MOSCOW, January 10 (RIA Novosti) - The mastermind of the 1990s MMM pyramid scheme that robbed millions of Russians of their life savings has unveiled his new financial project.
In his blog Sergei Mavrodi, who was recently released from jail after serving a four-and-a-half-year sentence for fraud, said the new MMM-2011 project called "We Can Do A Lot" will be started on January 11.
Mavrodi promises that his new investors will receive 20% profits per month, while pensioners and disable persons will get 30% profits. He proposes investors to open dollar accounts in electronic payment systems and to buy virtual tickets.
The founder the new scheme calls his project a "financial social network" and claims that this system is "absolutely invulnerable, unsinkable and undestroyable." He hopes to attract 100,000 investors this year and up to 1 million in 2012.
"All the operations will be carried out among the investors. I will not touch anything. I have no right for that. I will be only managing the process," Mavrodi said.
"I'm helping people without seeking to profit. It's obvious to everyone. I have nothing at all from this. Not a single kopeck," he said.
The MMM financial pyramid was the largest in Russia and one of the biggest in the world. It sold shares to the public, promising spectacular returns in an aggressive advertising campaign on national television.
MMM was established by Mavrodi and his brother in 1989 and declared bankruptcy in 1997. According to different assessments, between 2 million and 5 million people bought MMM shares, and lost as much as $1.5 billion.
Mavrodi was on the run until his arrest in Moscow in 2003. He served his four-and-a-half-year sentence in Matrosskaya Tishina jail and was released in May 2007.
In 2008, the courts released 18 million rubles belonging to Mavrodi. The money was shared between the investors. The bailiffs also arrested Mavrodi's rights for the book Temptation that he published in 2008.
