TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Government Vows Help To Swindled Investors

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 17, 2008

BOGOTA - Colombia's government readied emergency measures Sunday to appease irate investors who lost tens of millions of dollars in the collapse of pyramid schemes that caused riots, scores of arrests and two deaths.
President Alvaro Uribe vowed to help poor investors regain their savings. He said the government could also boost prison time for people who collect deposits without authorization, now punishable with six years in jail.

Thousands of Colombians, many of them poor people who do not have accounts at formal banks, had invested with unlicensed companies that offered monthly returns as high as 150 percent.

One outlet, known as Proyecciones DRFE, collapsed Wednesday on news that its owner, Carlos Alfredo Suarez, had left the country and wouldn't repay clients.

The company was thought to have lost $270 million, having collected $181 million in the first nine months of the year alone in just four cities, Colombia's banking regulator said.

Furious investors stormed and looted local branches in rioting that left 13 towns under police curfew and two men dead: a security guard and a bystander who tried to calm the crowds.

The Associated Press

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT