Ponzi scheme accused charged for forging COVID-19 test

Ateeka Ishmael, who along with her husband Yuri Garcia Domingues is accused of operating a major Ponzi scheme, was on Friday released on $200,000 bail for forging a positive COVID-19 test. The woman was arraigned before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

The particulars of the charge stated that on July 27, at Georgetown, she conspired with her husband and others to forge a COVID-19 test to show that she had tested positive. Ishmael pleaded not guilty to the charge. The matter has been adjourned to September 10.
Last month, the Guyana Police Force moved to institute 60 new fraud charges against the couple who are the principals of Accelerated Capital Firm Incorporated (ACFI). It is alleged that through the company, they swindled hundreds of Guyanese of $4 billion in a Ponzi scheme.
But the couple failed to appear at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court to answer the charges. Instead, their lawyer, Dexter Todd, produced two medical certificates, on their behalf, to the Police investigators which purported to show that they had both tested positive for the COVID-19.
However, the Police Force in a statement said that a perusal of the medical certificates by investigators had raised the suspicion that they may be bogus documents. As such, an investigation was launched.
Together, Garcia Dominguez and his wife are facing 100-plus charges for obtaining monies by false pretence from some 17,000 people. They have been released on bail amounting to just over $30 million. Sometime last year, the company ceased all operations in Guyana after authorities discovered that it was operating without a licence from the Guyana Securities Council.
The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act Cap 10:11 prohibits businesses from operating as financial institutions without the necessary registration for regulation and supervision by the regulatory authorities.
On October 12, 2020, the couple began reimbursing persons who had invested in their company. However, the refunds came to an unexpected halt a few days later after ranks from the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) raided their home at Coldingen, East Coast Demerara, and seized several pieces of equipment the couple claimed were vital in processing the refund transactions.
The couple had disclosed that their company’s mode of business is trading on the international stock exchange. According to them, the company trades with international brokers such as IQ Options and FX Choice. They explained that the mode and operation of the company are that investing parties, having entered into a legally binding contract with ACFI, are permitted to invest a certain amount of capital.
They had said that either the investing party or ACFI can then deposit same with brokers such as IQ Options and FX Choice which would then be traded on the international market. They had also said that the investing party subsequently receives 40 per cent to 50 per cent on their investment based on the invested amount and the terms of the contract. (G1)