Banks take time to close a business loan and begin disbursement of funds, which opens a niche market for interim liquidity. This is where Mark Jones, a U.S. citizen comes in by offering “bridge-loans” to Jamaican businesses.
Jones claimed to service the needs of these business by offering short term liquidity from his fund of over $10 million backed by more than 20 investors. Jones instead used these funds to repay the principal and interest on previous investments.
Jones was sentenced to 70 months in prison, 3 years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $3.7 million in restitutions.
