Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall says there is “very little” else the Government can do in order to ensure that persons who invested millions of dollars with suspected Ponzi scheme, Accelerated Capital Firm Inc (ACFI), are reimbursed their money.
In an invited comment, Nandlall told Stabroek News on Saturday that the Government could only take action to place the operators of the firm before the court and terminate its operations.
He said that both of these have already been done.
“At the level of the government there is very little that we can do other than charge the perpetrators and put them before the court which we have done and ensure that they do not continue in business anymore and we have also done that,” Nandlall said.
“What else can the Government do in the circumstance? They have no assets that we can encumber and that is the fraudulent nature of the operation,” Nandlall explained.
In August, 2020, the police had arrested the couple after launching an investigation into what is being described as a huge Ponzi scheme.
The Guyana Police Force had said that 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.
To date, the principals, Yuri Garcia-Dominguez and Ateeka Ishmael, are facing close to 80 charges of conspiring with other persons to obtain monies by false pretence.
They were released on bail totalling approximately $30 million.
The charges are still engaging the court.
Subsequent to this, the couple faced two additional charges which were filed by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).
They were charged under the Consumers Affairs Act with operating a pyramid scheme, and under the Securities Act with operating without a licence.
Both Dominguez and Ishmael pleaded not guilty to the joint charges and were released on bail.
Nandlall noted that SOCU is “likely” to file additional charges soon.
Asked whether there are any other legal consequences the couple can face if they fail to repay persons, Nandlall said that those who invested with the firm can file civil proceedings against them.
At a press conference held in early October, 2020, Dominguez had announced plans to recommence repayment of invested capital to 17,000 clients from October 12th, 2020 since the firm is not licensed to operate here and has been forced to cease all of its operations.
The repayment did commence as promised with some 27 persons receiving their invested capital. However, two days after the repayment started, officials from SOCU raided the couple’s property at Coldingen, ECD and seized equipment containing records of their clients. This resulted in a halt of the repayment.
In November, 2020, their attorney Dexter Todd had told this newspaper that persons who invested with ACFI are at risk of losing their money as the companies which piloted the trading of the funds have since terminated their contracts with the firm.
However, hope was restored for many in December, 2020 when Todd disclosed that repayment was expected to commence early this year.
With January at an end, there has been no update on whether repayment has recommenced.
Several unsuccessful attempts were made on Saturday to contact Todd for an update.
In December, Todd had said that his clients have embarked on a process of putting their trading account back into profitability and once this is completed repayment will begin.
He had said that Dominguez has since asked for a period of six weeks to complete the process. After this, Todd said a ‘considerable’ amount of clients would receive their invested capital by January month end.
“… There is a one hundred per cent chance that the accounts will be in profitability enough by the end of January for persons to start receiving their money,” Todd had said.
“… So I believe that by January month end, I believe a considerable amount of people would receive their monies because at that time I think, the accounts would be in a place of profitability and he can safely close the trade,” he added.
Todd had further noted that repayment will be done in batches of five thousand every three weeks.
In this way, he said by March, 2021, all 17,000 persons who invested with the firm would be repaid.
