01 January 2001

After a thorough investigation lasting more than a year, the investigative accounting firm Kroll Associates has given Trans-World Group a clean bill of health.

Kroll was approached in December 1999 by Lovells, the London law firm, representing David and Simon Reuben, who own the metals trading company Trans-World Group. The approach had followed a series of allegations made in some media about the business activities of the Group. The aim of the investigation was to establish whether any of the allegations had any basis in truth.

In its report Kroll said: “We agreed to accept the assignment with very stringent conditions” and added: “We have never had anything less than the client’s full co-operation and support as we have undertaken various assignments.”

The key findings of the report are as follows:

 

  • “TWG metals trading companies operated a genuine business for the purpose of earning profits through the trading of financing of metals. Monies received by the Group came from legitimate business activity. We found no evidence of money laundering or any other illegal activity in the operations of the TWG metals companies.”
  • “We subjected the accounts to rigorous forensic financial review. We traced the origins of all monies coming into the accounts. We reported to the lawyers that all transactions were the product of legitimate business activity.”
  • “They have been under our microscope since that time. We are intimately familiar with TWG’s operations. TWG has complied with all of our requirements and the results of our efforts to date enable us to conclude that TWG’s principals, the Reuben brothers, are legitimate businessmen who operate their businesses in accordance with the law. We have not uncovered or seen any indication of criminality.”

Kroll was granted access to all information within the Trans-World Group, including bank accounts and supplier documentation. The investigation also examined the financial statements of all TWG metals trading companies as audited by independent auditors, each of which resulted in unqualified options or what are know as “clean opinions.”

For further information, please contact
Charles Stewart-Smith on 0207 618 9100