Former Olint boss released from TCI PRISON. David Smith, the Jamaican head of the failed investment scheme Olint, was yesterday released from a Turks and Caicos Islands prison after serving just over three years of a six-year sentence. His early release, which the TCI Sun newspaper reported was due to good behaviour, should have been followed by his extradition to the United States to serve a 30-year sentence handed to him in August 2011. However, a source in the Turks and Caicos Islands said his lawyer, Oliver Smith (no relation), filed an appeal to stop the extradition. “The appeal was filed in the Grand Turk Magistrate’s Court before Clifton Warner,” the source said. “Our understanding is that it is now being handled by the Attorney General Rhondalee Brathwaite-Knowles.” The source added that Oliver Smith declined to comment when asked why his client was released early. However, the source said David Smith was released into the custody of the police. David Smith, who was accused of defrauding thousands of customers of more than US$220 million, was convicted in the United States District Court in Orlando, Florida after pleading guilty to 18 counts of money laundering, four counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. US District Judge Mary Scriven handed down the sentence on August 11, 2011 after hearing three hours of legal arguments and victim testimony, which was emotional at times. Assistant US Attorney Bruce Ambrose told Judge Scriven that the government proposed a minimum sentence of 30 years in prison. A report in the Orlando Sentinel at the time said Smith apologised to the judge, then turned around and looked at a packed courtroom as he extended his apology to his victims and family. “What I did was inexcusable,” the newspaper reported Smith as saying. Smith, who is married with several children, asked for leniency and said he wanted a second chance at life. “I am not a terrible person,” he said. Before the US court sentencing, Smith was sentenced to prison in the Turks and Caicos Islands, where he also pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges. Smith, whose investment scheme extended across the United States and the Caribbean and had about 6,000 investors, admitted in his plea agreement that Olint was a massive ponzi scheme, whereby he paid returns to investors not from profit but from their own money or that paid by subsequent investors. These funds, transferred to his own personal bank accounts, reportedly enabled Smith to live a lavish lifestyle. Among his expenditures were political contributions, gambling, and a down-payment for the purchase of a Lear jet. A raid by authorities in Jamaica forced him to shut down his business here and relocate to the Turks and Caicos Islands. The Jamaican Government assisted with information in the case which was investigated by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, Internal Revenue Service, and the FBI. Yesterday, the TCI Sun reported well-placed sources as saying that Smith, was seen at Margaritaville in Grand Turk earlier in the day with his wife Tracey and his attorney. Source: Jamaica Observer
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 06:55:55 +0000