Russian businessman and founder of the MMM Pyramid scheme, Sergei Mavrodi, is dead.
According to Russian media, Mavrodi whose MMM pyramid scheme deprived millions of Russians their savings in the 1990s, died of a heart attack.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports Monday that the 62-year-old was rushed to the hospital late on March 25 with pain in his chest and died several hours later.
Mr. Mavrodi’s MMM financial pyramid was a typical Ponzi scheme in which earlier investors receive their profits from subsequent investors. It also promised returns of 20 per cent to 75 per cent a month, as well as lotteries and bonuses for investors. As soon as the number of new clients stopped growing, the pyramid collapsed, causing huge financial losses for at least 10 million people, in some cases leaving them destitute. Read more