Insurance Fraud Watch Newswire

Private Prosecutions in New Zealand
There is a little-known New Zealand law in which a prosecution for fraud which was not pursued by the government, usually due to budget constraints, can be privately-financed. Furthermore, there is no statute of limitations on bringing an action for fraud. This means the action could be filed 10 or more years after the incident. Not good news for fraudsters who think they are safe because some time has passed. Persons affected by fraud are increasing taking advantage of this law to administer justice to fraudsters.

"The Joneses" Goes Bust; Steve Nichols Loses Big $$$
Auckland-based real estate company “The Joneses” collapsed on February 18 under a mountain of debt estimated at several million dollars. The company was based in an office in the so-called “Oracle Tower” (all 18 floors of it), which was being sub-let to them by none other than “The Three (alleged) Fraudsters;” Mike Henry, Steve Nichols, and Murray Calder, who sub-let it to the Joneses after they sold their travel insurance business to Insurance Australia Group (IAG) in 2006. The whopping $275,000 annual rent will have to be paid by The (alleged) Fraudsters out of their own pockets until they find a new tenant, or until their own lease runs out in 2012, which will not be easy, given the poor state of the NZ real estate market.

But that’s not the funniest part.

It has been revealed that Steve Nichols, currently employed by Medtral New Zealand Limited, http://www.medtral.com, after coming untethered from Mike Henry’s rear end almost two years ago, has been attempting to play venture capitalist, as one of the unlucky investors in “The Joneses”. Nichols' loss: an estimated $500,000.

We’re waiting to see if Nichols' other investment, kitchen cleaning product franchise "Brilliance Corp.", turns out to be as Brilliant an investment as “The Joneses”. One thing is for sure: Steve Nichols isn't Brilliant; he's not even bright, judging by the soundness of his investment decisions and the spelling mistakes on the anonymous emails he's sent to The Moderator. Time to put your remaining money in a time deposit Steve, and leave venture capital to the professionals.


Coming Soon To a Bookstore Near You...More
Advance orders are now being taken for "Serial Fraudster" the Mike Henry Investigative Report, to be published by a major publisher. The tell-all account is sure to rock the insurance industry and send some heads rolling, as it reveals the names of those who continued to do business with Mike Henry, Steve Nichols (currently employed by Medtral New Zealand Limited, http://www.medtral.com), and Murray Calder, after evidence of criminal activity was presented to them.

Thanks to a private donation, all public libraries in New Zealand will be provided with a free copy of the book, as will all of Mike Henry, Steve Nichols, and Murray Caulder's neighbors in Auckland and Queenstown.

Mike Henry Travel Loses Top Client; IAG Feels the Pain
Insurance Australia Group was cautioned to not do business with Mike Henry. Now IAG is feeling the pain. Mike Henry Travel Insurance Limited, the company IAG bought from the aging con-artist, recently lost their largest client, Flight Centres, and some 40% of MHTI’s revenue, to travel insurance provider Covermore. Who is covermore? A company that was once owned by none other than...Mike Henry. We told you so IAG...time to re-think those other deals you're doing with the slithering Henry.

Insurance Fraud Watch Achieves Top Rankings on All Major Search Engines; Surpasses 40,000 Visitors in less than 18 Months 6-July-2007
As of July 2007, Insurance Fraud Watch now comes up in the top 10 rankings of nearly every combination of relevant key words on all major search engines, and is number 1 in many.
For example: Interglobal Limited, #12, Mike Henry Travel Insurance #6, Rotary International Ethics #6, Mike Henry Fraud #1.

Mike Henry Explodes With Anger as Blog Post Hits a Raw Nerve
The prospect of the forthcoming book exposing his criminal exploits to a worldwide audience prompted an unprecedented tongue-lashing from Mike Henry, in the form of an anonymous post in the Comments section herein. (see the Comments section, below). The scathing diatribe, which was traced back to Interglobal Limited’s server 194.72.134.202, located in Bromley, U.K., underscores Mike Henry’s elevated level of concern.

Mike Henry and Steve Nichols Resign from Interglobal Board Under Pressure
Mike Henry and Steve Nichols (currently employed by Medtral New Zealand Limited, http://www.medtral.com) resigned from Interglobal's board on March 19, 2007. Inside sources reveal that the resignations came as a result of pressure from the private equity investors and other shareholders concerned about the mounting evidence of criminal activity on the part of Mike Henry and Steve Nichols, and the negative impact it will have have on their budding insurance venture, Interglobal Insurance Company Limited, should the FSA blacklist Messrs. Henry and Nichols. Mike Henry and Steve Nichols are still hiding under rocks as Interglobal shareholders and puppeteers, however. Steve Nichols is now putting his management skills to the test as a distributor of a new miracle kitchen appliance cleaning product in New Zealand.


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Medtral New Zealand Limited, http://www.medtral.com

Interglobal Visitors Top the Rankings to this News Blog During August, 2007.
Some 54 visits were made to this news blog by persons logging on from Interglobal Limited's server 194.72.134.202 during August, a record from a single IP address.

The information in this blog is factual, true and complete. Please bring any inaccurate postings to the attention of the moderator: insurancewatch@gmail.com, and include documented evidence of any inaccuracies so that they may be corrected. Undocumented objections will not be published, nor read.

Risky Business: RSA Puts Their Reputation On The Line

Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance has taken the risky step of going into business with criminal fraudsters Mike Henry and Steve Nichols.

The tie-up is allegedly to sell Interglobal Insurance to unsuspecting expatriates residing in Singapore and China.

Apparently the pursuit of potential income has superseded the insurer's obligation to its shareholders and the public to do business only with ethical parties. Either that or RSA's due diligence process has failed miserably. What is unknown at this point is how RSA intends to explain this to the Chinese and Singaporean insurance regulators, and why they are putting their entire business operation in those jurisdictions at risk for the sake of a relatively small amount of potential income.

Comments from insurance regulators will be posted here as they become available.
More Details: Click Here

Interglobal Setting Its Brokers Up For A Fall

Employing typical Mike Henry-Steve Nichols trickery, Interglobal Limited, the business they illegally control, is attempting to stealthily knife its brokers in the back.

Well, not quite so stealthily, if the brokers are paying any attention to what's going on.

On the Interglobal website, prospective customers are encouraged to bypass their broker and sign up direct, using a term they call 'Execution Only Customers'. What this means is that customers sign up direct with Interglobal, thus cutting the brokers out of the deal. Mike Henry tried a similar dirty tactic against Mike Henry Travel Insurance agents a few years ago in New Zealand when he ran TV advertising. In these ads, Henry displayed the Mike Henry Travel Insurance web address, and viewers were instructed to go to Mike Henry's website and sign up direct, thus cutting out the travel agents. This caused such a ruckus from travel agents that Mike Henry was forced under pressure to remove the web address from the TV spots, and replaced it with text and a voice-over which stated: "See your bonded travel agent".

Can Henry and Nichols can get away with yet another slimy trick against those who have built the business they control? That will be determined by whether or not the brokers put up with it. It wouldn't be the first time Mike Henry and Steve Nichols stole from people who were mislead into believing that Mike Henry is a legitimate and honest businessman.

See: http://www.interglobalpmi.com/ig_index.php

Takeover Artist Mike Henry Lies in Court Document, Cheats Intermediary Out of His Business and Millions of Dollars in Income

Mike Henry, founder of Mike Henry Travel Insurance Limited and largest shareholder of Interglobal Limited, and Steven M. Nichols, Mike Henry Travel Insurance Limited managing director, face potential civil and criminal action as a result of their underhanded conspiracy to gain control of one of their leading intermediary's businesses, which involved lying in an Auckland, New Zealand High Court document.

If you are a broker or intermediary for Interglobal Limited and you think your income and business is safe, think again...

Mike Henry and Steve Nichols cancelled their relationship with a top-selling intermediary, claiming that the intermediary had acted illegally, when in fact it was Mike Henry and Steve Nichols that had acted illegally. It was part of a well-planned scheme on the part of Mike Henry and Steve Nichols to cheat the intermediary out of his business and steal his income, after the intermediary refused to comply with Mike Henry’s insistance that the intermediary sign over a 60% interest in his business to Mike Henry. Subsequently, Mike Henry took the extra step of sending defamatory letters direct to the intermediary's clients and business associates prior to informing the intermediary of the cancellation, with the intent of ruining his good name, and preventing the defrauded intermediary from moving his business to another provider.

Of further significance is the fact that Mike Henry set up a shell company, Henry Corporate Trustee Ltd., on the day after he stole the intermediary's business and income. This shell company was the first in a series of a half-dozen shell companies set up by Mike Henry with the apparent intent of shielding his shares, and those of family members, from the risk of litigation. Since, however, this defensive move was made after Mike Henry committed the crime, under NZ law, Mike Henry will not be able to shield these assets from litigation. If forced to pay back the stolen income along with interest and penalties, Mike Henry and Steve Nichols will likely face personal bankruptcy and loss of their homes. They may also face long prison sentences, similar to Enron's disgraced top executives.

Furthermore, it seems that Mike Henry is not capable of telling the truth, even to his own lawyer. It can now be proven that Mike Henry lied in a New Zealand High Court document, in an attempt to cover up the above acts of fraud, exposing the 60-year old Mike Henry to a possible prison sentence, for this and other felonies.

An analysis of the evidence proves conclusively that criminal laws were broken by Mike Henry and Steve Nichols in this incident. The full report is being submitted to police investigators and news organisations.

If you are a broker, or intermediary with any Mike Henry-related company, you would be wise to take steps to protect yourself, in order to safeguard your business and income. Interglobal is known to offer an extra point or two in commission in order to take business away from competitors, but this will be no windfall if you end up losing your entire book of business when Mike Henry decides its time to move the entire source of the income over to his side of the table. If he does this to others, you're fooling yourself if you think it won't happen to you. It's only a matter of time before your life's work and your income becomes Mike Henry's asset. Mike Henry does not believe in working hard, only in taking the hard work of others for himself.

More Details: Click Here

IAG NZ Acquisition of Mike Henry Travel Insurance Limited Raises Questions of Impropriety

Insurance Australia Group New Zealand’s July, 2004 acquisition of 50.1% of the Mike Henry Travel Insurance Limited business seemed to be an insignificant event at the time. The annual net income for the NZ provider of travel insurance isn’t even a rounding error for the Australian insurance giant. It seemed so insignificant, in fact, that the transaction was referred to in an Insurance Australia Group press release at the time as “a small acquisition in New Zealand” and “neither the acquisition nor the premiums are significant to the results or financial position of IAG.”

A seemingly insignificant event like this one can often lead to serious trouble.

Compelling evidence that Michael Paul “Mike” Henry, the 60-year-old founder of Mike Henry Travel Insurance Limited, and Steven Murray Nichols, managing director of Mike Henry Travel Insurance Limited, have allegedly defrauded a number of former business associates, has made the acquisition appear to have been a serious mistake. Furthermore, Mike Henry has been linked to organised crime, through a long-established business partnership of some 8 years, with a biker gang member and drug trafficker who was convicted and sentenced to a 12-year prison term in May, 2005, along with Mike Henry’s daughter, Deborah Anne Henry, who was convicted and handed a 2-year sentence for drug crimes, (see “Business Partner, Daughter of Mike Henry Travel Insurance Limited Founder Convicted of Drug Trafficking, Sentenced” elsewhere in this blog).

But that isn’t the worst of it.

It has come to light that Insurance Australia Group New Zealand, as well as the law firm which was performing the due diligence, were warned specifically of the existence of evidence of crimes allegedly committed by Mike Henry, just days before the deal was to close, but that this notification was not acted upon. Why such important information was not acted upon is unknown at this point, but it looks like what might have been a cover-up appears to have possibly taken place.

The law firm in question is none other than the law firm featured in the book "Thirty Pieces of Silver", which exposed the darker side of the legal profession, in some ways not unlike the best selling book "The Firm", which was made into a popular movie starring Tom Cruise. The idea that IAG NZ used such a notorious law firm to perform due diligence on unsavory characters like Mike Henry and Steve Nichols is almost surreal, especially in light of the fact that the law firm, as well as the dealmakers at IAG NZ, ignored warnings of illicit activities on the part of Messrs. Henry and Nichols. This appears to be a clear breach of fiduciary duties.

The fact that Insurance Australia Group seems willing to look the other way and do business with Mike Henry, a man who does not share Insurance Australia Group’s values, is improper and calls into question Insurance Australia Group’s judgment.

In addition to Mike Henry Travel Insurance Limited, Insurance Australia Group and Mike Henry have for some years jointly owned First Rescue and Assistance Limited (First Assistance), a call centre based in Auckland, NZ. To be this deeply involved with a business partner for years and suddenly find out he's a filthy rat is understandably a difficult situation to extract oneself from without significant embarrassment.

If all that wasn’t bad enough, there’s more. Resulting from its 2005 acquisition of Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Thailand, Insurance Australia Group NZ inherited still another business tie-up with Mike Henry in Thailand, an expatriate medical insurance program, which now trades under the brand name "NZI" in Thailand, part of Interglobal Limited, a provider of expatriate health insurance illicitly controlled by Mike Henry. The founder of the Interglobal (formerly Global Healthcare) business and a number of other persons have provided sworn statements and documents to the Serious Fraud Office in New Zealand, in which they detail dozens of individual allegations of fraud, conspiracy, duress, embezzlement, theft of millions of dollars, and tax fraud, among other criminal acts, on the part of Mike Henry, and Steven M. Nichols, in connection with their seizure of control of the Interglobal (formerly Global Healthcare) business, while its founder was recovering from a serious traffic accident. (see “Financial Trouble at Interglobal” elsewhere in this blog)

So why is Insurance Australia Group, a large, reputable company in an industry where honesty and integrity are the very core of the business, risking their good name by "making small acquisitions", that are "not significant" to IAG's financial position, from the likes of Mike Henry and Steve Nichols, and apparently standing by such corrupt persons in the face of overwhelming evidence? Even more significantly, by making misjudgements such as this, and leaving them uncorrected, isn’t Insurance Australia Group risking the ire of shareholders, which conceivably could bring all of IAG’s recent and future acquisitions under the microscope, and put the brakes on Insurance Australia Group's current acquisition tear?

As IAG CEO Michael Hawker stated in an interview with CEO Forum, "From a credibility point of view, we had to lift our game".

What better way to lift IAG's game than to choose its business partners more carefully and weed out those who are subsequently found to be not playing the game by the rules, even if it means admitting a mistake or two along the way.

Given the fact that insurance companies are, by nature, not known for ranking high on the public's most admired list, the respect the public has for IAG could suddenly turn to scorn, if this situation is not swiftly and decisively addressed.

And if recent history is any guide, a cover-up can turn seemingly minor missteps into a full-blown scandal, and even bring down a company. The parallels with Arthur Anderson are a chilling reminder. Insurance Australia Group is a public company with a lot at stake, and IAG CEO Michael Hawker needs to find out what went wrong in the New Zealand subsidiary and deal with it, before this small acquisition turns into a major disaster for the company.

Alternatively, if IAG was to make a public statement of disassociation with Mike Henry and cancel all business ties, even without going into the details, IAG could turn this potentially explosive situation into a positive one, and even enhance its already stellar reputation with the public and shareholders.

• • • • •

This story was prepared in part with information from the following sources:

CEO Forum
http://www.ceoforum.com.au/200309_ceodialogue.cfm

Breaking News: Fraud Investigator's Preliminary Report Raises Serious Questions and Concerns about Mike Henry Wrongdoings

The end may be in sight for the illicit business careers of Mike Henry and Steve Nichols, directors and major shareholders of Interglobal Limited and Mike Henry Travel Insurance Limited.

Respected and experienced fraud investigator, Mr. John Dierckx, LLM, has examined the Mike Henry Wrongdoings Dossier of Evidence and has issued a detailed 43-page preliminary report.

On his own blog, Mr. Dierckx presents a more comprehensive and balanced look at the issues presented here.

Click Here to read Mr. Dierckx’s summary of his preliminary assessment of the evidence

Among his findings: (quote)

“The thrust of the assessment was to identify, based on the available information, whether or not there are indications of fraud and or other illegal or illegitimate activities seen through the eyes of someone that is involved in the investigation of fraud on a regular basis.

The available evidence appears to justify suspicions of illegal behaviour on the part of Mike Henry, Steve Nichols and associated companies that could potentially be falling within the boundaries of behaviour that is criminalised under the Crimes Act 1961 to name just a few:

• Theft by a person in a special relationship (Section 220)
• Dishonestly taking or using a document (Section 228)
• Obtaining or causing loss by deception (Section 240)
• Threats of harm to people or property (Section 307A)
• Conspiring to commit offences (Section 310)

It is noted that these offences are only a select few, listed in the Crimes Act. It can, at this stage, not be ruled out that there could be criminal and/or civil liability under other acts or common law.” Read more...
(end quote)

Notes from The Moderator:
The excerpt above is just the tip of the iceberg. If you previously had any doubts about the allegations presented in this blog, those doubts will surely be put to rest after you read the first few pages of this compelling, 43-page preliminary investigative report. Concerned organisations can request an in-person presentation of Mike Henry Wrongdoings--The Special Investigative Report. See in-depth analysis, supported by dozens of key documents that prove the allegations of fraud and wrongdoing many times over against Mike Henry and Steve Nichols. Send full contact details by email to: insurancewatch@gmail.com.

The overwhelming volume of evidence of civil and criminal wrongdoings, and unethical behavior, alleged to have been committed over a period of many years, points to a well-established pattern of misconduct and disregard for the law. The crimes alleged against Mike Henry and Steve Nichols are far in excess of those alleged in recent Marsh and AIG scandals, which is even more remarkable given that those companies are thousands of times the size of Mike Henry's.

Why continue doing business with Mike Henry and his web of companies when there are so many other companies to choose from that don't have this potentially disasterous cloud of impropriety and wrongdoing hanging over them?

Financial Trouble at Interglobal Limited

Mike Henry, the 60-year old founder of the Auckland-based Mike Travel Insurance Limited, is seeing his mini-empire start to crumble on the eve of his retirement, as consequences of alleged wrongdoings committed over many years catch up with him.

According to sources, Mike Henry is attempting to sell expatriate health insurance provider Interglobal Limited, a company he controls. A forensic examination of publicly-available Interglobal Limited financial records indicates that Interglobal Limited is "a house of cards". In the most recently reported (2004) financial year, (Source: UK Companies Office), Interglobal Limited had revenue of only GBP1,914,601 (US$3,230,000), and a razor-thin net profit of only GBP7,792 (US$13,200). Cash reserves were a mere GBP315,280 ($535,976). It is unknown why Interglobal Limited’s auditor suddenly resigned in Nov. 2005, coincidentally around the time that details of Mike Henry wrongdoings started circulating on the internet.

Industry watchers suspect that Mike Henry brought in Stephen Hartigan, a respected industry professional, as CEO, in a desperate attempt to give the faltering company some credibility, with the aim of dressing Interglobal Limited up for a sale. It is unlikely that Mike Henry told Mr. Hartigan the true history of the business. Based on results, however, Interglobal Limited can be argued to be of negligible worth to an acquirer, from both a financial and a strategic perspective, given Interglobal Limited’s infinitesimal market share, low profitability, and the low valuation (GBP750,000) that Royal Bank of Scotland divested its 45% share for in August, 2004.

Another mystery is why some of the Interglobal Limited brokers falsely state on their websites and in advertising that Interglobal Limited has "over 800,000 members securely covered worldwide" (see "Globally Fictitious", below). An analysis of the published financial results reveals that the real number of customers is only a few thousand, which is less than 1% of the advertised number, and most likely is an intentional effort by Mike Henry and his minions to deceive the public, by attempting to paint a blatently false picture of financial health and massive scale, while the reality is that Interglobal Limited has an insignificant market share and is barely solvent.

And if Interglobal Limited’s financial problems were not enough, more trouble lies ahead. The ownership of the Interglobal business, with offices in the U.K. and New Zealand, is in dispute. The founder and a number of other persons have provided sworn statements and documents to the Serious Fraud Office in New Zealand, in which they detail allegations of mail and wire fraud, document fraud, conspiracy, duress, money laundering, embezzlement, defamation, theft of millions of dollars, and making false statements to the IRD, on the part of Mike Henry, and his business partner, Steven M. Nichols, in connection with their seizure of control of the Interglobal (formerly Global Healthcare) business, while its founder was recovering from a serious traffic accident.

Mike Henry NZ Limited was under contract as third-party administrator of the program at the time. Mike Henry and Steve Nichols are alleged to have committed duress and insurance fraud by threatening to withhold payment of tens of thousand of dollars in hospital bills if the founder did not cede control of the business. Mike Henry and Steve Nichols then registered new companies to transact the already-existing business, in an apparent attempt to cover up their alleged illegal acts, and allegedly proceeded to embezzle millions of dollars in income that was not theirs, according to a sworn statement provided by the founder of the business, which is accompanied by more than 800 pages of supporting documents. It is clear from the evidence that Mike Henry never purchased the business from the founder and played no role in creating the business. Steve Nichols further threatened to make trouble for the founder with the Inland Revenue Department if the founder did not leave New Zealand. There is evidence that Mike Henry NZ Limited then filed false declarations with the NZ Inland Revenue Department, in an attempt to create a New Zealand tax liability for the defrauded founder, stating that he had been an employee of Mike Henry NZ Limited, when in fact MHNZ was employed by the founder as third-party administrator, and Mike Henry had no business involving itself in the founder's tax issues. The London solicitors for the defrauded founder have rendered an opinion that Mike Henry and Steve Nichols defrauded the founder out of his business and income.

Mike Henry-controlled Interglobal Limited lost its underwriting contract with a Lloyds of London syndicate in October, 2002, when it was brought to the syndicate's attention that Interglobal was trading illegally in Japan.

Further investigation has turned up a number of former business associates who have submitted sworn affidavits and documented evidence detailing multiple acts of alleged fraud committed by Mike Henry and Steve Nichols.

Mike Henry sold a 50.1% stake in Mike Henry Travel Insurance Limited, a distributor of travel insurance sold to consumers through Flight Centre, House of Travel, Harvey World, Holiday Shoppe, and various other travel agencies, to Insurance Australia Group (IAG) in July, 2004. The remaining 49.9% is scheduled to be sold to IAG in the second quarter of 2006, according to NZ Commerce Commission filings.

Shareholders of Insurance Australia Group have reason to call for the cancellation of the Mike Henry Travel Insurance Limited acquisition, on the grounds that doing business with Mike Henry has significant potential to tarnish IAG's good reputation, and as further details of extensive wrongdoing on the part of Mike Henry and Steve Nichols are revealed, the value of the Mike Henry brand name will be eroded or rendered worthless, enriching Mike Henry at the expense of IAG shareholders.

This story was prepared in part with information from the following source:

UK Companies Office: http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk
Search on: Interglobal Limited, - Order Documents, - Last Accounts to 30/6/04