“Ponzi scheme” couple asks High Court to order discontinuation of charges, probe against them

Lawyers for Cuban national Yuri Garcia Dominguez and his wife, Ateeka Ishmael have instituted judicial review proceedings at the Demerara High Court in which they are asking, among other things, that the over 70 charges for obtaining monies by false pretence against their clients be discontinued, as well as all investigations.
In their application filed on September 15, 2020, they have listed (acting) Commissioner of Police Nigel Hoppie; Attorney General Anil Nandlall and Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, as the respondents.

The couple is associated with Accelerated Capital Firm Incorporated (ACFI), which is currently under investigation for money laundering after the company claimed that it used a foreign exchange platform to trade investments amounting to tens of millions of dollars collected from Guyanese.
They are currently before the courts on charges which allege that they swindled over $200 million from dozens of investors in a major Ponzi scheme.

Orders
In court documents seen by Guyana Times, their lead lawyer, Dexter Todd, is asking the court to grant, against the Commissioner of Police, an Order of Prohibition from instituting or continuing to institute further charges against them. They are also asking another Order of Prohibition against the Top Cop, restraining him from commanding or inviting private investors who are contracted with ACFI based on a private contract executed between them and the investors.
The lawyer is also seeking an Order of Prohibition against the Attorney General, restraining him from issuing or continuing to issue or directing or to direct the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Guyana Securities Council, Central Bank and the Guyana Police Force from investigating or continuing to investigate the contracts and terms of the contracts between his clients and the investors.

Garcia-Dominguez and his wife are further seeking an Order of Prohibition against the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), from directing the institution of criminal charges or further criminal charges against them in relation to contracts signed by his wife in her capacity as Director of ACFI, a limited liability company and private investors.
The couple is further seeking an Order of Mandamus issued against the Attorney General, his servants and/or agents and/or any agency acting in conjunction with or through the Attorney General to unfreeze and release the bank accounts held at Bank of Baroda in the name of ACFI.

Lastly, the duo wants another Order of Mandamus issued against the Attorney General, his servants and/or agents and/or any agency acting in conjunction with or through the Attorney General to unfreeze and release the bank accounts held in their names at Demerara Bank Guyana and Republic Bank Guyana. Todd contends that the actions taken so far by the Top Cop, DPP and Attorney General are unlawful, unreasonable, in excess of jurisdiction, irrational, unfair, arbitrary, capricious, ultra vires, unconstitutional, without proper legal grounds, and therefore constitutes an abuse of public law power, null void, and of no legal effect.
While the couple was 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 Lot 242 Track A Coldingen, East Coast Demerara.

Mode of business

In their application to the court, the couple 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 is that investing parties, having entered into a legally binding contract with ACFI, are permitted to invest a certain amount of capital.
They 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. 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.
They further explained that the company can and does monitor the activities of the international trading transaction undertaken by IQ Options and or FX Choice for and on behalf of the investors. On instruction from ACFI, they explained that IQ Options and FX Choice are required to remit profits earned by investors from their investments to ACFI Prime Trust Account.
According to the husband and his wife, ACFI then wires the profits in the Prime Trust Account to its account at Bank of Baroda in Guyana. Thereafter, they stated 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.
They said that the contract between the investor(s) and ACFI stipulate the rights and obligations of all parties involved, the payment plan and other terms of the business agreement between the parties. The company, they added, makes a record of all payments of returns on the investments made by investors based on the contracts that were executed between ACFI and the said investors.
Garcia Dominguez claimed that all contracts with investors were executed between him and his wife, and at no time were the contracts executed in their personal capacities.

Arrested
In an affidavit, Garcia Dominguez and his wife said that sometime in January 2019, Central Bank directed that the account being held by the company at Bank of Baroda be frozen, and as such, they were denied access to the account. He said that in a letter dated August 5, 2020, he made an application to the Guyana Security Council for a license for ACFI to operate as an investment broker, however, the license was not granted.
On August 20, 2020, they said that ranks from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown, visited the registered office of ACFI at 242 Track A Coldingen, East Coast Demerara, and arrested them and took them into custody where they were questioned and remained.
According to them, Police returned to the company and seized numerous documents for which they were not allowed to make an inventory. In August 2020, they added that the Attorney General advised the public through various media outlets that if they had invested with ACFI then they should make a report to the police.
As a result, the duo stated that they were charged on several occasions with multiple counts of attempt to commit a felony. They, however, noted that all the charges against them are in relation to contracts executed between the investors and ACFI. They further noted that none of the virtual complainants ever had any personal interactions with them neither did they personally hand over monies to them.

Refund
They further said that on August 28, 2020, as a result of being incarcerated, ACFI initiated a repayment plan for investors who were by now questioning a refund of their capital which they had invested.
But they claim, “That process was stymied and subsequently came to a grinding halt since the police were adamant in unlawfully pursuing or continuing to pursue criminal charges against us based on issues that are primarily and solely based on contract law. We never in our personal capacities entered into any contract or agreement with any of the investors. At all material times, we acted under the remit of ACFI and on the agreed terms and conditions with investors.”
They continued, “The respondents by their actions seek to interpret the terms of contracts mutually agreed between the parties and duly executed by the parties, have acted unlawfully, irrationally, procedurally irregular, unreasonable and in excess of powers vested in their offices by statute, which abuse of power necessitates the grant of the Orders prayed for in the application.”
The husband said that on August 25, 2020, his wife wrote to their then lawyer Glen Hanoman, encouraging them to open a bank account.
“That we have been advised by our lawyers and believe to be true that as a follow-up to the letter dated August 25, 2020, that as a condition for the reopening of the bank account, would be that the Crime Chief is allowed to be a signatory. This proposal was declined by us on the basis of an officer of the State ought not to be made a signatory to ACFI’s bank account.”
“A company is a separate legal entity from its directors, shareholders or other agents,” they contended.
“We are further advised by our attorneys-at-law that none of the respondents on their own initiative can pierce to corporate veil to institute, prosecute or continue to institute and prosecute charges against us for perceived illegal acts, which emanate from contracts entered into by private individuals and ACFI,” they further contended.
Against this backdrop, they argue that the charges which have been laid against them are therefore unlawful, unreasonable, arbitrary, irrational, in excess of jurisdiction and hence null and void and without legal basis and effect. As a consequence, they pray that the Orders for which they seek in the application be granted.
This matter is fixed for hearing before High Court Judge Fidela Corbin-Lincoln.