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Replies to post #1352 on Press Ventures Inc (PVEN)
11/14/13 7:20 AM
11/14/13 4:56 PM
assure that his assets are frozen. The filing names 20 different off-shore entities that Babikian allegedly controls and uses to shelter assets, including companies in the Bahamas, Guatemala, the British Virgin Islands, Belize, the Seychelles and Panama. Beg also claims that Babikian has companies or is forming entities in St. Kitts, Nevis and Hong Kong.
Babikian ran Awesome Penny Stocks from "specially encryptedBlackberrysmartphones, which he uses for a few days or weeks before destroying and replacing them," Beg claims in her filing. "He smashes his smartphones into small pieces that are disseminated in different garbage bins so that it is absolutely impossible for anyone to reconstitute the devices and have access to the information they once contained."
Beg linked Babikian to Houston attorney Leonnel Iruke of Omnisource Legal Group and Uyamadu Law Firm PLLC.
"Mr. Iruke works exclusively or almost exclusively for Babikian," Beg's filing states. "He is always available for Babikian and jumps on a plane to meet him in Monaco, Montreal or any other cities whenever he requires his presence. He is the one setting up corporate entities, helping Babikian to get different citizenships and to shelter his assets from recovery by any type of creditors."
Beg also claimed that Babikian runs cash through Iruke's trust account as a conduit for sundry expenditures and that a debt that Babikian supposedly owed Iruke was used as a basis for bankrupting a Quebec company that Babikian controlled.
Iruke did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.
With the money reaped from Awesome Penny, Babikian invested in real estate, buying a pair of homes in Los Angeles, according to a lawsuit filed by Beg in California Superior Court in Los Angeles. Babikian also invested in nine condos at the beach resort TheReefAtlantis in Nassau, Bahamas, as well as three waterfront lots in Quebec for $2.7 million, according to the Canadian injunction. He bought a condo in Montreal for $370,000 in cash and another piece of land in Quebec for $677,250 in another cash transaction.
Beg said that her husband used cash even in very large transactions. She claims that she once helped him count out $3 million to construct a home in Montreal.
Babikian also bought luxury cars, including 2010 Bentley Continent, a 2010 BMW X6, a 2010LamborghiniGallardo and a 2008 Bugatti Veyron, Beg claims.
Babikian's bankers were troubled by his accounts, according to the divorce filing. It said thatBank of Montrealclosed an account of Babikian's after he told the bank his yearly income was $24,000 but hundreds of thousands of dollars began posting to the account from odd locations and sources that were essentially untraceable.Royal Bank of CanadaandHSBCSwitzerland also told him to take his business elsewhere. On the other hand, HSBC Hong Kong, according to Beg, furnished Babikian with a device making it easier to do wire transfers from anyplace.
Beg listed accounts for Babikian in Los Angeles at Bank of America, as well as banks in Hong Kong, Monaco, the Bahamas, Belize and Malta.
Before he debarked for Monaco, it appears that Babikian's business and personal affairs took a turn. The Quebec revenue service filed documents in April that showed two businesses controlled by Babikian went bankrupt and that he sold off the 2010 Lamborghini Gallardo for C$190,000. He sold off a Range Rover in Los Angeles for $65,000 earlier this year. Beg said in a legal filing that the sale of the Range Rover, which was also in her name, was done against her wishes and that Babikian had to forge her name in order to sell the vehicle.
In June, according to Beg, Babikian removed the couple's wine collection that carried a value of $1 million as well as a pair of Arturo Di Modica bull statues worth $600,000, similar to the famed 11-foot sculpture at Bowling Green Plaza near Wall Street in New York.
While Babikian sold off the Lamborghini, he did manage to hold onto the Bugatti Veyron. According to Beg, Babikian avoided having the car seized by the tax agency by shipping it to Monaco. He had it brought back in June 2012 for the weekend of the Grand Prix Montreal. Following the race, Babikian allegedly shipped the car back to Monaco, frustrating the tax authorities who wanted to impound the car.
A Sept. 19 court filing in California shows that Beg filed a lawsuit against her husband for allegedly transferring ownership of the Los Angeles homes the couple owned to entities Babikian controlled in the Republic of Seychelles and Guatemala.
While Awesome Penny Stocks says it is out of the stock promotion business, the website Preferred Penny Stock, which has often promoted the same stocks as Awesome Penny, is trying a new strategy. The website, controlled by Belize-based Victory Mark Corp Ltd., announced on Nov. 4 that it was only going to promote stocks that are listed on theNew York Stock ExchangeorNasdaq.
"Over the last year, our team took serious notice of how the playing field is no longer level in the microcap markets," Preferred said on its website. "In order to continue bringing the best service to our subscribers, we need to change strategies."
Preferred is making an effort to disassociate itself from Awesome Penny Stocks.
"It's no secret that in the past we have been hired to alert some of the same companies as Awesome Penny Stocks, but let us assure you, there is NO affiliation," Preferred said on its website. "Our team has been watching the microcap market closely and frankly we believe the day of the penny stock newsletter has come to an end."
The promoter cited 38 microcap trading halts in the third quarter, the three Awesome Penny Stocks-promoted stocks halted in the last month and companies creating too many shares without regulatory oversight as reasons for its strategy shift.
