Ethics and governance in the European Financial centers

William Fogwell and his daughter Shelley Fogwell were were condemned last Tuesday : the Court found both of them guilty of the charges against them in relation to the collapse of Hobbs Melville in 2000 and sentenced to 5 years prison. They were also fined €500,000.

Guillaume Losada, Shelley Fogwell's former boyfriend, and Jean-Christophe Moroni, a broker, were as well found guilty : the Court sentenced Losada to 18 months prison plus fined €50,000 ; the Court sentenced Losada to 1 year prison plus fined €53,000.

This is the most important scandal in Monaco with suspicion on the authorities stated in the framework of the appeal.

See article (french)

On 1 July, Monaco became the 46th member State of GRECO (*) - a direct and automatic result of the Principality ratifying the Council of Europe’s Criminal Law Convention on Corruption on 19 March this year.

Through its accession to GRECO, Monaco joins countries which have actively committed themselves to fighting corruption by accepting to participate in the Group’s mutual evaluation process. An evaluation team will go to Monaco to deal initially with issues related to the themes of the First and Second Evaluation Rounds which were conducted between 1999 and 2006 (notably the capability of institutions to deal with corruption cases and preventive measures taken within the public administration). A further visit of evaluation in the framework of GRECO’s newly launched Third Evaluation Round will be carried out at a later stage and deal with incriminations of corruption and transparency of party funding.

Monaco became a member of the Council of Europe in October 2004. As underlined in the report of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on honouring of obligations and commitments by Monaco, the ratification of the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption forms part of a series of reforms decided on by Prince Albert II, whose purpose is to give greater transparency to the management of all bodies receiving public funds in the interests of ethics and clarity. Among other things, it is proposed to supplement the rules laying down the conditions in which public servants may or may not conclude contracts, sales or purchases with persons or administrators of companies exercising powers of administration or supervision in those bodies.

Sources : GRECO

On 12th July 2006 the Monegasque Tribunal had found William Fogwell guilty of the charges against him in relation to the collapse of Hobbs Melville in 2000 and had sentenced to 5 years prison. He was also fined €500,000. Fogwell was not in court for the sentencing and an international arrest warrant was issued against him. He was a fugitive from justice. Shelley Fogwell, the 45-year-old daughter, was also convicted of fraud charges against her. She was sentenced to four and a half years in prison and fined €300,000.
Guillaume Losada, Shelley Fogwell's former boyfriend, and Jean-Christophe Moroni, a broker, were as well found guilty and jailed and fined €100,000. Patrick Grasset, another broker, was discharged and released.

The case is being judged at the court of appeal. William Fogwell surrendered a couple of days ago at the begining of the new trial. Both Fogwells and Jean-Christophe Moroni are appealing against their conviction of embezzling 175 million euros of investors' money. But there was a major dysfunction in the Justice of Monaco and the trial has been postponed by the court until 8 June. Lawyers on both sides are accusing the Principality of delaying the case deliberately, following suggestions that officials were aware of the fraudulent financial dealings

Know more (in French)

Article 1 from Le Figaro

Article 2 from Le Figaro

Website dedicated to the case