Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) has filed for bankruptcy protection. Fraud experts are saying that investors will likely lose a substantial chunk, if not all, of their principal. At one time, the company was estimated to have incurred a deficit of more than $260 million. Northstar nearly 1,800 investors are involved in the case, with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of money missing. It reported assets of $8 million by September 2020.
Investors claim that stockbrokers or financial advisers may have misrepresented Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda), investments as low-risk and conservative, CD-like and supposedly presenting zero risk of losing principal while guaranteeing monthly earnings.
According to the report, there were 1,230 fixed account holders with potential claims of $305,576,351 while 603 variable account holders had potential claims of $121,249243. Northstar issued 1,773 policies, which was a company that was registered under the Segregated Accounting Companies Act 2000 in 2008. Its business consisted of the sale and management of annuity and investment products.
Last summer, federal investigators and the FBI were still trying to figure out how Lindberg used funds from his companies to invest with others. After he was involved with the purchase of Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda), Ltd, things started to go downhill for one company, Northstar Financial Services Ltd.
All went wrong. In March, the Bermuda Supreme Court issued a winding-up order, putting Northstar in liquidation.
Greg Lindberg was convicted of fraud and is currently serving seven years in prison for an unrelated offense. Lindberg is currently in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and trying to bribe North Carolina’s Insurance Commissioner.
The Nishiyamas, a Japanese couple, invested $200,000 in Bermuda through an investment vehicle. Now they fear that they won’t get any of it back. They wonder if it is true that a billionaire investor was allowed to steal funds from a Bermuda segregated account company. They expected that such a company would provide them with an extra layer of security.
They are interested in finding out who in Bermuda is responsible for the missing hundreds of millions of dollars from Northstar Financial Services Ltd., an investment vehicle that was marketed to large numbers of international investors.
Rikan Nishiyama from Yokosuka in Japan was still shocked and had many questions when she spoke to The Royal Gazette. Hawaiian Glenn Shiroma (a family friend) joined the call as a Japanese/English translator from Oahu, Hawaii.
On the Zoom interview, Mrs. Nishiyama asked “Why,” Mrs. Nishiyama asked. “Are the Bermuda authorities not partly or fully responsible for their actions in granting Lindberg a license to own the company?”
She would like to know the identity of Greg Lindberg, the person who took over the company, and the reasons he was not held personally responsible for the millions of dollars he is alleged to have been taken from the company.
Nishiyama claimed that the brokerage firms that referred her to the investment were “100% responsible” for her losses. Brokerage firms have an obligation to investigate and comprehend the investment recommendations they make. The Nishiyamas refused to wait for Northstar’s Bermuda liquidators to pay them. They are one of many aggrieved investors who used American lawyers to pursue brokers who promised them a safe investment in Bermuda.
They argued that it had to be safe. The interest paid was less than 2 percent. They claim that for such a high return, no one would ever invest in risky ventures.
The Bermuda Supreme Court already reviewed a report by the joint provisional liquidators Northstar, Rachelle Frisby, and John Johnston from Deloitte Ltd. They have been involved in the case since September 2020, before the winding-up order was issued.
The list of brokers names Bankoh Investment Services as the broker who directed the Nishiyamas towards Northstar. This is a non-bank subsidiary of the Bank of Hawaii. The couple used the proceeds of the sale of their Hawaiian condo to invest and stated that they were happy with the low return on their investment due to the almost guaranteed safety.
They expect that the Bermuda winding up of Northstar will take longer as they continue to pursue Bankoh Investment Services American proceedings.
