London – Yesterday, out of the blue, I received a call from someone I respect and whose professional integrity I have no reason to doubt. A third party (Italo Pizzolante) inquired about me (whether I was a hired pen), apparently acting as a manipulation doctor for David Osio. The reason? My writings on how Al Cardenas and FTI Consulting have struck gold with Venezuelan criminals and entrepreneurs of extremely dubious credentials. I continue to be fascinated by how some people manage to keep defying the rule of law and/or completely violating it, commonly labeled as “benevolent, respectable, and successful” in circles that, due to education, sophistication, and access to information, should really know better.
Case in point: David Osio. This gentleman recently received some form of recognition for his “distinguished contribution,” or at least that’s what the press release from Congressman David Rivera said:
Washington, DC – Today, Congressman David Rivera (FL-25) and several Congressional colleagues will welcome more than two dozen Venezuelan-American leaders to the United States Congress in Washington D.C. for a ceremony recognizing their distinguished contributions.
“April 19, 2012 marks the 202nd anniversary of Venezuela’s movement towards independence from Spain. This date offers a fitting opportunity to highlight the significant contributions that Hispanics of Venezuelan descent have made to the United States and the diverse fabric of American society. We are proud to honor over two dozen Venezuelan-American leaders who are at the top of their fields in areas including medicine, business, arts and culture, journalism, and democracy activism, in recognition of their outstanding and distinguished work,” Congressman Rivera stated.
The award ceremony will take place at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Room, 2172 Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC.
Among the “several Congressional colleagues” who made the “recognition” were Connie Mack and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, perhaps the two most aggressive Republican politicians against the Chávez regime in the United States. So there they were, up on The Hill, happy, laughing, all affectionate, and posing for photos with David Osio. Did their staff conduct any due diligence on the list of “Venezuelan-American leaders” to be honored? What “distinguished contributions” has David Osio specifically made?
Before receiving the call yesterday, I emailed David Osio directly because I have been reading about his financial activities and have some questions to ask him, mainly regarding the kind of anti-money laundering compliance he has implemented without any definition. For the record, he responded, acknowledging my email and CC’ing a couple of his employees designated to address my concerns (still waiting).
In any case, Google returns some truly interesting things about Osio’s operations. His group, called DAVOS but entirely unrelated to the Swiss city of the same name, appears to be a provider of financial services. It has offices in various jurisdictions, claims to provide tax-efficient solutions to its purported wealthy clientele, asserts transparency in doing so, and also claims to manage $2.8 billion. That is a substantial amount, so I thought it relevant to ask what guarantees exist in case, erm, its promised 3% return on CDs went the way of Allen Stanford or Francisco Illarramendi.
Despite claims of transparency, there is barely a name on the DAVOS website, aside from the founder/owner (DAVid OSio). You have to search the DAVOS brochure to find the names of the executives: Gustavo Rivas, Mauro Nannini, Rafael Tinoco, and Andrés Coles. No biographies. On any site.
There’s nothing wrong with not posting banking data online, given what has happened in recent years. But questions remain: are these people authorized to do what they do? If so, by which authorities, from what jurisdiction? What financial entity in the jurisdictions where it operates ensures, for example, that DAVOS complies with due diligence, knows its customer, and, above all, monitors politically exposed persons? Has the legitimacy of the origin of every last dollar from the $2.8 billion that DAVOS claims to manage been verified? Its AML brochure appears to have been lifted from various other sources (without attribution).
A publication by DAVOS, aptly named Davos Observer, claims that the group received something called “Best Offshore Corporate Services Provider – Switzerland 2012.” Go ahead, Google it. Try to find a similar award that sounds impressive, any year, for another company, anywhere else. This award was supposedly granted by “The New Europe Industry Awards.” Google again. I found an article about DAVOS in a magazine called The New Europe undefined. It is intended to be published by a company called Chase Publishing in the UK. I tracked down an email and sent a message to the editors of “The New Europe”:
To whom it may concern,
Your publication “The New Europe” is cited in relation to the “Best Offshore Corporate Services Provider – Switzerland 2012” for Davos Financial Group.
See: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/davos-financial-group-received-international-181600752.html undefined
The New Europe website published an interview with executives of Davos Financial Group, titled “Davos Financial: The personal touch” on May 29, 2012.
Since the news about the award seems to be exclusively press releases related to Davos Financial Group, I would like to ask if you could comment on the following:
1) What kind of award is that?
2) Since when are these awards granted?
3) On what basis/criteria is the award given?
4) Who are the authorities/judging personalities who make the awarding decisions?
5) Can you provide an electronic copy of the The New Europe publication (December 2012) in which the news about the “Best Offshore Corporate Services Provider – Switzerland 2012” was announced?
6) Since your website (theneweurope.co.uk) appears to be inactive, could you comment on whether your publication is available to readers exclusively in print format?
My intention is to establish the existence of such an award and the veracity of the news related to it.
I have not heard of “The New Europe.” Note that the “news” concerning the “award” reproduced on Yahoo Finance does not explicitly clarify that Yahoo Finance is not responsible for its content, as Reuters does.
But the oddities do not stop there, as there’s also another press release where DAVOS claims to have sponsored an undefined artist named Peter Aerschmann. I called Peter, who told me that DAVOS sponsored the space where he exhibited but “did not receive any money for it.” I also found in a Swiss registry that David Osio’s powers over D. Société financière (Suisse) SA have been revoked (“Les pouvoirs de Osio David J.sont radiés”). Société financière is still named as a bank with which DAVOS works.
But back to the call yesterday, I have seen that, in the past, Osio has employed tactics similar to Derwick to silence his critics. Interestingly, Pizzolante Comunicaciones (the public relations firm acting on behalf of Osio) tried to reach out to me through that previously mentioned contact, and the law firm Lydecker Diaz LLC (responsible for getting venepiramides.blogspot.com, wikianticorrupcion.org, expedientepublico.org, and vlinea.com to remove information about Osio) has been visiting this blog recently. As I told my contact yesterday, if there’s nothing wrong with DAVOS’s operations, the best way to address my doubts/criticisms, or those from anyone else, is to be open and address concerns promptly and honestly. Using intermediaries, third parties, lawyers, and PR advisors is never a good strategy, and sending legal threats to journalists and bloggers usually motivates people to dig deeper and write more.
for confirmation…