Ponzi scheme operators arrested

Aug 22, 2020 News

The detained Yuri Dominguez and wife, Ateeka Ishmael

Owner of Accelerated Capital Firm Inc. (ACFI), Yuri Dominguez and his wife were arrested by police on Thursday evening for operating an alleged Ponzi/Pyramid Scheme.
Dominguez, a 34-year-old Cuban national along with his 32-year-old Guyanese wife Ateeka Ishmael, were said to be operating ACFI, which posed as private investor group which educates members to operate in the Stock and Foreign Exchange Markets.
In 2014, an investigation was launched into a similarly titled entity in the US by the name of “Accelerated Capital Group” which later resulted in them being fined US$400,000.00 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) on accusations of them executing unauthorized trades in, selling customer investments and executed trades in customer accounts.
Dominguez’ firm had recently come under the radar of the new government when several complaints were filed by members of the public about their operations. This prompted a full investigation where it was found that the operation has received hundreds of millions of dollars from thousands of Guyanese, according to Attorney General Anil Nandlall , and has also violated several pieces of legislation.
Police sources disclosed that several persons have surfaced, giving their stories about their investments into the fund and being owed significant amounts of money. As previously reported by this newspaper, a high-level team consisting of the Attorney General, the Commissioner of Police, Governor of the Central Bank, Head of the Financial Intelligence Unit and Head of the Guyana Securities Council, assembled to swiftly investigate the operations of ACFI. It was found that the firm was not legally registered to obtain investments in Guyana and their application to be legalized was never approved.
The man’s electronics and bank accounts have since been ceased and he was directed by the Guyana Securities Council to give account for his wealth obtained on the stock market. The GSC previously stated that, “Under the Anti-Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism Act, it is required for all investors to provide the source of funds and ensure that the financial activities and money laundering risks associated with a customer are properly recorded. The Guyana Securities Council is not in receipt of that information from the application submitted.”
They also disclosed that in the ACFI’s application, this was not included.
Citizens have since launched a petition to the GSC to have the firm’s licence to operate in Guyana granted. The petition started by Deenanauth Seemadray laments that the firm is licensed by the Financial Market Relations Regulation Centre (IFMRRC) to @speculate and trade on the online stock market platform. The petitioners argued that the firm’s activities have been honest and has helped many Guyanese to become financially stable.
They also stated that Dominguez is more than happy to reimburse those who may have invested and lost money due to the firm’s accounts being frozen. However, the government and the banks would need to un-freeze the firm’s money so that the persons can be paid.
Up until press time, 3805 persons had signed this petition.

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