What can we learn from the scam WinCapita?

heipauli · 01-13-09 2:06 am

Quote: "WinCapita, previously WinClub, was an Internet-based investment club, advertising that it was engaged in currency trading. It operated on the Finnish market, with a smaller number of members also in Sweden. In March 2008, the company came under investigation by the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation based on allegations of operating a pyramid scheme or a Ponzi scheme and aggravated fraud.[1] During the investigation the Finnish police have not found any evidence of the advertised currency trading; the operation was allegedly a forex scam scheme of the bucket shop type. Thai police are also investigating the case.[2] The operation collected about 100 million euros cash from the investors, the largest in Finnish history.[3][4] The company presented itself as an invitation-only foreign exchange investment club that required an initial investment of several thousand euros, while promising up to 400% returns in investment.[5] For its members, it offered an automatic "signal clock" software which predicted good times to buy or sell a currency. The investment company has been in operation since 2005. The web site of the company was abruptly closed in March 2008, prompting growing alarm from investors. Over eight hundred criminal suits have been filed against the company.[6] The investigation is still ongoing, and the main suspect has been remanded for trial.[7] The company itself was registered in Panama,[8] but two main perpetrators live in Pattaya, Thailand.[2] According to the National Bureau of Investigation, approximately 10 000 people had invested at least 69 million euro in the company." Source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WinCapita" target=_top>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WinCapita</a>

heipauli · 01-13-09 2:29 am

According to different tabloids, part of the success of the scam was the idea of using religion as a smoke screen. The inventor of the scam was presented as a deeply religious person, and the scheme was aggressively marketed to some denominations. The greatest success the inventor seems to have had with 1) Lestadians 2) Pentecostals The first group may be unfamiliar to most of you, so a short quote from Wikipedia follows: "Laestadianism is a conservative Lutheran revival movement started in the middle of the 19th century. It is strongly marked by both pietistic and Moravian influences. It is the biggest revivalist movement in the Nordic countries.[1] It has members mainly in Finland, North America, Norway, Russia and Sweden. There are also smaller congregations in Africa, South America and Central Europe. In addition Laestadians have missionaries in 23 countries. The number of Laestadians worldwide is estimated to be between 144,000 and 219,000. Because of doctrinal opinion differences the movement has been split into 19 branches, of which about 15 are active today. The three large main branches are: Conservative Laestadianism (corresponds to the Laestadian Lutheran Church), the Firstborn (In North America = "Old Apostolic Lutheran Church") and the Rauhan Sana ("the Word of Peace") group, known in the USA and Canada as the Apostolic Lutheran Church of America. These comprise about 90 percent of Laestadians. Other branches are small and some of them inactive. The Elämän Sana ("the Word of life") group, as the most "mainline" of the different branches of Laestadianism, has been prominent within the hierarchy of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland: two of them have been elected bishops of Oulu and one has served as Field Bishop (head chaplain of the Finnish Defence Forces and the equivalent of a Major General). Laestadians in Finland have wanted to be part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, but in America, where there is no established Lutheran church, they had to found their own denomination." (More info can be found at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lestadians" target=_top>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lestadians</a>) What I did not find in the article (it may be there, but I failed to see it) is the fact that most, maybe all (?) Lestadians believe that in Heaven there will only - yes, you guessed it correctly - Lestadians. But not any Lestadians, but only those belonging to the subpopulation just the person in question happens to belong. They do not hide their opinion on that salvation issue. When my firstborn child was about one year old, we had as a domestic help a young Lestadian lady. I once asked her, what in her opinion were my chances to get admission to Heaven. She without any hesitation answered that as long I have not got absolution from a person belonging to her branch of Lestadianism, my chances were nil. Of Pentecostalism there is no need to tell you any long stories, except that here in Finland the movement is divided on the issue of registration.

heipauli · 01-13-09 2:36 am

The two perps mentioned in the leading message are now in the police custody (= in jail, if I do not err). The prosecutor is still collecting evidence. No one knows for sure, when the trial will begin. But how it happens, there are still people - several hundreds maybe - who do not believe that they have been had. On that I'll dwell later.

heipauli · 01-13-09 2:50 am

What made those believers so prone to deception? A great deal is IMHO due to the triumphalistic attitude of those two branches of Christianity. They felt that they were special pets of God. Actually they felt that God owe them even material blessing. Especially the Pentecostals, as many of them believe in tithing. Why were no Adventists involved? Actually I strongly believe that there were, and in addition to that, even in great numbers if one considers the fact that there are only 4 - 5 thousand SDA's in Finland (the figure depending on which source you believe). But Lestadians and Pentecostal have been mentioned in newspapers IMHO for two reasons: 1) There are much more of them, compared with SDAs 2) As they are divided and there is even hostility between subgroups, it is so alluring to tell of the bad luck of those not belonging to one's own group to the media.

bob · 01-14-09 11:00 am

One reason, probably the biggest one, that people get involved in cults and scams is being too trusting. Some person or group is willing to take an interest in me and I am flattered or looking for friends and I am willing to put my trust in them. That is how I got involved with Adventism. Now, since we have the internet and instant resources there is less of an excuse for getting involved. There is little excuse for those who are trapped in those cults and scams for not being able to investgate what they think is right. Pauli, are you familiar with the Davenport scandel? Even the GC president had to step dow after investing hard earned members tithes in that scam. Google Donald Davenport. The following is a good example of dumb trust. The Press-Enterprise—January 4, 2006 Churches can unwittingly enable scams, experts say SCAMS: Con artists commonly target church congregations with promises of big returns. By DEVONA WELLS and BETTYE WELLS MILLER Investment Tips Experts suggest that prospective investors take these steps to avoid investment scams: Do research: Ask for written materials from your broker, such as a prospectus or financial statements. Don’t hurry: Take your time when you’re making an investment decision. Check broker: Verify the broker’s name and license number. Check claims: Watch out for claims of high interest or guaranteed returns. Seek advice: Run the investment by a trusted financial adviser or lawyer. Use common sense: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. SOURCES: C.A.R.E., SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF CORPORATIONS, NORTH AMERICAN SECURITIES ADMINISTRATORS ASSOCIATION Dene Tyler’s bank had talked her out of investing at her church once before. But Tyler, 50, didn’t want to miss out on the generous returns being reaped by her pastor and other parishioners. So, in 2002, she wrote a $90,000 check to Winston George Ross, who gave investment seminars at Valley Crossroads Seventh-day Adventist Church in Pacoima. By the time she moved to Fontana in June 2003, the monthly returns from her investment had dried up. Ross’ scheme collapsed that year, and he was sentenced in November to almost 13 years in prison for scamming hundreds of people nationwide — most of them Seventh-day Adventists — out of more than $6.5 million. Tyler lost more than two-thirds of what she’d invested, money from the sale of her house as part of a divorce settlement. She now lives frugally and worries that because she lost the expected investment income, she may not be able to keep her home. “Had it not come through my church and been endorsed by my minister, I would never, never have invested with him,” she said. Church congregations are a common target of investment scams, whether it’s parishioners’ money or church funds that are taken. From 1998 through 2001, at least 80,000 people lost $2 billion in scams that targeted church members, according to the most recent figures from the North American Securities Administrators Association. The organization’s members are state regulatory agencies, including California’s Department of Corporations.

heipauli · 01-14-09 1:56 pm

Bob, yes, I'm familiar with the Davenport case, the last phases excluding (namely sometimes it was told that actually the denomination was able the reap back the money that seemed to be lost; is that true?) But on the earlier developments Limboline (BTW, do you know it?) reported circumstantially. What I have been lately mulling over is the question: IF the SDA denomination in Finland lost money in the WinCapita scam, would it ever tell to the membership? I'm not quite sure. How it so happens that it has succesfully (success determined in these cases by short time perspective) hidden some scandals members should be aware of. They have mainly been of erotic/sexual nature. Sometimes I may begin a thread called "ethics - medical vs. clerical".

elaine · 01-14-09 11:06 pm

Pauli, that's a good thread idea: "ethics - medical vs.clerical. Is Christian ethics an oxymoron?

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#1 01-13-09 2:06 am

What can we learn from the scam WinCapita?

#2 01-13-09 2:29 am

Re: What can we learn from the scam WinCapita?

#3 01-13-09 2:36 am

Re: What can we learn from the scam WinCapita?

#4 01-13-09 2:50 am

Re: What can we learn from the scam WinCapita?

#5 01-14-09 11:00 am

Re: What can we learn from the scam WinCapita?

#6 01-14-09 1:56 pm

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#7 01-14-09 11:06 pm

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