Ponzi scheme accused given computer, Internet to refund victims – Police

…but fails to transfer money

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) on Wednesday confirmed that a bank account was indeed opened at Demerara Bank for Cuban national Yuri Garcia-Dominguez and his Guyanese wife, Ateeka Ishmael to commence refunding Guyanese they are accused of swindling out of tens of millions of dollars in a major Ponzi scheme.
In doing so, Police dismissed a statement by the couple’s lawyer, Dexter Todd that no such bank account had been opened.
On Tuesday, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall disclosed that Government had complied with a request by the couple to open a local bank account so that they could begin refunding investors. But according to Nandlall, not a cent has been deposited into the account.
The husband-and-wife duo are associated with Accelerated Capital Firm Incorporated (ACFI), which is currently under investigation for illegal activities after the company claimed that it used a foreign exchange platform to trade the investments, which amount to millions of dollars.
Together, the couple are facing a total of 72 charges which state that with intent to commit a felony, they conspired with persons, known and unknown, to obtain more than $200 million from dozens of Guyanese under false pretence.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Todd had accused the Attorney General of spreading inaccurate information, claiming that the pronouncements made by Nandlall did not reflect the interaction between his clients and the Police.
According to Todd, “To the best of our knowledge, there has been no bank account given to our client, no information of a bank account given to our client. Of course, he [Garcia-Dominguez] remains committed to seeing the contractual obligations under the contract signed by the persons who filed the complaints. [He wants to see] that those matters are resolved amicably and in the best interest of both parties.”
“As of today (Tuesday), the business account of the company has not been reopened,” Todd said.

False
However, the Police in a statement categorically rejected the contentions made by Todd, and in doing so, labelled them false. In fact, Police said that they wished to confirm that on September 4, 2020, an account was opened at Demerara Bank under the name Accelerated Capital Firm Inc, with both Garcia-Dominguez and his wife listed as signatories.
According to the Police, on September 5, 2020, Garcia-Dominguez requested that a computer with an Internet connection be provided to him for use while in prison to process the transfer of funds to the account which was opened at Demerara Bank.
“In conjunction with prison authorities, the Police facilitated the use of a computer, with Internet for Mr Garcia-Dominguez. At the said time, Mr Glenn Hanoman, the senior and lead attorney among those lawyers representing the couple, was made aware of this arrangement. Mr Hanoman was also made aware of the local bank account which was opened to facilitate the transfer of funds,” the statement added.
But Police disclosed that when Garcia-Dominguez was given the computer with Internet access in prison, he claimed that it was not convenient to conduct his transactions in that environment. As such, he then requested access to a computer with Internet in a more convenient location.

Failed transaction
Further, the Police revealed that between September 7 and September 11, 2020, Garcia-Dominguez was transported to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Eve Leary, Georgetown, where he interacted with ranks of the Fraud and Cyber Crime Units.
While there, Police informed, Garcia-Dominguez was given access to a computer and Internet to conduct the transactions necessary to transfer monies into the account at Demerara Bank. However, this time around, Police said he claimed he was unable to conduct the transactions and requested the use of his cellular phone which was being kept in Police custody.
“Mr Garcia-Dominguez was given the use of his cellphone under close Police supervision. It was at this stage that Mr Garcia-Dominguez informed the Police that he was instructed by counsel Mr Todd not to conduct any transactions unless the Police promise to withdraw the current charges he is facing.”
At this point, Police said that Garcia-Dominguez was informed that such a decision lay with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

High Court
Lawyers for the couple have now moved to the High Court where they have filed judicial review proceedings to have the charges against their clients quashed. Their other lawyer, Adrian Smith explained that they intend to take a different approach in relation to these charges.
Smith went on to say that the more than 70 charges were actually based on a “private contract” between ACFI and the potential investors, and that he was not sure how the charges came about as a result of the contractual agreement between the parties.
“We have filed an action. What we will seek to do is challenge those charges that have been laid against our clients. And if we are successful, that will be the end of that matter,” Smith said.
The Attorney General, DPP and Commissioner of Police have been listed as respondents in those proceedings.
While the couple were granted bail totalling over $20 million on more than half of the charges, they were refused bail on the others when they appeared before different Magistrates. Police have noted that separate bail applications to the High Court, one for Garcia-Dominguez and another for Ishmael, were made by defence counsel.
Both applications were refused by Justices Sandil Kissoon and Simone Morris-Ramlall. Garcia-Dominguez, 34, is now a naturalised Guyanese, while his wife, 32, is a Guyanese citizen by birth. They reside at Track A Coldingen, East Coast Demerara (ECD).
Investigations are continuing.