(Jamaica Gleaner) Police investigators say more investors in the unregistered investment scheme Nipon Farms are coming forward following the arrest of its principal, businessman Carl Ranglin.
“We are seeing more complainants coming in to the police,” one investigator told The Gleaner yesterday.
Ranglin, accused of pocketing nearly $100 million from investors including $50 million from one client, was arrested and charged on July 26 with breaches of the Securities Act.
The businessman was granted bail in the sum of $15 milliom when he appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court. He is scheduled to return to court on September 18.
The revelation surfaced the same day former Olint boss David Smith was handed a 30-year sentence after he pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money-laundering charges.
Carlos and Bertram Hill, the former principals of Cash Plus, along with Peter Wilson, the former chief financial officer of the scheme, are now facing fraud-related charges arising from its collapse.
The police are still probing the operations of World Wise Partners and have indicated that they will seek to have its principal, Noel Strachan, returned to Jamaica if they uncover evidence of wrongdoing.
Up to yesterday, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) was not aware of Ranglin’s arrest, but confirmed that the entity was one of 62 unauthorised financial operations (UFOs) it has received complaints about.
Nipon Farms has been listed among several UFOs – including Olint, Cash Plus and World Wise – under a public notice posted on the FSC’s website, warning potential investors that it was not licensed or registered to solicit or accept funds to invest with a promise to pay returns.
“That is the only action we can take,” Nadene Newsome, the FSC’s communications manager, told The Gleaner yesterday.
Investigators say over “a period of time”, Nipon Farms collected money from investors with an agreement to pay them 12 per cent interest on their principal each month.
Sources claim Ranglin has been having difficulties making good on those payments, causing investors to alert the Fraud Squad.
