That money isn’t yours
18 June 2009 by PhilipWhen South Africans do something, we ‘do it good’. No small-time 419 scams or chain letter fraud for us. We follow in the footsteps of greats like Bernie Madoff and run a proper ponzi scheme. I am - if you haven’t guessed yet - talking about alleged swindler Barry Tannenbaum and his R15 billion pyramid scheme.
Tongue-in-cheek comments aside, what is dissapointing is the fact that laws in the country make it rather tedious to pursue those who have profited from the scheme. It doesn’t change the fact that those who profited will have to return what they gained if the scheme is found to be a scam. And investors are already running for the hills; a bad sign for sure.
If the scheme is legitimate, they still don’t win. The SA Revenue Service has reminded that they could be in for a tax surprise if they received any money from the scheme; even if they rolled over their investments and lost both their capital and profits. Ouch!
Do you know anybody who was burned by Tannenbaum? What would you do if you were one of the bilked investors and you bumped into him on the street?
June 19th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Maybe it\’s time that we South Africans became less lawless. We complain like mad about government spending (and I\’m probably the most vehement in my objections) but why is it that we grab at every scheme, yet refuse to pay our taxes? The people that invested in the scheme are shrewd businessmen that should have known better! There is no quick buck, but if you take risks, expect this kind of thing to happen. To hide money from the receiver, is pathetic and shortsighted - not what one would expect from our captains of industry564028
June 19th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Its so sad to see rich folks pointing fingers and carrying on about morals and business ethics. Yet they are all happy to jump into a investment that milks the cost of drugs that save lives> Then when they get burnt and lose their money they want justice—— man oh man.