Cuban regulator warns against multiple MLM Ponzi schemes
The Central Bank of Cuba, the country’s top financial regulator, has issued a warning targeting several MLM Ponzi schemes.
Scams cited in the Central Bank’s May 13th warning include;
- Mind Capital – Spanish Ponzi scheme on its last legs;
- Mirror Trading International – collapsed South African Ponzi scheme;
- Arbistar – collapsed Spanish Ponzi scheme, owner arrested last year;
- Trust Investing – Spanish Ponzi scheme, Cuban Director recently arrested; and
- QubitLife (formerly QubitTech) – Russian Ponzi scheme run by Greg Limon, securities fraud warnings issued in multiple jurisdictions.
The operations carried out by these schemes have little or no transparency and are hidden behind an apparently technical phraseology, but devoid of content.
All this, without there being a real economic value or good to back it up.
This operation is similar to what is known as Multilevel or Pyramid Scams, also called Ponzi Schemes.
The Cuban State does not promote or approve the operation of this type of “companies”.
None of them has a license to operate within the national territory.
Cuba evidently has emerged as a market to pitch MLM Ponzi schemes to over the past year or so.
Most of them seem to be imported from Spain, likely by the same group of scammers.
Based on current Alexa traffic analysis, Cuba is
- the primary source of traffic to Trust Investing’s website (44%); and
- the second largest source of traffic to QubitLife’s website (14%)
Arresting the Director of Trust Investing as he attempted to flee the country is a start.
Whether Cuban authorities can get the spread of Ponzi schemes under control remains to be seen.
