BREAKING NEWS: OLINT Boss David A. Smith Extradited To United States From Turks And Caicos Islands; Faces Charges In Spectacular Forex-Fraud Case In Orlando Region

BULLETIN: Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) traveled to the Turks And Caicos Islands to take accused Ponzi schemer David A. Smith into custody. Smith has been transported to the United States and is jailed in Florida.

Smith, who was serving a prison term in the islands for fraud and conspiracy, became the subject of an official request by the United States to extradite him to face federal charges in Florida for bilking investors out of more than $220 million.

The director of ICE said the Smith fraud posed a danger to the U.S. banking system, and the Department of Homeland Security is involved in the probe of Smith’s business activities.

“One of ICE-Homeland Security Investigations’ critical missions is investigating the flow of illicit money across U.S. borders and the criminal enterprises behind that money,” said ICE Director John Morton. “Not only do these kinds of financial schemes damage the lives of the thousands of victims, but the international money laundering involved poses a direct threat to the security of the U.S. financial system.”

Smith was at the head of a Jamaican company known as Overseas Locket International Corp. (OLINT), prosecutors said. In 2006, he started another firm known as OLINT TCI Corp. Ltd. in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Both firms were described as “private investment clubs,” prosecutors said.

Smith also was the majority owner in a Lake Mary, Fla., firm known as I-Trade FX LLC, prosecutors said.

The scheme was pulled off with the help of unindicted co-conspirators in the United States, prosecutors said.

The conspiracy was carried out in Seminole County, Fla., and was designed to channel money from the scheme into U.S. banks, prosecutors said.

Residents of Orange County were affected by the scheme, prosecutors said. They noted that the unindicted co-conspirators were affiliated with a Florida company known as JIJ Investments. Prosecutors did not name the unindicted co-conspirators, describing them as “Directors” of JIJ.

Federal prosecutors in the Middle District of Florida are involved in several actions targeted at alleged purveyors of massive fraud schemes.

Assisting in the Smith case are U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), National Futures Association (NFA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force.

See earlier story.