MMM is an abbreviation, which has become a symbol of fraud on a national scale thanks to joint-stock company ‘MMM’. It is an investment company, built on the principle of a Ponzi scheme, ie when the money of new shareholders becomes the payments to earlier investors. How does MMM work? It is a difficult scheme, which will be discussed further.

MMM association was registered in 1989 as a cooperative. This name is an abbreviation of the initial letters of the names of the founders – brothers Sergei and Vyacheslav Mavrodi and woman called Mrs. Muravyova. Before 1991, the cooperative was mainly engaged in the trade of consumer goods and office equipment. By 1992, MMM structure included 34 branches throughout the whole Soviet Union, more than 300 different companies. After a while, a ‘pocket’ MMMbank virtually collapsed after the tax scandal in January 1992.

The next and most famous stage was the work of a mutual fund in mid-1993 when it began to collect the money of the population. They were actively advertising themselves on television (MMM ads occupied almost half of the best advertising time).

The Russians, still had some cash after their savings became devalued, because of ‘Gaidar shock therapy’. People tried to save their money. Inflation reached 215%, and banks were paying less than 50% of savings accounts, so no one wanted to keep money in the bank. MMM also offered up to 1000% per annum.

The Russian government did not interfere with the activities of the MMM. In just a few months, the number of contributors, according to various estimates, reached from 2 million to 10 million people. Millions of people crowded at points of reception of money to exchange their salaries and pensions on the promise of fabulous profits and the ability to feel like a ‘partner’, the person involved in the real business world.

They defraud savings from naive depositors. Mavrodi brothers played on the credulity of the majority of the population and on the greed of those who understood the essence of the game, but he hoped to get out of it in time by getting ‘easy money’

Those who bought shares in February 1994 and ‘threw’ them out in July, increased the capital by 70 times, but the vast majority did not have time to do so.

The collapse of the MMM came in the summer of 1994, after the Russian tax service and tax police announced that during the audit they uncovered gross violations of tax laws, and ordered to take a part of the empire MMM into the budget. It was ‘Invest-Consulting’, which cost 49.9 billion rubles.

MMM stopped purchasing of shares and reduces their rate of 125 times. In Russia, there was a new community called the deceived investors. They lined up in long queues at the office of JSC ‘MMM’ on the Warsaw highway, 26, demanding payments of their shares. At least 50 people committed suicide after losing all their savings, selling apartments, after the collapse of MMM. According to the most conservative estimates, the damage from the activities of the financial pyramid MMM totaled 100 billion non-denominated rubles.

In August 1994, S. Mavrodi was arrested on charges of tax evasion. It strengthened panic among depositors. People created the Union of the MMM shareholders and, contrary to common sense, held numerous pickets and rallies in support of the disgraced businessman. In the meantime, taken into custody Mavrodi was elected to the State Duma in the place of the deceased A. Ayzderdzis, he got immunity as a deputy and disclaimed any obligation as AO head and with it the responsibility for its activities.

In October 1995, deputy head of MMM was deprived of immunity. And the police resumed the investigation, adding to the previous charges one another – the fraud. But Mavrodi was not arrested.

MMM global. How does it work according to the creators?

How does the MMM work? Perhaps this question is the most voluminous and the most important for a lot of people! It was considered as the best way and the wonderful system. Simplicity and ease, convenience -the MMM system should be clear to everyone. The main principle of work is everything is paid to everyone!

The system pays and will pay – it is the main condition; otherwise its life will end. All payments are made in the system between its members, no general account for storage, ‘piggy banks’ and other mass aggregations of money that normally exist in conjunction with the temptation to pocket them. All transfers are made only between the parties; the particiP@nts can communicate with each other and make sure that they are real people, but not the bogus bills. You can always ask to see the screen of the Personal cabinet and check the validity of obtaining money.

However, it is certainly better to let this job to the leaders engaged in systems. But if you really-really want, please. So, the translations are quite clear. But there is another point, involved in the project: the purchase of virtual currency – Mavro (they are dollars, but they are operated only in the MMM community) from any particiP@nts and its subsequent sale to other particiP@nts of the System (if there are any), but for a different rate. The expected rate grow is from 20 to 100% in a month, everything depends on the chosen program, the actions of any program in the current time and your willingness to take risks.

That’s all! Let’s look at an example: You want to be engaged in the sum using 10,000, for example, a course of Mavro to date is 5 dollars. So, you buy from another party of System 2000 Mavro 30% (for example, of course, you can get Mavro 50% and even more risky depending on the working programs to date).

Over the course of a month your Mavro is increased by 30% (it may or may not be, that’s how things will go. Do not forget that we have been involved in the financial pyramid, and anything can happen), so Mavro already costs 30% more. You sell them to another party of the system, of course, if one exists, and you get 13,000. It is not bad, what do you think? For example, a bank with an interest rate of 10% per annum, can give you 13000 only in 3 years, and inflation will eat all these 3000! However, of course, the choice is always yours, but in order to choose, you need to deal with the proposed options carefully.

What’s really going on?

MMM is a pyramid scheme, which exists at the expense of investors, namely:

1) A man brings $100 a month and receives $200 (how many people will take away these $200, 5% maximum)

2) Accordingly, he realizes that everything works and then invests more $200 a month

3) Along the way, he talks about this to his two friends who also go with him and invest $100 (for example). They have 0, and their $100 are given to him (and so he has 200) and 200 percent (from other depositors) – but frankly nobody talks about it.

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4) He immediately gives his $400 a month hoping to get $800, so pyramid of debt and depositors are growing exponentially. At the end the amount of debt becomes so large that the financial structure cannot work and accordingly it collapses or becomes bankrupt. So in the ‘90s, millions of people were left without means of livelihood!

MMM and Nigeria

In Nigeria, MMM pyramid site has become more popular than Facebook.

The website of the MMM financial pyramid, created by Sergei Mavrodi, became even more popular than social network Facebook in the number of users in the country by the end of December 2016.

At the end of December 2016, the MMM website lost only search engine Google and Yahoo in popularity. Facebook was ranked sixth in the number of users in Nigeria.

Also, the source noted that the pyramid scheme in Nigeria has been launched in January 2016, since then the number of its contributors continues to grow. Among the marketing campaigns MMM assistance: a refugee camp in the amount of 5 million Nigerian dollars. The company also offers investors to abandon the national currency, the rate of which is unstable and be rewarded in Bitcoins.

‘The Commission for Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of Nigeria (EFCC) are examining the scheme of MMM’, said its representative Mr. Wilson. How does MMM work in South Africa? How does MMM work in Nigeria? They are trying to find all the answers. The Office intends to ensure the prohibition of the organization Mavrodi in the country.