EDITORIAL Closure for Olint investors?

The 30-year prison sentence handed to David Smith by a judge in Florida may help to ease the pain and offer closure to some of those who were bilked by his fraudulent investment scheme, Olint.

However, for the Association of Concerned Olint Members, imprisonment may be the final blow to any chance of recovering their investment. It has publicly stated its preference for restitution over imprisonment, apparently hanging on to Smith's promise at the time of his arrest that he would make 100 per cent refund to investors within nine months. There is really no indication that that money is to be found anywhere.

So far, the US government is seeking to recover US$128 million which Smith allegedly wired to US banks as part of his scheme. US victims are likely to be satisfied first.

This is a story about greed run amok. Judging from the testimonies of the victims, Smith has robbed thousands of people of a happy and financially secure retirement. The wrenching stories of homelessness and financial ruin have been repeated over and over again. He is reported to have ripped off some 6,000 investors of US$220 million.

But this story also demonstrates how in the human experience naivety can trump rationality. Mr Smith has often been described as a "nice" person and many people, including his church brethren, believed in him. Mr Smith betrayed that trust and caused both financial and economic pain to thousands of people.

Pay for their sins

Those who got in on the ground floor of the investment scheme proclaimed David Smith as their economic saviour, and as they boasted about their hefty returns, they provided the credibility the ruse needed to lure new investors. But are these persons devoid of any responsibility in this sordid affair? Many argue that persons who collected these fat sums of money should be made to repay them because they were obtained as part of a fraudulent scheme.

Blinded by attractive monthly payments, many small investors failed to acknowledge that, as with anything else, investment opportunities that appear too good to be true usually are. They somehow forgot the maxim: High returns mean high risks. We now know that Smith was in fact using new investors' funds to make the principal and interest payments to existing investors and to support his lavish lifestyle. How much money he skimmed off for himself has not been determined so far.

It is interesting that even with the media spotlight on these fraudulent schemes, many of Olint's victims continue to be magnets for other similar economic schemes. When will people learn that all pyramid/Ponzi schemes are destined for collapse?

Smith's trial and conviction in both the Turks and Caicos Islands and Florida indicate that prosecutors are serious about white-collar crime. Sadly, we have not seen the same level of zeal in Jamaica. For example, victims of Carlos Hill's Cash Plus Ltd, which collapsed in 2008, and various other pyramid schemes that have hit the headlines, are lamenting how slowly the wheels of justice grind in Jamaica.

When a case takes so long to come to trial, the gravity of the crime is reduced in people's mind. Besides, victims forget important details and the trial can quickly descend into a farcical affair with high-priced lawyers coming to the defence of their clients while seeking to discredit witnesses.

Justice delayed is indeed justice denied. If the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is overwhelmed with its caseload, the administration should look outside for competent talent to bring these matters to court in a timely manner. Victims of Cash Plus deserve to have their day in court.

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