Ponzi scheme rebate
Kaieteur News – The toll is for US $ 20M (over G $ 4B) and includes over 17,000 Guyanese investors. The latest coming out of the alleged Ponzi principal is that 85 percent of the bilked investors have returned money to them. This is not what his own attorney, Mr. Dexter Todd, said on December 18, just three weeks ago, when he noted that a paltry G $ 3M had been paid out and that the number of investors to be repaid was waiting in the thousands (KN January 8). Something doesn’t add up here, or there’s a communication problem, or someone’s not good at counting. Whatever it is, these twisted wires and mixed messages lead to one place: are the rogue Guyanese investors going to get their money back? In light of these recent developments, what is the likelihood that they will get something back, if anything, from the funds that have been so naïvely invested?
Todd’s attorney appears to have a problem on his hands. That is, a client who cannot help himself, who fancies himself an impeccable oracle who must be listened to, and who cannot keep his mouth shut. As any decent attorney knows, a talkative client is his own worst enemy, because no one knows what will be said next. However, other than that, where does this issue go? In particular, this is in terms of how much is actually repaid and these latest outlandish allegations about some 85 percent of fraudulent investors are made intact.
This is more than the troublesome issue (between the two of them, which is their business) of the relationship and responsibilities for communication between attorney and client. It is about whether there is any really serious and legitimate intention on the part of alleged Ponzi planners to do the right thing by waiting Guyanese investors and moving on to whatever lies ahead. What we can find, in this paper, is some verbal cues from the planner, about who got paid and when, and all that jazz that no one has much patience for anymore.
A tremendous step has been made, which has cost thousands of Guyanese many worries and embarrassments. The people out of their pocket want to be repaid, so they can put this sordid chapter in their lives behind them and get on with the business of breathing a little easier and living a bit smarter. At least it is not helpful, when the alleged planner takes the airwaves either to advocate or preach about how well he has done on behalf of the changed. What is useful, what means something in all its significance and hard value is cold cash and nothing else.
The alleged Ponzi planner must stop trying to score points or engage in defensive tactics that deceive anyone. There is only one thing that matters and nothing else: the people, all of them, have to be repaid and time is short on it. In fact, if it continues at this rate, whatever goodwill was left would be exhausted and would be the worst for it. Guyanese authorities, all the way up to Hon. The Attorney General looks at and listens closely to all developments in this relationship. The Ponzi planner does no favors for himself, when he goes on these tangents with these tall tales about 85 percent of the people who get reimbursed. That one came out of nowhere and was much more surprising, as it was in serious conflict with what his legal representative had been saying repeatedly, namely that the investors would are repaid and that goodwill is behind that assertion.
So, turning out nowhere and saying now that most of them have been repaid comes across as more than self-serving. He comes across as fraudulent and damning. Be warned: it’s best not to stop playing these silly games, because they are counterproductive and can be more expensive in the long run. It is more prudent to sit down and work quietly with the named attorney and confirm whatever is in mind. Doing otherwise will ignite.