Major setback in repayment of ‘Ponzi scheme’ victims
-as companies terminate contracts with Accelerated Capital
Persons who invested with Accelerated Capital Firm Inc ( ACFI) seeking big returns are now at risk of losing their money as the companies which piloted the trading of the funds have since terminated their contracts with the firm.
This is according to Attorney Dexter Todd, who in an invited comment recently told Stabroek News that the company is now hoping to engage the relevant authorities in the hopes of resolving the issue.
“Mr (Yuri ) Dominguez (of ACFI) would have had held accounts with Prime Trust and CoinZoom. These are holding companies for the bitcoins. Now because of the investigation……the effect of what they did is that both holding companies have now severed their agreements with Mr Dominguez. So they will not allow any business in terms of converting the bitcoins through them to facilitate the monies coming back to Guyana,” Todd explained.
As such, Todd said repayment of the clients has become “impossible”.
“What I proposed to my client is that I will write the Attorney General, I will write the head of (the) Financial Intelligence Unit, the SOCU head and the Crime Chief and to see whether we can get a meeting and come up with a possible resolution,” the attorney said while noting, “so really and truly without the agencies coming together to see how they can really solve this, I don’t see how the people are going to be able to get back their money.”
Todd further related that the fact that his clients are subject to an investigation has created “some damage”.
“….So the magnitude of what was promulgated, created some damage. I can tell you, it’s frustrating on the clients because they don’t know how they will be able to serve the people. They have the bitcoins, the police have been able to see the value of the bitcoins, but it is now the moving of (the) bitcoins and converting it into dollars, is where the problem is,” Todd noted.
Dominguez and his wife, Ateeka Ishmael are currently facing a series of charges.
In August, the police had arrested the couple after they had launched an investigation into what is being described as a huge Ponzi scheme.
The Guyana Police Force has 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 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.
At a press conference held early October, Dominguez had announced plans to recommence 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.
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 mid- October, the couple faced two additional charges which were filed by 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.