| OLINT’s Smith sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison | | Print | |
| Monday, 27 September 2010 11:49 | |||
 David A. Smith has pleaded guilty to four of more than a dozen charges against him in the Turks and Caicos Islands related to a multi-million Ponzi scheme in return for a 6 1/2-year prison sentence and dropping of theft charges against his wife. Smith, a Jamaican living in the TCI, “received the maximum credit that the court was able to give for his early plea of guilty and co-operation,” the Special Investigation and Prosecution Team (SIPT) said in a press statement Sept. 24. The SIPT was appointed last year by the U.K. to look into alleged government corruption but took over Smith’s case because of its complexity. However, the TCI attorney general’s office will continue confiscation and compensation proceedings and investigations to protect his victims’ investments Olint TCFX Limited and TCI FX Traders Limited, which collapsed in 2008, the SIPT said. “This was the most complex fraud case that the TCI had ever dealt with,” the SIPT said. “The chief justice rightly praised the exceptional skill and diligence of Detective Sergeant Willan Belliard of the Financial Crimes Unit. We would also like to thank the attorney general’s chambers for their support in our first case before the TCI courts.” Smith was operating in Jamaica until the government there shut him down in 2006, when he moved to the TCI. He claimed to be trading clients’ money for foreign currency, touting large returns, but prosecutors say he never traded in currency. Smith still faces 23 charges leveled against him last month in U.S. District Court in Florida for fraud and laundering $200 million through his companies in the TCI, Jamaica and Florida. The U.S. government also seeks to seize $128 million that Smith handled through allegedly fraudulent wire transfers to U.S. banks; a Windermere, Fla., residence; various jewelry and precious stones; and $40,000 that Smith transferred to a husband and wife, according to court documents. Smith waived indictment and has indicated that he will not fight extradition to face those charges. According to U.S. charges, Smith promised clients returns on investments of 5-10 percent monthly with only 20 percent of their investment ever being at risk. But Smith never traded in foreign currency, instead making false account statements and paying clients “returns” with their own money — commonly called a Ponzi scheme, according to prosecutors. Smith is accused of transferring millions of dollars from the TCI to I-Trade FX, a company in Lake Mary, Fla., in which Smith was the majority investor. Smith and others then transferred money through JIJ Investments — a Florida company owned by “unindicted co-conspirators” — into accounts at different financial institutions, prosecutors allege. OLINT reportedly has $6 million of investors’ money tied up in TCI Bank Ltd., which was closed in April because of huge withdrawals and nonperforming loans. Click HERE to read the U.S. information charging Smith.
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