Clipping of news on Brazilian Culture, Law and Citizenship
07/22/2013
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
With internet schemes gain agility and multiply by country
SÃO PAULO and RIO - Profitability well above the market average, low risk and return in the short term. Who would not feel attracted to a formula like this, especially in the current economic environment in Brazil, in which fixed income investments offer a gain of 0.5% per month, almost the same as that of the savings and the Stock Exchange accumulates tumbles consecutive? Financial advisors heard by GLOBE claim that this may be one reason for the resurgence of financial pyramid schemes known as a type of scam since the last century that attracts people from all social classes in Brazil and abroad with the promise of high gain and easy. Experts say that the coup was reinvented in the electronic age when the internet via social networks or e-mails, multiplied the power to enlist victims.
- This type of trap attracts many people who are in financial difficulty or too indebted. There are also those who seek a more profitable alternative investment and end up in the coup. The current economic scenario, fixed income giving a real gain very little, with the fall in the interest rate, and the stock with a loss of more than 20% this year, favors the application of this scam - says Miguel Ribeiro de Oliveira, financial adviser.
The return of inflation, currently prowling the level of 6.5% per year, is also one more ingredient. In practice, higher inflation means lower income and eroded purchasing power.
- Any application option that offers real gains above inflation is interesting. In the case of pyramids, the gain is usually much higher as the market. But turns into prejudice, in no time. The main victims are those who are entering the scheme finally collapses before - says Ribeiro.
The new wave of pyramids was identified at a meeting of the National Association of Consumer prosecutor, the prosecutor says Murilo Miranda, president of the organization. It was then that the state and federal government ministries formed a task force that has blocked assets and suspended the activities and Telexfree BBom investigates and 16 other companies.
- The question of the pyramids is cyclical and always occurs for different reasons. For over 60 years we have cases in the country. With the internet and social networks, there are no more limitations for these companies, and the network of advisers spreads with a wider scope - explains.
The financial educator Reinaldo Domingos remember that the models become more sophisticated financial pyramid. Gained speed and capacity to multiply with the internet. His power to get new members became much larger:
- With the pyramid via email or social network account and debit minute also being done in the computer, these schemes have gained speed. The coup was reinvented.
New cases are investigated
And do not stop new cases arise. Since March 12, the prosecutor's office in Rio Grande do Sul (PR / RS) investigates another complaint made by e-mail, by an anonymous.
In Rio, there is a court decision against the Fruits of the Earth Brazil Association for practicing financial pyramid, offering letter of credit for home purchases. The Court suspended the activities of the association and determined compensation, but no one has been reimbursed yet.
Ramillo Sherman de Souza's lawyer 20 of 44 people injured by the fruits of the earth, until Thursday, had already enabled the courts of Rio to receive compensation. The ruling by Judge Marcia Cunha de Carvalho, head of the 2nd Company of the River, determines the return on interest and double the investment made by the members, in addition to payment of £ 5000 each for moral damages. According to Souza, members were asked to pay 30 installments of £ 50 to £ 120 and led to believe that at the end of that period, would receive a letter of credit thousand times larger than the plot. According to the investigation, were only benefited people close to the board of the organization, as relatives and friends. To increase the attractiveness of the business, the Fruits of the Earth promised benefits, the commission rebate fees, who bring new members.
- Why deceive people about buying something so significant, that is one of the most serious racketeering - underscores the judge.
The company appealed the sentence in July last year. However, in May this year, the 17th Civil Chamber upheld the decision-new feature only in the Superior Court of Justice.
Bank Evangelista, 58, lives in Arraial do Cabo and seeks to recover its investment in the Fruits of the Earth. He paid 39 installments, totaling R $ 4,240, and only realized that it was a pyramid earlier this year.
- The house itself is a dream for everyone. No matter the social class. And that was a dream come true also for my two sons. I had to stretch the budget to pay $ 120 per month - regrets Evangelista, who took three friends to the group. Was one that warned of the coup.
The prosecutor Julio Machado Costa Teixeira, author of the civil action that resulted in the conviction of the association, warns that there is no other advantageous offers are fulfilled:
- How is it possible for someone to contribute a total of £ 1,500 and, in 30 months, earning a letter of credit in the amount of R $ 50 thousand?
Profit comes from associated
The founder and president of the Fruits of the Earth Brazil, Carlos Alberto Rotermund, was approached by GLOBE, but did not attend the calls.
Basically, what characterizes the financial pyramids, to sell services or products, is the origin of the income of the participants. If the gain comes from money invested by entering the business, then it is a classic scheme. The financial advisor Ribeiro recalls one of the most famous cases registered in Brazil: Collected Cattle Farms that was popularized in the 1990s, offering a sort of partnership. The investor in cattle and applied at the end of the contract, the profit received from the sale of fattened animals. The promised yield was at least 42% and attracted more than 30,000 people, including coaches and footballers, actors and even economists. The pyramid collapsed in 2004 and left prejudice billionaire.
The psychologist Beatriz Nunes Bernardi says that even those who have heard of the fraud is attracted because the easy money entices and emotion overrides the reason:
- Also, as some people do have a good return when the scheme is in the beginning, it ends up being a gimmick.
For Marcelo Maron, financial advisor and executive director of the Group PAR, no matter the context. The big draw is the promise of easy money.
Source: The Globe - Online
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This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.