A Houston jury Tuesday convicted Texas financier R. Allen Stanford on all but one of the charges he faced for allegedly bilking investors out of more than $7 billion in one of the largest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history.

The federal jurors found Stanford guilty on 13 of 14 counts he faced. They found Stanford not guilty on one count of wire fraud.

The 61-year-old Stanford, whose net worth was once estimated at more than $2 billion, looked down when the verdict was read.

He faces up to 20 years in prison for the most serious charges but could be imprisoned for much longer if a judge orders his sentences be served consecutively.

Prosecutors say Stanford orchestrated a 20-year scheme that took billions through the sale of certificates of deposit from his Caribbean bank.

Stanford’s attorneys blamed his ex-chief financial officer.

The verdict came less than a day after a Houston federal jury said it could not reach a verdict, and U.S. District Judge David Hittner instructed jurors to keep deliberating.

Carlos Hill bail extended – October 2011

Carlos Hill, the former head of the failed investment scheme Cash Plus Ltd, had his $15 million bail extended when he appeared in the Home Circuit Court this morning.

A June 13 2012 trial date has also been set.
However Hill is to return to court on April 15 when his case will again be called up for mention.
That date has been set to finalise Hill’s legal representation as more lawyers are expected to appear with Valerie Neita Robertson who’s now representing him.
He is facing a charge of fraudulently inducing persons to invest in Cash Plus.

The case will be tried by a jury and the maximum sentence for such an offence is seven years’ imprisonment.

Hill is charged jointly with his brother Bertram, and Peter Wilson, the former chief financial officer of Cash Plus.

The three were charged in April 2008 following the collapse of the investment scheme.
The Hill brothers and Wilson have been charged with obtaining money by false pretences, conspiracy to defraud and fraudulent conversion.

Businessuite Published this story back in August of 2007

Cash Plus is a company like no other in Jamaica, the Caribbean and the world for that matter, as far as we can tell. It is known principally for diverse acquisitions and the enviable reputation of paying returns of 10 per cent per month to investors. Despite a series of three-page press advertisements nearly a year ago revealing the nature of Cash Plus Limited’s operations, the company’s principal owner Carlos Hill was surprisingly reticent about the company he launched five years ago.

Having quickly developed a reputation for generating good returns on foreign currency investments and as much as 10 per cent monthly return on local currency investments for its clients, the Company’s every move is now watched by mainstream firms whose ‘by the book’ strategies return 11-13 per cent, annually.

INVESTORS ROLLING IN CASH
A rate sheet obtained by the Financial Gleaner shows that Cash Plus is now offering up to 18 per cent interest per month or 216 per cent per year on Jamaican dollar investments if funds are rolled over for five years; while U.S. dollar investments for a similar period are promised returns of 16 per cent or 172 per cent per year. Funds that are not locked in – that is, investors who are paid monthly returns – earn three points less.

Investors who lock in their funds for longer periods command higher returns, ranging between 12 per cent and 18 per cent on funds placed with Cash Plus for three months to five years. Clients who opt for a monthly cheque are paid returns of 10 per cent to 15 per cent.

Cash Plus was started in 2002 by Hill, who formerly worked in a US mortgage institution. There is very little information available on Hill and his background. In 2006 his group of companies comprised 12 operations spread across distribution, gaming, telecommunications, entertainment, security, development, industrial and financial services; employing over 1,000 persons, with plans to expand to other Caribbean islands.

The Cash Plus Group was created mainly through a series of mergers, joint ventures, and acquisitions. Indications are that many other purchases have been made over the last 12 months, so the following is based what we have been able to uncover.

Cash Plus Phone Card Centre Limited – distributes prepaid calling cards for all local telecommunication service providers through Gengeorge Limited and Caribbean Tone Limited,
Cash Plus Equities Limited,
Cash Plus Distribution Centre Limited – distributor of liquid petroleum gas,
Cash Plus Lubricant,
Cash Plus Money,
Cash Plus Chemical Limited,
Cash Plus Telecom Limited – operator of the mobile and wireless fixed services companies Megafone Limited and Freepaid Limited,
Cash Plus Limited – operates Cash Plus Development Limited with its four subsidiaries – Cash Plus Realty Limited, Cash Plus Construction Limited, Cash Plus Hardware Limited and Cash Plus Building Systems Limited,
Cash Plus Entertainment Limited – operates three properties under the Executive Inn brand in Kingston, Montego Bay and St. Ann,
Hillcrest Productions Limited – an event planning company,
Carlitos Café Limited,
Cash Plus Commodities Limited – a dairy products wholesaler which runs Cash Plus Foods and Cash Plus Farms,
Cash Plus Shipping Limited – recently acquired two cargo ships, “Angel Pearl and Durga Maya” to move its cargo throughout the Caribbean, Central America and North America,
Sovereign Security Services Limited,
Caymanas Off-Track Betting Limited,
Cash Plus Industries Limited – a motor vehicle dealership operating through Cash Plus Ventures Limited
and,
Cash Plus Financial Consultants Limited.

MOVING INTO MEDIA
Word on the street is that Carlos Hill is now seeking to acquire various media to construct what can only be called the Cash Plus Media Group. This group would include CVM TV, HOT 102FM, XNEWS, SUNDAY HERALD, and NATIONWIDE NEWS NETWORK.

According to a recent report published in the Sunday Herald newspaper, Carlos Hill has expressed interest in the 30 per cent shares of CVM TV and Hot 102 owned by Neville Blythe. The report also indicated that discussions were taking place for the takeover of Nationwide News Network.

What the Sunday Herald failed to report however was that they too. were in acquisition discussions with Carlos Hill. According to reliable sources close to these discussions none of these deals have yet been completed.

With respect to the CVM and HOT acquisitions, brokering of this deal has been stalled on two fronts. According to Businessuite sources, the 30% shares are being held by Blythe-controlled UGI Finance and Investments as collateral for a JA$350 million loan to CVM, made to that Company while Blythe was still majority shareholder. Carlos Hill reportedly sought to acquire UGI Finance from Blythe to gain control of the shares with the intention of calling in the loan. UGI Finance however is regulated by the FSC and the license to operate that Company cannot be sold or transferred, so Hill could not secure control by this route.

It is reported that Hill then offered to buy the debt from Blythe to gain control of the shares. However Michael Lee Chin thwarted this by making Blythe a counter offer to buy out the debt and add the 30% to his existing holdings.

Blythe found himself in a unique position. Having tried, unsuccessfully, to recover the debt from the now Lee Chin controlled CVM, he now had two very good offers on his table. He could, of course, play Hill against Lee Chin and ask them to bid. It’s no secret that Michael and Carlos are not the best of friends. Allowing Carlos to acquire the 30% in CVM would complicate ownership and control of the company. It is felt that Lee Chin would prefer to pay Blythe his asking price and keep Hill out of CVM.

In any event, Blythe is obliged to offer any shares for sale to existing shareholders, before any offer can be made to third parties.

What is not yet clear is whether Carlos Hill, if unable to secure the CVM Group, will continue his reported acquisition talks with The Sunday Herald and Nationwide News Network. Those close to the matter feel that without the CVM deal the other entities are not of much strategic benefit to Hill’s ambition to assemble a media group.

But the question is still relevant and demands an answer. What exactly is Carlos Hill up to?

GETTING THINGS IN ORDER
According to published reports Hill has purchased a number of major tangible assets, including Hilton Hotel in New Kingston, Drax Hall in St. Ann and Mainland International in Spanish Town. And reports are in that New Line Motors on Constant Spring road is also a recent acquisition.

In an October 15 2006 advertisement, Cash Plus declared it was not a financial institution, commercial bank, investment advisor or securities dealer, and did not fall under the purview of any fiscal regulatory body.

While the Group said its cambio operation was licensed under the trading name Superior Financial Services, the Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) reported that Superior was no longer operational, and as at October 1 2006 was struck off the list of 66 authorised cambios operating island wide. Asked the reason for the Cambio’s closure, the BoJ representative said: “I can’t divulge that.”

And, Financial Services Commission (FSC) Executive Director Brian Wynter confirmed to the Financial Gleaner, that persons who transact investment-related business with the Cash Plus do so without the buffer of regulatory oversight. “Cash Plus is not a licensed entity and there is no application before the FSC for this entity,”

One year later, have things turned for Carlos Hill?

He has said his company was on course to be licensed as a dealer in securities.

According to published reports in another newspaper the Cash Plus boss in an interview done at his New Kingston office had said his organization was on course to be licensed, having taken the necessary steps to meet the requirements set out by the FSC.

The FSC has brushed the claim aside saying the process would have had to be kick-started by an application. FSC Deputy Executive Director George Roper said the FSC could neither approve nor deny Cash Plus a license, since the company had not requested one “The FSC does not have an application before it for either the licensing of Cash Plus as a securities dealer, or the registration of its securities”.

“The FSC does not license or register persons unless they have met all applicable requirements including the submission of the appropriate application to the FSC.”

Under the Securities Act, which is policed by the FSC, all persons offering investment advice or dealing in securities have to be licensed by the FSC. To be licensed, dealers and advisors have to hurdle a ‘fit and proper’ test that looks into their background.

“Nobody could ever say that our companies have never been open to scrutiny,” said Hill. “We, however, will be taking the next step to be regularized; to meet the fit and proper requirements of the FSC.”

Cash Plus has not commented on the value of its business, nor the revenues it commands, but has made down payments on a number of assets in deals worth more than $14 billion.

Hill said Cash Plus was having its books audited by an accounting firm as part of the process. “We expect to have this published no later than November of this year. We are also in the process of putting together our board of directors and an executive management team in place; this also should be completed by the end of November,” he said.

“These are some of the main things that are required by the FSC and we are moving to meet these requirements.”

“Our detractors will be amazed at the growth and accomplishments of Cash Plus in such a relatively short period of time and the audited financial statements will once and for all put to rest all the negative comments and speculations,” said Hill.

We cannot wait for November to come around.

END