A Jamaican man who defrauded more than 6,000 investors in Orange County, as well as in his homeland Jamaica, Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) and elsewhere out of more than $220 million, was yesterday sentenced to 30 years in a U.S. federal prison.
42-year-old David Smith, who headed failed investment scheme Olint, before serving his term in the U.S., will be returned to the TCI to serve a six-and-a-half-year jail sentence imposed in September 2010 after he pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges, arising from the same Olint scheme.
At his sentencing, Smith apologized to his victims, saying, “What I did was inexcusable.”
“I am not a terrible person,” he added, as he pleaded for leniency and a second chance.
Smith had been indicted on 18 counts of money laundering to conceal specified unlawful activity, four counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, arising out of prosecutor said was a Ponzi scheme which began in February 2005 and continued through July 2008.
