CANADIANS IN DATABASE
Here are some of the 350 Canadians whose passport images appear in the database:
Eric Van Nguyen, a 32-year-old Montrealer, registered a company in Samoa and an anonymous firm in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), according to the database records. He also faces criminal charges of fraud and grand larceny in New York State stemming from an alleged $290-million (U.S.) pump-and-dump penny stock scheme. The Star could not reach him at any of the emails or phone numbers listed in the database.
John Mark Wright, 49, set up a chain of three shell companies in the BVI to transfer profits from a mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo back to Canada, according to information in the database. Wright is a mutual fund broker in the GTA facing disciplinary proceedings by the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada related to the sale of $1.7 million in shares and mutual funds in a Bermuda-based company he co-founded in 2007. Wright did not respond to requests for comment.
Chuck Furey, 62, a former Newfoundland and Labrador cabinet minister, incorporated a company in Panama in 2008 to buy a condo. Furey says his lawyer advised him to place the property in a corporate structure “to protect myself personally against any liability, and also to put myself in a better local tax position in the event of a future sale.” Furey says he sold the company at a loss and calls it “one of the worst investments I’ve ever made in my life.” He says he no longer has any offshore assets.
Dr. Brian Shamess, 62, a sports physician based in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., who has worked for the Toronto Maple Leafs, registered a company in Panama in 2011 through Mossack Fonseca to facilitate his purchase of a beachfront condo on Panama Bay, according to the records. He did not respond to emails from the Star.
Eric Marc Levine, 60, a Montrealborn operator of a chain of fitness clubs in Asia, has registered at least 15 companies in the BVI over the years, according to the database records. In January, Levine had assets frozen by the Thai Anti-Money Laundering Office following allegations of public fraud. In March, he filed a $2.8 million (U.S.) defamation suit against the Anti-Money Laundering Office, saying there is “no evidence of wrongdoing.” Levine did not respond to the Star’s requests for comment.
Dave Feser, 50, a mixed-martial arts trainer in the Vancouver area, registered an anonymous corporation in British Anguilla with an office in Switzerland. “This is my personal business, and I don’t want to discuss business plans that I’m doing,” Feser told the Star. “I’m a hard worker. . . . There’s nothing even associated with this company.” In March 2011, Feser was charged with assault with a weapon in an alleged domestic incident, as well as 10 other firearms charges. In October of that year, Feser received a conditional discharge and had his court file sealed. Robert Cribb, Marco Chown Oved, Christopher Reynolds and Tanya Talaga