Law firm denies allegation of e-mail system break-in

Bermuda Royal Gazette
by JONATHAN KENT
April 07. 2006

A CLAIM has been made in court evidence that an international detective agency broke into the e-mail system of Wakefield Quin – but the local law firm has categorically denied that there is any evidence of that. The allegation surfaced in a secretly-filmed video tape that was admitted into evidence in a civil case related to the IPOC International Growth Fund.

A senior counsel of Wakefield Quin referred us to Alan Dunch, the lawyer acting for the firm in connection with the IPOC litigation and investigation. "Having been made aware of the allegation that Wakefield Quin's computer network had been breached, a full investigation was undertaken," Mr. Dunch said yesterday. "No evidence whatsoever was unearthed that would in any way substantiate the allegation." He declined to comment further.

The allegation was made by Jeffrey Galmond, the Danish lawyer who runs the Bermuda-based IPOC Fund, in the course of a conversation with a former business associate, James Hatt. "You know Kroll broke into the e-mail system of Wakefield Quin," Mr. Galmond told Mr. Hatt. "They are very good, I must hand it to them, they are very good, right?"

The conversation took place at the Ritz Hotel in London on September 6, 2004, and Mr. Hatt filmed it without the knowledge of Mr. Galmond. We contacted the global headquarters of Kroll in New York, but they offered no comment for our story. However, an industry source suggested that the company had not broken into Wakefield Quin's e-mails...

Labels: Kroll