Another Multimillion Dollars Judgment Handed Down Against Sanctuary Bay Defendants

The Sanctuary Bay saga was back before the U.S. courts late last week.  A default judgment was entered on August twenty-eight in the U.S. District Court of Maryland by Justice Peter Messitte.  The Justice granted the Federal Trade Commission’s motion for a default judgment against Andris Pukke, Peter Baker, Luke Chadwick, and Belizean John Usher and several corporate entities that the F.T.C. alleges have at all relevant times operated as a common enterprise, which altogether are known as Sanctuary Belize Enterprises.  The F.T.C. sought a Preliminary Injunction, and now seeks a Permanent Injunction, restitution, and other appropriate relief.  The Justice found that the defendants violated the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule and granted the permanent injunction.  The court also found that Pukke, Baker and Usher are jointly and severally liable for one hundred and twenty point two million U.S. dollars in restitution. In July, the court handed down a default judgment against Usher to the tune of more than a quarter of a billion Belize dollars.  The Sanctuary Bay scam has been described as the largest real estate scam in F.T.C.’s history with more than a hundred million dollars being swindled from investors.  The scam was perpetuated by American scammers Andris Pukke, Luke Chadwick with assistance from their local connection here in Belize, John Usher.