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Police ask marketers, agents of alleged Ponzi scheme to report to CID headquarters
Kaieteur News – The Guyana Police Force (GPF) in a notice yesterday requested that all marketers and agents of the alleged Ponzi scheme operated by Yuri Garcia-Dominguez and his wife, Ateeka Ishmael, visit its Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown, with their documents receiving and handing over cash to the operators.
Alleged Ponzi scheme operators, Yuri Garcia-Dominguez and his wife Ateeka Ishmael.
This is being done as part of the investigation into several reports that were made at the CID headquarters by agents against the couple. Crime Chief, Wendell Blanhum, told this newspaper that the agents have made reports alleging that Garcia-Dominguez threatened them to repay the investors. According to the Crime Chief, the agents told the police that the monies, which they had in their possession were already returned to Garcia-Dominguez who in return gave them a small commission. The agents also told the police that they find Garcia-Dominguez’s statement requesting agents to repay investors, “mine boggling.”
According to information received, the agents collected a commission for every investor who they recruited to invest with Garcia-Dominguez’s company, Accelerated Capital Firm Inc. (ACF). Kaieteur News was told that the monies Garcia-Dominguez claimed is being withheld by the agents are reserves that were set aside to repay investors in case the company’s operations should ever run into issues.
This publication had reported that Garcia-Dominguez claimed that the agents had collected millions on behalf of the investors. According to a WhatsApp message seen by this publication, Garcia-Dominguez informed ACF investors, that ACF will return 30 percent of investments made by the investors and the remaining 70 percent ought to be returned by the agents. However, the agents have since reported to the police that they returned the monies to Garcia-Dominguez.
Garcia-Dominguez is a Cuban national who was granted citizenship in June 2020. He and his wife, Ishmael, are accused of milking Guyanese of millions of dollars. The alleged Ponzi scheme operators are currently before the court facing 80 plus fraud charges and two charges under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Act. The charges were brought against the couple by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) and represented the first time SOCU has instituted charges under the AML/CFT Act.
The AML/CFT Act, Chapter 10:11, prohibits businesses from operating as financial institutions without the necessary registration for regulation and supervision by the Regulatory Authorities, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and Guyana Securities Council.
The duo is currently before three different courts facing charges, which allege that they obtain monies under false pretense. They were released on $30M bail after spending over a month in prison on remand.
Garcia-Dominguez and Ishmael are officials of ACF Inc., a company that lured thousands of Guyanese to invest their money and promised them a 40 percent profit on their investment. The company also encouraged its investors to enlist others in order to earn a 10 percent commission for each person they enlist.
The “investors” included businessmen and church members, with a number of religious leaders accused of playing roles in recruiting unsuspecting Guyanese.
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