Frågor & Svar

Pyramid schemes

Hello,

a friend of mine has joined a woman gifting circle which she is very fond of. But to me it is obvious that it is a pyramid scheme and I've tried to explain this to her. She refuses to believe me about it being illegal, so I'm hoping that if she gets to hear it from a lawyer that she'll understand.

The circle is called a "Mandala" and women pay a "gift" amount of money when they start as a "fire", before moving on to "water", then "air" and finally the "earth" status to receive a large payout from eight new women.

One person is the most senior in the group, "earth". She has recruited two people beneath her, who have each recruited two more, and they in turn two more. As a condition of entering the group, the eight most recent recruits each “gift" money to the most senior group member. She then moves out of the circle, which then splits into two circles. Her two recruits are now the most senior members of their own circles. Once the eight people who just bought into the group recruits two people, those two most-senior members each get the payout and the circle splits again.

They are having weekly supporting meetings where they discuss a lot of things, supporting each other, this is what my friend finds wonderful and doesn't want to let go. I've tried explaining that people will loose money, even if not her, but it doesn't get through. I've tried explaining the math with no luck

What are the legal issues and penalties with this here in Sweden, in Germany and the USA?

Boka jurist

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