Yuri Garcia Dominguez and his wife Ateeka Ishmael have been fined G$1,000,000 each and both sentenced to one year imprisonment for operating a Ponzi Scheme through which they defrauded unsuspecting Guyanese of hundreds of millions of dollars.
This sentencing was handed down on Thursday by Magistrate Sunil Scarce at the Vigilance Magistrates’ Court, where the couple was facing several charges including the offence of Operating a Ponzi Scheme and Carrying on a Business without Registering with the Guyana Securities Council. For the latter charge, Dominguez was slapped with a G$100,000 fine and 18 months imprisonment, while Ishmael was also fined G$100,000 with a default sentence of six months imprisonment.
According to the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), the charges arose from allegations that between 18th May, 2020 and 16th October 2020, at Coldingen, East Coast Demerara, the defendants operated a Ponzi Scheme for several months.
Dominguez, a Cuban national, and his Guyanese wife have been slapped with at least 150 charges and up to last year, the man was wanted in connection with another 58 new fraud charges.
See the full statement below from SOCU on the sentencing:
GUYANA’S FAMOUS PONZI SCHEME CON ARTISTS YURI GARCIA DOMINGUEZ AND ATEEKA ISHMAEL JAILED SOCU
The Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) has secured convictions against Yuri Garcia Dominguez and Ateeka Ishmael, who were each found guilty for operating a Ponzi Scheme illegally in Guyana fleecing unsuspecting Guyanese hundreds of millions of dollars.
On Thursday, 11th June 2026, Magistrate Sunil Scarce, sitting at the Vigilance Magistrates’ Court, sentenced both defendants in relation to the said offences.
For the offence of Operating a Ponzi Scheme, Yuri Garcia Dominguez was fined GYD $1,000,000 and sentenced to one year imprisonment. His wife Ateeka Ishmael was also fined GYD $1,000,000 and sentenced to one year imprisonment.
For the offence of Carrying on a Business without Registering with the Guyana Securities Council, contrary to section 47(10) of the Securities Industry Act, Cap. 73:04, Yuri Garcia Dominguez was fined GYD $100,000 and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment. Ateeka Ishmael was fined GYD $100,000, with a default sentence of six months imprisonment.
The charges arose from allegations that between 18th May, 2020 and 16th October 2020, at Coldingen, East Coast Demerara, the defendants operated a Ponzi Scheme illegally for several months defrauding Guyanese hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) was called in to investigate after hundreds of Guyanese citizens reported that they had invested large sums of money in the Ponzi Scheme and were defrauded among other things.
A complicated investigation which took several months was conducted by SOCU and they were later charged and now convicted.
The defendants were represented by Attorney-at-Law Eden Corbin. SOCU was represented by Prosecutors, Attorney-at-Law Darin Chan, DSP Neville Jeffers and Sergeant Aaron Daniels.
SOCU views these convictions as an important step in the enforcement of Guyana’s financial crime laws, particularly in matters involving investment schemes, unregistered financial activity, and the protection of Guyanese citizens from unlawful financial operations.
Head of the Special Organised Crime Unit, Deputy Commissioner Fazil Karimbaksh related that SOCU remains committed to investigating and prosecuting financial crimes, securities-related offences, suspected money laundering, and proceeds of crime offences. The Unit will continue to advance matters of this nature before the courts in keeping with Guyana’s wider Anti-Money Laundering, countering the financing of terrorism, and financial crime framework.
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