Sergei Mavrodi | |
---|---|
Born | Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | 11 August 1955
Died | 26 March 2018 Moscow, Russia | (aged 62)
Known for | Russian financial fraudster and previously a deputy of the State Duma |
Sergei Panteleevich Mavrodi (Russian: Серге́й Пантеле́евич Мавро́ди; 11 August 1955 – 26 March 2018) was a Russian financial fraudster, financial criminal and previously a deputy of the State Duma. He was the founder of the МММ, a scheme that defrauded millions of people around the globe.
In 2007 Sergei Mavrodi was convicted in a Russian court of defrauding 10,000 investors out of 110 million rubles ($4.3 million).[1][2][3] Mavrodi claimed he was not the beneficiary of the donations and that he was not used to a flamboyant lifestyle. The charge of which he was later convicted was tax fraud[4] though he claimed that the MMM scheme was not a business, but instead a mutual donation program against which there is no law.[5] There were interviews after his release where he claimed MMM Global was behind the bitcoin price rally.[6]