THE RAISE, FALL AND NEGATIVE BENEFITS OF MMM

THE RAISE, FALL AND NEGATIVE BENEFITS OF MMM

MMM is a ponzi scheme developed in 1989 by Serge Marvrodi, his brother Vjacheslar Marvrodi and Olgamelnikova. The name of the company was taken from the first letters of the surnames of the company founders. Initially the company imported computers and office equipment. It was accused of tax evasion in `1992 by the tax police and this led to the collapse of the MMM Bank and causing the company to hire differently obtaining any financial support to continue its operation.

        As a result of this difficulty in getting financial help to fund its foreign trade, the company switched to the financial sector. It offered American stocks to Russian investors but was greeted with little or no success. Later MMM invent was created with the aim of collecting vouchers during privatization, again it was unsuccessful.

        MMM designed its first successful ponzi scheme in 1994                                                  in Russia. The company started attracting money from private inventors and promising annual returns of upto one thousand percent. This company grow rapidly in Feb 1994, the company announced that they have recorded 1000% dividend and they started an aggressive TV campaign. Since the shares were not quoted in any stock exchange and the company determined the share price, it maintained a steady price growth of thousand percent annually leading the public to believe its shares were safe and profitable investment.

        The success of MMM in attracting inventors led to the creation of other similar schemes such as Tibet Chara, Salenga, Telemarket and germs. All of these companies were characterized by aggressive television advertising and promising a high rate of internet on July 22, 1994, the police closed the offices of MMM for far evasion. Few days later, the company attempted to continue their business but afterwards ceased operations. At that point, invest-consulting, one of the company’s subsidiaries, owed more than 50 billion Rubbies in taxes (USD 26million) an MMM itself owed between 100 billion and 3 trillion rubbles to the inventors (ie from  USD 50 million to USD 1.5billion). in the long run, at least 50 inventors having lost all their money committed suicide.

        Several org of deceived inventors made efforts to  recover their money but Sergei Marvrodi manipulated their indignation and blamed it on government. He was arrested for tax evasion in august 1994 but however, was soon dated to the Russian state Duma with the supportof the deceived invenstors”. He argued that it was government not MMM was responsible people involving their moneyand promised to iniate a paid bank miniscale (extremely small) compared to  the amount owed.

        Marvrodi Mondial money box(MMM) and the Nigeria Economy.

The history of MMM in Nigeria started in Nov 2015 when it launched it on official website for the rif audience promising 30% profit per month. The primary target of MMM was for unemployed people but the number that signed up to the site in the late 2016 was absolutely strucking. By November 2016, over 2.1 million Nigerians has joined the community. MMM according   to the founder is a community of people helping each other, you don’t pay your money to MMM, but you provide help and get help from those that can provide help. Thus when you want to participate in order to get the 30% gain, you will register on the registration platform and this is populary known as providing help “PH”. When your money is due for collection or to withdraw, you should make payment through a get help known as “GH”. Whether you P.H or G.H you will be merged with someone.

        Assuming you want to get your money, you will G.H on the get help platform. That is to say you need help. Somebody will provide help to you. Then you have to wait until you are merged with someone who is willing to provide help. This help comes from someone who has registered to gain the 30% from the community. Meanwhile , you must have paid provided help to another person’s account (P.H) and now waits for his mavro to grow upto 30% before he can as well get help (GH). However, it is not a must for that you want till the end of the month before you get help but you must wait for 14 days before you will be qualified to withdraw the main money you paid in. this period in 2016 was characterized with slogan of GH and PH which a lay wan or a non participant cannot decode. Thus MMM became a household name in the minds of Nigerians in their quest to survive in the recessed economy.

        Moreover, the scheme which targeted unemployed Nigerians attracted all aspect of Nigerians both the rich and the poor. Bankers businessmen, and infarct everybody who thinks he needs money. Following this emergence and acclaimed success of the MMM, other ponzi scheme emerged to the consternation of all that even the participants became confused about which scheme to invest in such schemes that came on board includes Ultimate Cycler, Helping Hands and among others.

Some of them which offered 60% of gain to the participant, erased few months it was established and yet people was not convinced it was a fraud since MMM was still waxing stronger. Despite the warning issued by the federal government through the EFCC that MMM was a fraud, the Nigerian populace was adarmant to the clarion call. Believing it to be a plot to deprive them an opportunity which came to ameliorate their plight in the face of ugly situation of a recessed economy in which they are witnessing. They believed that since the government cannot guarantee them jobs or financial help that they are willing to swim and sink with the tide of MMM since it offers them free money which the government is denying them of. It is a treason that people joined the ponzi scheme as a result of poverty in eating deep into their fabrics.

        MMM, the acclaimed messiah terms a destroyer.

As noted earlier, Nigerians joined the MMM as a result of poverty which engulfed them during the period of economic recession. No money, no help. Between August 2015 and march 2016, Nigerians experienced an unprecedented change in every sphere of their lives characterized by boko haram insurgence, Fulani-herdsmen attack, increase in petroleum pump price, ethnic agitation, tension arousing from fighting, high cost of food items, corruption border closure. Exchange rate of dollars to naira, high import and export dues, ban on some commodities, restriction of forex and travelling cash for business peoples, militancy, cop sided  apt, hate speeches and silencing of potential opponents. There were high cost of things emanating from high transportation, food stuffs, clothing, housing with no increase in the salary of the civil servant to cope with the recessing economy.

        As a result, the struggle to some becomes the order of the day, death increased, criminalism, kidnapping and armed robbery resurfaced. All these period way for greater participation in MMM which later defrauded the participants.

The MMM and how It works

The MMM is a scheme which promises 30% of gain to a participant in which every amount you invested. It has no specific lesser amount or highest amount to be invested, but participants said five thousand naira to five million naira will do. This is because the higher your money, the higher your gain or bonus as the case maybe. But Sergei Marvrodi was quick to warn with a red signal on the screen of the platform-“don’t put all your money” but that meant nothing to the hungry Nigerians who have seen an opportunity to make little and cool cash even at the comfort of his home. All you need to do is to log on to the MMM platform, register with any amount of money you pleases and then wait for you to be merged. To be merged means for the platform to get who ever that needs help. This person that now needed help have provided help (PH) to another person, that now needed help at that point in time, now he needs help, that is to take back his money and his 30% gain/bonus. Then he has to GH to get help from another person who is willing to provide help (PH) when he is merged, then the person merged with him now goes to the bank and pay in the money into his account and when he gets the alert that somebody has paid him with evidence or without evidence but for the fact that the money is now in his account, he has to confirm the person that just paid him the money. Now for instance if invested twenty thousand naira, your bonus will be 2000 naira automatically but you will not be able to cash out immediately until is 14days after when your mavro will be confirmed. Then your mavro will be credited to you on every Tuesday and Thursdays by 12-am and it grows to twenty percent for one good month. You may wish to  withdraw the whole money or only your main money and the mavro. Assuming you invested twenty thousand, after the end of the money you maybe cashing out 39 – 40 thousand naira depending on how long you have allowed it say one month. So you can see, you made a gain  of 19-20 thousand sitting at the comfort of your home why wont there be a rub especially in this hopeless situation at least starting with 10 thousand. When you invested 20 thousand and your gain is 20 thousand what will be your gain when you invest 200 thousand naira? Your answer is as good as mine so tha was the reason for the mad rush which made some people to invest the money they wanted to use in getting married to invest in order to make gains and then do the celebration in a bigger way. But unfortunately this messiah became the destroyer. It was nicknamed MMM- Mmiri mara mmadu” “the rain that beats the human”.

        The MMM and the shocking News

Like the days of Noah, he was building the ark and told the people what God has told him. They laughed at him and called him a mad man. This is evident in the book of genesis. When eventually Noah concluded his Ark and entered  with his family and all that God instructed him, it came down all the insult that Noah who was foolish yesterday today risk while the people of the earth who was wise yesterday sudden became stupid, foolish and finally dead people.

        Although it was the federal government that caused the economy to go into recession, I am sincere to add here that the far strongly advice Nigerians not to invest in MMM. They said MMM was a total fraud Banks warned participants, EFCC gave out their own warning but Nigerians did not listen owing to the fact that a person who leaded a fellow person into trouble lacked the morality to ask him to repent since both are morally justifiable. Though the government again did not take any serious measure to put this madness to a stop since some of them are also beneficiaries.

        Hei! What is this? Nonsense, they are joking, they are not serious etc. this  because the reaction of many Nigerian on the make of Tuesday 14^th December 2016 when the news was displayed boldly on the screen of MMM platform. See their reactions and I quote “some did not finish reading this and broke into tears because they were warned of such..

COMMENTS AND CONCLUSION

        Although problems and difficulties faced in a recessed economy are multifaceted. These may include abject poverty, hunger, sickness, insecurity, criminal activities, high cost of living and other vices that accompanies it occasionally, people thought that cutting will be the best option to the menace. Some may resort to the menace, some may resort to stealing, lying, backbiting deception and other insolence sharp practices. The truth is that it plungs the perpetrator or participant into bigger problems that he was at the first.. for instance, it recession is to the extreme, it may lead a local woman to steal rice, yam or money in the market in order to make sure that she and her family has something to eat. Yet when he is caught, she risks jail, death, bad name, being stripped naked in the market place even by fellow women who had similar intention to do what she has done. The aim to eat has been defeated and her personally dragged to the mud.

        It behaves the government to have a rethink and do all she could to fix the economy for the good of the citizens. The government has all it takes such as the financial capability, human expertise or resources, but this aforementioned has been marred by putting a round pay in a square whole. Bad or inexperience leaders are elected into government; they either do not. They will equally refuse to appoint good adviser, technocrats, or even refuse to take this advice when administered to them. Some will even complain that age was no longer on their side that if it was some years back that they would have performed wonder, yet they refused to step down for those whose age is with than and who knows the job.

        On the other hand, Nigerians should be wise and be able to read the handwriting on the wall. We should be able to dictate leaders who have our interact heart and those who have our money at heart. We should equally be wise enough to know the type of investment that are genuine. Just as some leaders are fake, some investments are fake. The numerous ponzi schemes that entered the shores of Nigeria in 2016 and 2017 was shocking without any meaningful legacy left to the participants or inventors and the nation at large. MMM, Ultimate Cycler, flash me cash, pay me cash, to mention but fire were all fraud with little or no gain. In fact, the truth is that the problem it created was for worst than the problems that it showed. Take for instance, a man invested twenty thousand at the first instance and gained twenty thousand with the happy intention to gain almost a hundred and twenty thousand, but 10 and below the door was shut against him permanently. It believes me to ask MMM- Whose gain, whose implication: we must shine our eyes, no matter the economy says, I think we still can handle it with our voters card and not by cutting corners. MMM it is a time made some many and more to smile but the smiles did not lost because many who gained was equally depend and many. First timers was highly mesmerized, humiliated, and traumatized.

Finally it is our hope that our government should use these incidences – Recession vs. MMM saga to alleviate the problems of Nigerians. Nigeria will be great organ