The global financial crisis has also revealed how ponzi schemes were used to cheat investors of their monies. Take the Madoff case, for example, he used his connections, influence and charm to convince very wealth individuals, funds and even charities to invest their monies for what looked like super-normal investment returns year-in, year-out.
Even in Singapore, the man behind Sunshine Empire – a multi-level marketing scheme that is allegedly a ponzi scheme – is being charged in court for allegedly running a fradulent business and criminal breach of trust.
According to Deputy Public Prosecutor April Phang, the revenue generated by Sunshine, which has a paid-up capital of $150,000, between August 2006 and November 2007 totalled $189 million.
Their alleged Ponzi scheme attracted as much as $189 million by investors drawn by the returns! Continue reading