Supporters of MMM, which is accused of being a Ponzi scheme, marched in Soweto, South Africa in celebration of the Financial Freedom Awareness campaign, coinciding with South Africa’s Freedom Day, according to Independent Online (IOL), a South African news source.

MMM Global is under investigation by The Hawks, South Africa’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), which targets organized crime, economic crime, and corruption. Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said investigations into MMM continue.

The scheme is active in various countries and has been accused of being a Ponzi scheme.

MMM Has Supporters

MMM supporters in Soweto marched in defiance of MMM’s critics.

Sergey Mavrodi, a Russian who has been convicted for financial scheming, founded MMM Global, which is based on bitcoin currency.

Supporters, known as “Mavrodians,” brought traffic on Koma Road to a halt for about two hours. They carried a banner with MMM’s colors and marched from Thokoza Park in Rockville to Molapo.

One marcher, Seipati Msimang, showed off her new Range Rover Evoque, valued at R750,000, which she purchased on her birthday for cash last month. She said it was a perfect birthday present from the Mavrodians.

Promises Fall Short

MMM Global has told investors they would get 30% returns after members worldwide had promised to give returns of 100% monthly.

MMM Global announced a couple of weeks ago that it was closing its ‘Republic of Bitcoin’, a website that promised up to 100% returns on donations, CCN.com reported. The company stated in a blog that the Republic of Bitcoin was a failed experiment.

Following this announcement, several news outlets reported that the MMM Global scheme had collapsed, giving the impression that all its programs had closed. It appears that this is not the case.

An MMM Global website that makes no reference to the Republic of Bitcoin still claims it is possible to get up to 100% per month and has instructions on how to begin participating. The website claims MMM is operating in 118 countries and has more than 200 million participants worldwide. The website includes videos of MMM supporters from different countries.

Also read: MMM Global shuts down alleged Ponzi scheme

Reports Question MMM

Fin24.com, a South African website, has reported that Mavrodi, who various news reports refer to as the person operating MMM Global, has gone into hiding. The report said MMM South Africa was one of nine companies the South African Police Services Specialized Commercial Crimes Unit is investigating.

Behind MLM, a site that reviews multi-level marketing (MLM) activity, reported on Dec. 10, 2015, that there was no information on the MMM Global website indicating who owns or runs it. The report noted the website domain was registered on Feb. 4, 2014, but the domain registration was set to private.

The Chinese government has warned citizens that MMM Global operated illegally in that country, according to EconoTimes. The report noted MMM Global was registered in Russia and its servers were not located in China.

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