Above: David Smith

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The United States government plans to compensate investors who lost money to the OLINT Ponzi scheme operated by Jamaica’s David Smith.

The scheme was first operated in Jamaica and subsequently in the Turks and Caicos Islands, where Smith is currently serving a prison sentence.

While Smith claimed the companies were “private investment clubs,” he used invested funds for personal gain, ultimately pleading guilty to 23 counts of wire fraud and money laundering fraud $220 million in March 2011.

The government will be returning funds to OLINT victims through “remission,” applying to those who invested between Feb. 3, 2005 to July 15, 2008.

The United States Department of Justice has retained Gilardi & Co. as remission administrator to assist with petitions for remission.