Multinational investment company DMG announced they will sue the Colombian government for persecution of the business next Monday, beginning a court showdown for the business which to fans is a modern Midas and to critics the Pablo Escobar of money laundering.
The promised court case comes two days after Colombian officials found about US$2.35 million in cash in at the Manizales Airport, money DMG later claimed as theirs.
Added to a seizure earlier this year, DMG is asking for the return of US$5.6 million in confiscated funds, all currently held by the government’s Money Laundering Unit. It alleges the government is withholding the funds in an attempt to break the business, reports La FM.
The company sells prepaid cards for about US$50 and up which can be used to buy services then after six months can be reimbursed for between 70 and 150 percent of their value. For example, someone who buys a US$100,000 card can get US$250,000 in articles and money by the end of the six month period, reported Semana, in the most read article of their website.
DMG claims that Colombian law does not prohibit the transfer of large amounts of cash. It said it transports money itself because the banking system has prohibited the business and its subsidiaries from using their services, reported El Tiempo.
DMG will charge the Colombian government with ‘systematic persecution’ of the business before the Inter-American Human Rights Commission, the corporation’s lawyer, Aberlado de la Espriella, told La FM.
The lawsuit’s announcement of the lawsuit comes as Colombia’s Society Superintendent, which has been investigating DMG, is ‘on the point’ of announcing new measures to control the company, El Tiempo reported.
One July investigation of the company, alleges that that though US$750,000 in cash was raised, only 22 of the 126 card buyers made purchases, which totaled only US$8,500 dollars, “which permits the inference that not all the resources raised in cash from the clients are consumed by the prepaid DMG cards,” says the report quoted by the newspaper.
DMG’s owner, Colombian David Murcia, has valued the company’s brand at US$25 million and the revenues at US$35 million, but company profit was only US$37,000 last year and assets of just US$82,000, reported Semana in a separate report.