BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — Mr. Mark Kucher, a Canadian national, made a report to the White-Collar Crime Unit of The Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force against Mr. Michael Prest. Investigation revealed that in 2018, Prest contacted Kucher with a proposal to acquire 40% shares in the Bank of Nevis International Limited, with the other 60% owned by Prest’s company Petrodel Investment Advisers Nevis Limited. Under their agreement formalised in writing in April 2019, Kucher would pay USD$2,530,000, which would be used to purchase shares, in return for which he would receive 49.9% shares in the bank and be made a Director and Chief Investment Officer. In December 2019, Kucher transferred the USD$2,530,000 to Petrodel Investment Advisers Nevis Ltd.
Since the transfer of the money and the purchase of shares by Petrodel Limited, and despite numerous requests by Kucher, no shares were transferred to him. The investigation shows that no application was ever made to the regulatory body to transfer any shares to Kucher. Instead, Kucher was told by Prest that the regulatory body had declined the transfer. The matter was referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions, who advised that Prest should be prosecuted for Fraudulent Conversion and Fraudulent Conversion by Trustee. Warrants for his arrest were sought and granted by the District “C” Magistrate. At present, Prest is outside the Federation of St. Christopher and Nevis. A warrant has been sent to Interpol for assistance with his arrest and extradition. (RSCNPF Press Release)