THE CAYMAN GANG OF FOUR BOUGHT $3.5m YACHT FOR THEIR CUBAN COURIER

Insiders in the Cayman Islands advise that the financial pirates known as the Gang of Four, through their reputed ringleader, Sharon Lexa Lamb, purchased a yacht for the Cuban national, José Fernandez Santana, at a cost of USD$3.5m. Lamb married Santana earlier this year, in what appears to be strictly a business arrangement, resulting in Ms. Lamb receiving not only residency in the Republic of Cuba, but the right to purchase real property there.

Lamb & Santana

Exactly what services Señor Santana provides for the Gang of Four has never been verified, but he frequently sails his yacht between Cuba and Grand Cayman, and his other ports of call include a number of offshore financial centers, including the Turks & Caicos Islands. If you follow financial crime stories in the Cayman Islands, you will recall that Joshua VanDyk, who was convicted in the United States of money laundering, worked at Ryan Bateman's B & C Capital Ltd., during the time he was involved in offering tax evasion & money laundering services to American clients, moving money through TC and into the Cayman Islands. Was Santana providing illicit maritime courier services for the players in this scheme ?

Sr. Santana is known to be a Person of Interest to certain US law enforcement agencies; his intimate relationship with Ms. Lamb raises the question: what was the extent of his involvement in the $450m trading scam, allegedly perpetrated by the Four ?

For the benefits of readers who are not familiar with this scandal, the Gang of Four comprise Ms. Lamb, Derek Buntain, Ryan Bateman, and Fernando Moto Mendes. Buntain & Bateman are Canadians; Mendes has Portuguese citizenship, and Ms. Lamb is originally from the Isle of Man. All but Mendes abruptly left the Cayman Islands, and their present whereabouts are unknown, scattered to the four winds.