Sergei Panteleevich Mavrodi, founder of the infamous financial Pyramid scheme, MMM, that rocked the waves of Nigeria in 2016 is dead. According to a report by Moskovsky Komsomolets, the 63-year-old MMM founder was rushed to the Moscow hospital late on March 25 with a pain in the chest. He died several hours later of a heart attack.
How MMM Started
MMM is dead. I mean dead. Physically.
Sergei Mavrodi, that guy that created the biggest scam in history died of heart attack in Russia.
— Ọmọọba Tómilád£™ (@The_Tomilade) March 26, 2018
Sergei Mavrodi created the company “MMM” in the 1990’s. he promised returns of between 20 percent to 75 percent a month, as well as lotteries and bonuses for investors. And immediately after its creation, it gained popularity and became the largest financial pyramid in the history of Russia.
Like every Pyramid scheme, the income of the members who had previously joined it was paid out of the contributions of new members, and when the inflow of customers stopped, payments were no longer paid and the pyramid collapsed. About 10-15 million people were affected and many were left penniless.
In 1994, Mavrodi was elected a member of the Russian Parliament, he later confessed to joining the parliament because of immunity. And in 1996, just before the presidential elections he lost his parliamentary mandate. Later in 2007, Mavrodi was sentenced to 4 and half years after he was found guilty of financial fraud.
MMM in Nigeria
MMM started in Nigeria in late 2015, and a new website was launched for the Nigerian audience. With a promised profit of 30% per month, the number of people who signed up by late 2016 were about 2.4 million. Unfortunately, after a year in Nigeria, the scheme crashed. According to the company, the crash came as a result of “systems overload and the negative attention brought on by the Government and mass media.”
The crash resulted in a mass hysteria and several people ended their lives. By the start of January, it reopened but then most people had lost faith in the scheme and had left.
About 110 countries suffered from MMM, including some African countries like Kenya, Ghana, and Zimbabwe.
Check out some hilarious reactions by Nigerians:
So Sergey Mavrodi is dead?
Azzin MMM founder is dead?
African Juju no dey get border, e no dey use Visa.
Man thought he could scam the scammers themselves. pic.twitter.com/UnRm3V8hT2— Ifeanyichukwu ☢️ (@Myka_veli) March 26, 2018
Good news Nigerians, MMM founder Sergei Mavrodi is dead.
— Baba eleja🐟 (@Biodun_OG) March 26, 2018
https://twitter.com/Iam_Abdulaxis/status/978260612349349888
MMM stands for the first letters of the founders’ surnames – Sergei Mavrodi, Olga Melnikova and Vyacheslav Mavrodi.
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