Granger Govt tipped off about Ponzi scheme, but never acted – AG

…ignored warnings, granted citizenship to Cuban at centre of scandal
…new Govt working to recover monies owed to investors

Attorney General Anil Nandlall has revealed that the very company now under investigation for operating a Ponzi scheme in Guyana has been in the crosshairs of authorities for some time, but their warnings to the previous A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government went unheeded.
During a press conference on Saturday, Nandlall disclosed that the relevant subject Ministers, particularly former Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan and former Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix, were alerted about the activities of Accelerated Capital.

“Based on the information I received, applications were made to the Bank of Guyana for a license. That was rejected. Applications were made to the Guyana Securities Council for license, that was rejected.”
“And under the previous Government, both the Bank of Guyana and the Guyana Securities Council (GSC) informed the various Ministers of this scheme operating without a license. They received no response,” Nandlall explained.
In fact, Nandlall revealed that the former Government was warned about Yuri Dominguez, the founder of the company, but took no action. The result was that Dominguez was granted his citizenship under the watch of Felix.
“The gentleman is now a naturalised Guyanese. When his naturalisation advertisement was put in the newspaper, the Guyana Security Council wrote to the relevant Minister, Felix and Ramjattan, informing them of the historical antecedents of this gentleman. But those letters received no response.”

According to Nandlall, all indications point to millions of US dollars being involved in the scheme. Despite this, the company has no local bank accounts and authorities are having a hard time tracking down where the monies are.
“The investigations are continuing and I ask the members of the public to please understand that the Government is working to recover your money. That is the Government’s priority. Because from all indications, if this thing was allowed to grow bigger, it would have ensnared more money. And right now, it’s millions of US dollars which cannot be found.”

Closed accounts
Meanwhile, the Bank of Guyana has revealed that Dominguez and his wife, Ateeka Ishmael, closed all their commercial accounts at various banks in Guyana earlier this year. Bank of Guyana confirmed that as such, they have no current accounts in Guyana.
The Bank released the embattled couple’s financial information in a press statement on Saturday. One account in Dominguez’s name was closed in April 2020. Its highest balance at the time was $200,000. Another account at Baroda in his company’s name was closed in April. Its highest balance was $14.6 million and it had seen a total of $21 million deposits.
Dominguez also held an account at Demerara Bank Limited, where his highest balance was $2.3 million. That account had total deposits of $3.5 million. His wife also had an account with its highest balance at $459,000. Both accounts were closed in July.

On her own, his wife, Ishmael, had an account at Republic Bank she closed on August 22, 2020. Its highest balance was $341,000 and it had total deposits of $2 million. Ishmael also held an account at the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI), which saw total deposits of $1.5 million. It was closed since January.
“Previous accounts at commercial banks showed transactions, including foreign exchange transactions, which were small and insignificant. As the investigation continues, the Bank of Guyana will cooperate with the relevant authorities consistent with its regulatory responsibilities,” the bank said.
Dominguez and his wife were arrested on Thursday evening by Police, who are currently investigating his company. At the same time, 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 will ever recover their hard-earned money.
ACFI was established by Dominguez, a Cuban, and his wife. They have been operating in Guyana since 2018. However, the GSC, after becoming aware of the operations, had issued public notices in October 2019 and January 2020, notifying the public that Accelerated Capital Firm (formerly “Accelerated Wealth Inc”) is not licensed by the Council to conduct securities business in Guyana or to solicit investments from the public.
As such, after the matter was brought to the attention of the Government, it has assembled a high-level team headed by AG Nandlall, and includes the Commissioner of Police, the Governor of the Central Bank, the Head of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and Head of the Guyana Securities Council.
Pursuant to Securities Industry Act 1998 and Regulations thereto, the Security Council had requested from ACFI, detailed information and documents pertaining to its principals and the operations of the organisation. To date, the information has not been submitted and GSC had said the application will not be processed unless the requisite supporting documents are submitted.
The GSC had also written Dominguez, to cease and desist from advising clients that the reason for non-payment to their clients is that the Council is in the process of granting a license to ACFI.
In fact, the GSC had made it pellucid in its correspondence that it would have no choice than to apply the full force of its mandate to ACFI since the application dated August 5, 2020, has not been approved.
Thousands of Guyanese citizens have enrolled in the Ponzi scheme where ACFI claims that it uses a foreign exchange platform to trade and it seems that all aspects of the scheme operate online via training webinars, WhatsApp and emails.
The methods of payment used to invest and trade are credit cards or by wire transfer.
Further, investigations have revealed that local banks have 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 GSC in the print media. (G3)