KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Financial Services Commission (FSC) says it is aware of allegations surrounding Warner Jamaica Media Limited and wishes to advise the public that the entity is not licensed by the FSC under the Securities Act, or any other law, in any capacity.

In a statement on Tuesday, the FSC sought to remind the public “that any ‘opportunity’ which involves investing or contributing an initial sum with a promise of returns on investment amounts to securities business. To conduct securities business, persons/entities must be licensed by the FSC.” It went on to state that failure to do so is a breach of the Securities Act and a criminal offence.

“Schemes or opportunities which involve the payment of initial sums, with returns being based on the returns from recruitment of new members, and in the absence of any underlying legitimate investment activity are hallmarks of fraudulent Ponzi/Pyramid Schemes and scams,” FSC said.

“The organisers of these schemes often attract and solicit new investors by promising to invest funds in opportunities claimed to generate high returns with little or no risk. However, in most cases there is no underlying legitimate investment activity,” it continued. “Instead, the fraudulent actors focus their energies on soliciting new money and getting new investors/members to make promised payments to earlier investors as well as to divert some of these ‘invested’ funds for personal use.”

The FSC further stated that it has initiated an investigation into the entity and will be collaborating with other law enforcement bodies in instances where there are indications of fraud and money laundering.

The FSC is therefore encouraging members of the public who have investment funds with the entity and or have knowledge of the entity’s operations to contact the FSC at complaints@fscjamaica.org or at 876-906-3010-2.

Roughly 50,000 Jamaicans are said to have lost millions in a new Ponzi scheme which crashed on January 29, after operating for a little over a year.

READ: Ponzi scheme crashes, thousands of Jamaicans swindled out of millions