‘Ponzi schemers’ lawyers deny bank account opened

Sep 16, 2020 News

The lawyers for alleged Ponzi schemers, Yuri Garcia-Dominguez and his wife Ateeka Ishmael, yesterday debunked the claims made by Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall.

Charged: Garcia-Dominguez and wife Ateeka Ishmael remain in jail.

During a press conference, at the Regency Suites Hotel in Georgetown, attorneys-at-law Dexter Todd and Adrian Smith, debunked the AG’s claims and added that an action was filed in the High Court to the review the fraud charges against their clients.
Garcia-Dominguez, a Cuban national who became Guyanese in June, and his wife, Ateeka Ishmael, are charged for obtaining billions of dollars under false pretense out of the pockets of hundreds of Guyanese.
The couple is currently on remand on over 70 of the fraud charges.
On Monday, Minister Nandlall, while giving an update about the alleged Ponzi scheme investigations, said that Garcia-Dominguez has asked the Government to reopen a bank account so that the monies can be returned to Guyana and for a computer to be given to him so that he can transact the businesses.
Nandlall also said that the government granted both request made by the accused but that the couple have approached the High Court on multiple occasions to secure bail- their requests were denied.
While giving the update, the Minister also disclosed that the accused had wanted to strike an agreement with the Guyana Police Force but the force was instructed not to sign any.
However, yesterday Todd debunked all of the Attorney General statements.
Todd said that no bank account has been reopened for his client to deposit the monies so that it can be returned to investors.
He then added that his client is ready to resolve these matters but have not been given the opportunity to do so.
The lawyer then highlighted that no computer was ever provided for his client at the Lusignan Prison so that he can transact business and have the monies returned to Guyana.
Todd also stated that no approach was made to the High Court for Garcia-Dominguez and his wife, to be granted bail.
He then clarified that his client has never requested that an agreement be signed with the police. Todd said that the AG took the statement out of context since he [Todd] was the one who asked the investigators as to what is the DPP’s position as pertains to the charges.
The other lawyer, Smith, stated that the action that was filed in the High Court will be served on the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, Police Commissioner (ag) Nigel Hoppie and the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack.
The government has established a task force to help recover the monies but all efforts have lead to a dead end.
Over17, 000 are said to have lost in excess of US$20M.
The accused are said, told persons that they have the means to trade on the international market in foreign currency.
Persons were being offered rates as much as sixty percent interest, it has been reported.
The couple, who had several persons working for them as agents has been slapped with over 70 joint fraud charges in several courts on the East Coast of Demerara.