Yesterday, the Supreme Court in the Turks and Caicos Islands refused an application by Olint's boss, David Smith, and his wife to have a restraint order on their personal and business assets lifted.

This means that the accounts will remain frozen, dashing any hopes investors had of receiving a payout anytime soon.

In a statement yesterday, Smith said while the court had not lifted the restraint, it ordered that the appli-cation be further considered at a hearing to be scheduled after March 11.

Barred from speaking

Smith said he is now consulting with his legal team and will update investors as soon as the talks are completed. However, those involved in the case have been barred from disclosing further details of yesterday's court proceedings.

The authorities in the Turks and Caicos Islands froze the Smiths' assets last year July following a raid on the investment club's offices in that territory.

The raid followed months of investigations into the operations of the firm.

Following this, lawyers representing Smith applied to the High Court in November last year to lift the freeze on Olint's multibillion-dollar assets.