300 people angry over pyramid scheme burn buildings, injure 5 in Colombia; 6 detained

[Judi Lynn]

300 people angry over pyramid scheme burn buildings, injure 5 in Colombia; 6 detained
By Associated Press
11:22 AM EST, December 23, 2008

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Six people are in custody after a crowd ransacked the home of an alleged pyramid scheme representative.

About 300 people went to the man's home to demand the return of their money. But when they found the house empty, they broke inside and tried to set it on fire.

The group then set ablaze the man's business, as well as the offices of a local judge and prosecutor.

The protest began late Monday in La Hormiga, a town in Colombia's coca-growing southern region. Five people were injured.

More:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/nationworld/sns-ap-lt-colombia-pyramid-scheme,0,2918533.story

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Sales scam taints the 'Teflon President'
Peter Beaumont, foreign affairs editor
The Observer, Sunday December 7 2008

Once one of South America's most popular leaders, President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia has become embroiled in a hugely damaging scandal concerning a pyramid scam. The affair is denting his support and threatening his campaign to change the constitution so he can seek re-election for a third term.

The collapse of a series of pyramid schemes involving perhaps as many as 4 million out of 44 million Colombians has significantly reduced popular support for a controversial figure credited with driving leftist guerillas out of the cities and back into the countryside.

The sheer scale of the scandal has had consequences for the country's economy and politics and now the President's family after it was revealed that two of Uribe's sons were friends with one of the figures behind the worst of the scams.

According to the Washington Post last week, the Attorney General's office has reported that an estimated $1bn (£700m) has been lost in four southern states alone.

At the centre of Uribe's difficulties is the figure of David Murcia, a pony-tailed 28-year-old former travelling salesman, who set up DMG Group Holdings, described as a complex mixture between a pyramid scheme and a money-laundering vehicle.

~snip~
Murcia's empire, which stretched beyond Colombia's borders, was allegedly kept alive by bribes to politicians and law enforcement officials. Most embarrassing for Uribe is the relationship between his sons Tomás and Jerónimo and one of Murcia's key lieutenants, a friendship so toxic that Uribe was forced to call a press conference to declare that his sons were not corrupt.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/07/colombia-avara-uribe-pyramid-scam
http://www.semana.com.nyud.net:8090/photos/Generales/ImgArticulo_T2_51152_200821_164323.jpg

http://www.eltiempo.com.nyud.net:8090/colombia/justicia/IMAGEN/IMAGEN-4678878-1.jpg

http://www.cambio.com.co.nyud.net:8090/paiscambio/745/IMAGEN/IMAGEN-3761229-2.jpg

http://cache.daylife.com.nyud.net:8090/imageserve/07s2fZ64FegBF/340x.jpg

More information, photos of Uribe's sons:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=405x10424