TelexFree Probe Continues As Dominican Republic Struggle To Cushion AfterMath

AGENCIES PROBE TELEXFREE

Dominican agency reports indicate that a probe is underway in the country to determine "the whereabouts of tens of millions of pesos allegedly scammed from Dominicans by the TelexFree ponzi scheme as well as the identity of its owners."

As the events of the past few weeks settle, the country is gradually emerging as one of the hardest hit TelexFree investor markets, outside of the U.S and Brazil.

No Enabling Law to Prosecute

Two days ago, the country's Superintendent of Securities, Gabriel Castro, in an effort to explain why his department did nothing as hundreds of thousands of Dominicans invested their money with TelexFree, said there was no enabling law:

Superintendent of Securities, Gabriel Castro, said Monday that despite having knowledge about the company Telexfree this entity could not do any action claiming that the country has a legislative vacuum that does not give them relevance for them to proceed in this direction. (editor's note: translated from Google Translate)

Despite the hurdle of having no law to prosecute, and the knowledge that other similar businesses exist in the Dominican Republic, he assures the public that his department will continue to investigate and probe Telexfree.

The official said it is aware that there are other similar businesses operating in the country and reported to the Attorney General.

However, he assured that they will continue investigating and Dominican Republic is not the only country that has been affected, and there are many others, including the U.S. and Brazil. (editor's note: translated from Google Translate)

The unfortunate point for the Dominican agencies here is having no powers to prosecute TelexFree, even if their probes find anything negative against the company.

Agencies Prepare To Retrieve Funds, Identify Owners

Reports monitored this morning, however, indicate the country's agencies are set to coordinate an investigation and possibly confiscate TelexFree properties spread across the Republic.

Several agencies probe the whereabouts of tens of millions of pesos allegedly scammed from Dominicans by the TelexFree ponzi scheme as well as the identity of its owners.

Justice Ministry anti-money laundering unit director Germán Miranda said the Office Prosecutor and the financial authorities will meet Wednesday morning (i.e this morning) to coordinate the investigation and possible confiscation of properties.

He said the National District Prosecutor and the Securities Superintendence will seek to identify TelexFree’s intermediaries and promoters, noting that the whereabouts of the millions swindled from investors is their main target.

Miranda said regarding the foreigners affected, they’ll request the collaboration of U.S authorities to determine what happened with the money.

He said although TelexFree’s offices in the country have been identified, but the whereabouts of the money in the scheme is what’s most important for now. "The problem now is to determine where the capitals have gone."

The Executive Reacts

Meanwhile, two days ago, the country's legal adviser to the Executive, Cesar Pina Toribio, lent his voice to the current crisis by blaming the investors who joined TelexFree. He noted that, although there was a "legislative vacuum" on this kind of issues, yet investors had themselves to blame.

Given the legislative vacuum, the legal adviser of the Executive, Cesar Pina Toribio, recognizes that it is a weakness that must be revised, not while calling people to put aside naivety.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor urged the affected registry of complaints against the company and its promoters Telexfree order to operate. (editor's note: translated from Google Translate)

Since this is the position of the "legal adviser to the Executive", it is safe to assume that this is the position of the Dominican government. The government seems to say, "I just do not care if the company escapes, it is all the fault of my people." And this is a very sad point to note.

The AfterMath and the AfterShock

Despite all that has happened, there seems to be a brighter side to all of this - events that would see agencies better equipped.

Following the current TelexFree debacle, a bill has just been presented before the country's parliament, which directly aims to, among other things:

avoid the massive fraud committed by companies and individuals engaged in collection of public financial resources, through so-called pyramid schemes.

It should be noted, however, that this is not the first time such a bill has been presented to the house of parliament. A similar bill presented in the past was disapproved by the lower house.

Following current events, many in the country are hoping this current bill make it through this time around, even though the country's politicians, from the comments of Cesar Pina Toribio as noted above, do not seem concerned about what happens to its citizens. Thank God for agencies that have now risen to the occasion.

What Countries Should Do Now

Personally, I feel every country whose citizen has money trapped in the now dying TelexFree must of necessity rise to the occasion to get out as much as possible of its trapped citizens' funds, just like Dominican agencies have finally decided to do.

Whether citizens were wrong or right in investing money into TelexFree should not come up as an issue at all, because it is only natural for people to invest into what s/he believes would return good yields.

Besides, if an investment company is illegal, and allowed to operate freely in a country, whose fault should it be? The citizens' or the government? Of course, your guess is as good as mine because no citizen can give the 'power' to practice in a country; nor does any citizen have the 'might' to warn the whole country. These all fall into a government's responsibility.

So, where does this leave us? Simple! That there is no room for blames. That both parties must work together.

This blame game is totally, and absolutely, uncalled for. Simply get citizens' monies out of there and into their hands. That's what every right-thinking government should be doing right now, and not blaming anyone.

Aggrieved by TelexFree? What You Can Do

In case, anyone feels aggrieved, and wants to make a report or submission, you can contact the United States Public Inquiry and Assistance Center (PIAC), which handles consumer issues.

Complaint forms can be filed online (https://www.eform.ago.state.ma.us/ago_eforms/forms/piac_ecomplaint.action), or people can call PIAC's hotline at 617-727-8400.