Another Guilty Plea in Ethan Allen Tragedy

From the tragedy surrounding the Ethan Allen, a boat that took tourists around for a scenic cruise on Lake George in New York, comes another guilty plea.

According to the Insurance Journal, federal officials have reported that a third man, accountant Malchus Irvin Boncamper, has pled guilty to conspiracy to launder money in the scam which involved the sale of a bogus insurance policy to the New York tour operator that ran the Ethan Allen.

U.S.Attorney Kenneth Magidson and special-agent-in-charge of IRS Criminal Investigations, Lucy Cruz, announced that Boncamper, 56, of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis in the West Indies, pled in federal court before U.S. District Judge Sim Lake.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas noted that Boncamper admitted to conspiring to launder the proceeds of the fraud scheme, which sold fake liability insurance policies for over 10 years to businesses throughout the United States and elsewhere, including the company called Shoreline Cruises Inc. which operated the 40-foot Ethan Allen,

The tour boat operator discovered that their insurance policy was fictitious after the Ethan Allen sank on Oct. 2, 2005, in a tragic accident that claimed the lives of 20 elderly tourists.

An announcement released by federal officials stated:

Boncamper acquired four insurance companies for the scheme in St. Kitts and Nevis — Commercial Acceptance Indemnity Ltd., United Re-insurance Group Ltd., Polaris International Ltd. and Brentwood Re Ltd. — and created financial statements for the companies listing assets he knew were worthless, including bonds purportedly guaranteed by a Swiss bank that was fictitious.

A co-conspirator sent Boncamper’s financial statements to Shoreline Cruises Inc. in October 2004 to convince its owners to purchase the fictitious insurance offered through the scheme.

Boncamper also opened bank accounts to hold insurance premiums obtained through fraud including an account opened in 2006 at a bank in Liechtenstein.

At his sentencing, which is set for January 19, 2012, he faces a fine of up to $250,000, an order to pay full restitution to the victims, and a maximum of 10 years in federal prison without parole followed by a maximum three years of supervised release.

Boncamper has been held in pre-trial custody since he was arrested at Miami International Airport on January 14^th. U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick White of the U.S. District Court in Miami thought that Boncamper presented a serious flight risk and ordered him detained.

Along with Boncamper, five other defendants were also charged. Christopher Purser, the man who owned the company from which the owner of the Ethan Allen purchased their insurance policy, pleaded guilty on October 5^th to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, while Edmund Benton pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money.

Co-defendant Robert Steve Mills is set to go to trial with Judge Lake on April 16, 2012, while the remaining two defendants are pending extradition.