Saving Jamaicans from UFOs

WHAT follows is a foolproof – well, as good as it gets – strategy to avoid losing your shirt investing with unregulated financial organisations (UFOs), such as Olint and Cash Plus.

"People need hope, that's why church sells so well," explained friend 'A' over a Q of Appleton and Pepsi one night last week.

A streetwise person, 'A' claims he knew exactly what he was getting into when he invested in the Olint and Cash Plus investment schemes (both are alleged to be Ponzi schemes and their principals facing fraud charges). As he tells it they were simply selling that same commodity of hope.

A receipt belonging to a less fortunate/more naive investor who continued to sink millions into Cash Plus until just days before it was shut down by the Financial Services Commission (FSC).

In this case it was the promise of money, specifically double-digit returns on investment. It was no questions asked and few answers:

(i) Firstly you must know when to get in. Early is good. Late is bad. More importantly make sure it's a 'good' rather than 'bad' scheme. 'A' got out of Cash Plus with a tidy profit and from Olint recovered his investment but not his interest.

I always believed it was a pyramid scheme from before I started. When you research pyramids there are always people who make good. People who go in early and come out are always better off. I'd heard from people that I actually respected that they'd been making money and that persuaded me.

Maybe today if somebody tells me about how much they are getting paid from it each month, this is what the principal drives and how much money do I have disposed at this time. Then I will say alright, I'm going to shut my eyes for five months but if I lose that money then I have gambled and lost. It's as simple as that.

(ii) Once you put your money in, watch it very carefully. In fact it's best if you're an idler like my friend. It's not just your money that needs to do the work but also you.

I used to go down there (Olint and Cash Plus offices) and have my lunch and see if there was any furniture being moved out. It was my job that was paying me $150,000 a month! You know what I mean? I'd go down there, talk to the security guard and buy him a drink and say, "Wha gwan, everythin' cool?" I'd just watch what was going on and whether there was gonna be a rush or not.

(iii) Most of all, you need to time your exit. You want to be in long enough to earn some decent interest but obviously not too long:

I got out when Cash Plus started to sponsor those high profile events for more money than established companies could have afforded, like Premier League (football) when Wray & Nephew pulled out and they went in and offered more.

At that point it was the week of Hurricane Dean immediately after I went to withdraw my money. I got very suspicious but there was no shakiness then, nobody was talking about it being shaky but I found it strange that this organisation – if Wray & Nephew, a 100-and-odd-year-old company didn't deem it feasible to sponsor Premier League – then who the f*** are these guys?

And the same with Olint, I made the same decision when they sponsored the jazz festival, just not quick enough to get all my money back.

For more responsible information contact the FSC i.e. hide your savings under the mattress.