2023-09-21
Added · Updated
The Securities Commission of The Bahamas filed an ex parte summons seeking the appointment of James Gomez as Provisional Liquidator of MDollaz Ltd. (trading as ArawakX). This action follows a for-cause examination that revealed severe governance failures, including the commingling of client funds, unauthorized use of an unregistered entity for securities business, and significant capital deficiencies. The petition cites breaches of the Securities Industry Act 2011 and Companies Act 1992, including the failure to maintain segregated accounts and the improper conversion of investor refunds into equity without proper disclosure.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS IN THE SUPREME COURT Commercial Division
2023 COM/com
IN THE MATTER of the Companies Act 1992. AND IN THE MATTER of an Application under the Securities Industry Act 2011. AND IN THE MATTER of MDollaz Ltd. (trading as Arawak X), a Registered Marketplace and Clearing Facility.
EX PARTE SUMMONS
TAKE NOTICE THAT The Securities Commission of The Bahamas intends to apply to a Justice of the Supreme Court in Chambers at the Supreme Court Complex, Ansbacher House, Nassau, The Bahamas on the 18th day of September A.D., 2023 at 12 o'clock in the noon for an Order in the following terms:
That James Gomez of Ecovis Bahamas, be appointed as Provisional Liquidator of the above company.
DATED this day of September A.D., 2023
REGISTRAR
This Summons was taken out by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas, the Petitioner, whose address for service is Poinciana House North Building, 2nd Floor, 31A East Bay Street, Nassau, The Bahamas.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS IN THE SUPREME COURT Commercial Division
IN THE MATTER of the Companies Act, 1992. AND IN THE MATTER of an Application under the Securities Industry Act, 2011. AND IN THE MATTER of MDollaz Ltd. (trading as Arawak X), a Registered Marketplace and Clearing Facility.
EX PARTE SUMMONS
COM/com of 2023
Securities Commission of The Bahamas Poinciana House North Building, 2nd Floor 31A East Bay Street Nassau, The Bahamas
COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS IN THE SUPREME COURT Commercial Division
2023 COM/com
IN THE MATTER of the Companies Act, 1992. AND IN THE MATTER of an Application under the Securities Industry Act, 2011. AND IN THE MATTER of MDollaz Ltd. (trading as Arawak X), a Registered Marketplace and Clearing Facility.
AFFIDAVIT OF CHRISTINA R. ROLLE
I, Christina R. Rolle, Executive Director of the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (hereinafter “the Commission”), New Providence, one of the islands of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, make oath and say as follows:
SWORN TO this 15th day of September A.D., 2023 Christina R. Rolle
Before Me, NOTARY PUBLIC
COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS IN THE SUPREME COURT Commercial Division
IN THE MATTER of the Companies Act, 1992. AND IN THE MATTER of an Application under the Securities Industry Act, 2011. AND IN THE MATTER of MDollaz Ltd. (trading as Arawak X), a Registered Marketplace and Clearing Facility.
AFFIDAVIT OF CHRISTINA R. ROLLE
COM/com of 2023
Securities Commission of The Bahamas Poinciana House North Building, 2nd Floor 31A East Bay Street Nassau, The Bahamas
COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS IN THE SUPREME COURT Commercial Division
2023 COM/com
IN THE MATTER of the Companies Act 1992. AND IN THE MATTER of an Application under the Securities Industry Act 2011. AND IN THE MATTER of MDollaz Ltd. (trading as Arawak X), a Registered Marketplace and Clearing Facility
WINDING UP PETITION
TO: The Supreme Court of The Bahamas
The Humble Petition of the SECURITIES COMMISSION OF THE BAHAMAS (hereafter, “the Commission”), a statutory established pursuant to the Securities Industry Act, 2011 (hereafter “the Act”) pursuant to section 134 of the Act,
1
2
(ii) that Mr. Turnquest was unable to provide substance to financial projections he had produced;
(iii) that Kenneth Donathan was appointed as acting CFO;
(iv) while staff had not been paid their entire salary, they were aware that MDollaz was operating in a new space and so they shared the vision and goals of the Company and were willing to work on this basis;
(v) staff were receiving some compensation and the Company would implement vesting opportunities as well;
(vi) the Company’s funds were temporarily comingled with investors but this mistake was quickly rectified and the company learned from this error; and
(vii) that the Company had prepared for the audit work to begin but its auditors have indicated that an extension will be needed for submission.
12. That on the 1st November 2022, MDollaz advised the Commission that the Bank of The Bahamas had frozen all of their operating and fiduciary accounts as at 31st October 2022, which caused the Commission to contact the said Bank to seek clarity on the status of client accounts to ensure they remain accessible to clients and to provide a listing of the accounts in the name of MDollaz Ltd. and MDollaz Technology Ltd. 13. That on 30 November 2022, Bank of The Bahamas wrote the Commission, indicating the accounts held and advised that they blocked the accounts against any withdrawals as a legal opinion was being sought on the matter. 14. Further, that the account balances appeared to be used for general purposes and that it was difficult to determine that they were used for clients alone. 15. That Mr. Rahming Sr. has since characterized this commingling as due to Bank of The Bahamas’ mislabeling of transaction descriptions. 16. That on 18 November 2022, the Company sent a letter to the Commission requesting an extension for the delivery of their first annual audited financial statements which would have been due on 30 November 2022. 17. The Company indicated that the extension was needed as it was in the process of engaging a new auditor. 18. That on the 7th December 2022, the Company provided the Commission with a letter and writ of summons giving notice of an action commenced against Bank of The Bahamas.
3
4
(iii) During the months of March, April and August 2022, staff salaries were processed using the MDollaz Technology Ltd “fiduciary” account at BOB. This appears to be a use of client funds to fund the operations of MDollaz.
*Issuers and Investors*
(i) An “amended” convertible note date 10 January 2022 detailed various zero-coupon “subscriptions” entered into with PJ Enterprises from December 2020 to July 2021, totaling $1,340,000. This amended note granted PJ Enterprises the option to convert the total loan amount to 3,063,467 ordinary shares of the Comp representing 30.6% of the total authorized share capital. This note implies a valuation of the company of approximately $4.38 million.
(ii) During an interview with Winston Rolle (Chief of Equities), the Commission’s examiners were advised that if an Issuer does meet its capital target, the investor funds were refunded. However, in some cases investors would provide instructions for the company to hold the investments for future offerings.
(iii) A review of the refund listing revealed that [Investor 36] invested $26,004 in Bahamas Myfi but the investment amount was converted to be paid into the capital of MDollaz Ltd.
21. Due to the findings of the said For-Cause Examination, the Commission issued a letter dated 23rd March 2023, headed ‘Notice of Imposition of Conditions on Registration of MDollaz Ltd.’. 22. That the aforesaid letter informed the Company that the Commission was gravely concerned about the operations of MDollaz, specifically its failure to disclose and/or address the following: (i) Directorship: The precise nature of the relationship between MDollaz and James Campbell/PJ’s Enterprise Ltd., a lender and alleged director and member of MDollaz. (ii) Capital issues: A review of MDollaz’ July 2022 Unaudited Financials (i.e. Balance Sheet) revealed a negative working capital of -$213,626.31 with current liabilities ($1,110,187.22) being more than current assets ($896,561.02). Additionally, a review of MDollaz refund listing, noted that an investor did not receive a refund in the amount of $26,004. However, the aforementioned funds were paid into the operational account of MDollaz. (iii) Comingling: The Commission is concerned that MDollaz has not maintained segregated accounts and has comingled its funds with that of clients and/or investors on the platform.
5
(iv) Corporate Structure and Accounts: MDollaz did not advise the Commission of significant material changes within the corporate structure of the Company. For example, the Commission is now aware that MDollaz was using operational accounts in the name of unregistered entity, MDollaz Technology Ltd., as opposed to its own name. These operational accounts were used to conduct securities business for the period of August 2021 - November 2022.
(v) Books and records: MDollaz was unable to produce pertinent records of its operations i.e. bank reconciliations and indemnity insurance confirmation. In addition to the key issues identified above, the Commission notes that there are various changes to MDollaz initial application that were prior undisclosed to the Commission as they should have been, pursuant to regulation 53 of the Securities Industry Regulations 20121 (“SIR”). These matters are also a source of grave concern and give rise to conditions being imposed on MDollaz’ registration, per below.
23. The conditions imposed on the Company, pursuant to regulation 53 of the SIR, were that the Company: (i) Not accept any new clients, including issuers, project initiators and/or promoters of crowdfund offerings as well as new investors in crowdfund offerings; (ii) Not accept any new funds from existing clients of MDollaz; (iii) Cease the facilitating of crowdfunding activity via the platform operating as ArawakX. (iv) Provide the following documents and/or information no later than Thursday 6th April 2023: a. Complete reconciliation of all crowdfunding engagements to date detailing all investor subscriptions, amounts paid out to issuers and/or project initiators, amounts owing to issuers and/or project initiators as well as fees earned/commissions and how same were funded; b. Details of the current relationship and/or status of MDollaz relationship with James Campbell and/or PJ’s Enterprise Ltd. including current status of Mr. Campbell’s appointment as a director of MDollaz; c. Confirmation and evidence that MDollaz’ capital deficiency issues have been resolved; d. Confirmation and evidence that MDollaz funds and that its clients and/or investors have been properly segregated and are being maintained in separate accounts; and
6
e. Confirmation that books and records are being maintained as required by law.
24. That the Commission directed the Company to provide certain information relative to the concerns raised in the letter and to attend a meeting on 12 April 2023 to discuss those concerns. 25. That the Company responded via a letter dated 5 April 2023, however, the Company’s response failed to satisfactorily address the Commission’s concerns and in fact raised additional issues. For example, on page one of an attached report purporting to address the Commission concerns, there appeared the following: 26. “Other issues mentioned. In point two (2) of your letter under “Capital issues”, reference was made to an investor who did not receive a refund in the amount of $26,004.00, further it noted that funds were paid into the operational account of MDollaz. Please be advised that investor in question is [Investor 36], who determined to become a shareholder in the company (MDollaz), and he has invested the total amount of his refund ($26,004.00) in MDollaz Ltd. Therefore, the said funds were transferred to the operational account of MDollaz Ltd. pursuant to that agreement. Mr. Johnson has subsequently decided to increase his total investment in MDollaz to $50,000.00. Supporting documents are attached for your review.” 27. That the Commission was concerned that this action was in contravention of the Rules and the Act, further noting that the Company’s letter also included a subscription agreement to support the statement. 28. That on the 12th April 2023, the Commission met with the principals at the Commission’s offices to discuss the concerns raised in the 23 March 2023 letter and obtain information and/or answers to address the concerns. 29. That Mr. Rahming Sr. during the meeting confirmed that “pipeline” business was being recorded as a receivable and therefore income for the company without the Company performing any service for the business but merely on the basis of commitment letters or other agreements and understandings. The Commission expressed concern by this accounting practice which can be misleading. 30. That following the Commission’s aforesaid meeting with the principals, the Commission conducted a number of interviews, including one on 19th April 2023, with Mr. Michael Turnquest, former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Company, who informed the Commission that: (i) That the operators did not sufficiently allow for the flow of information throughout the Company to allow Mr. Turnquest to carry out his duties as CFO;
7
(ii) That he was not privy to certain financial information to properly prepare financial statements for the Company;
(iii) The internal controls were weak namely, the principals signed Company accounts and individually authorized the transfer of accounts.
(iv) It was possible that clients’ funds were used to pay a particular founder perks which were identified as Company expenses.
31. On the 2 May 2023, the Commission issued a follow-up letter to the meeting of 12 April 2023 reiterating what was discussed in the meeting and directed the Company to provide additional information, including information for [Investor 36], per paragraph 20(i) above, and for any other subscribers. 32. That on the 3 May 2023, the Commission interviewed the Company’s external Auditors, Mr. Lambert Longley and his associate Ms. Charlene Fox-Deveaux, who stated the following to the Commission: (i) The current audit would cover the years 2021-2022; (ii) The current audit was incomplete as there were outstanding points that needed to be addressed by the principals; and (iii) There were ‘Going Concern’ issues, namely:- (v) possible legal action by Mr. James Campbell, (vi) the Auditor would not sign off until the audit bill was paid, (vii) outstanding draft financials needed to be prepared by the principals, (viii) testing was not completed, (ix) an assessment was required to determine if the revenue referenced by Mr. Rahming Sr. was correct; and (x) The Bank of The Bahamas accounts were to be examined to determine the agreed fees to that of fiduciary funds. 33. The Company responded via letter dated 5 May 2023 via its attorney, Mr. Kahlil Parker, K.C., with some of the requested information. In his letter, Mr. Parker K.C. indicated that while efforts would be made to provide the corporate information, by the 8 May deadline, he gave an undertaking that failing this it would be provided by 10 May 2023.
8
9
(vii) That she never filed a Suspicious Transaction Report.
39. On 24 May 2023, the Company (with a supporting letter from its auditors) requested a further extension to file its audited financials. The auditor indicated that he would be able to issue the statements by 16 June 2023. 40. On 31 May 2023, additional documents were provided to the Commission with respect to the Capital Table. The Company also provided interim financial statements on the same day. 41. The additional information revealed that on 28 July 2020, the Company issued Class B (Cumulative Redeemable MDollaz) Preference shares at $1 per share to [Investor 15] with an option to convert into 5,000 ordinary shares at $5 per share. This implies a valuation of the Company at $50 million which is grossly different from the $4.38 million valuation negotiated (between July 2020 to December 2021) with PJ Enterprises. The Commission is alarmed that MDollaz appears to have sold its shares at a premium prior to commencing any regulatory activity and using unsubstantiated valuation methods. Further, the Commission has no evidence that Class B shares were ever created as they are not reflected in the share structure as filed with the Commission at the time of registration nor anytime thereafter. This issue, from the Commission’s point of view, is insurmountable with respect to the Company’s ability to regularize its governance issues and reflects misrepresentations made to the public. 42. The Commission further notes that while, the Commission was only advised in July 2021 of the change in the share structure to 10,000,000 shares at $1 each, MDollaz had already made representation to [Investor 15] in July 2020 that the Company had a share structure of 10,000,000 ordinary shares at $1 each. 43. Further, on 8 June 2023, the Commission made further queries about the supporting KYC documentation which should have been held by the Company with respect to subscribers. The Compliance Officer provided a response which included a tracking sheet which demonstrated that approximately 30% of the KYC was missing. Additionally, she provided as explanation purporting to be from Mr. Rahming Sr. that: “please note many to the subscribers without documents received shares in lieu of payment for services, such as the expertise required in the application process.” The arrangement was not previously disclosed to the Commission and it is wholly unacceptable. 44. The Commission was concerned that information provided upon the Commission’s request, as well as in the aforementioned interviews, demonstrated that there were potential governance as well as financial issues. Further, a review of the information from the Company showed that the Company had been raising additional capital by issuing its own shares to members of the public. This led the Commission to issue a cease and desist letter to the Company on the 8 June 2023.
10
11
(ii) That the Company had issues (i.e. insufficient financial controls, no financial statements, no formal records and he was only provided with bank statements);
(iii) That his questions regarding the Company were being ignored and hence went unanswered;
(iv) That the Company purchased vehicles and held expensive lunches that were unnecessary spending at that time;
(v) That the Company did not appear to be in financial constraints at that time; and
(vi) That there was resistance all around from the principals to implement proper systems and controls.
50. That on the 11 July 2023, the Commission interviewed [Investor 36] who supplied the Commission with the following information: (i) He became aware of the company’s platform via Facebook; (ii) That he spoke with the Company’s representative Mr. Kenneth Donathan who gave him an overview of the Company; (iii) He initially invested $15,000 in a crowdfund offering for Mifi Bahamas, but it failed, so he made a further injection of $5,000.00 for a total of $20,000.00.00 which was invested in a crowdfund offering for Tropical Gyro; (iv) That he had several casual meetings with the Rahmings at a local restaurant where he was encouraged to advertise the Company to other persons; (v) Ultimately, he invested $25,000.00 in the Pinnacle franchise, $50,000.00 in Nassau Gas, $50,000.00 in Footcare, $20,000.00 in Tropical Gyro and $50,000.00 in MDollaz; and (vi) That to date, he had not received any return from his investments. 51. That also on 11 July 2023, the Commission interviewed [Investor 18] who stated the following: (i) That he actually signed two (2) documents - one for $100,000.00 and another for $50,000.00. The latter he signed afterwards/last. He did not recall the details of it at the time.
12
(ii) He did not recall anything being said about the valuation of the company but he recalled that the shares were about the $5 per share, which he thought was good;
(iii) Ultimately, he just decided to support a Bahamian company; and
(iv) He wanted to invest and decided to do so because of [Investor 10], another purported investor, whom he knew.
52. That the Commission continued its investigations of the Company, which included a review of bank statements and the Draft Audited Financials as at 31 July 2022 which were received on 11 July 2023. 53. That the Commission’s analysis of the bank account statements showed that at all material times, due to subscribers (issuers) was larger than the balances held on their fiduciary accounts. This is strong evidence that they were collecting funds on behalf of issuers, using those funds to fund their operations and then replacing those funds by soliciting investment in MDollaz. This pattern is confirmed in the loan agreements with PJ Enterprises which notes one of the purposes of the loan as payouts to crowdfund issuers. This circumstance is a breach of MDollaz’ fiduciary obligations as well as a breach of the Rules. 54. That the Commission’s analysis of the Draft Audit Financials as at 31 July 2022, revealed the following: (i) Major net loss in 2022 - $1.75M ($909k in 2021) – loss has grown by 2 times for same 12-month period; (ii) Company has a negative equity of $2.3M (31-Jul-22) and grew substantially from the negative $551k in 2021 as a result of the net loss incurred in 2022; (iii) Income of $200k is only enough to pay the annual rent and cannot cover other operation expenses; (iv) Note 14 indicated that MDollaz raised $1.9M from persons not approved by the SCB. The auditor, as a result, is proposing in the draft to classify these persons as creditors rather than equity investors. The Commission has no evidence that approval from these investors have been sought for such reclassification; (v) Note 10 indicated that accounts payable grew by 1032% and additional debts of approximately $500k where indicated in Notes 11 and 12; and (vi) That this company does not have sufficient total assets to discharge itself of its debts, hence the equity is negative.
13
14
15
Commission expected the Company to actively pursue correcting its deficiencies and regularizing its share structure but the Company for the most part simply provided information requested by the Commission without taking any steps to actually address its deficiencies as outlined in the various letters from the Commission. 72. During the meeting, Counsel for the Company suggested that the Commission only clarified its concerns on 12 September 2023. It was explained to Counsel that the Commission’s expectation that all “fit and proper” registrants would have an understanding of their regulatory obligations without having to be “hand-held” by the Commission. It was further noted that the email of the 12th September 2023, was an attempt to be helpful in order to focus the principals on the issues that were critical to be addressed and the Commission is in no way obligated to provide such assistance. 73. In light of the information above, the Commission is satisfied that the Company’s insolvency issues, governance irregularities, regulatory breaches and possible criminal infractions have together become insurmountable, resulting in there being more than sufficient evidence to have the Company wound up.
I. a. Is insolvent in the sum of atleast 2.4 million dollars; b. It has committed certain breaches under the SIA that warrant criminal penalties; c. That the Company has not been able to sufficiently provide reasons and/or documentation to satisfy the Commission that it can remediate its issues.
II. That it is in the public interest and in the interest of clients and/or investors that the Company be wound up.
III. That it is just and equitable that the Company be wound up.
(viii) It is proposed that James Gomez of Ecovis Bahamas be appointed as Provisional Liquidator for the Company.
Your Petitioner humbly prays that:-
That the Company be wound up by this Honourable Court pursuant to the Companies (Winding Up Amendment) Act 2011;
That James Gomez be appointed as Provisional Liquidator forthwith;
16
That the Court confirms the commencement day of this liquidation;
All costs incurred by the liquidation shall be costs in the winding up; and
That such other Order made in the premises is deemed just.
Dated this day of September, A.D., 2023
Securities Commission of The Bahamas Poinciana House North Building, 2nd Floor 31A East Bay Street Nassau, The Bahamas Attorneys for the Petitioner
NOTE: This Petition is intended to be served on the Company and its Attorney Mr. Khalil Parker K.C.
This Petition was presented by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas, whose address for service is Poinciana House, North Building, 2nd Floor, 31A East Bay Street, Nassau, The Bahamas.
NOTICE OF HEARING
TAKE NOTICE that this Petition will be heard before a Judge of the Supreme Court at the Supreme Court Building in the city of Nassau on the island of New Providence on the day of September A.D., 2023 at o'clock in the
Any correspondence or communication with the Court relating to the hearing of this Petition should be addressed to the Registrar of the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court at Nassau.
REGISTRAR
17
COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS IN THE SUPREME COURT Commercial Division
IN THE MATTER of the Companies Act 1992. AND IN THE MATTER of an Application under the Securities Industry Act 2011. AND IN THE MATTER of MDollaz Ltd. (trading as Arawak X) a Registered Marketplace and Clearing Facility
WINDING UP PETITION
COM/com of 2023
Securities Commission of The Bahamas Poinciana House North Building, 2nd Floor 31A East Bay Street Nassau, The Bahamas
Petitioner/Applicant
18