Ponzi scheme accused faced with seven more charges

Yuri Garcia Dominguez and his wife Ateeka Ishmael, the couple accused of running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded thousands of persons, were faced with seven additional charges yesterday.

They appeared before Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus on charges of conspiring with other persons to obtain a total of seven million dollars by false pretence. It is alleged that the couple conspired with others to obtain over seven million from seven victims.

Each was granted bail in the sum of $300,000 on each charge or $2.1 million in total. They are to make their next appearance on October 5th, 2020.

With the new charges, they now face a total of 73 charges.

On Tuesday last, the couple were faced with 14 charges at the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court. On September 2nd, the couple were slapped with 11 charges in Georgetown.

On August 27th, they appeared before two courts and they were faced with 19 charges of conspiring with other persons to obtain monies by false pretence.

The couple also appeared before Magistrate Fabayo Azore, at the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court, where they were read 12 charges.

On August 29th, the couple were arraigned before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly at the Georgetown Magistrates’

Courts via Skype and they faced 10 charges of conspiring to obtain monies by false pretence with the intention to defraud.

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. Approximately 17,000 Guyanese lost hundreds of millions of dollars after they invested with the unlicensed company run by the couple.

Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum has said that the police have 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.