The man who created the biggest pyramid scheme in Russia's history announced Monday that he was making a comeback with a new investment vehicle that brings in monthly returns of 20 to 30 percent. Sergei Mavrodi said in a message on his website that he was creating an international "financial network" called MMM-2011 - with the three Russian letters standing for "we can do anything."
"You all know my situation," the man who created the original MMM investment pyramid in 1994 said in the video message. "I do not have the right to perform any transactions with any valuables - with any sorts of securities," said Mavrodi. "But we can still employ a good old principle from judo: using the opponent's strength against him," he added.
"All the transactions will only be performed between the investors themselves. I will not lay a finger on this money." The slightly-built man with huge glasses became a Russian celebrity in the 1990s by flooding television with ads in which a middle class couple watched their MMM investment make millions as the months wore on.
The brief but omnipresent spots made a particularly strong impact because they were some of the first to be aired on Russian television as it welcomed advertisements following decades of Soviet rule. Hundreds of thousands of Russians - including a few high-profile celebrities - bought "shares" of a company that unravelled once the first flood of investors tried to cash in their winnings.