St Kitts-Nevis diplomat charged with securities fraud in US
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| Published on Wednesday, October 8, 2008 |
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MIAMI, USA: An offshore services provider who serves as the Honorary Consul for St. Kitts & Nevis in Costa Rica has been accused of securities fraud in the United States, Miami-based financial newsletter Offshore Alert reports.
Jonathan Randall Curshen, a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and the US, who appears to reside in both Costa Rica and Sarasota, Florida, was arrested in New York after a criminal complaint alleging conspiracy to commit securities fraud was filed against him and a business associate, Bruce Grossman, in Florida on September 4, 2008.
According to Offshore Alert, Curshen and Grossman have been accused of participating in a scheme to manipulate the common stock of Pink Sheets-listed Industrial Biotechnology Corp. by bribing registered representatives to buy IBOT shares in customer accounts over which the registered representatives had trading discretion.
Curshen serves in an unpaid capacity as the Honorary Consul to Costa Rica for the federation of St Kitts and Nevis, an appointment which became effective on July 1, 2004, according to a news service in Costa Rica, Offshore Alert reports.
Notwithstanding his arrest, Curshen is still listed as Honorary Consul on the website of the St Kitts and Nevis Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The one-page website he set up for the Consulate at www.skn.co.cr is also still operational.
A press release dated June 9, 2005 to announce the official opening of the Consul General's Office in San Jose on June 22, 2005 can be viewed here on www.cuopm.com, which is the official website for St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Denzil Douglas.
Curshen was quoted in the release as saying: "My role is to facilitate and develop relations – both public and private – in the Central American and Latin American region with my focus being in Costa Rica, which is where the Honorary Consulate is based." | | | | Reads : 747 | | | |
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