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Yes, I'm very familiar with these schemes and so is the FBI. Their purported
income streams are from an MLM selling the offshore concept to others at
around $1500 and the opportunity to make 10%+++ a month. The MLM side of it
is the ONLY legal part. Having got you into the MLM side (and there's
absolutely nothing illegal about offshore accounts - if you declare the
income), they offer you the ability to make millions from your investments.
This is the highly illegal part. It's basically a ponzi scheme. Early
entrants are paid from the proceeds of those that follow. They'll use terms
like Bank Debentures and explain to you that it's only the super rich that
have access to these programs. The whole sales pitch is very convincing.
They'll even show you that your investment is guaranteed by someone like
IDIC (International Deposit Insurance Corporation - another scam).
The allure, of course, is greed and the ability to make all that money tax
free. The tax free bit is a sugar coating to the offshore pill, which is the
way that they avoid detection. Legally, the SEC won't allow them to market
any investments, so they do this from their offshore companies. As we all
know, secrecy laws abound in many offshore centres, so just try and find out
who's behind the scheme - not easy. And, once they've suckered you in,
they'll keep you quiet by threats that what you've been a part of is
illegal.
I could go on, but you might want to check a great site that has all sorts
of information on this and other schemes.
http://www.quatloos.com/newsltr/qnew0101.htm
The FBI site, of course, also has details.
As for your acquaintance, all that I can say is that many otherwise
intelligent people have fallen for these schemes. When late entrants to the
ponzi scheme start to sue him, I sure hope he has enough stashed away in his
offshore accounts to provide him with a comfortable life when he flees to
some Caribbean Island. It's Club Med if he can afford it, otherwise Club
Fed.
I did my due diligence - you should too.
Caveat emptor!
Andrew
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Altman" <paulha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <omega-list@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2001 12:44 AM
Subject: guaranteed 10%/month with little risk?
> Did you guys know that it's easy to make a guaranteed 10% a month, with
> little risk? So claims an investor I met while travelling last week.
If
> only we stupid investors/traders would take off our blinders, we'd learn
> "the secrets" that only "the rich" know about....that offshore investing
> offers returns unheard of here in the US, and that it's common for the
rich
> to give dough to secretive "investment clubs" that "guarantee" (with a
> note) this type of return/risk, while refusing to reveal much of anything
> about their investment style/practices. If you were to ask for more
> details from one of these clubs, you might be brushed off with something
> like "sophisticated investors know that international banking and trading
> require an enormous level of discretion and non-disclosure". Supposedly,
> people are willing to accept nonsense answers like this because they have
> friends who have been receiving the 10%/month for some time. It's
> obviously a word-of-mouth business.
>
> Don't take my word for it....here's a link to one of these "clubs".
>
> http://www.triwestinvest.com/
>
> Can some of you more experienced guys tell me what the deal is with this
> type of "investment"? It's easy enough for us to speculate that it's
> some type of Ponzi scheme, but is anyone actually familiar with this
flavor
> of "investment"? Strangely, supposedly some of these have been going on
> for at least a few years.
>
> Is this a familiar scam to any of you? What are the mechanics of the
> scam? Where does the dough come from? (Also, note on the Triwest site
> that it seems to be a pyramid scheme where you can get rich by referring
> others.) Or is anyone actually going to have the nerve to claim that
> it's true: "Sophisticated investors know to ignore the popular myths
> about risk being commensurate with return, and instead go offshore to
black
> box firms that reliably return 10%/month."
>
> An interesting note: Some of these "clubs" have a connection or
following
> among new age types _and_ hard-core US patriots, the type of folks who
> converse about the mechanics of "legitimately" refusing to pay the IRS,
are
> survivalists, carry guns, etc.
>
> Plus, at least some of the salesmen are well-anchored in their
> community. The person I s/w has lived, rather visibly, in the same town
> for 30 years. I.e., it will be difficult for them to simply disappear if
> and when the time comes for the "club" to sour.
>
> Any comments, guys?
>
> Paul
>
>
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