LOCAL businessman Joey Issa and OLINT boss David Smith are among 14 defendants in a lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court in Broward County, Florida by US businessman Don Dowe.

The other defendants are USIMO; Overseas Locket International Corporation (OLINT); Wachovia Bank; Florida residents Jared and Isaac Martinez; MZ Holdings Ltd; Market Traders Institute Inc; I-Trade FX LLC; Hallmark Bank and Trust Ltd; MasterCard Worldwide; Turks and Caicos Islands FSC; Cool Card, a Jamaican Corporation; and the Cayman Islands-based Butterfield Bank.

Dowe is alleging that Issa, Smith and OLINT targeted American investors to “directly or indirectly” invest in OLINT which, he claimed, raked in over US$1 billion from investors based in the USA, Turks and Caicos Islands, Jamaica, St Kitts, Panama, Grenada, the Cayman Islands and the Dominican Republic.

According to Dowe, those investments were based on the defendants’ aggressive advertising of high rates of return.

Dowe claims that he has lost “approximately US$20 million” in the investment scheme and is seeking to recover “the principal and profit of his account”.

He is also seeking damages for what he said was a breach by OLINT to honour his requests for the withdrawal of his funds.

Dowe is being represented by prominent attorney Professor David Rowe who told the Observer that his client took regular trips to Jamaica to invest in the now failed investment scheme.

Dowe is requesting that the Broward court:

• Enjoin all the defendants;

• Appoint a receiver to take control of all assets of the defendants Joseph Issa, David Smith, Jared Martinez, Isaac Martinez, OLINT, I TRADE FX LLC, Market Traders Institute Inc and the relief defendants to marshal and preserve assets for the benefits of investors;

• Direct the defendants to pay an amount equal to the funds and benefits obtained, plus prejudgement interest on that amount;

• Direct the defendants to pay civil penalties in an amount determined as appropriate by the court; and

• Direct the defendants to pay an amount equal to the funds and benefits obtained, plus prejudgment interest, and any further relief the court may deem fit and proper.

Issa, through his lawyer Robert Vaughn, has already filed a notice of removal to the Broward County Court. His attorney argues that the matter is removable to the Federal Court based on federal question jurisdiction. “The presence or absence of federal question jurisdiction is governed by the well-pleaded complaint rule, which provides that a district court has jurisdiction where a federal question is presented on the face of the complaint,” the removal notice states.