Colombia’s Financial Superintendent César Prado Villegas resigned
Friday amid growing criticism about the country’s financial authority’s
lack of action against pyramid schemes. Thousands of Colombians lost
their life savings after one of these pyramids collapsed resulting in
riots and several deaths.
President Álvaro Uribe announced the government is studying special measures to avoid an economic crisis. The Prosecution is investigating dozens of pyramid schemes firms and may close them down, which could result in the massive loss of money for tens of thousands of Colombians that invested money in the schemes.
Another company, DMG, also is under investigation for allegedly using pyramid schemes and laundring drugs money. The company itself denies this and accuses Colombia’s banking giant Grupo Aval of illegally trying to shut down a competitor.
Colombian police arrested more than 30 people allegedly who could be involved in the pyramid scheme of DRFE, the company that was forced to close its doors. Justice is trying to recover the money that went into the scheme, but US$290 million dollar, mostly invested by poor Colombians, is still missing.