Sencer Sevket, a British citizen, established a mutual fund in the Cayman Islands after a US federal court issued an arrest warrant for him on charges of investment fraud and despite an unpaid $21 million dollar judgement from US Bank. What causes this?
According to the warrant issued by the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, Sevket solicited $10 million from a US investor and promised a “risk-free” profit of $40 million after the first day and a 50% rate of return after that. Before Sevket opened the fund, the warrant was issued.
If the warrant and allegations of wrongdoing weren’t enough for Cayman authorities, his history of unpaid debts should have been. US Bank NA obtained a $21 million judgement against Sevket and his now-defunct company, Target International, in May 2006.
Five years prior, the feds obtained a court-ordered asset freeze against Target after the company misled investors by promising 6% monthly returns.
Prior to finishing this story, a copy of a Financial Services Authority decision was obtained, that found “serious concerns” with Sevket’s “honesty, integrity, and reputation.” That document was a little difficult to find because Sevket goes by the alias Sendjer Shefket.
To be fair and transparent, Sencer Sevket claims he accidentally walked into a meeting that was an FBI sting. He was never convicted of the US charges, and according to online court records, he was never summoned or arrested for them. His involvement with the Cayman fund cannot be confirmed directly due to banking secrecy rules, but the addresses, domain name registration, phone numbers, and a now-deleted LinkedIn profile establish the link.
The point of this story isn’t whether Sevket is a crook, an innocent victim who got caught up in an FBI sting, or a financial genius who can generate a 400% risk-free return overnight. Participants in financial markets must have trust in those markets and the people who regulate them in order for them to function effectively.
The warrant against Sencer Shefket a/k/a Sencer Sevket was dismissed without prejudice in 2013. The criminal complaint filed against him appears to have been sealed.
That didn’t stop the British from imprisoning Sencer Sevket for 7 years for a bogus movie loan scheme. In 2013, he was sentenced. According to a 2017 Politico article, he may be involved in money laundering for the Iranians. He was described as a “serial swindler… with a long record of malfeasance.”
We are not aware of any other convictions, with the exception of the UK prosecution. The purpose of this article is not to label Mr. Shefket a criminal; rather, it is to emphasise the importance of conducting due diligence before doing business with people in the offshore finance world.
Sencer Sevket Changes His Name Once More?
Marchant’s publication Offshore Alert reported in August 2020 that Sencer Sevket or Shefket is now free and going by the name Sencer Orhan. What is he up to now? We believe he is raising funds once more. Marchant claims to have entered into business with Abu Dhabi’s ruling family.
Whatever his name is today, we hope anyone investing does their homework before handing over their money.
The Value of Due Diligence
We live in a global economy that is dominated by multinational banks, mutual funds, and investment firms. There will always be frauds and criminals in any economy. However, with the amount of information available today via a simple Google search, fraudsters should not be able to simply pack their belongings and relocate to another country. They should not be able to simply change their name and start over.
The Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States can barely keep up with domestic fraud. When players cross international borders, the regulatory framework becomes even more shaky.
The SEC‘s mission is simple: “protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.” The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, which pledges to regulate and supervise financial services and assist overseas regulatory authorities, is the Cayman Islands equivalent of the SEC.
These mission statements sound great, but the truth is that financial regulators can’t even keep their own houses in order. A simple records check could have prevented Sevket from starting a new business or at the very least prompted a more thorough investigation.
Unfortunately, stories like this one are commonplace.
Pursuing fraudsters hiding in foreign countries is primarily a police matter. Even if we find them, recovering offshore assets is difficult, if not impossible, if the fraudster is incarcerated. Banks, lawyers, and auditors may all face liability if they aided and abetted the fraud.
In our experience, doing a little due diligence before investing is much easier than chasing fraudsters around the world to recover money lost.
We are not a global asset recovery firm. If you lost money in a complex international money laundering scheme, we may be able to assist you if a bank, auditor, stockbroker, or lawyer was involved. Our minimum loss is $1 million, but we will consider class action cases when necessary.
UPDATE: We received cease and desist letters from Mr. Sevket a/k/a Orhan in March and April of 2021. Our policy is to correct any errors in a post. We are not making any changes to our post in this case.
According to Sencer Sevket’s letter dated April 24th,
“As you are aware, the FBI complaint against me was dismissed in 2007. The US complaint issued on March 7th, 2003, was NEVER SERVED, and I was never asked to surrender, nor was I ever a fugitive/wanted person, arrested, or charged by the FBI.
The USD21 million civil case mentioned in your article is false and misleading. A USD21 judgement was never entered against me. I also have no connections to Iran for money laundering (there is no evidence of this anywhere).”
We don’t agree.
Our post correctly states that the criminal case in the United States was dismissed and the complaint was sealed. The criminal docket in the United Kingdom was not sealed as of the last time we checked. The point of our story was never Sevket’s guilt or innocence. It is more important to know who you are doing business with. The significance of thorough research.
All persons accused of a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty under our Constitution and government system. In the United States, we do not believe Sevket is a criminal.
More troubling is his claim that there was no $21 million judgement against him. We have a copy of the judgement from the Western District of Washington United States District Court (Tacoma WA). The total amount of the judgement against Sevket was $21,144,657.53. (including interest). We stand by our claims.
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