Notorious Russian scammer Mavrodi successfully launches Ponzi scheme in South Africa
MMM claims that South Africa is just one of many countries in which the pyramid scheme operates. The website reports about MMM activities in Russia, Ukraine, India, Indonesia and other countries. It also had a presentation in Maseru, Lesotho, on August 1.
The MMM South Africa page in Facebook has more than 22,000 likes showing that the scheme is popular.
READ MORE: Finance Ministry seeks punishment for Ponzi scheme participation
Sergey Mavrodi is known for creating the biggest finance pyramid in Russia which collapsed in 1994 leaving thousands (according to some unofficial estimates – millions) of people without their money. According to further estimates, MMM clients lost over $100,000 million.
After the collapse of MMM, which was a classic Ponzi scheme, Mavrodi disappeared. He was found and arrested in Moscow in 2003. In 2007 he was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison but was released having spent all the time between his arrest and judicial verdict in prison.
After his release Mavrodi created a number of financial pyramids such as MMM-2011 and MMM-2012. Both of them collapsed shortly afterwards.