Speaker of the Moscow city legislature Vladimir Platonov urged Russian law enforcement chiefs to keep an eye on notorious Russian fraudster Sergei Mavrodi, saying that his new financial pyramid scheme may be a threat to the Russian economy.
"Mavrodi's intentions may damage the constitutional rights and interests of citizens and pose a real threat to the economic security of the state," Platonov said in his address to Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika and chief of Moscow's FSB department, Viktor Zakharov.
He asked officials "to carry out measures needed to prevent illegal activities and ensure that economic security is not under threat and constitutional rights and interests of citizens are protected."
"The Moscow City Duma is still receiving complaints from ordinary citizens, retirees and handicapped persons, who suffered from a similar fraudulent scheme by Mavrodi in the early 1990s," he said.
Between two and five million people lost around $1.5 billion when convicted conman Mavrodi's MMM pyramid scheme collapsed in 1997. The scheme promised spectacular returns in an aggressive advertising campaign on national television.
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" started on January 11.
Mavrodi promises that his new investors will receive 20% profit per month, while retirees and disabled persons will get 30%. He suggests investors open dollar accounts in electronic payment systems, such as WebMoney, and buy virtual tickets.
Sergei Barsukov, head of the department for financial policies at the Finance Ministry, already described the project as "another of his [Mavrodi's] cynical lies."
MOSCOW, January 14 (RIA Novosti)
