Yuri Garcia Dominguez, one of the principals of Accelerated Capital Firm Inc (ACFI), the company which has been at the centre of what is being described as a huge Ponzi scheme, yesterday announced plans to commence repayment of invested capital to 17,000 clients from October 12th since the firm is not licensed to operate here and has been forced to cease all of its operations.
“Accelerated Capital Firm is ready to resume payments back after 36 days (after a halt) based on a situation everybody knows about…….On the 12th of this month (October) we are going to resume,” Dominguez told a news conference he hosted with his lawyer, Dexter Todd, at Sharon’s Building in Georgetown.
This development came more than one week after Dominguez and his wife, Ateeka Ishmael were released on a total of approximately $30 million bail. They are currently facing close to 80 charges of conspiring with other persons to obtain monies by false pretense.
According to Todd, in light of the large volume of clients, the repayment process will begin with 100 persons receiving their capital investments. He said there will be a seven-day break after repayment is made to the first 100 clients after which they will continue with another 100. This system will be applied until all 17,000 are repaid.
The repayment, Todd added, will be done in keeping with COVID-19 measures. “…We have to take on board that it has to be done in a structural manner. We have to make sure that at all material times we adhere to the COVID guidelines and we never at one stage have hundreds of persons lined up in a line to receive back their capitals,” he said.
It is unclear what system will be used to determine which clients will be reimbursed first and in what order. However, Todd said the company has set aside a period of three months to complete repayments. With a seven-day break between payments a longer period may be required.
The ACFI has a total of 17,000 clients who altogether invested hundreds of million dollars. Only a small percentage of this amount, 69 to be exact, came forward during the investigation to provide statements resulting in the charges being laid by the police.
Whether, they will be given priority in receiving their investment also remains unknown.
Todd yesterday explained to reporters that the arrangement will be laid out to the court.
“…The court has a comfort level in relation to how the complainants will be repaid because the principals of the company do not want to bring on themselves at this stage, an allegation of tampering with the witnesses… So, we will have to give respect to the court, in the sense that we will have to allow the court to have an appreciation of what is being done,” he said.
“Usually what is being done in court is that the complainant comes to court, the complainant is asked by a magistrate ‘Do you wish to proceed in what matter or do you wish to collect your money?’ If the complainant stands up in the court and says ‘All I want is my money’, we can settle with that person unhindered,” he added.
This initiative will be adopted as it relates to the repayment of the invested capital to the complainants in the matter, Todd said.
Whether the charges will be dropped against Dominguez and Ishmael once repayment is completed, Todd added, is a matter which is in the power of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Approximately 17,000 Guyanese allegedly lost hundreds of millions of dollars after they invested with the unlicensed company run by the couple.
The Guyana Police Force has said that Garcia-Dominguez, 34, a naturalised Guyanese of Cuban origin, and his wife, Ishmael, 32, both of Track A, Coldingen, East Coast Demerara, were detained as part of an ongoing investigation of alleged fraud.
Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum had said that the police had obtained a total of 69 statements from investors, who reached out to the Criminal Investigation Department. These individuals had 77 transactions amounting to $135 million, Blanhum disclosed.
Dominguez and Ishmael were granted bail on September 24th, more than one month after they were initially charged. The charges were laid before different magistrates.
The couple were also required to adhere to conditions set out by the court prior to being granted bail. “There are reporting conditions and they are going to adhere to those reporting conditions and their passports have been lodged since at the first hearing of the charges with the Vigilance Registry. So I think all the conditions in terms of fears of flight risk is behind us now,” Todd had previously said.
Unlicensed
According to Todd, the repayment process will only facilitate the return of the invested capital and does not include any profits.
Todd also pointed out that the repayment does not indicate the “reopening” or “restart” of ACFI operations.
“The only thing that will be facilitated is the return of the capital investment. That is what the company will be doing. So the payout is not a payout of the capital investment plus the profit, to appear as though the company has continued its regular operations and this will be, of course, putting themselves again in the same type of investigation that they are trying to resolve,” Todd further explained.
Dominguez claimed ACFI is registered to operate internationally. However, upon arrival in Guyana, ACFI was not granted the required licence to carry out its business here.
As a result, it has to cease all operations until they obtain the licence.
“The company is legitimately registered. The company has contracts with investors. The investors give their monies so that their monies can be traded internationally. The licence that was required under the law of Guyana was not acquired and for that reason the company must cease operations. That would be the most reasonable and prudent thing to do to exit those contracts and that is what the legal team has been putting together. An opportunity for the company to exit the agreement,” Todd told the media.
Todd further stated that a document setting out the cancellations of agreements has been prepared and will have to be signed as soon as every person receives their capital. “…To sign that exit agreement, to sign that cancellation of their agreement and of course when in future, the company is licensed to do that type of business, then those persons are free to join again. But as it is, as of today, the company must cease its operations that is what the Government has been facilitating,” he said.
“…It is what it is at this point in time and so what we don’t want is to be regressing in any form,” Todd noted.
He related that ACFI will not operate without the “blessings” of the government.
As a result, he said at every stage of the repayment process, the relevant authorities will be informed. “The Government of Guyana through the Attorney General will be updated as to how many persons have been repaid, the time period for the completion of the repayment, so that we have that level of cooperation,” Todd noted.
“Not a Ponzi scheme”
It was also reiterated yesterday by both Dominguez and Todd that ACFI is not a Ponzi scheme.
Dominguez said he has over 13 years of experience in trading on the stock market. “…If the funds are traded, there is a trading history. If funds are really better according to the contents in the stock market and it is not compulsory to find or recruit new clients to facilitate repayment I believe that not a Ponzi scheme,” he explained.
In an effort to provide clarity, Dominguez said he is willing to illustrate how the firm is structured and how it is operated. “….We are going to explain certain things that aren’t clear out there. How is the company operating, basic investments. There are allegations against us, against me and my wife, saying under false pretence we were doing fraud. That’s totally incorrect,” Dominguez said.
“…We have shown the police, we have shown all the entities doing the investigation of the trading industry and proved that the money [was] being traded in the stock market. They are profitable operations and so on,” he added.
Dominguez also appealed to his clients not to be upset. “…We are here to prove to the people, we are here to prove to our clients of the firm that Accelerated Capital Firm is here to deliver education and a different way how we can take advantage of the stock market,” he said.
Meanwhile, Todd noted that clarity needs to be given at the soonest opportunity about the difference between what is a Ponzi scheme and what operations were being conducted by ACFI.
“I believe the issue here is knowledge and because as a Guyanese society we are confronted with a type of business which is not really a business that is familiar, because of the lack of information, misunderstanding and misrepresentation is what took the leading force in this matter and that is something that the company will do in an effort to regain its image. They will clear those issues up as soon as the matters have come to an end in the court,” Todd said.
“….I believe that all the parties who are involved in this business need to have that satisfaction that they were never misrepresented in terms of where their monies were going and that the company never misrepresented that and so that they honestly invested in something that was an legitimate international trade,” the attorney added.
