Latest update April 1st, 2025 5:37 PM
Alleged “Ponzi Schemers” had faked COVID-19 results to avoid new charges – Police
Kaieteur News – Alleged Ponzi Scheme operators, Cuban National Yuri Garcia and his wife Ateeka Ishmael, have once again landed in hot water after detectives found that they had falsified positive COVID-19 results to avoid facing 60 new fraud charges.
Accused of faking positive COVID-19 results to avoid facing 60 new fraud charges, Yuri Garcia and his wife Ateeka Ishmael.
Already facing 80 plus fraud charges, the couple was expected to appear at Sparendaam Magistrate Court on Tuesday July 27, to face more but they had failed to show up.
Their lawyer, Dexter Todd, had presented the court with two medical certificates, on their behalf, purporting that they both tested positive for COVID-19.
The Guyana Police Force (GPF), however, was not buying any of it and suspected that the medical certificates were fake. An investigation was then launched to determine the authenticity of the documents.
“The investigation has confirmed that the medical documents tendered were falsified,” stated the GPF in a release sent out last night.
GPF added too that it will be conducting further investigations into the matter. Garcia and his wife are accused of operating a Ponzi scheme, swindling unsuspecting Guyanese of millions of dollars. They had allegedly beguiled pandits, pastors and others to invest their money promising them healthy returns.
The millions in profits never materialised and the unsuspecting investors could not even get back the monies they invested. Out of frustration they turned to police for help and the couple were investigated and later arrested and slapped with 80 plus charges. They had spent one month in jail on remand and are out on $30M bail. Garcia had promised to repay the investors but to date there is no concrete evidence to prove that he had repaid any of them.
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