Ponzi scheme agents jailed for 4 years after pleading guilty to money laundering

Aubrey Norton and his wife, Martina Seepersaud – two Ponzi Scheme agents were on Friday sentenced to four years imprisonment by Magistrate Rushell Liverpool after pleading guilty to money laundering charges that were instituted against them back in 2021. The Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) on Monday stated that an investigation revealed that the couple were agents of Accelerated Capital Firm Inc., an unlicensed company performing functions of a financial securities company. Accelerated Capital Firm Inc. was owned and directed by principals who hired Norton and Seepersaud to illegally solicit clients to invest in forex trading in exchange for commission. In 2021, SOCU arrested the defendants, and they were charged with the offence of money laundering for transferring the sum of $53.5 million, being part payment for the purchase of property situated at La Bonne Intention, East Coast Demerara (ECD), with the aim of concealing or disguising the illicit origin of the said sum, while knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe that the said sum of $53.5 million was the proceeds of crime. 
The prosecution’s case was one that combined evidence from investors, cash collections, evidence of large cash property transactions, income records and employment records. SOCU adduced evidence to show that Norton and his wife purchased the La Bonne Intention property for $70 million, paying $53.5 million as an initial down payment. Evidence was also adduced to show that the defendants were agents of Accelerated Capital Firm Inc., securing investors at a 10 per cent commission while earning a combined monthly salary of $175,000.00.
The defendants were called to lead their defence, gave sworn evidence, and called witnesses. The case for the defendants was one of a bare or complete denial, contending that they were never employed by Accelerated Capital Firm Inc., they did not have the means, nor were they ever a part of an agreement to purchase the property situated at LBI for $53.5 million.
The Court opined that it was untenable for the defence to suggest that the Court should reject the consistent independent evidence of multiple witnesses, including legal representatives, who all testified to the myriad arrangements between the defendants and other witnesses. Essentially, the court considered several issues such as (i) whether the defendants converted or transferred property, within the meaning of section 3(1)(A) of the AMLCFT Act; (ii) Has the prosecution proved that $53. 5 million represented the proceeds of crime; (iii) did the defendants know or have reasonable grounds to believe the money was the proceeds of crime; and (iv) was the transfer done with the aim of concealing or disguising the illicit origin of the money. Magistrate Liverpool found that SOCU had amassed an overwhelming amount of credible, cogent, coherent and circumstantial evidence that clearly pointed to the defendants being guilty of the money laundering offence. The Court, in finding that all the elements of the offence were satisfied, stated that in the context of money laundering, the movements of large, unexplained cash into real estate was a classic method by which illicit funds were converted into an ostensibly legitimate asset, thereby disguising the origin. The Court rejected the defence’s case of a complete denial, stating that it was unable to accept that the numerous witnesses who testified to handing over cash to the defendants to invest collectively fabricated their evidence or causally invoked the defendants’ names without any foundation.

Hence, there was no evidential basis upon which the Court could reasonably conclude that all of the prosecution’s witnesses, independently and coincidentally, chose to falsely implicate the defendants. Magistrate Liverpool, therefore, found that when the prosecution’s evidence was assessed as a whole, the prosecution’s case remained overwhelming. This resulted in the Court finding that the prosecution had proven beyond reasonable doubt that the defendants transferred $53. 5 million as part payment for the LBI property and that the said money represented proceeds of crime, that the defendants knew or had reasonable grounds to believe that it was proceeds of crime, and that the transfer was done with the aim of concealing or disguising the illicit origin of the money.
Consequently, Magistrate Liverpool found the defendants guilty and sentenced them to four years imprisonment. The matter was prosecuted by Attorney-at-Law David Brathwaite, prosecutors Aaron Daniels and Neville Jeffers from SOCU, while Attorney-at-Law Latchmie Rahamat represented the defendants.