"GIAMBRONE LAWYERS" alleged Mafia connections

[tolly]

There has been much said in FPA about the merits of Italian law firm Giambrone. He has been portrayed as a savior by many members, especially as he has taken on a huge so called free class action against perhaps the greatest Binary Options scammers of all time- BdB/OFM.
However, he has also had more than his fair share of knockers, and for good reason as this article points out. Many of our members are calling his firm "unethical and greedy" taking huge deposits on their already depleted pockets. Many complain about poor service and in some cases no replies at all to their calls. Perhaps he is spending more time raising funds to pay for his compensation, rather than look after their needs?
What do you think?

Law firm is liable for ‘mafia scam’
Jonathan Ames August 2 2017, 12:01am, The Times
ALAMY

Almost 200 Britons paid tens of thousands in deposits for failed property schemes in Calabria, a court heard
An Italian law firm has been ordered to compensate British investors for failing to advise them properly over a property scheme that is now under investigation for allegedly being a money-laundering vehicle for the mafia and IRA.



Take care-Tolly

 

[CRM @giambrone]

I would like to offer some insight into the matters leading up to the article in the press relating to events that took place over ten years ago in connection the criminal attempt by IRA and Mafia to perpetrate a money laundering fraud.

As the Daily Mail article states almost a decade ago in 2007, not long after the firm was founded, Giambrone was approached by practised and as it transpired, dangerous criminals who allegedly set out to commit a complex money laundering fraud which was aimed at deceiving both clients and their advisors. Unfortunately, the firm found itself caught in the cross fire of the organised criminal organisations involved, the IRA and Mafia.

During the course of our dealings with these individuals suspicions were aroused that it may be a money laundering exercise and we withdrew from any transactions, alerted our insurers and we tried to do our best for our clients. Our records were made available to the law enforcement agencies. When the full weight of the criminality became apparent the sham property developers were arrested.

At this point I would like to emphasise that there has never been the suggestion that Giambrone or anyone employed by Giambrone has ever been involved with the Mafia or the IRA and I quote the judge who stressed that “…no allegation (and still no allegation) that any of the defendants were in any way involved with the Mafia or other criminal activity…” “…It is not suggested that he, Gabriele Giambrone, was part or knew of the criminal activities lying behind the development…”.

The reason for the Appeal which triggered the press interest rests on more than one issue. First we felt, and our legal advisors agreed, that the judgment significantly widened the scope of the duty of care owed to clients by lawyers, in that the judge stated that the firm should have warned the purchasers of the possibility that a criminal element in the shape of the Mafia existed in Italy. An implication could be drawn from this that a legal advisor would have to have knowledge of all potential criminal engagement which could be connected or associated with any property purchase and warn the client. Should an issue subsequently arise it would result in the lawyer being culpable and a legitimate target for a negligence claim.

The second issue is that of the way the firm’s insurers AIG have decided to regard our clients’ claims. Our position has consistently been that AIG should re-consider the aggregation of all of the claims, which would make available sufficient money to compensate all our former clients. We have repeatedly asked AIG to settle these cases. However, AIG has so far refused to settle these cases due to their interpretation of the aggregation clause in Giambrone’s professional indemnity insurance policy.

The far reaching effect of the unscrupulous actions of the bogus property developers has brought misery to all concerned. The experience was painful for our clients and painful for the firm and is the cause of much regret; however some valuable lessons have been learned.

On a personal level, the experience led Gabriele Giambrone to take up the battle against fraud. The firm has developed a specialism in advising clients who are victims of financial scams and helping them recover their money and has successfully assisted clients to recover lost funds.

 

[tolly]

I would like to offer some insight into the matters leading up to the article in the press relating to events that took place over ten years ago in connection the criminal attempt by IRA and Mafia to perpetrate a money laundering fraud.

As the Daily Mail article states almost a decade ago in 2007, not long after the firm was founded, Giambrone was approached by practised and as it transpired, dangerous criminals who allegedly set out to commit a complex money laundering fraud which was aimed at deceiving both clients and their advisors. Unfortunately, the firm found itself caught in the cross fire of the organised criminal organisations involved, the IRA and Mafia.

During the course of our dealings with these individuals suspicions were aroused that it may be a money laundering exercise and we withdrew from any transactions, alerted our insurers and we tried to do our best for our clients. Our records were made available to the law enforcement agencies. When the full weight of the criminality became apparent the sham property developers were arrested.

At this point I would like to emphasise that there has never been the suggestion that Giambrone or anyone employed by Giambrone has ever been involved with the Mafia or the IRA and I quote the judge who stressed that “…no allegation (and still no allegation) that any of the defendants were in any way involved with the Mafia or other criminal activity…” “…It is not suggested that he, Gabriele Giambrone, was part or knew of the criminal activities lying behind the development…”.

The reason for the Appeal which triggered the press interest rests on more than one issue. First we felt, and our legal advisors agreed, that the judgment significantly widened the scope of the duty of care owed to clients by lawyers, in that the judge stated that the firm should have warned the purchasers of the possibility that a criminal element in the shape of the Mafia existed in Italy. An implication could be drawn from this that a legal advisor would have to have knowledge of all potential criminal engagement which could be connected or associated with any property purchase and warn the client. Should an issue subsequently arise it would result in the lawyer being culpable and a legitimate target for a negligence claim.

The second issue is that of the way the firm’s insurers AIG have decided to regard our clients’ claims. Our position has consistently been that AIG should re-consider the aggregation of all of the claims, which would make available sufficient money to compensate all our former clients. We have repeatedly asked AIG to settle these cases. However, AIG has so far refused to settle these cases due to their interpretation of the aggregation clause in Giambrone’s professional indemnity insurance policy.

The far reaching effect of the unscrupulous actions of the bogus property developers has brought misery to all concerned. The experience was painful for our clients and painful for the firm and is the cause of much regret; however some valuable lessons have been learned.

On a personal level, the experience led Gabriele Giambrone to take up the battle against fraud. The firm has developed a specialism in advising clients who are victims of financial scams and helping them recover their money and has successfully assisted clients to recover lost funds.

Hi CRM-
Thank you for your clear, concise explanation of the above article. It takes a certain amount of courage to respond to comments made in an open forum such as FPA and for that you are to be commended.
I would like to point out that part of the reason the above article was posted,was to point out lack of response by Giambrone to some FPA members. To be fair, many praise Giambrone's efforts, however the magnitude of the BdB/OFM claim seems overwhelming and never ending to clients who have already been through much pain!
Thank you -Tolly