in a libel suit brought by a disgruntled target of his Offshore Alert bulletin.

The Harris Organisation financial services group of Panama lost the lawsuit they filed against Mr. Marchant's Miami-based company Offshore Business News & Research, and Mr. Marchant himself as principle of the company.

Judge Michael Moore, sitting in the United States District Court for the Sourthern District of Florida issued a strong 16-page ruling in favour of the notoriously hard-line newsletter on August 10.

According to a special Offshore Alert "newsflash'' issued on Friday the Judge said the Harris Organisation's 1997 audited financial statements were of "questionable validity''.

The report also said the Judge agreed there was evidence that the group provided "vehicles for tax evasion and fraudulent conveyance of funds out of the US''.

Judge Moore also reportedly said the company had been implicated in prior "fraudulent and criminal activity'' and that it had a "continuing association with persons and entities that had been involved in or advocated criminal activity''.

He noted there was evidence that "the apparent chaos in the accounting system at The Harris Organisation was deliberate and not the innovative product of Harris' accounting genius or even, charitably, incompetence''.

COURTS CTS