A lack of capital proved no impediment to Ziegler and Skirving. In 1999, FIBG reported to Grenadian authorities that it earned $26 billion in net income, which would have made it the world's most profitable company. Such representations led Offshore Alert, a Miami newsletter that focuses on scams, to call FIBG the "biggest banking fraud in history. ...

The last check came the day before her mother died in June 2000.

"We started freaking out and calling the bank in Grenada," Phyllis Miller said. "They said it was just some hang-up. Then I saw a warning on the Internet about an offshore investment alert. I knew we were scammed when our friend wouldn't return our calls."