Mark Dawes, Religion Editor

( L - R ) Henley Morgan, David Smith

Christians who placed their funds in Olint Corporation Ltd and other foreign currency trading-related investment schemes were naïve and foolish, says Dr Henley Morgan, management consultant and a congregational leader at the Trench Town-based Praise City International church.

Morgan told The Gleaner yesterday that furthermore, many of the operators of such schemes did not possess the competencies to effectively engage in foreign-exchange trading.

"It is early days yet, but I think we (the Christian community) have taken a black eye on this one," he said.

General comment

Morgan was commenting on the general state of foreign currency trading schemes in Jamaica and reports that the David Smith-led Olint had its offices in The Turks and Caicos Islands raided earlier this week.

"On the advent of foreign-exchange trading, the key players were from the Christian community. They foisted themselves on a 'captive' audience of 'believers'," he argued. "Many of the Christians previously engaged in front-line evangelism and ministry disappeared from the battlefield."

Time consuming

Morgan said foreign-exchange trading was very time- consuming and many pastors actually formed clubs, giving them another business to run, other than their churches.

He said 70-80 per cent of investors in foreign-currency-trading investment clubs comprise church folk.

Morgan said he believed most of those who launched foreign-currency investment schemes, of which there are said to be about 34, did so in the utmost good faith.

"I do not have any evidence that these people had wrong motives. I think it was more naivety and unsophistication inmanagement," he said. "You are talking about, in most cases, people who have never managed large sums of money, all of a sudden had backroom operations and you are dealing with a very complex thing, which they don't understand. I genuinely believe that possibly even David may have thought that at the end, they would have somehow right-sized; somehow they would have been able to stay ahead of the curve and maybe come back and pay everybody out and then recover."

He added: "When you are getting 10 per cent, you don't get out while the going is good. It is just like any other addiction."

Morgan said he had come close to being convinced by people that foreign-exchange trading was something God had sent and had opened up for the Christian community to build His kingdom.

"I recall there were messages being preached all over. People were just so convinced. And now I am learning that some of those who were preaching the best such sermons were trying to convince themselves," he said.

mark.dawes@gleanerjm.com