Olint Ponzi’s Boss David Smith gets 30 years

David Smith of OLINT fame today was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He was sentenced after being found guilty on 23 counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering. David Smith was previously sentenced to six and half years in the Turks on Caicos in 2010. David Smith ran OLINT as a foreign exchange (FX) outfit that promised persons high returns that averaged 10% per month.   In reality OLINT  was a massive Ponzi that managed to rake in reportedly over US$220 million from over 6000 investors.

History

OLINT started sometime in 2004 as a quiet members club whose growth depended on word of mouth referrals. By 2006 however the Unregulated Financial Organisation as it was called began to face scrutiny in Jamaica from the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the financial services regulators in Jamaica.  Despite many public warnings by the FSC and leading bankers at the time money continued to flow into OLINT via intermediaries that would become know as feeder clubs and ‘pigs’.

In 2006, after a raid on OLINT and LewFam Investment, they shared adjoining office areas, by the FSC, the club then moved to Turks and Caicos where it operated. David Smith was also connected to TCI FX, a registered company in Turks and Caicos.  OLINT  was registered at different times in Panama and St. Kitts.   David Smith also formed a partnership with the principals of I-Trade  FX (now defunct), a foreign exchange platform owned by the operators of the Market Traders Institute(MTI). In late 2007 the formed a partnership called GotradeJamaica.com and also launched the OLINT foundation.

It has been reported that David Smith was hailed by the FX Chief as one of the greatest foreign exchange traders something that would later turn out to be false.  The National Futures Association investigation in 2009 of  I-Trade FX would show that David Smith/OLINT did little to no FX trading and when they did they lost. The same was fate of Ingrid Loiten of May Daisy apparent attempts at FX trading.

Influence

OLINT was acknowledged to have supported both political parties in Jamaica but the Jamaica Labour Party(JLP) is reported to have garnered significantly more support than the Peoples National Party(PNP). In fact some have argued that OLINT funds had a bearing on the outcome of the Jamaica elections in 2007.  Information available indicate that politicians from both sides of the divide in Jamaica, leading money market experts in Jamaica, doctors  lawyers and the lijes are those that invested in OLINT.  One politician, Errol Ennis, a former minister of state in the Finance ministry, described the raid, on OLINT at the time, as a vulgar abuse of power by the state. Audley Shaw the current Finance minister was reported to have said in the Gleaner of January 31, 2007,  that FSC’s  actions against Olint, an entity which offers attractive interest rates, were unacceptable.

OLINT also sponsored the 2008 Jazz and Blue Festival, an annual music festival held in Montego Bay, Jamaica or its environs.

Former heads of the FSC, Byran Wynter, now the present governor of the Bank of Jamaica and George Roper the acting head 2007-2008, took much heat from the public for their strident opposition to the unregistered and unregulated financial operators  or alternative investment schemes as OLINT and others like Cash Plus, May Daisy and Worldwise etc became known as.

Impact on the Diaspora

OLINT word of month referral led to the investments coming from Jamaicans living in the USA, Canada, UK among other countries. The impact of the OLINT crash was particularly felt in Florida often referred to as Kingston 21.

In 2008, after the Ponzi ran into difficulties paying its customers and Money Laundering and other charges surfaced in July 2008, David Smith was arrested in Turks and Caicos  and the famous confession letter surfaced. He was later charged and convicted and subsequently brought for trial in the USA in 2010.

According to the Orando Sentinel, Smith is to serve his sentence in the Turks and Caicos then the rest of time in the United States.

Gleaner calls Olint beneficiaries(JLP/PNP) to repay

With the collapse of the OLINT and the confession by its leader, David Smith, that it was has nothing more than a glorified PONZI, there has been some interesting utterances. The most recent one is from the Gleaner calling for the the ‘Gangs’ of Gordon House to repay the OLINT money. This call is  the most refreshing and is the right thing for the the JLP/PNP as a whole,  members of political directorate and those that benefited to  do.

What about the some Church leaders? Devon Dick in his article ‘Churchs should repent over olint‘, pointed out that these Church leaders need to accept their sorry role in the whole affair, repent and where appropriate repay the ‘profits’.

If they refuse to do so,  court proceeding should be initiated to force them to do so. Simple put those that benefited from OLINT and other Unregulated Financial Organisations should repay.

Interestingly, to this day no charges have been brought against David Smith in Jamaica.

On slightly different but very related note, what is the status of the OLINT feeder clubs, Lewfam etc and their bosses? When will they be drawn before the courts?

Related

• Gangs Of Gordon House Should Repay Olint Cash

Cash Plus Liquidator Finds Possible Hidden Loot

Cash Plus Liquidator yesterday announced, that he had found possible hidden loot of about US $25 million in a Swiss Bank account held in Dubai. According to reports, action has already been initiated to have these funds frozen has the liquidator believes they are rightly belonging to the Cash Plus Investors.

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20091007/lead/lead1.html

http://jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20091006T190000-0500_161288_OBS__CASH_PLUS_MILLION__FOUND_IN_DUBAI_.asp

David Smith Granted Bail

David Smith was granted bail on October 1, 2009 . He and his wife was arrested again on September 28,2009. His wife was granted bail while he was initially remanded on until the Oct 26,2009 court date.

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20091003/lead/lead3.html

n.b.

Olint’s David Smith in Jail

There is news that David Smith is now in a TCI jail following being arrested again. It is understood that his wife was also arrested but release on bail.  It is understood that she is pregnant.

According to reports available the additional charges are in relation to the Management of OLINT TCI but no details were forthcoming from the Police.

This the latest twist in the David Smith and OLINT saga which sees OLINT having failed to pay Investors from at  least January 2008.  His offices and home was raided in the TCI in July 2008 and  funds held buy OLINT and  David Smith and Wife in the USA frozen that same month. He as then arrested and charged in February 2009 for fraud, uttering false documents and again in June 2009 on similar related charges.

The OLINT liquidator has effectively declared OLINT to have been a PONZI and have been asking the victims to come forward make state their claims.

The report is this time carried in on Radio Jamaica and  in the Jamaica Gleaner

• David Smith behind bars
• OLINT boss arrested

OLINT Feeder Club Members: File your claim against the respective Club

The Liquidator of OLINT TCI as issued an update in regard to feeder club members. In essence it is directing to investors who invested in investment/feeder clubs, that in turn invested in OLINT, to  file a claim againts that club and not against OLINT TCI.

If you are a member of a feeder club or investment club that invested in Olint TCI Corporation Limited (“Olint TCI”) between the period April 2006 to July 2008, please note that your claim is against the feeder club or investment club and not Olint TCI.

The feeder club or investment club would in turn have a claim against Olint TCI and is required to submit its claim to the Official Liquidator of Olint TCI in accordance with the requirement shown in the Update section of the website.

Source:  Feeder Clubs

That letter

Sometime in June/July 2009 before the August 5, 2009 court case, a statement attributed to Lewfam was issued and can be seen below. The reason for our questioning the authenticy of the statement will become clearer soon

Dear Member,

At this time our situation has not changed. We still await realization of one of the options that we have been pursuing.

As you may have noted, the media has been issuing releases stating that OLINT TCI was audited and is being wound up as per order of the Turks and Caicos courts.  OLINT TCI is a separate organization started by Mr. David Smith in the Turks and Caicos Islands and does not concern us in any way.

Our funds are in OLINT and located on the trading platforms NOT in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

We trust that at some time our funds will be released and Mr. Smith will have an avenue to make payouts.

Please be reminded that the next court date will be August 5th, 2009. Through the Caribbean Currency Traders Association (CCTA) a lawyer has been appointed to watch proceedings on our behalf.

As always we ask you to please continue to pray for the following:

1. Relief for many members who are undergoing hardships at this time;

2. The successful completion of the negotiations;

3. The early resolution to the situation involving our trader’s funds and for him and his family’s well being.

The Management and Staff

LewFam Club

Note: (Emphasis(bold) added)

The lines in bold are very strange and seem to indicate the confusion or denial.

It is almost difficult to believe that such a statement could be attributed to Lewfam.  Lewfam and OLINT were in court together on matters relating to the FSC Cease and Desist order. They lost the appeal in December 2007, and shortly thereafter OLINT payment problems developed.

Lewfam should have been aware the OLINT Jamaica had become the “customer care” arm as mentioned in the Court Documents in the OLINT vs NCB mattter. Therefore to  to say that the issue surrounding OLINT TCI does not concern Lewfam is simply unbelievable and  leaves one to wonder if this is nothing more that a mischievous hand at work.

Here is a statement from another document in the public domain attributed to the OLINT boss.

…after the FSC raid in Jamaica I formed Olint TCI, and the club members of Overseas Lockett International, were transferred to Olint TCI and the Claimant remained the customer service arm of Olint Corp TCI and Overseas Lockett….

If that statement is true, then something in that letter does not add up.

However one thing is clear and seems beyond question is that Lewfam had funds invested in OLINT and therefore investors should have from long looked at their options to recover their funds.

Head the Advice of the Liquidator

The bottom line  is ivestors in investment clubs/Feeder clubs such as SGI Holdings, Lewfam, Wealthbuilders, UWIN, F1 Investments etc if they have not done so should heed the advice of the liquidator.   It has been long argued that these feeder clubs were responsible for allowing to OLINT to flourish by a conduit of funds ,  ‘bypassing’ the cease and desist order put in place by the FSC.  Apart from the clubs there were individual investors who acted as what is now term “Pigs” and the allowed sub investors, “piggybackers”, to invest through them. They also should file claims against their pigs.

Interestingly such advice has already in given to many investors but the question remains how many have actually initiated action or can afford to do so.

The option of filing a simple complaint with the particulars with the fraud squad in Jamaica, the FBI in the USA or local security forces in the respective territory is still an option.

Related

• How OLINT survived
• OLINT NCB the PDF (external site)
• Feeder Clubs (external site)
• OLINT/Lewfam lose to FSC (external site)
• Further Affidavit of David Smith (external site)

Reflections One year later.

July 1-18, 2008 was an eventful period for OLINT investors. This article is a reflection and a re-write of a previous article entitled “OLINT where is the money” .

One year later and many OLINT investors are still waiting. Some are listening and feeling around for something that will let them know that the money is here. Some are have sued or others have not , others are thinking evil thoughts that we do not recommend. Violence does not solve anything. Some have not spoken the liquidator while other OLINT investors have urged to come forward.

Whatever the reasons, greed, selfishness, need or peer pressure, that drove persons to invest in OLINT and other UFOs , OLINT and other UFO investors face a problem of payments being promised and not being delivered, repeated schedules announced and repeated excuses. The excuses given for non-payment have included the FSC, BOJ, NCB, to the now popular one “Due Dilligence” or simply “I don’t know” have all proven to far from the truth. The reality is “Money no deh” and from all appearances
“OLINT was nothing more that a glorified PONZI“

Court Losses, Arrests, liquidation

David Smith, the OLINT boss has been arrested and charged on two different occassions in the TCI on various counts of fraud and money laundering. The case is up for trial on August 5, 2009. Two of the companies that he was affliated to TCI FX and OLINT TCI have been ordered liqudiated. Lawsuits as mentioned before have been filed primarily in Florida, USA. One of the lawsuits seeks to recover US$2.4 Million which represent principal and “alleged interest”. (see court documents)

NCB was finally given the go ahead to close OLINT’s account and the Privy Council Judges rightly chatised the Jamaican judges for the foolishness that went on.

Carlos Hill has been thrown out of a home bought by Cash Plus investors funds and still roams freely while  his fraud case is before the courts. The Cash Plus liquidation is far advanced and Jamaica investors in Cash PLus at this moment are looking a little better than their OLINT counterparts.

ITrade FX is effectively dead, having been fined $250,000 in relation to not filing suspicious activity report (SARs) relating to OLINT accounts. They also sold all their customers FXCM. The website is also appears to be currently down  too.

Mirage in desert

Flashback to early June 2008, after a months of speculation, some money did appear to flow from the OLINT coffers but only very few persons got any relief. No sooner had the mirage appeared and hopes lifted, it disappeared.

For a fleeting moment it seemed like the detractors would be proven wrong and have to hang their heads in shame. Seriously though, detractors would have no problem saying we were wrong for at least people would have gotten back there money. However, it is sad to see how some people are suffering but it is worst to see people blind to the fact that maybe they are being scammed. Some who have publicly comforted themselves that they ”invested what they could afford to lose”, are now shell-shocked and are silently talking to the lawyers.

When the few drops of money dried up, reality set in and by the end of June 2008, many angry investors were left bitterly disappointed but others found more excuses and refuse to face the possibility that something was wrong and that they had been victims of a scam.

Cognitive Dissonance – Suspension of Reason.

Many Investors simply cannot beleive that their hero would do this to them and have suspended reasoning and rational and are now simply clinging on to faith, despite the overwhelming evidence that something is wrong, the arrests and the liquidation. I understand the term is Cognitive Dissonance.

To understand the depths of denial one only has to look at that letter sent out by Lewfam to investors in July 2009. Clearly the principals of that company are either misled or seeking the mislead.

FOr the christian minded and those who feel so inclined we offer a few passages of scriptures.

For those in need

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. http://bible.cc/philippians/4-19.htm

God Forgives

For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You. http://bible.cc/psalms/86-5.htm

Walk in the counsel of the righteous

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!http://bible.cc/psalms/1-1.htm

Some Words of Comfort and lessons hopefully learnt

In the now famous July radio interview, David Smith had said his fingers were crossed. Many Olint Faithful whose faith have been tested and tried continued to look for word of comfort to soothe their troubled souls for much the rest of 2008. In 2009, one year later we can offer no word of comfort as it relates to OLINT and recovery

For the christian minded, and those who feel so inclined, we offer a few passages of scriptures. For those in need, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus”, Philippians 4:19. God forgives, “For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.” Psalms 86:5 and finally listen to the counsel of the righteous “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked…” Psalms 1:1.

Protect yourself

We invite you to check the following links, as the look on identifying scams and red flags investments.

• Try the Scam meter today
• Check the red flag meter

Reflections:

• NO Money no deh
• OLINT where is the Money

Investforlife hits 1,000,000

When Investforlife started in May 2008, we never imagined the traffic, discussion and controversy that would follow this site.  Yesterday Investforlife.wordpress.com hit the 1,000,000 mark.

Giving thanks – The value of  ’good’ advice.

Bless be the day when we took the advise of users on another blog and formed this blog.  It is interesting that although we did not agree with many of the comments of posters on one particular blog we were prepared to listen to their advice and deciding that it was not a bad idea this blog was formed. Be prepared to listen critically to suggestion

We also like to thank all the ‘deportees’ banned on the other site(s) that have teamed together to make this blog open, informative, relevant while  allowing both sides of the story to be heard.

• To our readers, and bloggers that keep the comments flowing we say thank you,
• To the article contributors, Jay, NoCotec, Sage one, John Doe  We say thank you,
• To the sources…. that will remain nameless… we say thank you,
• To Nation Wide News Network we say thanks,
• To the silent readers thank you…
• To WordPress thanks for allowing us to host this service for FREE!

Defining moment

The site really got notice, when after receiving a tip,  we broke the story broke about NFA,  I-Trade FX and David Smith. Form there the site was on the map as not only the ‘blogosphere’ was interested but radio, newspapers and TV stations now took notice.

Lastly we hope that more than the millions the lessons will be learnt.

1. If you let your guard down you will be conned.
2. Listen to the advice of persons critically, friend or foe
3. Transparency and accountability is your friend not the enemy
4. What your grandma told you, if it it sounds to good to be true it probably is.

Popular posts are

The most popular posts up until this point are shown below.

• OLINT 400,000 and Jazz Festival
• OLINT Assets Frozen
• OLINT OFFICE closed
• David Smith Issues Statement
• World Largest Ponzi Scheme Ever