МММ was a Russian company that perpetrated one of the world's largest Ponzi schemes of all time, in the 1990s.[1][2] By different estimates from 5 to 40 million people lost up to $10 billion. The exact figures are not known even to the founders.

MMM was established in 1989 by Sergei Mavrodi,[2] his brother Vyacheslav Mavrodi, and Olga Melnikova. The name of the company was taken from the first letters of the three founders' surnames.

Initially, the company imported computers and office equipment. In January 1992, tax police accused MMM of tax evasion, leading to the collapse of MMM-bank, and causing the company to have difficulty obtaining financing to support its operations. Faced with difficulties in funding its foreign trade, the company switched to the financial sector. It offered American stocks to Russian investors, but met with little success. Later, MMM-Invest was created for the purpose of collecting vouchers during privatisation. This effort was similarly unsuccessful.[citation needed]

MMM created its successful Ponzi scheme in 1994. The company started attracting money from private investors, promising annual returns of up to one thousand percent. It is unclear whether a Ponzi scheme was Mavrodi's initial intention, inasmuch as such extravagant returns might have been possible during the Russian hyperinflation in such commerce as import-export.[citation needed]

MMM grew rapidly. In February 1994, the company reported dividends of 1,000%, and started an aggressive TV ad campaign. Since the shares were not quoted on any stock exchange and the company itself determined the share price, it maintained a steady price growth of thousands of percent annually, leading the public to believe its shares were a safe and profitable investment.[citation needed]

An important factor in the scheme's success was word of mouth, but most of the company's success came from its extremely aggressive ad campaign, which appealed to the general public by using "ordinary" characters that viewers could identify with. The most famous of them, a "folk hero" of early 1994, was Lyonya Golubkov. Another notable marketing effort was a giveaway of free Metro trips to all Moscow citizens on a particular day. MMM also was one of the first well-known companies in Russia with a logotype and slogans ("Flying from shadow to the light" and others).[citation needed]

At its peak the company was taking in more than 100 billion rubles (about 50 million USD) each day from the sale of its shares to the public. Thus, the cashflow turnover at the MMM central office in Moscow was so high that it could not be estimated. The management started to count money in roomfuls (1 roomful of money, 2 roomfuls of money, etc.).[citation needed]

Regular publication in the media of the rising MMM share price led President Boris Yeltsin to issue a decree in June 1994 prohibiting financial institutions from publicising their expected income.[citation needed]

The success of MMM in attracting investors led to the creation of other similar companies, including Tibet, Chara, Khoper-Invest, Selenga, Telemarket, and Germes. All of these companies were characterised by aggressive television advertising and extremely high promised rates of return. One company promised annual returns of 30,000%.[citation needed]

On July 22, 1994, the police closed the offices of MMM for tax evasion. For a few days the company attempted to continue the scheme, but soon ceased operations. At that point, Invest-Consulting, one of the company's subsidiaries, owed more than 50 billion rubles in taxes (USD 26 million), and MMM itself owed between 100 billion and 3 trillion rubles to the investors (from USD 50 million to USD 1.5 billion). In the aftermath at least 50 investors, having lost all of their money, committed suicide.[citation needed]

Several organisations of "deceived investors" made efforts to recover their lost investments, but Sergei Mavrodi manipulated their indignation and directed it at the government. In August 1994 Mavrodi was arrested for tax evasion. However, he was soon elected to the Russian State Duma, with the support of the "deceived investors". He argued that the government, not MMM, was responsible for people losing their money, and promised to initiate a pay-back program. The amount ultimately paid back was minuscule compared to the amount owed.[citation needed]

In October 1995, the Duma cancelled Mavrodi's right to immunity as a deputy. In 1996, he tried to run for Russia's presidency, but most of the signatures he received were rejected. MMM declared bankruptcy on September 22, 1997.[citation needed]

While it was believed that Sergei Mavrodi left Russia and moved to the United States, it is possible that he stayed in Moscow, using his money to change apartments regularly and employ a group of former special agents. With the help of a distant relative he started Stock Generation Ltd., another pyramid scheme based around trading non-existent companies' stocks in a form of the "stock exchange game" on the company's site, stockgeneration.com. Despite a bold-letter warning on the main page that the site was not a real stock exchange, between 20,000 and 275,000 people, according to various estimates, fell for the promised 200% returns and lost their money. According to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, losses of victims were at least USD 5.5 million.[citation needed]

Mavrodi was found and arrested in 2003. While in custody, Mavrodi was given until January 31, 2006 to read the documents in his fraud case against him (The criminal case consisted of 650 volumes, each 250-270 pages long).[citation needed] At the end of April 2007, Mavrodi was convicted of fraud, and given a sentence of four and a half years. Since he had already spent over four years in custody, he was released less than a month later, on May 22, 2007.[citation needed] He later went on to creating yet another pyramid scheme called MMM-2011.

The MMM scandal led to increased regulation of the Russian stock market, but the legacy of the fraud led many to become extremely suspicious of any joint stock companies.

In 2015 MMM began operating in South Africa with the same business model as MMM-2011, claiming a "30% per month" return through a "social financial network".[3] The group was identified as a possible pyramid scheme by the National Consumer Commission and accounts of clients were later frozen by Capitec Bank.[4] In response to mounting criticism and official investigations by state authorities in 2016 supporters of the South African MMM scheme staged a protest march in Johannesburg.[5]

In 2016, MMM launched a website targeting the Nigerian audience.[6]

In January 2016 the Chinese government banned MMM on the grounds that it is a pyramid scheme, (Ponzi scheme), and it is not registered in the country (and as a fraudulent scheme cannot be registered).[7]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMM_(Ponzi_scheme_company)

okay. thanks for the info..

MMM is therefore a time bomb as deceived people might start to commit suicide one day when there are no persons to deceive again.

joe4real12:
MMM is therefore a time bomb as deceived people might start to commit suicide one day when there are no persons to deceive again.

Russia and China had bad experience with MMM and banned them. Now they have come to milk Nigeria dry. The National Assembly should wake up to their responsibility. Many people are gullible and could be destroyed by this sweet poison

better if this info is moved to front page

academics1:
МММ was a Russian company that perpetrated one of the world's largest Ponzi schemes of all time, in the 1990s.[1][2] By different estimates from 5 to 40 million people lost up to $10 billion. The exact figures are not known even to the founders.

MMM was established in 1989 by Sergei Mavrodi,[2] his brother Vyacheslav Mavrodi, and Olga Melnikova. The name of the company was taken from the first letters of the three founders' surnames.

Initially, the company imported computers and office equipment. In January 1992, tax police accused MMM of tax evasion, leading to the collapse of MMM-bank, and causing the company to have difficulty obtaining financing to support its operations. Faced with difficulties in funding its foreign trade, the company switched to the financial sector. It offered American stocks to Russian investors, but met with little success. Later, MMM-Invest was created for the purpose of collecting vouchers during privatisation. This effort was similarly unsuccessful.[citation needed]

MMM created its successful Ponzi scheme in 1994. The company started attracting money from private investors, promising annual returns of up to one thousand percent. It is unclear whether a Ponzi scheme was Mavrodi's initial intention, inasmuch as such extravagant returns might have been possible during the Russian hyperinflation in such commerce as import-export.[citation needed]

MMM grew rapidly. In February 1994, the company reported dividends of 1,000%, and started an aggressive TV ad campaign. Since the shares were not quoted on any stock exchange and the company itself determined the share price, it maintained a steady price growth of thousands of percent annually, leading the public to believe its shares were a safe and profitable investment.[citation needed]

An important factor in the scheme's success was word of mouth, but most of the company's success came from its extremely aggressive ad campaign, which appealed to the general public by using "ordinary" characters that viewers could identify with. The most famous of them, a "folk hero" of early 1994, was Lyonya Golubkov. Another notable marketing effort was a giveaway of free Metro trips to all Moscow citizens on a particular day. MMM also was one of the first well-known companies in Russia with a logotype and slogans ("Flying from shadow to the light" and others).[citation needed]

At its peak the company was taking in more than 100 billion rubles (about 50 million USD) each day from the sale of its shares to the public. Thus, the cashflow turnover at the MMM central office in Moscow was so high that it could not be estimated. The management started to count money in roomfuls (1 roomful of money, 2 roomfuls of money, etc.).[citation needed]

Regular publication in the media of the rising MMM share price led President Boris Yeltsin to issue a decree in June 1994 prohibiting financial institutions from publicising their expected income.[citation needed]

The success of MMM in attracting investors led to the creation of other similar companies, including Tibet, Chara, Khoper-Invest, Selenga, Telemarket, and Germes. All of these companies were characterised by aggressive television advertising and extremely high promised rates of return. One company promised annual returns of 30,000%.[citation needed]

On July 22, 1994, the police closed the offices of MMM for tax evasion. For a few days the company attempted to continue the scheme, but soon ceased operations. At that point, Invest-Consulting, one of the company's subsidiaries, owed more than 50 billion rubles in taxes (USD 26 million), and MMM itself owed between 100 billion and 3 trillion rubles to the investors (from USD 50 million to USD 1.5 billion). In the aftermath at least 50 investors, having lost all of their money, committed suicide.[citation needed]

Several organisations of "deceived investors" made efforts to recover their lost investments, but Sergei Mavrodi manipulated their indignation and directed it at the government. In August 1994 Mavrodi was arrested for tax evasion. However, he was soon elected to the Russian State Duma, with the support of the "deceived investors". He argued that the government, not MMM, was responsible for people losing their money, and promised to initiate a pay-back program. The amount ultimately paid back was minuscule compared to the amount owed.[citation needed]

In October 1995, the Duma cancelled Mavrodi's right to immunity as a deputy. In 1996, he tried to run for Russia's presidency, but most of the signatures he received were rejected. MMM declared bankruptcy on September 22, 1997.[citation needed]

While it was believed that Sergei Mavrodi left Russia and moved to the United States, it is possible that he stayed in Moscow, using his money to change apartments regularly and employ a group of former special agents. With the help of a distant relative he started Stock Generation Ltd., another pyramid scheme based around trading non-existent companies' stocks in a form of the "stock exchange game" on the company's site, stockgeneration.com. Despite a bold-letter warning on the main page that the site was not a real stock exchange, between 20,000 and 275,000 people, according to various estimates, fell for the promised 200% returns and lost their money. According to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, losses of victims were at least USD 5.5 million.[citation needed]

Mavrodi was found and arrested in 2003. While in custody, Mavrodi was given until January 31, 2006 to read the documents in his fraud case against him (The criminal case consisted of 650 volumes, each 250-270 pages long).[citation needed] At the end of April 2007, Mavrodi was convicted of fraud, and given a sentence of four and a half years. Since he had already spent over four years in custody, he was released less than a month later, on May 22, 2007.[citation needed] He later went on to creating yet another pyramid scheme called MMM-2011.

The MMM scandal led to increased regulation of the Russian stock market, but the legacy of the fraud led many to become extremely suspicious of any joint stock companies.

In 2015 MMM began operating in South Africa with the same business model as MMM-2011, claiming a "30% per month" return through a "social financial network".[3] The group was identified as a possible pyramid scheme by the National Consumer Commission and accounts of clients were later frozen by Capitec Bank.[4] In response to mounting criticism and official investigations by state authorities in 2016 supporters of the South African MMM scheme staged a protest march in Johannesburg.[5]

In 2016, MMM launched a website targeting the Nigerian audience.[6]

In January 2016 the Chinese government banned MMM on the grounds that it is a pyramid scheme, (Ponzi scheme), and it is not registered in the country (and as a fraudulent scheme cannot be registered).[7]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMM_(Ponzi_scheme_company)

am getting paid every month, someone is posting rubbish here, when who cares? MMM is just too real to b fake

tolexy007:



am getting paid every month, someone is posting rubbish here, when who cares? MMM is just too real to b fake

peeps like u should be shot in your prick cap

xpressTrade:
peeps like u should be shot in your prick cap

No I think it's you that should be shot... Peeps are making money and you're here posting trash.... Keep posting your rubbish while we keep making our money..... Who your thread epp?

manuelp:

No I think it's you that should be shot... Peeps are making money and you're here posting trash.... Keep posting your rubbish while we keep making our money..... Who your thread epp?

Aiit wen u start cryin I wud b ryt here

there is a new help community giving 50% in 2 weeks,contact me if you're interested.

@op have u ever visited mmm website to at least read their ideology and how it works. please do ur research my friend. mmm is for the people . it is working now

hary158:
@op have u ever visited mmm website to at least read their ideology and how it works. please do ur research my friend. mmm is for the people . it is working now

Gbam!!!

academics1:

Russia and China had bad experience with MMM and banned them. Now they have come to milk Nigeria dry. The National Assembly should wake up to their responsibility. Many people are gullible and could be destroyed by this sweet poison
better if this info is moved to front page

MMM is a people community, which help each other for free, and absolutely consciously, they transfer money directly to each other, from one bank account to another, without any conditions, guarantees and promises. Just only because they want to do that. Because it is a good deal to help each other.
It means the Mutual benefit fund as it is.

There is no formal organization, no legal person in MMM. And of course there is no central bank account, no other activity in any form. Neither close, nor open. There is nothing! There are only millions and millions of simple participants, simple private persons. And their bank accounts. And nothing more.

And of course there is no special registrations, permission and licenses in here.
(Permissions and licenses for what and for what reason? For money transfer from one man to another? And whom this licenses and permissions should be given? :-))

Thus, MMM is absolutely legal and does not break any laws. Because there are only money transfers between private persons and nothing more.
It is impossible to forbid MMM. The same way it is impossible to forbid people manage their own money the way they like. Thus they need to forbid the whole private property institution.

So everything is absolutely clear with the lawfulness. There are no violations and they won't be! Let's now talk about the other. About honesty. It is important to underline, that MMM doesn't cheat or abuse anyone. In other words it is not a cheat or fraud in any case! Everyone is informed about the possible and impossible risks fully and from the very beginning (And everyone put a mark during the registration, confirming that he was informed about the warning.)

MMM itself is more honest (in 100 times!) than any other bank, or any financial institution with their licenses or permissions. Because they all lie to you, hold or keep back something and so on. And only MMM doesn't keep back you in silence, doesn't hide anything and tell everything honestly and openly. “Yes, You take a great risk!... Yes, no guarantees!... Yes, You may loose everything at any moment!...” - Did You hear the same before anywhere? Only in MMM.
Honesty, honesty and again honesty! This is the main principle. Honesty, openness and trust. This are the three whales on which the System stands. Have ever seen before the situation, when absolutely unacquainted people transfer money to each other with no reason? Giving them like a gift actually? Millions and millions of people all over the world, every day? Delirium? Fiction? Utopia? No, it is MMM!

Participate! Welcome to the System! Long Live MMM!
May God stop whoever that wants to stop MMM in Nigeria.