Accused Ponzi scheme operators Yuri Garcia Dominguez and his wife Ateeka Ishmael have now filed an action in the High Court to review the 81 fraud charges brought against them in recent weeks.
Dominguez and his wife are associated with Accelerated Capital Firm Inc and are being accused of swindling millions of dollars from Guyanese.
Their Attorneys Dexter Todd and Adrian Smith at a press conference held at the Regency Suites Hotel in Georgetown on Tuesday claim that the couple is innocent of the charges.
Smith said that the parties to be served are Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, Police Commissioner (ag) Nigel Hoppie and the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack.
“We have filed judiciary review proceedings to review the charges that have been filed against Yuri and his wife which come out as a result of the contract that were signed,” Smith said.
Meanwhile, Todd debunked several claims made by the Attorney General regarding the case.
The lawyer said the Government is attempting to create a narrative that Dominguez is not cooperating with the investigations.
“It is within our client’s interest to of course to express how disappointed we are in the pronouncements made, because those pronouncement made by the Attorney General were definitely not accurate and it did not of course reflect what was happening between the interactions between the police and our client.”
Firstly, Todd stated that no bank account has been set up for Dominguez to return monies to investors.
Todd explained that the company had set up a business account at the Bank of Baroda, but this account has been seized by the State and to date has not been reopened. According to Todd, Dominguez is ready to resolve these matters but have not been given any opportunity to do so.
“Our client, of course remains committed to see that the contractual obligations under the contracts signed by the persons who filed the complaints and that those matters are resolved amicably and in the best interest of both parties,” Todd said.
Secondly, Todd said it is untrue that a computer was made available to Dominguez at the Lusignan Prison to return monies to investors.
“There has never been any opportunity in which my client had to use a computer or a phone at the prison.”
However, as it relates to a computer being made available at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Todd said while Dominguez was given the opportunity to visit the computer room he never used any computers.
According to Todd, Dominguez only sat in the computer room uninterrupted for three days because no one knew what he was doing there and no instructions were given.
“I intervened because I visited the Criminal Investigations Department and I asked very clearly is there an account that my client is required to use this computer…no one knew what was happening.”
Thirdly, Todd said that no approach was made to the High Court for Dominguez and his wife to be bailed. Todd said bail was only filed once since the beginning of the matter.
Additionally, Todd clarified that no agreement was made between the Police and Dominguez as was reported by the Attorney General.
“This agreement that the Attorney General is speaking about was taken out of context and of course that request to have an agreement did not come from our client but came from me to the investigators as to what is the DPP position as pertains to the charges,” Todd said.
While the Attorney General claimed that authorities could not find any assets belonging to Dominguez, Todd said his clients have assets but did not provide further details.