Cayman mansion owner gets six years jail time
(CNS): Following his guilty plea in a New York court this week, millionaire and Cayman resident Myron Gushlak has received a six year prison sentence for his part in a stock fraud. US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis handed down the sentence on Thursday before Gushlak was taken into custody. The Canadian banker had been charged with manipulating the share price of a communications company where he was a director. He has also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Gushlak’s $19 milllion Cayman home in Old Prospect Rd was recently set for auction with no reserve price but the sale was cancelled at the last minute.
According to media reports in the US, most of the details of the case against Gushlak had remained under seal while the Cayman resident had been cooperating with US authorities who were in pursuit of others reportedly involved in the scheme. However, this week the judge revealed that Gushlak’s cooperation had been “inconsistent” and had used the secrecy of the case “as a license to continue to deceive those with whom he conducted business.” Prosecutors have accused Gushlak of breaching his cooperation agreement.
Gushlak will face another sentencing hearing in December in relation to other conspiracy to commit fraud and money launderingcharges.
According to Gushlak’s websites, he relocated from Canada to the Cayman Islands in 2000 and is the managing director of Bluewater Partners, a small Cayman based merchant bank.
Category: Business
developement should stop…most expats need to leave…….leave the island as is……we dont want you here!!
I used to work for this pos he is indeed a user and respect no one but himself , we even went as for as knock fist because he didnt wanna pay me , but GOD is a just GOD . he should get life in prison.
Is this POS in jail? and did he recieve more time Dec 3rd at his second sentencing?
Myron Gushlak ‘used’ the offshore nature of Cayman and ‘used’ the positive image of the ‘wife and kids’ to defraud countless people and get his fingers on legitimate ideas and dreams only to pump and dump them for his own personal profit. He tells stories to governments that conflict with what he reports to his companies, his banks, his lawyers, and even his family. He split apart my family and continues to demonize my mother despite her patiently waiting for her fair settlement. When asked if he would just be reasonable and sit down to discuss, he replies "I dont want you dead broke, i want you DEAD AND BROKE" while telling his parents that he has offered my mom a fair 50%. His lies only work because honest and legitimate people dont feel the need to tell everyone everything that happens, and he segregates his information such that the left hand doesn’t know what the right is doing. Enough is enough, and this man should be sat down in a room with EVERYONE who has a claim against his integrity and should be FORCED to FINALLY accept the consequences of his actions. There is no doubt in my mind that this criminal will continue his way of ‘doing business’ so long as the entire business community doesn’t know his REAL reputation. His irrational anger and hatred of anything that stands in his path of material wealth and whatever manipulative game he happens to be running that day is both his motivation and his achilles heel, and despite getting his ‘get out of jail free card’ years ago, he couldn’t resist continuing his ways. I know that the truth will come out in the VERY long run, its just so hard waiting and watching this man continue to destroy anything that is loved and honest.
He is a disgrace to his name and Canadian goodwill. He played Cayman like a fool and used his international status against everyone. He should be punished as severely as possible in every jurisdiction he did business, including the Cayman Islands.
Wow!!! If you’re hoping that he gets prosecuted in the Cayman Islands, hope no more – it’s simply not going to happen. Not unless you’re an expat, poor, a Jamaican and/or a local who likes to smoke a little weed on occasion, etc… The Cayman Islands are not going to prosecute anyone for any sort of financial transgressions. XXXX And the reason that such prosecutions do not occur is because it would open up a whole can of worms as to the types of activities that occur here every day and every hour of the year… That sort of publicity is not what they seek – they tried to sweep all that stuff under the rug. But you can expect to be arrested for not paying your parking ticket. Has happened on far too many occasions… Cheers, and best of luck!!!
Didn’t he go to Jail or was that false too?
Too bad you got the short end of the stick! Seems that if you were with Sacks or any other american banking firm, then the laws don’t apply too you. You should have been born an american, then you would have at least got a Big bonus from the tax payers so called bail out for your possible involvement. Six years will go by fast, if you need a house sitter for your shack, you know how to get ahold of me! XXX
Awesome! After getting screwed out of a 100k with segoes and this loser was on the liquidation board. XXXXX Even if he only serves half the time this is fantastic! Best money I ever spent. Loser! Rot in a cell.
Does anyone know if this POS recieved additional jail time on Dec 3rd. Gushlak has been lying, cheating and stealing from 15 years. Took them long enough. I hope he rots.
Can everyone please try and focus on the important matters and not let this degenerate into the usual racist nonsense and child-like generalisations ranted about in relation to every news story in Cayman?
A guy was granted residency. That guy committied a crime. He has been caught and is being punished. That happens to people of all nationalities and races in countries all over the world.
I think one way to look at such issues in future is for Cayman Islands’ regulators and courts to scrutinise all firms with a Cayman Islands connection and doggedly prosecute all crimes. High profile convitions should be publicised internationally, not treated as a disease which should not be mentioned to the world, lest people think ill of Cayman. Show the world, through your actions that Cayman is not a place for fraud and financial crime.
Just as the CEO’s of major firms don’t go around angrily and publically berrating people and making statements that insult investors (other nationalities and countries), it would serve Cayman well if it’s people could also show the same restraint, if not in deep understanding, then at least in self-presevation. This website will be read by people around the world. Now think. Please.
We need to rid ourselves of all the Gushlak’s around here its sounds like the dragnet is closing in on quite a few from an article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday. This is a very positive step to curb corruption in the financial markets. In our quest for success we have put Cayman in check, yet we are still listening and entertaining a bunch of Hocus pocus theories by our self serving financial experts. Mr Gushlak wisely did not give up the Gambino’s but some unscrupulous business interest here aren’t going to be so lucky. "Woking" that shredder till she Jam up!
Sections 37 and 38 of the 2009 Immigration Law allow for the Chief Immigration Officer and the Board to terminate the permanent residence of individuals for "absence" and for committing crimes in countries outside of Cayman (38 (1)(d). Hopefully this action has already been taken so that any guilt by association which may rub off on Cayman is limited.
What about the fact that he lied and ticked "no criminal charges" when he made the application for naturalization? Is that grounds to revoke his residency / naturalization?
It will be interesting to see whether the government Board with authority to remove the Cayman residence certificates of undesirables does so in this case or if political cronies will make sure that this type of "investor" is allowed to return to Cayman once his prison time is up?
It is my understanding that there are reams of information on the internet pertaining to Mr. Gushlak operating pump and dump schemes in the US during the past 15 years. He also had the largest bad debt at the Cayman Islands Tennis Club who had to sue him to get their bill paid. I also understand that he imported a Bentley to Cayman and under-declared its value until Customs discovered his fraud and fined him. The point of providing this background is to illustrate that this man had a long "history". The same goes for the guy who perpetrated the Segoes fraud. From taliking to any well-connected businessperson in Jamaica, it would have been known that Chris Girvan "blew up" there before he moved to Cayman. XXXXXX
It is about time that instead of CIMA and Immigration taking a "box-ticking" approach, they start doing intelligent, risk-based analysis of these wealthy "financial types" who relocate to our shores and provide David Marchant with fertile fodder for his publication. Perhaps, now that we have Sherri-Ann in charge of Immigration, she will adopt such an approach and deny access to our shores for such scum.
Annonymous 4.57 Nice to see you up early.Whilst generally I agree with your comments such a person may possibly not come within the ambit of CIMA but more likely other laws where he required a licence. Notwithstanding this it does not help the reputation of the Cayman Islands. The Girvan matter was much worse because local wellknown professionals and greedy investors who should have known better were hoodwinked by a conman.
He almost got $100,000 worth of stock certificates from a caymanian I know; for safe keeping and administration. Its a lucky thing the poor guy was late in submitting the application forms with his stock certificates. He was shocked to his boots the next week when news reported that Segoes Securities was going into liquidation
Look at his anger in that photo!! Fist clenched, arm cocked at 90 degrees, his forehead is red… Having had this disgusting manipulitive con-artist as an abusive step-father for years, I can tell you that he is really holding back from hitting something in this photo!
I’ve been waiting for this day since I found out he was cheating on my mother for years and he had started the process of cleaning out our families assets and hiding it all over the world in various corporations… which seems to be his usual way of doing business the more I looked into it.
Its disgusting how he abused international law and hid under the guise of being a family man from Canada with a wife and kids.
I hope the next six years are the most horrible of his disgusting existence.
Eric, by your comments it would appear that you are this mans son. I feel your hurt and anger for what has happened to you and your family. I am so sorry, but I hope you and your mom and the rest of your family will continue to enjoy the white sands and blue waters of Cayman as you continue to live here. May you and your family be healed quickly. God bless.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. My family has suffered long enough. Now that he is in jail we can finally return to the home we have loved for so long. XXXXX God Bless you for being so kind
Eric I feel your pain for you and your family!
I had the pleasure of meeting you all when you first arrived on the Islands back in 2000. You and your brother are sweet and caring young men (over 10 years ago). Your mother is a sweet loving and caring person…she would give anyone her heart if she could!!
It’s not the end of the world, and you all with get through this…continue to hold your heads high! You, your brother and your mother didn’t do this, your step father did!
A 6 year person sentence is not long enough though!!
Eric.
Keep your head up. I worked for your Dad and had fun with you and your brother on the motorcycles and waverunners.
It was great fun hanging out with you guy’s.
Now Myron will get a taste of the "my way" world.
Take care.
Captain Ron.
I wonder if he needs someone to house sit. I’d do it…for a fee!
white calle criminals who move to these islands.
six years is fine as long as the keys are thrown away sothey could never come out.
As far as the high society events in Cayman, please look among your group for these sort of criminals.
Could he be one of the INVESTORS that big Mac was searching for? How many more fraudsters are here lurking around? They are the type of people that hide away in cozy corners. Are we still searching for Investors?
We have to be careful who we accept here. People with lots of money sometimes have many ghosts in their closets, on their yachts, in their mansions and they can be from anywhere.
Yes we may need money but at what cost.Time to proper investigate ALL who get residency here. don’t you think ?
Disguised in sheep clothing !
Only 6 years? Damn, one more year and his account would have become dormant before he was released and we would have the money.
A Cayman Merchant Bank? I think not. It is not licensed so I presume that CIMA will close this company down, even though it is a Panamanian corporation. However as I read this article and others concerning this gentleman it seems clear to me that some licence was required to enable him to run his bucket shop. There may be similar operations out there but who is to know?
I also note that Gushlak sat on the creditors committee of Segoes XXX. That is really scarey. I would not want those two making decisions on my behalf had I been an unfortunate creditor of Segoes.
Thinking about it the two scams do have certain common attributes and are not too far distant from the other local scam, Grand Cayman Commodity Fund. Some people out there need to wake up.
I agree with you the people need to wake up! The government and CIMA need to wake up and come back to reality – all of us are realistic and understand we can’t catch them all but in cases where people have a long convoluted dirty laundry list, they can’t be allowed to live here.
For way too long these things have been left untouched and no one never has to answers in Cayman, but the country always as whole takes another black eye. How sad people won’t take ownership of all the damage their causing us the Caymanian people.
If you had see this guy out on his 65 foot yacht parading around, its no wonder why he is where he is now.
another great day for caymans tax evasion, sorry i mean ‘financial services’ industry!
If you possessed proper analytical and comprehension skills you would have observed that the "financial services" industry of the Cayman Islands had nothing to do with the fraud. He simply lived and owned a home here. No structures were formed in Cayman to facilitate the fraud and his activities would have been impossible to replicate on the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange simply because it does not do "retail" trading.
Those of us who are privy to certain information not in the public domain are troubled by certain aspects regarding Mr. Gushlak such as the process by which he became a Cayman Islands "resident" as well as particular activities of his while here, however.
Look. Listen. Learn.
don’t think so…have you ever seen the firm?
So, I guess that big mansion was not as a result of his actions stated above? Psssssshhhhh!
So Gushlak lived here and conducted his dealings as a broker/financial adviser from the confines of his house using local telecommunications, post ofice boxes,websites etc. No doubt he had a local bank account in which to deposit his illgotten gains. He is therefore QED conducting business on the island and requires a licence
" He is therefore QED conducting business on the island and requires a licence"
Didn’t you know? anyone can come here and conduct business. There are foreigners renting their houses to tourists, people coming in goods, etc. I bet government didn’t even get custom fees much less the license.
CNS, help us out here please. Bluewater is NOT a Cayman firm or bank and this person only had residency WITHOUT the Right to Work. He was NOT conducting business in Cayman. Go after the Canadians who were crokked and please help to clear Cayman’s name in this case
CNS: On the Bluewater website, the operating address is in Cayman.
Thank you for bringing that to our attention, poster. You are quite correct that Bluewater Partners is not a Bank licensed by CIMA.
CNS, with all due respect, I think you are missing the point. Your article says:
"According to Gushlak’s websites, he relocated from Canada to the Cayman Islands in 2000 and is the managing director of Bluewater Partners, a small Cayman based merchant bank".
That last clause could be taken as a statement of fact. It would be more accurate to state "which he purports to be a Cayman-based merchant bank" and then go on to clarify that it is not in fact licensed as a Cayman bank. You could also have obtained a statement from CIMA. That is the homework which is often missing in the international press and which Tony Travers continually laments. It is not too late for it to be corrected.
The question is not whether he was licensed or not, it is obvious that he was neither a bank nor licensed.
The real question is why was he allowed to set up in Cayman in this way and CIMA does not notice that he is not licensed? How many more businesses like that do we have here?
And finally even if CIMA had been aware of the guy what exactly would CIMA have done? Most likely they would have put him on some name and shame list deeply buried on their website so nobody finds it, because they are too scared to take anyone to court (and don’t have the money to do so either given our expensive justice system).
You are still missing the point. Anyone can claim on their website to be the managing director of a Cayman Islands bank. The reputational damage to Cayman is really done only if it fact it was a Cayman Islands bank or had some other official approval as it would suggest that we are failing to regulate adequately. It is not at all obvious from the article that "he was neither a bank nor licensed" and that is precisely the problem.
In what way was he "allowed to set up" in Cayman? Was he granted some special licence to operate? Was all of this done with the knowledge and consent of the authorities? If not, then your comment is meaningless. If you mean establishing a website that says he operates from Cayman and using the internet and telephone from his house then that is very unlikely to come the authorities attention. If he was purporting to operate a bank within Cayman which was not licensed then that is a prosecutable offence and a matter for CIMA to refer to the Govt. Legal Dept.
My point was that CNS’s article helps to cast Cayman in a bad light when it does not appear to be deserved in this case.
As long as you got money you can come to cayman and do what you want, dont matter where you get it from or how! Ahoii-mi-lads… arrrrgggghh.. TGIF
See Caymanians all that glitters is not gold.!!!
Nonsense. I’d take six years (and serve 4 or five) for that amount of cash any day.
Are you admitting to being a thief and fraudster? Willing to steal from others to support a lavish lifestyle. Sounds like you admire the low life.
Maybe it’s time to start cutting back on points awarded to Canadians for residency. If one bad ‘Caymanian’ apple can spoil opportunities for use why can’t we monitor this emerging group. The Jamaicans have emerged and if you look around today in your workplace, if no other West Indian available for promotion etc, then it’s a Canadian next to them in second place, forget giving chance to Caymanians, unless it’s political.
Seriously though, I have ‘heard about’ and seen questionable behaviour by Canadian men and women during the last 15 years. So many of them come here without qualifications and look at where they are today because of marriage and or fake credentials. (let’s investigate RCIPS, UCCI (past president Hyaad?), tourist industry, accounting)
In my opinion, Cayman, the English people are not our problem. Get over the anti-colonial attitude you have adopted and take a close look at what is happening. It seems that ther foreign nationals have managed to convince our natural ‘partners’ in leading this country that we don’t like English people…and guess what? Now we have less people to help us maintain control and the ship is sinking
One bad apple is not grounds to look down on a whole nation of people.
Shall we look at all of the Caymanians who have done wrong? The populace is much smaller than that of a large nation, so the ratio would be staggering.
Something to think about.
one bad apple is not grounds to look down on a nation but agree with Devils Advocate because those of us who work hard and dont expect handouts or have any false sense of entitlement get put in one group. I hate to say this but see how it feels! Caymanians and Jamaicans get it all the time….so why not the Canadians?
My hope is that foreigners will stop trying to stir up problems and look at their own ethnicity/race before they post negative comments about Caymanians as well. "Imagine..if we could all get along…’
@ Devil’s Advocate
Wow – that was one heck of a post!
Obviously it has attracted a lot of attention and stirred a few emotions – interesting … very interesting.
Excuse me???!!! I’m Canadian an I’ve gone to university for 5 years to get my education degree in kindergarten through grade 12 vocal and instrumental education.
I would like to see a ‘Caymanian’ with those credentials try and do my job as well as I do.
I’ve earned my right to be here, and I do work damn hard for it!
Enough with the expat vs. caymanian issues! GET OVER YOURSELVES!
I know a Caymanian young lady with a Masters degree in 5 years. What is your point?
"I’m Canadian an I’ve gone to university for 5 years to get my education degree in kindergarten through grade 12 vocal and instrumental education…I would like to see a ‘Caymanian’ with those credentials try and do my job as well as I do".
I had to re-read this several times to be sure I was understanding it correctly. Basically you are saying that because you are Canadian you are automatically superior to any Caymanian performing your job regardless of the fact that the Caymanian is equally qualified. I hope that was not what you meant. If it is then I cannot believe the temerity you have and it shows the depth of the problem forCaymanians in the workplace.
"I’ve earned my right to be here, and I do work damn hard for it!".
That’s where you are wrong. Unless you are Caymanian you do not have a "right" to be here. You have been given a privilege. You are our guest. And there I was thinking that the entitlement mentality was confined to Caymanians.
It seems to me that you need to get over YOURSELF.
I do not think that the actions of one individual should negatively affect the status of all individuals from that country, however I think that Canada, being a Commonwealth Country like Cayman, should not require Caymanians to have visas to be able to travel there as Canadians can freely come here without any visa and maybe even without a passport, yet I am sure many of them would say that Caymanians are anti-foreign despite it being less red tape for a Canadian to visit Cayman than for a Caymanian to visit Canada
Since when does Canada require visas for Caymanians to visit? Admittedly I have not been there since 2001 but previous to that I hadvisited many times without a visa or any red tape at all.
Think again or do some research. There is no airport in Canada where you can board an international flight without a passport.