The defendant in a high-profile case in Ukraine related to fraud on an especially large scale was the next "Mavrodi" of the American spill. The infamous businessman Robert Fletcher was released on bail this year. Millionaire mentor continues the "educational" activities in the framework of the new system of business training.
Some facts from the biography
There are a lot of myths and rumors about Robert Fletcher, but there is not much reliable information. Here is what is known about his biography.
Fletcher's childhood under 8 years passed in Alaska, so Russian culture was close to him. In the city where he grew up, there were many Orthodox churches. Robert went to the Cossack Conquerors school. There were two brothers in the family besides him, mother and stepfather. He worked at the age of 14 in the production of canned fish, made leather goods in his own workshop. At 16, he moved to his father. He combined his studies in Washington with part-time work at McDonald's. It was fatal for a young man to attend a sales seminar and get acquainted with a millionaire who became rich by traveling around the world and educating others. Then Robert realized that there are easy ways to make money.
According to legend, Robert Fletcher became a millionaire at age 22. How did he succeed? According to the stories of the American broker-realtor Martin Alkal, who personally knew Fletcher, Robert was the founder of several little-known firms. The basis of their work was multi-level marketing. Bright representatives in the field of MLM business are Amway, Mary Kay, but in contrast to them, Fletcher's companies did not become famous.
How Fletcher "burned out" in the USA
The American businessman Fletcher, together with partners, repeatedly opened and closed dozens of companies in the USA, remaining in any situation with money, but people signed under him always lost money invested in his company. Later, Robert became interested in real estate, he began to work in the field of real estate investments.
On the Internet you can find all the ins and outs of a businessman-mentor, a bankrupt with 10 million debt. The US Securities and Exchange Commission, having filed another lawsuit in 2007, accused Robert of a multi-million dollar scam. From 2003 to 2005, he held the position of director of ProVision and actively “lured” investors' money. He spent all the funds raised on personal needs: a chic life, luxury purchases, a casino.
Robert Fletcher, according to the conclusion of the commission, deceived investors, talking about the successful work and development of the company. He said that due to this he bought yachts and real estate, spent 137 million dollars on the purchase of several tons of a non-existent mineral called “humate”. The commission obliged Robert to pay a fine and for the rest of his life to give up any managerial positions in joint-stock companies. In addition, Fletcher was accused of online trading in fake stocks and literary scam. An unscrupulous businessman did not become a persona non-grata in the United States in this regard, he was not expelled from the country.
Pyramid schemes and MLM business - what is it?
The financial pyramid is the attraction of investor funds in a fictitious project, the profitability of which is always lower than the investment attraction rate. The project is not able to provide dividends and interest payments to all investors. As a result, funds invested by new investors are used for this. Such a company inevitably comes to bankruptcy, swelling like a soap bubble. When it bursts, the last investors remain at a loss.
MLM business - what is it? It represents the attraction of an unlimited number of customers and partners for the sale of any products, goods through the network, that is, a team of followers, like-minded people. The main difference of the network company, which makes it possible to conduct a real MLM business, is the presence of a product realized through the structure: cosmetics, household goods, for health, etc. Pyramids disguised as network companies sell “air,” meaning they produce nothing, just like Fletcher’s organizations.
Financial pyramids in Ukraine
The activities of Fletcher since 2006 led to the misappropriation of funds of more than 3,000 Ukrainian citizens. The result of his company’s activities was hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. For this he was tried under the article "fraud" (CC).
At free GST seminars (training systems), it was proposed to take paid courses called "How to Get Rich" (costing from 1 to 5 thousand dollars). People at such show events were held for more than a day. Many seminars were held at night, when a person is most inspired. After the “processing”, the client was offered to invest money in any of three dozen projects and receive dividends of up to 300% per annum. Robert Fletcher has repeatedly said that his company’s shares will soon begin to be traded on the London Stock Exchange.
Giving money to the trainer or to Fletcher himself, the unfortunate investor received a receipt to receive a receipt! It contained the amount of profit and information that a person will be given a receipt in the future to receive funds invested in the project. In addition, instead of agreements, memoranda were drawn up with the obligations of the parties, only fixing their intentions. We will cooperate - well, no - no one will return the money. Discounts for training, higher dividends were promised for attracting other students, which is one of the signs of a financial pyramid.
GST Inflated Projects
Many of Fletcher's projects: yacht clubs, airlines, mines, car services, construction of houses in Turkey and others did not exist at all, only colorful illustrations were shown to people. The Maximus pizzeria chain actually turned out to be an eatery for a couple of tables, and the Azov Resorts project was an old pioneer camp. One of Fletcher's myths is a fictional acquaintance with Robert Kiyosaki. In fact, they were neither close friends nor business partners.
The activities of the “training system” did not stop even during the period of serving the millionaire mentor in the pre-trial detention center from 2008 to 2015. Robert Fletcher "preached" even by phone from the camera. Recently, an analogue company GST has been actively attracting investors through the Internet, offers to invest in the construction of new buildings.
GST sect?
GST was not accidentally the object of attention of specialists in the field of sectarianism. This organization is a psychological cult that offers ideas for a round sum. Investors who have suffered at the hands of an American swindler do not believe that they should file an application with the police, and in spite of everything they are waiting for the promised superprofits. They continue to believe that Fletcher was sent by the Creator to teach them how to make millions.