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Tag: OLINT

  • UPDATE: International Forex Ponzi Swindler David A. Smith Sentenced To 30 Years In U.S. Jail

    David A. Smith. Source: Orange County Jail

    David A. Smith, the Ponzi schemer who swindled investors in the Caribbean and Florida in a caper that gathered more than $200 million, has been sentenced to 30 years in a U.S. prison.

    Smith, a Jamaican citizen who was brought to Florida last year to face the U.S. charges, first must serve a sentence of six and one-half years in the Turks and Caicos Islands. His time there will count toward his U.S. sentence, and U.S. federal prosecutors said he’d finish the balance of his U.S. term in the United States.

    His firm was known as OLINT, which stands for Overseas Locket International Corp.

  • BULLETIN: OLINT’S David A. Smith Pleads Guilty In $220 Million Ponzi Scheme; International Forex Caper Laundered $128 Million, Feds Say

    David A. Smith. Source: Orange County Jail

    BULLETIN: David A. Smith, who presided over a $220 million Forex fraud known as OLINT, has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

    Smith, 41, is a citizen of Jamaica. He “executed a Ponzi scheme to defraud over 6,000 investors located in the Middle District of Florida and elsewhere out of more than $220 million,” prosecutors said. “Smith led investors to believe that he was investing their money in foreign currency trading, earning 10 percent per month on average. In fact, he was not trading their funds.”

    The case included a conspiracy with unnamed others to launder $128 million, prosecutors said.

    “Considerable investigative support”  was provided by the Financial Crimes Unit with the Royal Turks and Caicos Police Force, the Financial Services Commission in Jamaica, the Special Investigation and Prosecution Team in Turks and Caicos, and the governments of the United Kingdom, Turks and Caicos, and Jamaica, the FBI said today.

    Lead agencies in the United States included U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the FBI and the IRS. Also assisting in the probe were the CFTC and the NFA.

    Smith pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 18 counts of money laundering. He was the majority owner in a Lake Mary, Fla., firm known as I-Trade FX LLC, prosecutors said last year.

  • SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE: Convicted Ponzi Swindler Beau Diamond Sentenced To More Than 15 Years In Federal Prison

    The Sarasota Herald-Tribune is reporting that Ponzi swinder Beau Diamond has been sentenced to 186 months in federal prison.

    Sentencing court was conducted this morning.

    The Diamond case is among a number of complex Ponzi or fraud-scheme investigations undertaken by federal prosecutors and investigators in the Middle District of Florida.

    Others include  Traders International Returns Network (TIRN), Evolution Marketing Group/FinanzasForex, the Alpha Trade Group case and the David A. Smith/OLINT case. Prosecutors and investigators in the region also have had a role in the AdSurfDaily case.

  • 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.

  • BREAKING NEWS: Another Spectacular Ponzi Scheme Alleged In Florida; OLINT Operator David A. Smith Charged In Caribbean Forex Caper; Extradition To United States Expected

    BULLETIN: A citizen of Jamaica has been charged by U.S. prosecutors in Orlando with operating a Forex Ponzi scheme alleged to have gathered more than $200 million from more than 6,000 investors.

    David A. Smith had help from unindicted co-conspirators in Florida, prosecutors charged. The office of U.S. Attorney A. Brian Albritton of the Middle District of Florida is handling the prosecution, which seeks the forfeiture of $128 million, a sum of $40,103.90 from a wire transaction that occurred in 2006,  a home in Windermere, Fla., precious gemstones, precious metals and jewelry.

    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.

    In 2005, Smith formed a Jamaican firm 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.

    Although investors were told their money would be used for Forex trading, Smith was accused of “failing to invest their funds in Forex trading as he had promised.” He also caused fraudulent account statements to be sent to investors over the Internet, prosecutors said.

    Meanwhile, prosecutors accused Smith, who also is in deep trouble in the Caribbean, of transferring “millions of dollars” from investors to his personal accounts “to finance a lavish and expensive life-style” for himself and others.

    Smith, prosecutors said, created a “broad infrastructure” to create the appearance OLINT was engaged in legitimate Forex trading when it was not.

    He has been charged with wire fraud, money-laundering and conspiracy, and is not expected to fight extradition to the United States.

    Albritton’s office is involved in the investigation of a number of highly complex Ponzi and fraud schemes, including the Beau Diamond Forex Ponzi scheme, the Traders International Returns Network (TIRN) case and the alleged Evolution Marketing Group/FinanzasForex fraud case.

    TIRN operator David Merrick pleaded guilty in May to money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud in the TIRN Ponzi scheme.

    In the Evolution Marketing Group/FinanzasForex case, prosecutors said investigators had tied some of the money collected in the alleged scheme to the international narcotics trade. Court filings in the case paint a picture of an incredibly elaborate maze of companies and bank accounts set up to confuse both investors and law enforcement. At least 59 bank accounts, 294 bars of gold and nine luxury vehicles have been seized in the case. One of the cars was a 2008 Lamborghini Murcielago valued at more than $430,000.