OLINT SCAMMER – “DAVID SMITH” get 6 1/2 Years in Prison for Jamaican Ponzi Scheme
FROM A
DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW by Monte Friesner
30 September 2010
David Smith, whose foreign exchange club took in a reported $60m from Jamaican investors who were seduced by the lure of a high-yield investment scheme, was sentenced to six and one-half years by a court in the Turks & Caicos Islands.
He originally faced 30 counts, but in a plea agreement, pled guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and two counts of fraud. Smith's wife, Tracy, had all charges against her dismissed, as a part of the agreement.
The Defendant still faces a 23-count indictment, pending against him in United States District Court in Orlando, Florida. The Ponzi scheme of David Smith caused many Jamaicans to withdraw life savings from their bank, and place that money with him.
His unregulated investment scheme was one of several that appealed to investors interested in the promise of extraordinary returns, but who failed to conduct any due diligence upon these companies prior to making large payments. It is believed that only $10m of the original $60m can be recovered.
High Yield Investment Programs do not exist and people must conduct their due diligence properly.
In fact we had similar scam in Panama in 2002 when Okke Ornstein (The Slut Blogger of Panama) immediately
“after the Harris Organization went out of business, Ornstein established Panama –registered Tulip Universal Project S.A. d.b.a. ‘The Tulip Fund’, which was an unlicensed mutual Fund offering high returns for the investment”.
According to authorities the file has not been closed!
The Panamanian Securities Regulators, La Comision Nacional de Valores, issued a warning against the Tulip Fund in 2002. The registered office and mailing address for the Tulip Fund belonged to The Harris Organization.
The facts and opinions stated in this article are those of the author and not those of WANTED SA. WANTED SA does not warrant the accuracy of any facts and opinions stated in this article; does not endorse them, and accepts no responsibility for them.
