Sergei Mavrodi was the founder of MMM, a Russian company that perpetuated one of the world’s largest ponzi schemes of all time during the 1990s. Around 5 to 40 million people lost up to $10 billion. Its founder was eventually found guilty of defrauding 10,000 investors of $4.3 million and sentenced to four and a half years in a penal colony.
At one point, Mavrodi was elected to the State Duma, thereby obtaining parliamentary immunity. He used the support of defrauded investors, for whom he had promised to start a pay back program. His immunity was nullified in October of 1995. Mavrodi declared MMM bankrupt on December 22, 1997, and was on the run until his arrest in 2003.
Despite his bankruptcy and jail sentence, Mavrodi is back with his latest ponzi scheme and this time pimping bitcoin (original link).
As MMM shares will be used by electronic coin Bitcoin.
They have a very good defense and international circulation.
Program for operations can be downloaded here http://www.bitcoin.org/.
Download the program and start the process!And pay for these coins may be using different payment systems, including international ones.
You would think after being arrested, that he would get the message. I guess scammers do not know when to give up. There has to be more behind his motivation than the money. Exhibiting a recidivist nature, I doubt Madrovi will earn anything tangible from his ponzi scheme. Maybe there is a thrill for him in some twisted way. Bitcoin has provided him another avenue for continuing his hobby.
Thanks to fellow hacker Michael Shigorin for pointing this out to me.
Don’t you remember the early ages on the bitcoin forum when everyone was doing their own Ponzi scheme seriously or just for fun?
It seems to me this is nothing else but this very same thing, maybe only with a larger scale.
we should warn the people about it!
Reshitivists, Randy…every damn one of them…
Nothing to worry about. He can’t actually debase bitcoin and I think we’re vaccinated against ponzi by now. If not – another dose should do it.
Just watch out for his oh-so-tempting offers.
I am not quite understanding this. Where is the bitcoin connection?
It looks like he is starting his own currency, and is going to deflate it. In the hopes of keeping it solvent he is appealing to people’s ability to save. On the one hand, encouraging you to sit on the couch, do nothing and don’t contribute to society, just live off the benefit I create by manipulating the exchange rate, and in the other hand telling you to invest all you savings, live frugally and only withdrawer what you need to live.
This sounds more asinine than our banking system.
I was thinking he may be using Bitcoin as a central bank to back up his ponzi, and by skimming off the system by creating an artificial exchange rate, that he then manipulates to prevent massive deposits and withdrawals, but how could you attract customers when there is already bitcoin, that is more democratically regulated through a free market?
The worlds largest Ponzi scheme is still U.S. Social Security.
I think most people who participate in these ponzi schemes know the risk, they are not really being scammed. They are merely hoping they can cash out before it busts.
Social security is not a Ponzy Scheme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_KJ0HXu7D0
In a funny way this is a positive thing for bitcoin. He actually praises bitcoin for it’s resiliency. I translated his blog to English. He clearly states at the top he is soliciting a pyramid scheme and that participants should be prepared to lose all the money they invest.
It appears that Mavrodi is in fact suggesting that bitcoin (or MMM-2011, as he call it) is a pyramid scheme, and that he would advise against putting any money in it. He also notes that people would part with their money for a chance to make high return, even if it means investing in MMM-2011.
Mavrodi, Madrovi, Mad(r)off-i … ? Madoff?
It’s from JANUARY 2011. He may be responsible for the rallies thereafter.