SA rocked by R10bn Ponzi scheme

More than a hundred years on, and people are still falling for the same old trick.
The extent of people’s gullibility and their greed seems to know no bounds. (And, in this case, some apparently pretty smart people too.)
Here is the best investment advice you will ever get, and I share it with all for free:
THERE IS NO MAGIC
The moment you are offered any magic or unreal returns there is bound to be something wrong, so just walk away.

If it is to good to be true, it is to good to be true!
This is the price you pay for greed - "I have the money, I want MORE.."
Greed, gullibility and again greed....

Quite Right Rob, the amazing thing is the caliber of those who actually fell for it, truly surprising. Any learned person should know that any magic returns to any investment are always just that, magic. Greed, greed, greed.....

What ever happened to people's perceptive powers this was just to good to be true. Darn!

What is happening to all us? Our endless pursuit for money and power has made us blind to pragmatism. Rob you are right it is indeed a very ancient trick but it is very sad to see the number of people who fell victims to it. There is no short cut to riches and you've said it correctly there is no MAGIC to it. It’s obvious that it was not from a pure investment perspective that this people fall in to this trap but mere GREEDINESS. I am not even sympathetic with the couple who put their pension fund money into this hideous scheme. What were they thinking? They did not INVEST they GAMBLED. A piece of advice from me" If it is too GOOD to be TRUE then it is a SCAM!!!

Greed knows no bounds. Get rich quick schemes seem to propogate unabated. And there are plenty of suckers that take the bait. From the 419 scams to the sophisticated elaborate web of deceit there are always people hoping for the quick buck. The Higher the returns the higher the risk.

You will never stop the gullible from parting with their money.

I once attended a presentation by a company called Newport. A glamorous glitzy show in which you were required to join an investment club and promised handsome returns. I saw through the pyramid scheme immediately. But it was amazing to witness the number of people that signed up in the hope of making quick returns with a an investment of R 15,000 and no effort. The company claimed that it's product was money - ????. The scheme revolved around the concept where you would be required to recruit new suckers to invest (the same way you did) in order to recover you own down payment. It was closed down several months later by the government.

Greed is what makes the world go round and sadly broke. If you think there is an investment that beat the market without analysing for yourself how it happens, you are being naieve . However; there will always be good swindlers out there. Especially if he comes from a credible family background. Sorry guys and girls.

It is just a case of greed by gullible persons who should know better. It seems to be persons who have large amounts of money lying in safe investments who are under the impression that they can actually double their money without the SARS ever finding out. SHAME.

Why do I don't feel sorry for the victims that had been sucked into this dubious scheme? For one, if your fellow compatriots can't even afford a loaf of bread and you had millions to throw away on an outrageous get rich quick scheme, then you deserve everything that comes your way! Dramat and his new DPCI team should get to work as soon as possible to bring who ever is behind this crime to justice. This is real white collar crime!

The real obscenity here is not the crime.

The real obscenity is that those with unbelievably large sums to "invest" in the scheme actually desire more money than they have already accumulated.

Greed is not the word for this. All of us are greedy, one way or another. It is virtually synonymous with being human.

No, my friends, this is not common or garden greed. This is a profound disease of the soul. An addiction, if you will. If these guys (perps and wealthy victims) were sex addicts getting laid non-stop and still wanting more sex, they would be in rehab, halfway houses, and support groups.

But, for some reason, it is ok and acceptable to be thus obsessed with money. They are labelled "investors" and "entrepreneurs", and serve as role models for the upwardly mobile. In reality, in the depths of their being, they are nothing more than sicko junkies in desperate need of an intervention.

Tannenbaum has done them a favour.

I am sure this fraudster is from the ruling party, does that ring a bell now that the real leopards are showing their true colors. Criminals of any descent needs extreme punishment not the patting on the back that the fidentia boss was getting. Just imagine what the media could have done if he was affiliated to the ANC? They were going to have a field day. Nor wonder why the justice minister wants to make sure that there is transformation of the judiciary. Maybe this time we need blind judges who will see beyond colour so that criminals are judged on the merit of their cases not by the colour of their skin. We need laws that render us all equal so that sentences reflect the heinousness of the crime. Maybe that way Mark Scot-Crossley's case may be reviewed.

As much as I agree with you guys, I feel sorry for the victims. Show some sympathy good people!

Well I just hope the authorities will put a properly trained and established prosecutor on this case and that they don't get bail, no deals and lastly - no special 5 star jail. Put them together with common jailbirds where the should be.

The issue with one of the guys who lost millions is not the financial loss, but is the fact that his friend that he liked so much will not hang out with him any more because he is a swindler.

It's not the money it's the relationship.

Musical Chairs! no magic, when the music stops, there's bound to be a few missing seats!

Honestly, I am flabbergasted that people still fall for these give- some-and-get-more schemes. The second I hear someone telling me to give my hard earned moola in order to get double or tripple back, I ran as fast as my legs can take me. For the haves that fall victim to these scams, it's a thing of wanting more. Ja,we all want to have more, but when you are overly blessed than others, be satisfied.Period!

Fraudsters are just thieves, criminals who need to be locked up for life. Justice in South Africa knows colour, and the judiciary needs to be reformed. Sorry for those who are talking about feeling here, when a carjacker steals a car, its a crime, the same when someone steals money, it does not matter if its a ponzi scheme,its fraud. If it was an ANC Official or Black person, hey, it will have hit world wide as, rule of law or the lack of it, transparency. We need to move from this colour issue and deal with what is wrong with the system. Lets remember that racism is still around in this country and its thriving under the disguise of justice and democracy. Rubbish let the whole family be dragged to prison and all their money taken for its a family trait.

Indeed let us castigate the victims for being feeble and gullible, swayed by their lack of sense and unhibited passions, ringing appeals and visions of plenty, however let us be sure to splash our faces with ice cold water and have a pig fart in our faces, a lot of us work our way up using the cards alloted to us, our taste receptor cells have lost all sense from the asses we lick at work,our values sold to the highest bidder, velvet daggers on the ready, these I'm afraid are all handmaidens of human ambition, these victims had an opportunity and they had the means, an elaborate scheme with PO's from Aspen and Adcock Ingram, our short pockets can only conceive of 32 day fixed deposits and unit trusts

I find it interesting that almost without exception the victims of the scheme are being vilified in this discussion while the fraudsters get off relatively lightly, to the extent that one correspondent considers that Tannenbaum has done his victims a favour. Greed is undoubtedly a regrettable human trait, but how about schadenfreude?

I have just had another thought on this matter. Here's a fine irony indeed. Although Tannenbaum literally means Pine Tree. It is in fact the word used in German for Christmas Tree.

What about all these other legitimate pyramid schemes that are running riot in our country under some form or the other.Boltron Amway Angel Honey IFA they all need you to buy in then recruit others and once more people enter under you the more u make.
People are just so gullible we all want easy money and there aint no such thing.
Y r these glorified pyramid schemes allowed to operate anyways.Anything that talks levels and recurring income is a scam!!

Tannenbaum, Rees and Leigh are all guilty in this scam. How two top attorneys can claim that they did not suspect that the huge sums of money they were earning could perhaps be illegitimate is laughable. The mere fact that properties were purchased in foreign countries with these ill gotten gains shows that they wanted their money out of SA and fast. Rees is currently in Switzerland - after arriving in SA as the "White Knight" to save investors he certainly scurried back overseas rather quickly!

has anybody heard of success university? it promises returns to participants in US dollars and seem pretty similar in its 'network marketing approach'. is this a Ponzi scheme ?

There are NO victims with a get horribly rich scheme at someone elses' expense. There is absolutely no reason what so ever to show any sympathy towards these so called investors. Although I'm inclined to agree with some of the comments that it was an easy way to be able to take huge amounts of money out of the country. Sounds as if these persons learned something from Robert Mugabi, he did so to purchase luxury homes/estates in China.