This
interesting piece sheds more light on the dying Ponzi Scheme from
Russia, MMM, which has swindled several Nigerian subscribers.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently warned citizens to
beware of trading in virtual currencies such as bitcoin, ripples and
litecoin.
Its warning was in apparent response to the reappearance of Mavrodi
Mondial Moneybox (MMM) Ponzi scheme on January 13, after it abruptly
froze its account in December last year. CBN said, “The attention
of the banks and other financial institution is hereby drawn to the
above risks and you are required to take the following actions pending
substantive regulation or decision by the CBN. Ensure that you do not
use, hold, trade and/or transact in any way in virtual currencies.”
Religious organizations also issued warnings against MMM. Islamic
scholars for example said it is haram. The Redeemed Christian Church of
God also warned its members earlier this month against participating in
MMM. RCCG’s General Secretary Pastor Johnson Odesola wrote in a memo, “Please
be informed that the doctrine of the church does not support get rich
quick schemes, gambling, betting etc in any form. God is and remains
our supplier by the application of biblical principles of working
diligently with our hands.”
Despite these warnings from temporal and spiritual authorities,
Nigerian participants in MMM are bent on trying their luck in the get
rich quick scheme. When they gain money, they hold that up as a
validation of the scheme. When they lose money, they find neat ways to
explain it. This isn’t unconnected with the fact that MMM employs many
ways to explain the dubious Ponzi scheme to the gullible.
For example, when it returned to Nigeria, MMM claimed that it would
now use bitcoin. The announcement was a clever tactic to piggyback on
the rising profile of bitcoin, a virtual currency that was hitherto more
popular among online pirates. But their main marketing technique is to
get the participants - their victims - to take ownership of the scheme
and sell it to more prospects with similar greed and emotional
composition. It is the reason why they give extra points to members who
create testimonial videos.
However, Nigerians may pay attention if they know the background of
MMM’s founder, no matter their gullibility, appetite for quick cash or
uncritical mindset. Sergey Panteleevich Mavrodi is a Russian criminal.
Born in 1955, Mavrodi first established MMM series of pyramid schemes
in 1989. Later, he became a fugitive and was finally convicted in 2007
by a Russian court for defrauding 10,000 people of 4.3 million dollars.
The court sentenced him to four and a half years in penal colony and
fined him 10,000 rubles ($390).
Mavrodi’s term in prison didn’t reform him as he returned in 2011
with another version of the pyramid scheme called MMM-2011. But he is
wiser now; as pyramid schemes aren’t illegal under Russian law, he was
more truthful.
He declared that, “It is a Unclad scheme, nothing more ... People interact with each other and give each other money. For no reason!”
Yet, a little over a year later, he froze the account and announced
that there would be no more payouts! That didn’t stop him from branching
into India, China and in September 2015, he forayed into South Africa
where he promised 1% interest every day or 30% per month.
In 2016, he opened shop in Zimbabwe and etched his footprints in
Nigeria, sweeping his roving hands across the bank accounts of greedy
Nigerians.
It would appear CBN is struggling to find the appropriate laws to
use in declaring the scheme illegal and to also use for possible
prosecution of the promoters. This is exactly the position the United
States found itself in when Mavrodi ran Stock Generation in that country
from 1998 to 2000.
First, a district court found that U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission couldn’t establish that SG committed any securities
violations. But in 2001, the United States Court of Appeals reversed
that decision and in 2003, SEC obtained a permanent injunction against
Stock Generation. Nigerian authorities should copy this example. Some
Nigerians must be protected from themselves.
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