Microkhan by Brendan I. Koerner

Great Moments in Fraud, Part II

February 13th, 2009 · No Comments


On the heels of yesterday’s YBM Magnex post, let us now cast our fraud-seeking eyes southward toward Colombia, where 700,000 small investors have apparently lost everything in a blatant Ponzi scheme. The scam’s architect is David Murcia Guzman, who claims he’s a) misunderstood and b) a champion of the poor. Sounds like a regular Rod Blagojevich, if you ask me.

How do I know this guy’s a total huckster? Check out this description of his business model from the New York Times:

[Guzman] devised a business model of selling prepaid debit cards to customers who were also its salespeople. They could use the cards to buy items like electronics, or they could redeem points on different cards for cash in a few months’ time—provided they signed up new salespeople who would also buy the cards.

General rule of thumb: Never join a business that asks you to double as a recruiter.

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