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Topic: MMM (pyramid)

	MMM (pyramid) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		MMM was the company that perpetrated the largest pyramid scheme in Russia in the 1990s, with the possible exception of the GKO government pyramid scheme.
		It is unclear whether building the pyramid was Mavrodi's initial goal, as the said returns were certainly possible during the hyperinflation in areas such as import-export operations.
		MMM also was one of the first well-known companies in Russia with a logotype and slogans ("Flying from shadow to the light" and others).
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/MMM_(pyramid) (1121 words)

	pyramid scheme Resource Center - pyramid schemes
		Particularly notorious were the MMM Pyramid scheme in Russia and pyramid schemes in is dmg securities a pyramid scheme Albania.
		The key distinction is melaleuca a pyramid scheme between these schemes and legitimate MLM businesses is that in the latter cases a meaningful income can be earned solely from the sales of the associated product or service to customers who are not themselves enrolled in the scheme.
		It is safe to assume that a herbalife pyramid scheme significant factor was lack of capitalist financial experience of population that was exposed primarily to socialism before.
	www.taxgloss.com /Tax-Marketing_Topics_P_-_Si-/pyramid_scheme.html (1228 words)

	IPD's Capacity Building and Journalism Program; Economic Journalism Training (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		Pyramid schemes have been common in Eastern European countries that are making the transition from a communist-controlled economy to a free market.
		The MMM scheme was founded in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union when poor Russians were at their most vulnerable.
		Pyramid schemes in Albania flourished because, in the early 1990s, the country was emerging from decades of a brutal communist dictatorship.
	www2.gsb.columbia.edu /ipd/j_pyramid.html (1473 words)

	Green Left - Greed and fear in Moscow (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		MMM carried on selling, in the guise of securities, scraps of paper that in legal terms were worthless.
		While it seems likely that MMM will be forced to bring its operations within the law by registering its shareholders and publicly listing its assets, there was no indication in the early days of August that the firm would be shut down or that its executives would face criminal charges.
		Among the key consideration now restraining the government from shutting down MMM and its various imitators, and prosecuting their executives, is evidently a fear that exposing the full details of what goes on in the wild end of the securities market would destroy public faith in capitalism.
	www.greenleft.org.au /1994/155/9069 (1728 words)

	The MMM Corporation
		What makes the MMM Corporation of interest is that not only were they one of the largest of the pyramid schemes, but they were also responsible for issuing share certificates that looked very much like banknotes.
		With a promise by the MMM Corporation to pay weekly interest of 10% on their shares, the temptation for people to invest large amounts of money was too great, especially when it was seen that people were receiving payments on their investments.
		Simply put, a pyramid scheme was not illegal in Russia and they were legally selling shares; although it was later reported that they had sold far more shares than they were permitted to sell and their promotion of part-shares (see below) was also seen to be contrary to legislation.
	www.pjsymes.com.au /articles/MMM.htm (4133 words)

	Pyramid Schemes and why they are illegal scams (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		Furthermore, the people in the worst situation are the ones at the bottom of the pyramid: those who subscribed to the plan, but were not able to accrue any followers themselves.
		MMM Pyramid scheme in Russia and pyramid schemes in Albania.
		Nor does the absence of payment for recruiting mean that an MLM is not a cover for a pyramid scheme.
	www.home-biz-success.co.uk /pyramid_scheme.htm (975 words)

	Russian bear market; the bottom drops out - the MMM fraud case Progressive, The - Find Articles (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		Shareholders were swearing their loyalty to Mavrodi while demanding that the government compensate them for their losses and free MMM from liability for taxes.
		But now there were rumors that the managers of MMM and tax officials had been unable to agree on the bribes to be paid.
		The companies were operating on the pyramid principle, the old Ponzi scam, under which high returns were paid to existing investors out of funds contributed by new ones.
	www.findarticles.com /p/articles/mi_m1295/is_n11_v58/ai_15890053 (895 words)

	Definition of Pyramid scheme (via CobWeb/3.1 planetlab2.tamu.edu) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		A pyramid scheme is a business model that involves the exchange of money primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme, usually without any product or service being delivered.
		Particularly notorious were MMM (pyramid) in Russia and pyramid schemes in Albania (in the latter case they nearly caused a popular uprising).
		An example of a pyramid scheme is the business practices of Gratis Internet, Inc.-- the creator of Freeipods, Freeflatscreens, and numerous similar websites which involve a single user signing up for an affiliate offer and then referring a set number of people, each of whom is also required to complete an offer.
	www.wordiq.com.cob-web.org:8888 /definition/Pyramid_scheme (1046 words)

	BBC News \| BUSINESS \| Slovakia falls prey to investment scam
		Events in Slovakia are eerily reminiscent of the wave of "pyramid scandals" that swept post-communist Europe in the 1990s.
		Pyramid schemes typically spend huge amounts on advertising and promotion, kitting out luxurious offices, and in some cases currying favour with influential officials.
		But he points out that pyramid schemes focused on more vulnerable and uneducated sectors of society, where people were more likely to be fooled.
	news.bbc.co.uk /2/hi/business/1846516.stm (904 words)

	"PYRAMID SCHEMES"
		For example, the MMM fund in Russia, which issued investors shares of stock and suddenly collapsed in 1994, was characterized as a Ponzi scheme.
		Both Ponzi schemes and pyramids are quite seductive because they may be able to deliver a high rate of return to a few early investors for a short period of time.
		Half of the pyramid's recruits may see themselves as victims of a scam that we took too long to stop; the other half may view themselves as victims of government meddling that ruined their chance to make millions.
	www.ftc.gov /speeches/other/dvimf16.htm (5931 words)

	Setback for Russians in Investment Plan - New York Times
		The flamboyant owner of a failed pyramid investment scheme, who won election to Parliament over the weekend after implying that it would help investors recover their money, crushed their hopes today when he said that the shares were temporarily invalid.
		The owner of the MMM pyramid scheme, Sergei Mavrodi, gained parliamentary immunity from prosecution on tax evasion charges when he won election to a vacant seat in the lower house of Parliament in a special election.
		People exploded with anger, throwing MMM share documents into the air after the announcement, which left them with no hope of trading in their securities.
	query.nytimes.com /gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E0DF163EF931A35752C1A962958260 (203 words)

	The St. Petersburg Times - Business - Police Track Down MMM-Fraud Fugitive
		MOSCOW - After four years on the run, Sergei Mavrodi, the fugitive mastermind of the MMM pyramid scheme that scammed millions of people in the early 1990s, was caught in a police raid Friday.
		MMM, which operated from 1992 to 1994, was a sensation thanks to a clever saturation-advertising campaign on national television that promised spectacular overnight returns on investments.
		About a quarter of the district's voters were reported to hold MMM shares, and many shareholders believed Mavrodi's claim that MMM had been brought down by a government plot.
	www.times.spb.ru /index.php?action_id=2&story_id=9206 (831 words)

	Important Russian Events
		The jailed head of the failed MMM investment company was released on bail after serving two months in prison on charges of tax evasion and obstructing a federal investigation.
		MMM had not paid taxes and did not have a proper license to quote its shares when the government stepped in last week to warn the public of its uncertain financial health.
		Government officials have called MMM a classic pyramid scheme, or a "group of qualified swindlers taking advantage of imperfect legislation, fooling people and lining their own pockets." MMM officials have blamed the government for causing investor panic when it announced last week it could not guarantee investments in MMM and similar funds.
	www.fortunecity.com /boozers/ferret/451/profiles/reventsn.htm (20150 words)

	Bidz.com - Online Jewelry Auctions. Shop for diamond jewelry, engagement rings, designer watches, and much more.
		The MMM Bank in Russia was one of the most spectacular scams of recent times.
		This scheme is thought to have involved between 2 and 5 million investors and to have collected approximately 1.5 billion USD by the time it ended in 1994.
		The founder of the scheme was finally arrested in 2003, after having attempted several similar pyramid shcemes both in Russia and in the USA.
	www.bidz.com /ht/prod?lotID=15402680&live=1 (618 words)

	Pyramid scheme - QuickSeek Encyclopedia (via CobWeb/3.1 planetlab2.tamu.edu) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		In addition, other methods of conducting business known as multi-level marketing (MLM) and as "matrix schemes" often closely resemble pyramid schemes (although unlike pyramid schemes, which are almost always frauds, MLM and matrix schemes are in many cases regarded — at least legally — as legitimate business methods).
		It is safe to assume that a significant factor was lack of capitalist financial experience of population that was exposed primarily to socialism before.
		Despite these similarities, the varying sales potential and quality of the products, these companies are considered legal businesses, because their recruited staff may receive income solely from the sale of the products of the company, without ever recruiting new salespersons.
	pyramidscheme.quickseek.com.cob-web.org:8888 (1418 words)

	Russia's Search for Liberty: Part VI. Conclusions
		Get-rich-quick schemes and pyramid investment companies such as the infamous MMM proliferate.
		After MMM president Sergei Mavrodi was arrested for tax evasion, his financial empire crumbled.
		The pyramid investment technique is a commonly used fraud tactic or Ponzi scheme by which (for example) one person convinces three people to invest in a fund.
	www.suite101.com /article.cfm/international_trade_politics/81070 (468 words)

	TIME.com: Poof Go the Profits -- Aug. 8, 1994 -- Page 1 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-10)
		The debacle had been building for much of the week, as crowds of concerned shareholders camped outside MMM's building, waiting, mostly in vain, for the company to redeem their certificates.
		MMM is by far the largest investment fund in Russia, but about 600 other funds, along with countless phony companies that sell stock themselves, continue doing business.
		MMM is the handiwork of Sergei Mavrodi, who is in his late 30s.
	www.time.com /time/magazine/article/0,9171,981229,00.html (817 words)

	Chronology of events - NUPI
		However, the mastermind behind the crumbling MMM investment scheme, Sergey Mavrodi, failed to appear at the meeting and instead sent a lawyer, who was not admitted to the meeting because he lacked formal authorization to represent the firm.
		The Russian anti-monopoly committee requested once again that MMM and other firms promising extravagant returns on investments bring their advertising into conformity with the presidential decree issued in June, banning the promise of future dividends at specific rates.
		The weekend of 6 and 7 August, according to the Russian TV newscast, "Vesti," was used by shareholders of the pyramid investment fund to organize meetings and pickets to protest the government crack-down on MMM.
	www.nupi.no /cgi-win/Russland/krono.exe?3062 (1098 words)

	"Wow! ", or once again about privatization.
		The majority of Russians remember investment pyramid MMM largest in Russia and its founder Mavrodi (or heard about it).
		The most interesting, that, probably, this person was not the swindler and really was going to return to investors of their money with promised enormous percent.
		Hence, MMM pick up big money on those times, could participate actively in process and turn into the largest Russian business-structure.
	snow.prohosting.com /myths1/voucher.htm (665 words)

	Pyramid scheme - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		It is easy to see that the number in the bottom level of the pyramid always exceeds the total of all those in the levels above no matter how many levels there are.
		Spin-off schemes called "Speedball" and "People in Profit" prompted a number of violent incidents and calls were made by politicans to tighten existing legislation [1].
		Ireland has launched a website to better educate consumers to pyramid schemes and other scams [2].
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Pyramid_scheme (1968 words)

	MAVRODI BOUNCES BACK
		Through a shrewd internet pyramid scheme called “Stockgeneration”, Mavrodi (or, at the very least, relatives of Mavrodi, according to interpol reports) has targeted the very baseball-hat wearing American leisure class that six years ago was laughingly flushing the mostly elderly and uneducated Russian victims of MMM down the toilet of history.
		According to a lawsuit filed by the American Securities and Exchange Commission this past summer, Americans from every geographic region of the country lost millions of dollars through a scheme that appears to prove true the old saying that there’s a sucker born every minute— and that not all of them are in Russia.
		Its ability to continue to squeeze investors during this first bumpy period was aided tremendously by the fact that the internet itself at this time was still working out all kinds of bugs, any one of which could result in a failure of communication between e-businesses and their customers.
	www.exile.ru /109/mavrodi.php (3035 words)

	Images from Russian Republic
		Unfortunately the economy during this period was very weak and such a not could not buy much.
		These notes were issued by the MMM Corp by S. Mavroti.
		The corporation was a pyramid scheme that ultimately collapsed leaving thousands of Russians in poverty.
	www.russianwarrior.com /1993_civlifepict.htm (226 words)

	The New York Times: Search > Topic: MMM
		In thin voting after a bizarre campaign, the head of the MMM pyramid scheme, Sergei I. Mavrodi, won a seat in Parliament, along with its immunity against prosecution, in a special election Sunday, local officials announced today.
		Sergei Mavrodi, founder and president of the MMM investment company, was detained Thursday on suspicion of t...
		The collapse of the MMM investment pyramid has focused attention on the worst aspects of Russia's new and poorly regulated stock markets.
	query.nytimes.com /search/query?ppds=org&v1=MMM&sort=newest (568 words)

	Moscow Court MMM Co-founder Vyacheslav Mavrodi sentenced
		A Moscow court on 13 February sentenced Vyacheslav Mavrodi, younger brother of MMM investment firm founder Sergei Mavrodi, to five years and three months in prison for his conviction on charges of conducting illegal banking and precious-commodities operations, regions.ru and other Russian news agencies reported.
		After the collapse of MMM, which Vyacheslav Mavrodi founded with his brother, he formed two other pyramid-type investment companies called MMM-96 and MMM-97.
		Sergei Mavrodi was arrested in Moscow on 31 January after almost five years on the run and now faces fraud charges stemming from MMM's activities.
	www.templetonthorp.com /cz/news238 (149 words)

	Check out Pyramid's Unfiltered Update!
		Pyramid's Unfiltered Update is your monthly online dose of brew news, events, and fun facts, brought to you by all of us intrepid, curious, beer-loving folks at Pyramid.
		That's right, we at Pyramid decided awhile back that the only thing better than a pint o' Pyramid, is enjoying one with a group of friends on a tour of neighborhood bars.
		Be on the look out for your chance to judge for yourself why Pyramid Hefe Weizen is continually chosen at least 2:1 over a leading consumer's hefe weizen in blind taste tests.
	www.pyramidbrew.com /mailer/unfiltered_update/200607.html (728 words)

	Notorious Swindler to Serve Sentence - Pravda.Ru
		Early on December 3, the Khamovnichesky Court of Moscow brought a verdict on the MMM pyramid founder and sentenced Sergey Mavrodi to a year and one month imprisonment for passport forgery (the Russian Federation Criminal Code clause 33 part 3, clause 327 part 1), Russia's news agency RIA Novosti reports.
		The MMM financial pyramid founder has been on the wanted list since December 1997; he was detained in Moscow on January 31, 2002.
		The chairman of the MMM organization and its branch establishments is accused of swindle (the RF Criminal Code, clause 147).
	english.pravda.ru /accidents/21/96/383/11441_mavrodi.html (717 words)

	News - A Beta In The Desert // PC /// Eurogamer
		This isn't as straightforward as it may sound though, as you will need to pass a number of tests first, and then assemble a group of disciples of lower levels to aid you in the construction.
		At the end of the test though, the leader with the biggest monument will win a season pass to the game, while his disciples will each get a solid chocolate pyramid.
		There's also going to be a fireworks competition, an award for the best role-player, and a "mentorship award" for the player who has the most shrines built in their honour.
	www.eurogamer.net /article.php?article_id=31647 (310 words)

	pyramid scheme
		While schemes simply involving the blatant exchange of money have generally disappeared, many schemes persist that purportedly "sell" a product to mask the primary intention of simply enrolling new members; these are sometimes called "matrix schemes" or "multi-level marketing".
		With a population of nearly 80 million, more than 90% of which is Muslim, youd think Egypt would at least be among the top 10 countries in the world in the field of Islamic banking services.
		The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has filed an emergency action against three men, including two Canadians, to curtail a bank scheme believed to have raised at least $18.2-million U.S. from investors, most of them from British Columbia.
	www.archaeologics.com /Business-NtoR/pyramid_scheme.php (1791 words)

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