MMM (Ponzi scheme company)

Joint stock company "MMM"
Native name
Акционерное общество «МММ»
IndustryOffice Equipment importer (1989-early 1990s)
Ponzi Scheme initiator (1992 onwards)
Founded1989
FounderSergei Mavrodi
Defunct2004
FateShut down by Russian police in 1994, declared bankruptcy in 1997, reopened in 2011 as MMM Global
HeadquartersRussia
Key people
Sergei Mavrodi

МММ was a Russian company that perpetrated one of the world's largest Ponzi schemes of all time, in the 1990s.[1][2] By different estimates from 5 to 10 million people lost their savings.[3] According to contemporary Western press reports, most investors were aware of the fraudulent nature of the scheme, but still hoped to profit from it by withdrawing money before it collapsed.[4][5]

In 2011, MMM re-opened as "MMM Global".

  1. ^ Transitions Online Archived 2007-04-12 at the Wayback Machine accessed April 12, 2007
  2. ^ Bigg, Claire (March 15, 2012). "Jailed For Not Paying A Fine, Ponzi Scheme Founder Plots 'Financial Apocalypse'". RFE/RL. Archived from the original on March 16, 2012.
  3. ^ "MMM's Mavrodi Voted Into Duma". The Moscow Times. November 1, 1994. Archived from the original on 3 December 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2017. MMM collapsed in July, swallowing the savings of an estimated 5 million to 10 million investors
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference csburn was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Russian Investors Entered Stock Scheme With Eyes Wide Open". Chicago Tribune. July 31, 1994. Archived from the original on July 26, 2013. But like gamblers [...], MMM's players thought they were smart enough to win big before the inevitable bust occurred