OFFICIALS FROM the Turks and Caicos Islands Financial Crimes Unit say they may head to Jamaica and the United States for assistance with their probe into the multibillion-dollar investment club, Olint Corporation Ltd.

On Monday, the police in the British colony confiscated documents from offices of Olint and froze the assets of the company.

This latest development has fuelled increasing uncertainty in the minds of thousands of local investors who are concerned whether they will recover their investments in the alternative scheme.

Head of the unit, Assistant Superintendent of Police in The Turks and Caicos Islands, Mark Knighton, told The Gleaner/ Power 106 news yesterday that other jurisdictions, including Jamaica and the US, could be asked to assist in the investigations. The Turks and Caicos officer did not disclose details about when they would approach other jurisdictions for help.

He, however, made it clear that neither US nor British investigators were involved in the probe at this time.

Smith not sought

Knighton said the head of Olint, David Smith, was not being sought for questioning.

"We need to record and examine the documents we have seized. Nobody has been questioned yet or arrested in relation to this enquiry," he said.

Attorney-at-law Shirley Ann-Eaton suggested that if the investigations revealed that Olint was involved in financial crimes, the clients' investments would be irrecoverable.

"What would have happened, any money they give the company, their money would become a part of criminal activities - the proceeds of crime," she told The Gleaner yesterday.

"I would be extremely surprised if all the authorities within the Caribbean and the US authorities are not doing active investigations into all the alternative investment schemes," she said.

A source close to David Smith told The Gleaner yesterday that the head of Olint was at the residential location in the Turks and Caicos Islands when the police carried out the raid. Claims that Olint had an office in Miami were also dismissed.

Olint has been facing legal problems in Jamaica since 2006 when the Financial Services Commission served a cease-and-desist order on the entity.

Breached the provisions

The Supreme Court later ruled that Olint had breached the provisions of the Securities Act.

The investment club carried its operations offshore, outside the immediate jurisdiction of the local authorities in Jamaica.

National Commercial Bank was, in May, barred from closing three accounts of Olint until an appeal was heard in the courts from the company.

Yesterday, NCB distanced itself from claims that a prominent bank had reported the wiring of US$200 million through its accounts.

NCB is assuring the public that it has kept the accounts of Olint open in accordance with an injunction by the Court of Appeal until the court hands down a judgment.