It is believed that the first ever financial pyramid appeared in 1717 in France. The creator of the pyramid, the country's finance minister John Law, had to secretly flee France. Since then, hundreds of times dishonest entrepreneurs have left hundreds of thousands of gullible investors at the bottom of the trough.
The largest financial pyramids in history entered our today's Top 5. They were selected not only by the amount of financial damage, but also by the number of defrauded depositors. Among the pyramids were the notorious Russian companies MMM and Vlastina.
5. L&G
The largest financial pyramid from the Land of the Rising Sun was founded by Kazutsugi Nami in 2000. The company promised a yield of 36%, which attracted 37 thousand depositors.
In 2007, the company defaulted, failing to pay off its obligations. Over the entire period of its existence, L&G managed to raise $ 1.43 billion.
In 2010, 76-year-old Kazutsugi Nami was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
4. Vlastina
The Vlastilina company was registered in Podolsk in 1992. According to the promises of the owner of the company Valentina Solovieva, having invested half the cost of a new car, in a month it was possible to double the capital and acquire the coveted vehicle.
In 1994, the company began to accept deposits for the purchase of housing, as well as just deposits, incl. in foreign currency. At the same time, the first disruptions in payments began.
In 1999, Valentina Solovyova was sentenced by a court to 7 years in prison, and in 2000 the fraudster was already released "for good behavior." 16,000 people who lost 536 billion rubles were recognized as victims of Vlastilina. and 2.6 million dollars.
3. Stanford International Bank
Texas billionaire Allen Stanford has been selling certificates of deposit to gullible citizens for 15 years, guaranteeing a high percentage of returns. Stanford was arrested in 2009. It turned out that the fraudulent papers brought the fraudster and his family almost $ 7 billion. With this money, the billionaire led a luxurious lifestyle, and also gave bribes to the supervisory authorities who covered the criminal scheme.
In March 2012, 60-year-old Stanford was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
2. MMM
For 5 years of its existence, the pyramid has issued 27 million shares, as well as 72 million tickets. Their investors in "MMM" were promised 200% of income per month. As a result, the number of depositors was at least 10 million.
The company, established in 1992, has worked for 2 years practically without any problems. However, in 1994, the tax service ordered to collect almost 50 billion rubles from MMM into the budget. As a result, in August 1994, the company went bankrupt, leaving behind a debt to depositors of 5 billion rubles.
1. Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC
This pyramid scheme is the most famous of all that has ever existed. Founded in 1960 by Bernard Madoff, the company was considered one of the most reliable investment funds. However, one day, Madoff's sons reported to the authorities about the incredible machinations of their father - he did not invest the funds entrusted to him, but simply transferred them to personal accounts.
As a result of the proceedings, it turned out that Madoff is unable to repay debts not only to citizens, but also to such respectable investors as BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, HSBC, Credit Agricole, Royal Bank of Scotland, UniCredit. In June 2009, the court sentenced Madoff to 150 years in prison. At that time, the fraudster was 71 years old.