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· Absolute Shockers · MARKETS

Meet The New Madoff: $600 Million Ponzi Scheme In 20 Months

We spotted this painful stat:

"How is it, then, that beginning in January 2011 an old multilevel marketing hack named Paul Burks of Lexington, N.C., was able to lure 1 million investors into what regulators now call a $600 million Ponzi scheme?

According to a civil fraud complaint that the Securities and Exchange Commission filed on Friday, Burks was able to accomplish all this in less than 20 months. This is nothing short of mind-blowing in an era when people should have known to keep their guard up. Read more on MarketWatch.

Burks, 65 years old, isn’t commenting. His Texas-based communications consultant, Clifton Jolley, said he has agreed to settle the charges without admitting nor denying the allegations, and that he is cooperating with a court-appointed receiver of his company’s remaining assets."

Statistics Source: Yahoo Finance

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