted by Bounty Hunters In USA” and “Alert issued for fugitive Cayman Islands fraudster hiding out in Miami”. The article was published on the Caribbean News Now website. The writer of the article, Kenneth Rijock, has written more recent ones on the same website all featuring Bateman. He is listed on the website as:

“Kenneth Rijock is a banking lawyer turned-career money launderer (10 years), turned-compliance officer specialising in enhanced due diligence, and a financial crime consultant who publishes a Financial Crime Blog. The Laundry Man, his autobiography, was published in the UK on 5 July 2012.”

Back to Mr Mendes:
Mendes employed a local lawyer and at all times when I spoke to him I was very polite and compliant. The lawyer sent me a list of a large number of points that he said were inaccurate with the articles. I didn’t argue and quite frankly then it wasn’t worth the financial bother of refusing when I hadn’t written the articles. Time in a few hours changes things.

At first I published the retraction and apology with the lawyer’s letter and his long list. I also complied and took down the two articles. The lawyer was not amused. He did not want his letter published nor the list as he said it compounded the problem and I could be sued by his client. I apologized of course and complied again. I then sent the lawyer a copy of another article I was thinking of publishing that was a follow up to one of the articles that was taken down. It was already in the public domain as it was on the Caribbean News Now website. It again was about Ryan Bateman and B&C Capital and also claimed Fernando Moto Mendes, who it claimed was now managing B&C Capital had left the Cayman Islands and no one knew where he was. I asked the lawyer whether he had any legal objections to me publishing it? He gave me no advice on it but gave me a “credit” for letting him know the article was on a website. All very cozy we were now after all this and becoming friends. I like to be friends with people even ones threatening they are going to sue me.

Because I had been charged by the lawyer of not being a good journalist for not checking out the facts I wrote another email asking a large number of questions concerning the aforesaid article I had not yet published. I really wanted to make sure this one was 100% correct. Thinking that the lawyer might not answer me, lawyer’s time is valuable, I gave the same time I was given of 72 hours to answer otherwise I was going to publish the article. I thought perhaps I might get another credit from the lawyer but there was no reply. One of my questions was concerning the whereabouts of Mr Mendes. Was he indeed missing from the Cayman Islands and if he was did the lawyer know his whereabouts? The article indicated that investors could not find anyone and they could not get any monies out of their accounts.

All the lawyer had to have done was say Mr Mendes was on the Island and had visited his office and he was the person making the complaint. In fact all he had to say was Mendes had not left Cayman. That would have been good enough reason not to publish the article because it had proved one gigantic flaw. The matter would have been closed.

For reasons I cannot comprehend Mendes goes to the police making out a case I was blackmailing him. And the police called me because of the complaint.

Now let me now deal with Mr Mendes.

David Marchant of OffshoreAlert produced an article on August 12, 201l “BANIF Cayman hit by arrest of senior manager and lawsuit” at: http://www.offshorealert.com/GetArticle.aspx?id=34826
HIGHLIGHTS
Fernando Mendes arrested in Cayman
Valdemar Lopes allegedly helped son accused of fraud
“Allegations of financial impropriety have been made against two former senior officers of the Cayman Islands operations of the Portugal-headquartered Banif Financial Group.”

Anther article from The Caymanian Compass authored by Carol Winker appeared on the 20th October 2011 under the headline “Company director elects Grand Court” at: http://www.compasscayman.com/story.aspx?id=87276

However, at his 2014 trial in the Grand Court it was “found that the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service had failed to obtain and retain material evidence, which made it impossible for the defendant to have a fair trial, and stayed the proceedings, discharging Mendes”!

From OffshoreAlert “Highgate Securities Ltd. v. B & C Capital Ltd.: Writ of Summons
Writ of Summons in Highgate Securities Ltd. v. B & C Capital Ltd. at the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.
KEYWORDS
Bateman Financial Ltd.
Ryan Bateman
SOURCE: http://www.offshorealert.com/GetDocument.aspx?id=52544

Since the conversation with the police officer I received a more pleasant one from the RCIPS’ Public Relations Officer and the blackmail matter is now closed.

However, the Bateman saga is still going on and has broadened now into claims by Kenneth Rijock that a Canadian wealth management firm behind a Cayman Islands trading scheme has been identified.

This same article can be found on various websites and most have a link back to the Caribbean News Now website if they have not published it in full.

I am saying no more and not even providing the direct link. If you locate it read at your “peril”.