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Organizing for Legalization




Noting that bingo and horse racing used to be illegal, promoters, who hope to eventually circumvent pyramid laws, have drafted a proposal that would add a subsection to the law that would read: "A plan or operation is not a pyramid promotional scheme if each participant in the plan or operation has signed a document stating that all the money the participant contributes into the plan or operation is a gift and that the participant has not been promised any compensation in return for the contribution."

One industrious advisor who gives opinions on the legality of the schemes to groups being investigated by authorities, bases his argument on the idea that money given in the clubs is a gift and that nothing is promised or expected in return.

"Nobody who states that their contribution is a gift has any legal claim against the recipient of the gift. Anyone who claims that they have a right to compensation for their gift is either claiming falsely that they made an investment and not a gift, or that they committed fraud by telling the recipient that the contribution was a gift when indeed the party making the gift intended it as an investment. In addition, reasserting rights to a gift constitutes a breech of an implied contract to not reassert such rights."

This is contrary to the reassurance given some people who are told they can get their money back at any time. Key organizers often tell people operating groups to deal only in cash because they would have no recourse if a check bounced.

Some women at these advisory meetings are surprised to learn that the clubs are illegal because they had been assured that they were legal.

"I would never have signed something like that," one victim said, adding that she realized too late that eventually enough people would not participate and someone at the bottom of the pyramid would lose money, never imagining from all the hype that it would be her.

If, prior to joining this game of musical chairs, participants realized nine players were dancing around one chair, they might not let wishful thinking take over where critical thinking should step in.

The We'll Show You State

The Missouri Attorney General's office (consumer protection division) handed out several subpoenas to people who had promoted the pyramid scheme there.

Eight Missouri women, all from the Kansas City area, were ordered to pay nearly $200,000 in restitution for their alleged involvement in the Women's Empowerment Network, also known as the Original Dinner Party and often referred to as "gifting trees" or "gifting networks". Information revealed that they had profited by $40,000 or more.

The clubs and networks gained popularity in St. Francois and surrounding counties in early summer after arriving from Washington, though eventually the latest participants voiced concern over collectively losing hundreds of thousands of dollars and anger at being taken in by so-called friends.

At some of the meetings it was stated by promoters that they had contacted the Attorney General's office and the AG or one of his spokesmen said the clubs were perfectly legal. The names of local attorneys were also being used for this purpose.

Punishment for participating in an illegal pyramid scam in Missouri carries a range of two to five years of imprisonment.

Better To Give

Organizers of another pyramid scam, uncovered in Texas, invited recruits to "Jubilee Celebration" meetings where they were asked to contribute $2,000 "in the name of God" in exchange for a chance to earn $16,000 if they recruited eight others. The pitch was that it was "blessed to give", and apparently people believed it, for at a raided meeting deputies arrested eight people and confiscated nearly $700,000 from 80 people who had brought amounts ranging from $2,000 to $144,000.

Participants at the meeting carried driver's licenses from as far away as Washington state and Alaska. At four meetings held in Texas it's estimated more than 1,000 people participated.

The meetings were held in private halls and hotels and were by invitation only, with participants passing through metal detectors before entering. Once, people were told that they could "harvest" thousands of dollars in profits in exchange for "sowing" a $2,000 investment. Participants were instructed to make their contributions in $100 bills, cash only.

There was so much money being handled that they hired off-duty deputies to provide security. They would even lock down the buildings where they were 'gifting,' or exchanging money.

The District Attorney's Office, which was tipped off by the moonlighting deputies, said more than $2 million was exchanged during a meeting attended by more than 150 people. Officials in Florida estimate as many as 4,000 people participated in similar meetings held throughout the Florida.

Mark the statements below as true or false.

1) In order to join some club, you mustn’t pay anything.

2) To create an aura of respectability they may be called "investment clubs" or "gifting clubs".

3) Statistics shows that about 80 percent of people who put up the money get a return.

4) Only young people are victims of local pyramid club schemes.

5) Telephone contact among circle members is maintained through weekly conference calls.

6) All women at these advisory meetings knew that the clubs were illegal

7) Punishment for participating in an illegal pyramid scam in Missouri carries a range of one year of imprisonment.

8) Organizers of another pyramid scam, uncovered in Texas, invited recruits to "Jubilee Celebration" meetings where they were asked to contribute $2,000 "in the name of God" in exchange for a chance to earn $16,000 if they recruited eight others.

9) Participants at the meeting carried driver's licenses from as far away as Washington state and Alaska.

10)The meetings were held in public halls and hotels and there were no any invitations.

Choose the right word or word-combinations from the text.

1) Once the pyramid reaches a certain stage, there are always too many people to be paid off, and pyramid....

a) succeeds c) collapses

b) disappears d) exists

2) Peer... of this sort is a key factor in recruitment.

a) interest c) force

b) work d) pressure

3) In fact... informational meetings are key to achieving mass hysteria and widespread within a shot period of time.

a) useful c) promotional

b) interesting d) modern

4) Nobody who states that their contribution is a gift has any legal... against the recipient of the gift.

a) question c) discussion

b) problem d) claim

5) At some of the meetings it was stated by promoters, that they had contacted the... office.

a) lawyer’s c) judge’s

b) Attorney General’s d) jury’s

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