iNews Briefs, More & Community Events
Community Events
RENT: The Musical
Opens Thursday September 10th, 2015
Runs to October 3rd, 2015
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays
Doors open at 6:30 PM for Happy Hour
try our special Tom Collins cocktail!
at The Prospect Playhouse
Do not miss out on the musical event of the year!
No Day but Today!
Click here for tickets: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/rent-the-musical-all-ticket-prices-in-us-tickets-17993960420?aff=ehomecard
Dr. Moody September 2015
Gordon Solomon Art
You are invited you to attend the opening evening of
Doctor Moody: Frames of Mind
A new series of work by Gordon Solomon
Cayman islands national Gallery DART Auditorium
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oknWyXVUGc&feature=youtu.be
Please join the Cayman Jewish Community for the following programmes:
Sunday September 27th
6:30 pm Sukkot Under the Stars
Tuesday, September 29th
4:00pm Sukkot Children’s Party
Monday, October 26th
Mark Halawa: From Kuwait to Jerusalem
Wednesday, December 9th
4:00 pm Pardes Rock Chanukah Concert
Wednesday, January 6th 2016
Jerusalem Uncovered: Rabbi Avraham Stolik
8th Annual CISPA Gala “Back to the Future-Celebrating 45 years of excellence”
Date: 10/10/2015
Time: 6:30 PM
Ritz Carlton Seven Mile Beach
Phone: 749 3360
Register
Event Description: The 8th Annual CISPA Gala “Back to the Future-Celebrating 45 years of excellence” is a time to celebrate Caymanians who recently attained their professional accounting designations as well as a chance to celebrate the past and look to the future
Directions: The Ritz Carlton, Grand Cayman
Annual Meals on Wheels Dress Down Day
SAVE THE DATE
Dress Down Day Friday, 20th November, 2015
Help feed our Seniors we believe no-one in Cayman should go hungry.
Individuals can help by purchasing an orange ribbon for $5.00 or a tee shirt for $15.00 and wearing them on Dress Down Day, we are encouraging companies to match employee donations.
For more information or to sign up to participate please feel free to contact us via email at [email protected] or via telephone at 949-3905.
CARE announces Cayman Islands 5th Annual Paws for wine
Sat Sept 26th Ristorante Pappagallo
Lions Club of Tropical Gardens Brenda Tibbetts-Lund Memorial 5K Walk/Run5K
Sunday October 3, 2015 in North Side at 6am
THU SEP 10
National Gallery presents EY’s Meet Me
The National Gallery presents EY’s Meet Me on Thursday (10 Sept) from1130 — 1230pm. The National Gallery’s offerings for caregivers and individuals wanting to combat dementia is designed for groups coming from care organisations such as The Pines, and for members of the general public in the early and middle stages of dementia. This programme incorporates conversations about artworks, may include art-making components and takes place in the Gallery’s exhibition halls and education studio.
FRI SEP 11
3rd Annual St Baldrick’s Heroes for Hannah Shave
The 3rd Annual St Baldrick’s Heroes for Hannah Shave is Friday (11 Sept) at The Wicket in Cricket Square. The fundraiser is to help conquer childhood cancer.
TUE SEP 15
Seafarers Social
Date: Tuesday, September 15th 2015 Time: 7:00 pm Place: Cayman Islands Seafarers Association Hall, 11 Victory Ave, Prospect Dress: Semi Casual A night of great food and entertainment
SAT SEP 19
Lions Club of Tropical Gardens invites you to its FISH FRY
Mark your calendars Cayman Islands triathlon training series is back!
The Cayman Islands Triathlon Association (CITA) training series
The CITA is pleased to announce the new dates of the Triathlon Training Series, on Saturdays:
* September 20th 2015
* October 11th 2015
More information about the training series can be found at http://www.triathlon.ky/events/ci-triathlon-training-series.
Cayman Islands ex-minister declines position on troubled football association
CITN/Cayman27 have reported that sources close to them have said former Cabinet Spots Minister, Mark Scotland has resigned as Chairman of the Youth Committee belonging to the Cayman Islands Football Association.
This position would have guaranteed him a seat on CIFA Executive.
Scotland was also present in Switzerland when former FIFA VP and CIFA President Jeffery Webb was arrested with others on alleged corruption charges.
Norway and Vanuatu bowlers reported for suspected illegal bowling actions at ICC WCL Division 6
From International Cricket Council
Norway off-spinner Zeeshan Siddiqui and Vanuatu pace bowler Niko Unavalu have been reported with suspected illegal bowling actions
Norway and Vanuatu bowlers reported for suspected illegal bowling actions at ICC WCL Division 6 – Cricket News The match officials’ reports cited concerns about the legality of both players’ bowling actions.
Norway off-spinner Zeeshan Siddiqui and Vanuatu pace bowler Niko Unavalu have been reported with suspected illegal bowling actions during the ICC World Cricket League Division 6 match played between the teams in West Mersea, Essex on Tuesday.
The match officials’ reports, which have been handed over to the respective team management, cited concerns about the legality of both players’ bowling actions.
Siddiqui and Unavalu’s bowling actions will now be scrutinised further under the ICC process outlined in Article 3 of the ICC Regulations for the Review of Bowlers Reported with Suspected Illegal Bowling Actions (a copy of which can be found at ).
An Expert Panel appointed under the ICC Regulations will review match footage of the bowling actions of both players. The panel will then determine if the bowling actions are legal or illegal. Until the results are known, both Siddiqui and Unavalu are permitted to continue bowling in international cricket.
Norway will next face Cayman Islands on Thursday, while Vanuatu’s next game is scheduled for Friday, opposition to be confirmed.
Two earthquakes recorded off Barbados
By Caribbean 360 From St Lucia News
CARIBBEAN 360 – Two 4.0 magnitude earthquakes were recorded off Barbados yesterday.
The first occurred around 1:28 p.m., about 122 kilometres northeast of the capital, Bridgetown. It was followed by another tremor at 4:39 p.m. at 140 km northeast of Bridgetown.
It appeared neither shake was felt by many residents.
The epicentre of both earthquakes also put the tremors at more than 230 miles east of Castries, St. Lucia and over 250 miles east southeast of Fort-de-France, Martinique.
The last earthquake recorded off Barbados by the University of the West Indies’ Seismic Research Centre was on August 7.
Prior to that, multiple tremors occurred daily off Barbados for just under a week and a half, starting July 16.
Lieff goes after Google for Gmail scanning
By Ross Todd From The Recorder
SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc. has fought off a string of privacy class actions over its scanning of Gmail messages to help sell targeted advertising.
But that isn’t stopping a trio of plaintiffs firms led by Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein from taking another crack at the search giant’s policy.
A suit filed Friday on behalf of non-Gmail users in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California accuses Google of “secretly and systematically” diverting email messages to extract their content and predict user behavior.
Lawyers with Lieff Cabraser, Little Rock, Ark.-based Carney Bates & Pulliam and San Jose’s Gallo LLP, maintain that Google didn’t obtain consent from non-Gmail users or put them on notice that their emails might be scanned or catalogued to help the company sell targeted ads.
“These acts are the 21st century equivalent of AT&T eavesdropping on each of its customers’ phone conversations, or of the postal service taking information from private correspondence—acts that uniformly would be condemned as egregious and illegal invasions of privacy under any circumstance,” wrote Lieff Cabraser’s Michael Sobol in Matera v. Google, 15-4062.
A Google spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
The suit alleges that Google has developed sophisticated data-mining procedures to access and capitalize on the content of Gmail communications. The suit includes claims under the California Invasion of Privacy Act, which carries statutory damages of $5,000, and the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, where statutory damages are the greater of $10,000 or $100 for each day of violation. The suit also seeks actual damages under both laws based on claims that Google used the information to generate significant advertising profit.
While Google has had success fending off similar privacy class actions, the suit seems to be addressing some of the issues that hurt plaintiffs in prior cases.
For instance, the complaint goes further in alleging physical interception of data, an issue that has resonated for some federal judges, and alleges a damages theory based on Google’s advertising-based revenue model. Plaintiffs lawyers also may be seeking to get around class-certification problems by bringing suit on behalf of non-Gmail users rather than subscribers.
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh denied class certification last year in a similar suit brought on behalf of Gmail users, finding that individual questions of whether class members consented to the company’s conduct overshadowed common issues.
Lieff Cabraser’s Sobol didn’t respond to messages Tuesday.
For more: http://www.therecorder.com/id=1202736671287/Lieff-Goes-After-Google-for-Gmail-Scanning#ixzz3lGD6HL4x
United Airlines CEO Jeff Smisek steps down amid corruption probe
From The Canberra Times
United Continental Holdings has announced Chief Executive Jeff Smisek had stepped down amid a federal probe of the airline, and that two other senior executives tied to the investigation would also be leaving the company.
The airline named CSX Corp Chief Operating Office Oscar Munoz as CEO, effective immediately.
United Continental’s shares fell 2.8 per cent in trading after the bell.
Jeff Smisek, who has been CEO since 2010, will step down immediately.
Smisek, who has been the company’s CEO since 2010, will also step down as chairman and president, United Continental said in a statement.
“The departures announced today are in connection with the company’s previously disclosed internal investigation related to the federal investigation associated with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The investigations are ongoing and the company continues to cooperate with the government,” UAL said in a statement.
United Continental also said its executive vice president of communications and government affairs, and its senior vice president of corporate and government affairs were leaving.
UAL’s general counsel, Brett Hart, declined during a conference call Tuesday to elaborate on the reasons for the departures or the status of a federal investigation into UAL’s relationship with a former chairman of the Port Authority.
In February, the carrier had opened an internal investigation into its relationship with the former chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, following a government probe.
The investigations are ongoing and it’s internal probe and the related circumstances do not raise any accounting or financial reporting concerns, United Continental said on Tuesday.
“We don’t expect it to impact our operations,” Hart said.
United under Smisek was under pressure from investors to improve its day to day operations and financial performance. About 75 per cent of United’s flights arrived on time during the first half of this year, according to federal data, the worst record among the four largest U.S. airlines. UAL executives told Reuters last month they planned a series of changes to schedules to improve on-time performance.
“We need to reach our customers with a better service product,” Munoz said during the conference call with analysts.
Smisek will receive a separation payment of $4.9 million, payable as a lump sum in cash, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Police to drain Chicago lagoon to search for toddler’s remains
By Associated Press From New York Post
CHICAGO — Chicago police say they will drain the lagoon where a toddler’s head, feet and hands were discovered in an effort to find more remains and other evidence.
Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says divers completed their search of the lagoon at Garfield Park and now it’s necessary to drain it to continue the investigation.
Guglielmi says detectives also have combed through missing persons reports filed in and around Chicago and have found no promising leads.
The medical examiner says the head appears to be an African-American child between 2 and 3 years old. Guglielmi says investigators believe the decomposed remains are from the same child, but tests must be completed to rule out multiple victims.
For more: http://nypost.com/2015/09/08/police-to-drain-chicago-lagoon-to-search-for-toddlers-remains/
Wake-Up Weather: Heavy rain likely later this week, a front, then a Gulf storm possible next week
By Eric Berger From Chron Houston
It’s muggy as heck this morning, with relative humidity near 100 percent, and today should be a lot like Monday with highs in the mid-90s and scattered afternoon showers.
The pattern begins to change on Wednesday and especially Thursday.
That’s because a weak front will approach the region later on Wednesday, and a line of storms could move down through the state and enter the northern Houston metro area. At the same time sea breeze showers could develop.
IMAGE: (National Weather Service)
By Thursday the front should stall over Houston, and this will produce very good rain chances in the city and across the metro region on that day and on Friday.
A second front should push through the area on Saturday, bringing with it drier air. This should have the effect of ending the rain later on Saturday and Sunday, making conditions perfect for a Texans tailgate.
This front isn’t going to bring a whole lot of cooler air with it, and I think lows in the upper 60s are probably about the best we can hope for. But after these muggy days even a little dry air will be most welcome.
By early next week global forecast models continue to indicate the possibility of a tropical system developing off the Texas coast. I mentioned this feature in a post yesterday, and what I wrote then still stands. There’s a lot of uncertainty as to whether this actually happens, and of so, whether the tropical system then tracks into Texas or moves east.
IMAGE: European model forecast for next Thursday. (WMO Essential/Weather Bell)
In any case, once you get into September, any low pressure system at the surface of the Gulf of Mexico needs to be watched closely.
Tropical Storm Grace is weakening due to high wind shear and should soon be a remnant low as it approaches the Caribbean Sea.
haiku
“93”
The humidity,
stifling, pervasive. Maybe
gone by the weekend?
final·fact
The Great Storm of 1900 made landfall near Galveston on this day. More than 8,000 persons died from this storm.
Auditor General of Bermuda retires
The Governor of Bermuda, Mr. George Fergusson, has announced the retirement of Auditor General of Bermuda, Mrs. Heather A. Jacobs Matthews, JP, FCPA, FCA, CFE, effective November 15, 2015. Governor Fergusson commented “I would like to take this opportunity to pay a very warm tribute to the Auditor General for her work over the last six years. Since her appointment in 2009, she has worked tirelessly in carrying out her vital and often difficult constitutional role and remaining robustly independent. Mrs Jacobs Matthews was appointed as Auditor General by then Governor, Sir Richard Gozney, on 1 September 2009. She began a 27-year career with the Bermuda Government in 1980 working as Assistant/Deputy Auditor, Tax Commissioner, Accountant General and Director of Internal Audit before her appointment as Auditor General. An advertisement for the post of Auditor General has been published in the Royal Gazette and on relevant industry websites. I would encourage anyone interested in the post to apply.”
Under Section 88 of the Bermuda Constitution Order 1968, the power to make an appointment to the Office of the Auditor General is vested in the Governor acting in his discretion. Applicants should forward a letter of interest (quoting the reference number Ref: 5100/05/0001), a resumé, copies of credentials and two professional references to HE the Governor, Government House, 11 Langton Hill, Pembroke, BERMUDA, HM 13 or apply for the post via the Bermuda Job Board at www.bermudajobboard.bm by 12.00 noon 15 September 2015
SOURCE: Carosai
Mourant Ozannes establishes new practice in Hong Kong
Leading offshore law firm, Mourant Ozannes, has established a contentious restructuring, insolvency and litigation practice in Hong Kong. The practice, which will cover both BVI and Cayman Islands law, will provide the firm’s Asian based clients with access to the world’s largest and top ranked offshore litigation practice in their time zone.
Partner Shaun Folpp, who established the firm’s thriving BVI litigation and insolvency practice, will build on the substantial amount of BVI and Cayman Islands litigation, restructuring and insolvency work already being undertaken by the firm across Asia. Having spent 8 years based in the Cayman Islands and the BVI, clients will now benefit from Shaun’s unparalleled experience in heavy-weight Caribbean insolvency cases, including advising the liquidators of the Kingate and Weavering funds, in addition to being involved in many of the largest insolvencies and other disputes which have come before the courts of each jurisdiction over recent years.
This new practice is a natural fit to the work already undertaken in Hong Kong and will support the firm’s acclaimed corporate, investment fund, and finance practices.
Shaun commented: “I’m looking forward to developing our litigation and insolvency practice in Hong Kong and advising on the increasingly complex and global needs of our clients. Our involvement in the dispute concerning the Ku De Ta restaurant and club is just one of the recent high profile cases we’ve been advising.”
Hong Kong managing partner, Paul Christopher added: “Shaun’s arrival in Hong Kong supports the importance of the Asia market for the firm and the increasing success of our global litigation practice. Our ability to provide litigation advice on the ground in Hong Kong means we can continue to deliver an exceptional client service.”
Mourant Ozannes has experienced significant growth in Asia with the Hong Kong office headcount tripling in the past three years and the team going from strength to strength. In the past 12 months eight new starters have joined the office and revenue has doubled.
[US] Lawyer arrested for conspiracy against nationwide law firms
By Angela Morris, From Texas Lawyer
A Texas attorney was arrested and removed to Florida after being charged for allegedly conspiring to defraud lawyers and law firms across the nation out of at least $8.8 million.
Perry Don Cortese of Little River and a nonlawyer codefendant, Priscilla Ann Ellis of Harker Heights, were arrested and charged with wire fraud conspiracy and international money laundering conspiracy on Aug. 31 in Waco. A judge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas ordered them removed to face charges in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa.
The Aug. 20 indictment in United States v. Ellis said that from at least January 2012 to the present, Cortese and Ellis conspired together and with other people to commit wire fraud with an intent to obtain money and property fraudulently.
Cortese and Ellis would incorporate “shell companies” and then open bank accounts for the fake companies.
“Conspirators would and did contact victim lawyers and law firms, via email and telephone, for the purported purpose of seeking legal representation in transactional dealings and legal disputes,” said the indictment. “The purpose of the contacts with the victim lawyers and law firms was merely to gain access to their legal trust accounts.”
They would get cashier’s checks of $20 or less, and use them to forge new cashiers checks payable to the lawyers and firms in amounts of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. They told the lawyers and firms that their matters had settled, and they sent the cashier’s checks saying they were “the supposed proceeds of the legal settlements and transactional conclusions.”
The lawyers and firms would deposit the cashier’s checks into their legal trust accounts. The conspirators told the lawyers and firms to send all or part of the funds into the conspirators’ shell companies’ bank accounts.
The indictment also alleged that Cortese and Ellis conspired to transport their fraudulently obtained funds outside of the United States. They were trying to disguise or conceal the fact that they obtained the money unlawfully.
The lawyer and firm scheme was not the only one. Cortese and Ellis also conspired in “email intrusion schemes”: “Conspirators unlawfully hacked into the email accounts of individuals and businesses, fraudulently assumed the identities of those account holders and authorized … wire transfers of said account holders’ funds to conspirators,” claimed the indictment.
There were also “romance schemes,” in which Cortese and Ellis targeted people on dating sites and social media. They faked romantic relationships with the people and created “fictitious scenarios” where the people had to wire funds to them.
Cortese and Ellis also had an “email spoofing” scheme. They created and used email accounts that looked like they came from legitimate businesses and then they “inserted themselves into business transactions with and on behalf of those businesses to authorize … wire transfers of the businesses’ funds,” the indictment said.
They would share the proceeds of their fraud schemes together and with others, getting a percentage based on their roles. To conceal and disguise their schemes, they would send money back and forth to different financial institutions, including overseas.
The government seeks to forfeit $8.8 million and three tracts of real property from the pair if they are convicted.
Amy Filjones, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa, declined to comment.
Disciplinary History
Cortese, a Little River solo, has had three prior disciplinary sanctions.
A February 2006 judgment said that he neglected a client’s matter and did not keep his client informed, return calls, return the client’s file when she got a new lawyer and more. His law license was suspended from May to June 2006, and then he served two years of probation.
Shortly afterward, a May 2006 judgment said that Cortese had represented a client in a real estate transaction, but failed to file closing documents or respond to the client’s requests for the documents. He filed them eventually, but in the meantime, a judgment was entered against the original seller, and it put a lien on the property that adversely impacted Cortese’s client’s interest in the land. Cortese’s law license was suspended again from August 2006 to April 2007, and then he served two years of probation.
Cortese agreed to probation in a third disciplinary matter, and the September 2013 judgment of that case doesn’t lay out the findings against him. He served probation from September to December 2013.
IMAGE: Nito100/iStock
