“No one will lose their investment” - alleged Ponzi schemers assure

“No one will lose their investment” – alleged Ponzi schemers assure

Nov 16, 2020 News

Kaieteur News – The alleged Ponzi scheme operators on Friday announced that no one will lose their investment. This announcement comes even as the operators are slated to meet with heads of the state agencies that are currently investigating them.

Yuri Garcia-Dominguez and his wife Ateeka Ishmael.

The Principals of Accelerated Capital Firm (ACF) Inc., Yuri Garcia-Dominguez and his wife Ateeka Ishmael, are accused of running a Ponzi scheme that bilked 17,000 Guyanese of billions of dollars.
In a press release to investors they stated, “We ask of you for your continued patience and tolerance as we assure you that no one will lose their investment and that an end to this matter will be soonest.”
The release also stated that the company’s legal team was instructed to write to all state agencies involved in the investigation. Same was done and, according to the release, the request to meet with the head of the agencies was acknowledged.
The company is currently waiting on an arranged meeting to be facilitated on behalf of all parties, as thousands of investors are still to be repaid.
In the release too, the company acknowledged the delay in the repayment process that was promised by Garcia-Dominguez since September.
However, the release stated, “This delay has not been without justification as the company is attempting to do everything legally possible to ensure that the repayments are done in the shortest possible time.”
The company highlighted that the repayment process is stalled due to the many obstacles from the ongoing investigation.
Kaieteur News had reported that the company had offered to repay its investors in digital money.
Garcia-Dominguez had announced that he is seeking to make the payments in cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrency is a digital method designed to work as a medium of exchange wherein an individual can do online transactions – the most popular cryptocurrency is bitcoins.
Garcia-Dominguez and his wife are charged for allegedly running a Ponzi scheme in which in excess of US$20M was swindled out of the pockets of thousands of Guyanese.
The couple has also been slapped with two charges under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Act.
Almost one month after the repayment process was halted due to the seizure of monies, electronics, and financial documents by the Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU), an arm of the Guyana Police Force, the total number of persons that were repaid remains at 27.
Seen by this publication was a message from marketers of ACF to investors. In the message, the investors were told that, “Mr. Yuri will use an app called CoinZoom where he will transfer bitcoin to the marketers’ e-wallet and from there, you will immediately sell the bitcoin for US dollars.”
“Afterwards, you can wire transfer the money to your bank account without any issue. Therefore, I will send a link for you to register on CoinZoom to activate your e-wallet. When you are called in by ACF for your payment, you can walk with your CoinZoom information to do the transfer.”
Notably, there were no details in the message where or to whom the bitcoins will be sold and what account will be established for the investors to transfer the money to their local accounts.
However, Attorney General (AG), Anil Nandlall, had told Kaieteur News, that the proposed cryptocurrency repayment method by the principals of ACF is not a legal tender in Guyana.
Kaieteur News had also contacted an official at the Bank of Guyana (BOG) and the official was unable to confirm the use of cryptocurrency in Guyana since the bank is not aware of it.
Meanwhile, the new repayment method that Garcia-Dominguez announced has caused investors to worry about the further disadvantages in getting the bitcoins changed over to cash and whether or not it is just another delaying tactic.
According to reports, Garcia-Dominguez and Ishmael allegedly lured thousands of Guyanese claiming that by investing with their company, persons would get at least 40 percent return.
The investors were also encouraged to enlist additional investors on a 10 percent commission basis.
ACF Inc. is not registered with the Guyana Securities Council to conduct financial business, either as an investment advisor and/or a broker.
The new government, under Irfaan Ali, had launched an investigation after complaints were made by investors of not receiving their money.