Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack has defended her role in clearing the Cuban national at the centre of a suspected multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, saying that the Police failed to present any evidence of illegal activities to her when they sought her legal advice.
The DPP Chambers on Wednesday in a statement admitted that the Police did send Ali-Hack a file last year seeking her advice on how to treat with Cuban national Yuri Garcia-Dominguez, who was at the time seeking naturalisation at the Ministry of Citizenship.
DPP Shalimar Ali-Hack
But Dominguez was at the time in the cross hairs of the Guyana Securities Council (GSC), which had written to then Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix, warning him that Dominguez was involved in suspected illegal activities through his firm Accelerated Wealth Incorporated.
The Police file, the DPP’s statement said, was first received in November 2019, and based on the statements contained therein, the file was returned to the Guyana Police Force (GPF) for further investigations on the immigration status of Dominguez. It further stated that after the further investigations were completed, the file was to be returned to the DPP’s Office for further legal advice.
Ali-Hack noted that when the Police did return the file to the DPP Chambers in February 2020, it was without any evidence of Dominguez’s supposed illegality. The DPP, therefore, laid responsibility for the legal advice that was eventually provided at the feet of the Police Force, which was at the time headed by Police Commissioner Leslie James.
Police Commissioner Leslie James has proceeded on pre-retirement leave
“This was done and the file returned to these Chambers in February 2020; legal advice was given based on the information contained in the statements. We herein state categorically, the statements in the Police file did not disclose that Mr Garcia was involved in any unlawful activities,” the statement said.
“The complaint which sparked the investigation was made through an anonymous report and based on the investigations conducted by the Police, there was no evidence of the commission of any offence by Yuri Garcia-Dominguez.”
Clearance
This comes after Felix, under criticism for granting Dominguez citizenship even after the GSC warned him, released a statement in which he claimed to have gotten clearance from the Police, who in turn received clearance from the DPP.
“In response to my letter to the Commissioner of Police dated September 4, 2019, I received guidance from the Commissioner of Police in a letter dated 2020-04-17, seven months after the investigation commenced, that following advice from the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), … stated, “this matter be treated as closed and that Yuri Garcia-Dominguez and Laicy Garcia Pedroso continue the process of applying for citizenship.
Former Citizenship Minister Winston Felix
“In accordance therewith, there being no other restraining circumstances to necessitate official action to prevent the naturalisation process, Dominquez’ naturalisation form was signed on 12th June, 2020, just about two months after the DPP ‘treated the matter as closed’,” Felix wrote in his statement.
Dominguez and his wife, Ateeka Ishmael ran the company Accelerated Capital Firm Incorporated (ACFI), where they enrolled thousands of Guyanese citizens in an alleged Ponzi scheme where the company claimed that it used a foreign exchange platform to trade. Reports indicate that all aspects of the scheme operated online via training webinars, WhatsApp and emails.
The pair were arrested on Thursday last by Police, who are currently investigating the company. Social media has been flooded by complaints from persons who invested money with the couple and never got back their capital, much less the profits.
Persons have complained on social media that they invested varying sums ranging from $100,000 to over $1 million, but now they do not know if they would ever recover their hard-earned money. There are reports that businessmen have invested well over $50 million and in one case as much as $150 million.
Cuban national Yuri Garcia-Dominguez
The methods of payment used to invest and trade are credit cards or by wire transfer. Further, investigations have revealed that local banks terminated the accounts of both Dominguez and Ishmael, and refused their request to open a corporate account as a result of their due diligence and the public notice by the GSC in the print media.
However, the company has claimed that it has the money ready to refund investors and had asked, among other things, to be allowed to set up a bank account. As such, Attorney General Anil Nandlall has offered to facilitate the opening of an account at a local bank, so that customers can be repaid. (G3)
