Jamaican Banker David A. Smith Pleads Guilty to $220M Ponzi Scheme Stretching from Jamaica to U.S. & Turks & Caicos

Jamaican Ponzi-king David A. Smith pleads guilty to 23 counts in Orlando federal court for bilking thousands out of $220 million to finance lavish lifestyle.

SHAME: David A. Smith, a Jamaican banker, who was accused of bilking thousands of investors out of nearly $220 million pleaded guilty to 23 charges in Orlando federal court Tuesday. Granted, this isn't on the scale of Bernie Madoff or even Sir Allen Stanford, it is a disgrace nonetheless. According to the Orlando Sentinel, Smith had already signed a plea agreement admitting guilt to four counts of wire fraud, a count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and 18 counts of money laundering.

Smith pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges in the Turks and Caicos Islands last year and was sentenced to just over six years in prison there. U.S. authorities picked Smith up in November and brought him to Orlando to face the federal charges here.

Prosecutors say more than 6,000 people from Orange County, Jamaica, the Turks and Caicos Islands and elsewhere invested in Smith's companies, which include the Olint Corp.

According to the plea agreement, Smith described Olint as a private investment club, where he would pool investors' money to engage in foreign currency trading on their collective behalf. Source: Orlando Sentinel

People, the moral of the story is, if someone promises you big returns on an investment, then you need to do your homework or run the risk of ending up like the victims of David Smith, Bernie Madoff, Sir Allen Stanford and all the other thugs in suits. David Smith got what he deserved after living high on the hog on the money of others. He made a hefty downpayment on a Lear jet and sponsored the Jamaican Jazz & Blues Festival, among other things, according to the Jamaican Observer. I hope he rots in prison for what he did.