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MMM (Ponzi Scheme)
МММ was a Russian company that perpetrated one of the world's largest Ponzi schemes of all time, in the 1990s. By different estimates from 5 to 10 million people lost their savings. According to contemporary Western press reports, most investors were aware of the fraudulent nature of the scheme, but still hoped to profit from it by withdrawing money before it collapsed. In 2011, MMM re-opened as "MMM Global". History MMM was established in 1989 by Sergei Mavrodi, his brother Vyacheslav Mavrodi, and Olga Melnikova. The name of the company was taken from the first letters of the three founders' surnames. Initially, Mavrodi operated a network of computer-importing cooperatives. In January 1992, tax police accused MMM of tax evasion, leading to the collapse of MMM's internal bank, and causing the company to have difficulty obtaining financing to support its operations. Faced with difficulties in funding its foreign trade, the company switched to the financial sector. It offered A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MMM Global
MMM Global (also known as МММ-2011 / МММ-2012) is a Ponzi scheme launched in 2011 by Sergei Mavrodi, with subsidiaries in up to 110 countries. MMM Global is a new avatar of the Russian company MMM, also created by Mavrodi and which operated from 1989 to 2004. The difference between the two is that MMM Global targets developing countries. MMM Global became widely popular in various African countries such as South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Ghana, with some attributing this popularity to poverty and poor government regulation or law enforcement. History South Africa In 2015, MMM began operating in South Africa with the same business model as MMM-2011, claiming a "30% per month" return through a "social financial network". The group was identified as a possible pyramid scheme by the National Consumer Commission and accounts of clients were later frozen by Capitec Bank. In response to mounting criticism and official investigations by state authorities in 2016, suppor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
State Duma
The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper house is the Federation Council of Russia, Federation Council. The Duma headquarters are located in central Moscow, a few steps from Manezhnaya Square, Moscow, Manege Square. Its members are referred to as deputies. The State Duma replaced the Supreme Soviet of Russia, Supreme Soviet as a result of the new constitution introduced by Boris Yeltsin in the aftermath of the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993, and approved in a 1993 Russian constitutional referendum, nationwide referendum. In the 2007 Russian legislative election, 2007 and 2011 Russian legislative elections a full party-list proportional representation with 7% electoral threshold system was used, but this was subsequently repealed. The legislature's term length was initially 2 yea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Russian Companies Established In 1989
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and people of Russia, regardless of ethnicity *Russophone, Russian-speaking person (, ''russkogovoryashchy'', ''russkoyazychny'') *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *Russian alphabet *Russian cuisine *Russian culture *Russian studies Russian may also refer to: *Russian dressing *''The Russians'', a book by Hedrick Smith *Russian (comics), fictional Marvel Comics supervillain from ''The Punisher'' series *Russian (solitaire), a card game * "Russians" (song), from the album ''The Dream of the Blue Turtles'' by Sting *"Russian", from the album ''Tubular Bells 2003'' by Mike Oldfield *"Russian", from the album '' '' by Caravan Palace *Nik Russian, the perpetrator of a con committed in 2002 *The South African name for a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1997 Disestablishments In Russia
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic (1997 film), Titanic'', the List of highest-grossing films, highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of the most observed comet, comets of the 20th century; Golden Bauhinia Square, where sovereignty of Hong Kong is Handover of Hong Kong, handed over from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China; the 1997 Central European flood kills 114 people in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Germany; Korean Air Flight 801 crashes during heavy rain on Guam, killing 229; Mars Pathfinder and Sojourner (rover), Sojourner land on Mars; flowers left outside Kensington Palace following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in a car crash in Paris., 300x300px, thumb rect 0 0 200 200 Titanic (1997 film) rect 200 0 400 200 Harry Potter rect 400 0 600 200 Comet Hale-Bopp rect 0 200 300 400 Death of Diana ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pyramid And Ponzi Schemes
A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or of any polygon shape. As such, a pyramid has at least three outer triangular surfaces (at least four faces including the base). The square pyramid, with a square base and four triangular outer surfaces, is a common version. A pyramid's design, with the majority of the weight closer to the ground and with the pyramidion at the apex, means that less material higher up on the pyramid will be pushing down from above. This distribution of weight allowed early civilizations to create stable monumental structures. Civilizations in many parts of the world have built pyramids. The largest pyramid by volume is the Great Pyramid of Cholula, in the Mexican state of Puebla. For thousands of years, the largest structures on Earth were pyramids ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Kings Club
The European Kings Club (EKC) was a large-scale Ponzi scheme operated from 1991 to 1994 in Switzerland, Germany and Austria by the German nationals Damara and Harald Bertges and Hans Günther Spachtholz. The EKC promised investors profit rates of 70% after buying "letters" for 1,400 Swiss francs each. In total, victims bought some two billion Deutsche Mark worth of EKC letters. Participation was particularly widespread in central Switzerland, where the scheme's operators successfully exploited popular mistrust in the banking system. In the cantons of Uri and Glarus , neighboring_municipalities= Glarus Nord, Glarus Süd, Muotathal (SZ), Innerthal (SZ) , twintowns= Wiesbaden-Biebrich (Germany) } Glarus (; gsw, Glaris; french: Glaris; it, Glarona; rm, Glaruna) is the capital of the canton of Glarus in S ..., about one in ten citizens bought EKC letters. The scheme collapsed in the autumn of 1994 when authorities in Germany and Switzerland arrested the EKC leadership and manag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stock Generation
Stock Generation (SG) was a Ponzi scheme operated by SG Ltd. that operated on the Internet from 1998 to early 2000. Stock Generation allowed people to trade "virtual companies" using real money and promised unsustainably high returns on investment. History The website was established in January 1998 and was run from Dominica using a gambling license issued by the Caribbean country,"Money For Nothing" by Dan Brekke, '','' Issue 8.09, Sep 2000 and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The PyraMMMid
''The PyraMMMid'' (russian: ПираМММида, PiraMMMida) is a 2011 Russian crime drama directed by Eldar Salavatov. The plot is based on the partially biographical story "Pyramid" by Sergei Mavrodi. Plot Russia, early 1990s. Sergei Mamontov is looking for where to apply himself and his intellect. And so he orders a mock-up of a security paper with imperial script, rich ornament, watermarks and his own portrait in the center. An active advertising campaign begins. A little more than two weeks is enough to make people line up for the "mamontovs" ("mamontovki" in Russian). Powerful bankers and state structures are in confusion – no one has a clue how to stop it, and the MMM has already accumulated more than 10 million investors. Furthermore, Mamontov is concerned that there are no rich people in the country, and all Soviet industry is exposed to privatization. He accumulates "private greeds" and decides to carry out an honest privatization. His way is blocked by the agent of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pyramid Schemes In Albania
The 1997 rebellion was caused by the failure of multiple pyramid schemes. The collapse of these schemes caused many Albanians to lose much of their money and property, resulting in widespread protests across Albania, which eventually led to a situation of civil war. Firms bankrupted The unrest of the year 1997 came as a consequence of the bankruptcy of some 25 firms. The face value of the schemes' liabilities totaled $1.2 billion. ''Sudja'' was established in 1993 by Maksude Kadëna, also known as Sudja, who had worked in a shoe factory. Strangely, when Sudja was arrested, she was living in a dilapidated apartment complex. The collapse triggered several protests in Tirana, which was also its area of operation. ''Vefa Holding'' was the main pyramid firm. It was created in 1994 by Vehbi Alimuça and spread across the country. Vefa invested in various fields of the economy such as hotels, fuel, stores and factories. Best known is the bomb attack a few weeks before the election ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caritas (Ponzi Scheme)
Caritas was a Ponzi scheme in Romania that was active between April 1992 and August 1994. It attracted millions of depositors from all over the country, who invested more than a trillion old lei (between US$1 billion and $5 billion) before it finally went bankrupt on 14 August 1994, having a debt of US$450 million ($ in current terms). History The Caritas company, which organized the scheme, was founded by Ioan Stoica in April 1992 in Brașov as a limited liability company with just 100,000 lei (US$500, or $ in current terms) in capital. Caritas moved to Cluj-Napoca two months later. The deposits were initially small (2,000–10,000 lei), but later, the minimum initial deposit was 20,000 lei, while the maximum was 160,000 lei. At the beginning, only residents of Cluj were allowed to make a deposit, but starting summer 1993, all Romanian citizens were allowed to participate.Verdery, p.627 It labeled itself a "mutual-aid game" (hence the name "Caritas", meaning charity in Latin) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High-yield Investment Program
A high-yield investment program (HYIP) is a type of Ponzi scheme, an investment scam that promises unsustainably high return on investment by paying previous investors with the money invested by new investors. Mechanics Operators generally set up a website offering an "investment program" which promises very high returns, such as 1% per day (3678% APY when returns are compounded every day), disclosing little or no detail about the underlying management, location, or other aspects of how money is to be invested. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has said that "these fraudulent schemes involve the purported issuance, trading, or use of so-called 'prime' bank, 'prime' European bank or 'prime' world bank financial instruments, or other 'high yield investment programs.' (HYIP's) The fraud artists … seek to mislead investors by suggesting that well regarded and financially sound institutions participate in these bogus programs." In 2010, the Financial Industry ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joint Stock Company
A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareholders are able to transfer their shares to others without any effects to the continued existence of the company. In modern-day corporate law, the existence of a joint-stock company is often synonymous with incorporation (possession of legal personality separate from shareholders) and limited liability (shareholders are liable for the company's debts only to the value of the money they have invested in the company). Therefore, joint-stock companies are commonly known as corporations or limited companies. Some jurisdictions still provide the possibility of registering joint-stock companies without limited liability. In the United Kingdom and in other countries that have adopted its model of company law, they are known as unlimited companies. In t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
