– Felix says investigators were deprived of essential information
Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall has once again been accused of making false statements on the performance of the former Administration, this time for claiming that Former Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix was aware of the now notorious ponzi scheme which beguiled over 17,000 Guyanese.
Giving his account on the matter, Felix revealed that it was actually the chamberd of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) which cleared the masterminds behind the scheme for naturalisation to Guyana, and the silence of the Guyana Securities Commission (GSC) and the public that prevented negative information on the character of the masterminds from being revealed.
As reported in the Guyana Times and based on a virtual press conference hosted by the AG on Saturday, Felix was accused of having been long informed by the GSC of the suspected illegal investment or pyramid scheme.
Former Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan was also accused of being aware of the suspected illegal investment of the company in question, Accelerated Capital Firm Inc. At the press conference, Nandlall cited the former Government for being complacent and for causing thousands of Guyanese their hard-earned monies.
However, responding the accusations, Felix said that while he cannot speak for Ramjattan, he was not made aware of then possible ponzi scheme by the GSC and he did not approve the naturalization of Cuban national, Yuri Garcia Dominguez, the business man who ran the scheme.
“Let me say in clear and unambiguous terms that, while I cannot speak for the former Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, I cannot recall ever receiving information in any format, whether orally or in writing, from the Guyana Securities Commission in connection with a person named in the Guyana Times article as Dominguez, involvement in a Ponzi scheme,” Felix stated in a release.
He did note, however, that he received a letter on August 28, 2019 from his superior with an attached anonymous and undated letter in which there were allegations of illegal financial trading being undertaken by a number of Cuban nationals. The letter said that they were seeking to use their marriages to Guyanese to secure naturalization.
With the Department of Citizenship possessing no investigative capacity, Felix said that the possible tip was forwarded on September 4, 2019 to the Commissioner of Police for “an investigation to be conducted and, where necessary, take appropriate action”.
Felix further stated: “I had instructed my staff that the application by Dominquez and any other person associated with him should be put on pause until such time that the police investigation was completed. I am satisfied that my instructions were given due adherence. It now seems that Yuri Garcia Dominguez had married a Guyanese and, according to the provisions of the Constitution of Guyana, sought Guyanese Citizenship through naturalization. This application was under investigation and he was advised that he is required publish his application for naturalisation in two separate issues of newspapers circulating in the district in which he lives to elicit any negative information of his character.”
It was noted that Dominquez complied. The Department of Citizenship, Felix said, did not receive any response from this notice nor did the GSC raise contention. Then, on April 17, 2020, the Commissioner of Police wrote to Felix, seven months after the investigation, noting that, following advice from the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), that “this matter be treated as closed and that Yuri Garcia Dominguez and Laicy Garcia Pedroso continue the process of applying for citizenship”.
With no other restraining circumstances to necessitate official action to prevent the naturalisation process, the former Minister of Citizenship said that the naturalization form of Dominquez was signed on June 12, 2020, about two months after the DPP “treated the matter as closed”.
“It is unfortunate that except for an anonymous letter none of the 17,000 Guyanese affected by the ‘Ponzi’ scheme responded to the letter published in the daily newspapers,” Felix said.
He added: “It seems to me that the investigators were deprived of essential information necessary to build a strong case against the alleged perpetrator(s) but to ascribe blame or attempt to do so on specious grounds enveloped in falsity will not provide credible answer(s) to the issues involved in this matter.”
