Bloomberg: David Smith claims he got help from Famous Friends

In a expose that appears in the June 2015 issue of Bloomberg,  David Evans goes behind the history of OLINT and David Smith.  Much of what he says is already known,  however there are a few things that stand out.

The key one is one why was the Martinez Family from I-Trade never prosecuted? Many persons law enforcement agents and prosecutors  are puzzled. David Smith seems to reveal that part of his pleading guilty was in exchange for providing information and feels he was tricked and thrown under the bus.

“Once I decided I’d plead guilty, there was no holding back,” Smith says, locked up just a few miles from the turquoise waters and seaside villa where he often entertained the Martinez family. “I went all the way. I did everything they asked me to do. I got nothing in return.”

A number of persons are named in this article for their roles including members of the Martinez family. There are the stories of many who persons would call greedy still lamenting what the lost.

In a related article, Leverage as High as 50-1 Lures OTC Forex Traders Who Most

Martinez admits the dangers for FOREX Trading or Currency Casino

He says he’s taught 30,000 students a formula for making consistent profits with MTI’s Ultimate Traders Package, which sells for $7,995. Yet, in an interview with Bloomberg Markets last year, Martinez estimated no more than half his customers make back trading what they spend on their MTI tuition.

The role Market Traders Institute(MTI)  played is beyond question in Jamaica as those organisations gave legitimacy to David Smith and his OLINT operations.  In fact, Jared Martinez openly praised the skill of David Smith and called him a Jamaican Moses.  Listen carefully and note a few things:

1. He admits there has been controversy “about the returns he brings” but he has “helped” persons
2. But then issues an “endorsement”  and says “it has been the real deal”

Watch and listen Jared Martinez Calls David Smith the ‘Jamaican Moses’

Whether they were complicit in a conspiracy is the question that will probably be never known, unless there is a confession.

For more read The Con Man and His Mentor

David Smith Arrested – To be Extradited to the USA

On Friday, ABC news via an Associated Press(AP) article had quoted a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Amy Filjones, in the Middle District of Florida,  saying that the U.S. government was “actively seeking to extradite” David Smith from the Turks and Caicos Island(TCI)

On Saturday, the Jamaica Gleaner reported that David Smith had been arrested on Friday, January 23, 2015 on a provisional warrant and will be extradited to the United States of America next week.

Given that David Smith served only little more that four years in  a TCI prison it is will be interesting to see if he will serve 24 or 26 more years in a USA prison.

Why David Smith was released on January 22, 2015 with no arrangements made to have him immediately picked up by the United States Authorities is a question the Turks and Caicos Authorities would have to answer.

While his wife and family might be grateful, many who would have suffered as a result of Olint will be left wondering why?

Related

• US Seeks Extradition of Fraudster Released From TCI Prison
• Olint’s David Smith arrested in TCI, to be extradited to US next week

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 likes 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 Orlando 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

David Smith pleads guilty in the USA

The daily newspapers have reported that former Olint Boss David Smith has pleaded guilty to over 20 cases of fraud in relation to his ponzi scheme. In exchange for his plea, he appears set to speak about those who help him with his elaborate plans to defraud “investors”. Word is now that their is a mad scramble now on in Jamaica as persons try to further distance themselves from any association with David Smith as well as hiding assets they came in possession of as a result of the ponzi scheme.

The desert is bound to get real hot shortly.

See links

Read plea agreement here:

http://rjrnewsonline.com/sites/default/files/docs/25_PLEA%20AGREEMENT%20re%20counts%20One%20through%20Twenty-Three%20of%20the%20Information%20(3).pdf

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/crime/os-ponzi-david-smith-20110329,0,7910391.story

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Hope-for-Olint-investors

David Smith pleads not guilty in the USA

Former head of Olint – David Smith has pleaded not guilty in a Florida court after being flown from TCI to the USA last evening.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AI02X20101119

David Smith pleads GUILTY !!!

The former head of the failed Olint investment club, today pleaded guilty to fraud-related charges in the Supreme Court in the Turks and Caicos Islands and has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison.

http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=22825

Does this effectively bring this sordid affair to an end ?

David Smith Indicted in the USA !!

David Smith, the embattled head of the failed foreign currency trading scheme Olint, has been indicted on 23 charges in the United States.

Smith is certain to face a heavy prison sentence for his criminal activities committed against many Jamaicans and other Caribbean nationals.

Why has no charges been laid against Smith in Jamaica where it all started.

Read more

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100819/lead/lead1.html

See the indictment document here . Thanks Maik for this link

http://www.fptci.com/downloads/olintusinformation8-18-10.pdf