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Russian fraudster launches new pyramid scheme in South Africa, say media

According to the newspaper, the new scheme is called "a social financial network" promising 30%-per-month returns

Sergei Mavrodi ITAR-TASS/Maxim Shemetov

Sergei Mavrodi

© ITAR-TASS/Maxim Shemetov

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PRETORIA, August 18. /TASS/. The architect of the biggest in Russia’s history financial pyramid scheme MMM, Sergei Mavrodi, has launched a new project in South Africa, The Citizen local daily reports on Tuesday.

According to the newspaper, the new scheme is called "a social financial network" promising 30%-per-month returns. "This is the first sprout of something new in modern soulless and ruthless world of greed and hard cash," its local website says.

"The goal here is not the money. The goal is to destroy the world’s unjust financial system," the newspaper quotes the company as declaring on the local website.

MMM South Africa’s Facebook page, disseminating weekly news from Mavrodi, has more than 22,000 likes from users, the newspaper says. In YouTube videos, the notorious fraudster discusses the business model in Russia.

MMM company, existing from 1989 to 1994, was recognized as one of the biggest financial pyramid schemes, in which up to 15 million investors took part, according to experts.

Mavrodi, who had been fleeing from prosecution, was arrested in Moscow with a forged passport in January 2003. In April 2007, the court found him guilty of cheating millions of Russians of their savings, and he was sentenced him to 4.5 years in jail for fraud. He was set free in May 2007.

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