Ponzi scheme accused, Phylicia Jallim, a former Branch Manager of NAFICO and of 22 Welcome Street, Rosignol, West Bank Berbice and 103 Thomas Street, Kitty was yesterday slapped with seventeen fraud charges amounting to 288.8 million dollars.
The charges were laid by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU). A police statement said that Jallim appeared before Magistrate Peter Hugh at the Blairmont Magistrate’s Court where sixteen charges were read to her that she obtained, by false pretence, $283m and one count of fraudulent misappropriation amounting to $5.8m. She was granted bail in the sum of $100,000 per charge despite strong objections by the police prosecutor. The matter was adjourned to June 19th for statements to be filed in only one matter as the other 16 matters are indictable in nature.
According to a police report, in December 2022, a number of persons made reports at SOCU that the accused was operating a Ponzi Scheme. Investi-gations revealed that the victims were led to believe that Jallim was the Chief Executive Officer of Dream Chasers, a legal investment company, where she borrows money from investors and lends the money to government contractors and farmers who are having financial problems. The police said that Jallim informed the victims that she would pay them between 5 to 20 percent interest weekly on their capital invested. However, between July 2022 and November 2022, 16 victims from Berbice invested their monies with Jallim but never received any money as per her agreement with them and she never returned their capital.
Further, the police statement said that the company, Dream Chasers Investment, never existed and the farmers and contractors’ names she mentioned to the victims as her ‘clients’ denied doing any business with her. Investigations have also revealed that the accused is a member of the New Light Assemblies of God Church located at Number Four Village, West Coast Berbice and was entrusted with the safe custody and control of the congregation’s Penny Bank account. The police stated that Jallim allegedly converted the amount of $5.8M of the Church’s Penny Bank monies to her own use and benefit. SOCU is currently conducting a number of other investigations of a similar nature against Jallim.
