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LATIN AMERICA |
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Colombia Authorizes Extradition to U.S. of
Pyramid Scheme Head
BOGOTA – The Colombian government has
authorized the extradition to the United
States of David Murcia Guzman and his chief
associate, both accused of running a massive
pyramid scheme that illegally raised more
than us$2 billion.
President Alvaro Uribe gave the go-ahead on
Friday for the extradition of Murcia Guzman,
whose company was known by his own initials,
DMG, and of his partner and brother-in-law,
William Suarez.
“The decision seeks to have David Murcia and
William Suarez face trial (in the United
States) for the charges of criminal
conspiracy and money laundering,” the
presidential palace said in a statement
Friday, noting that Uribe was acting on an
extradition request issued March 17, 2009,
by the U.S. District Court, Southern
District of New York.
The statement added that, based on bilateral
accords, the assets belonging to the
suspects that are located in the United
States and are the product of their illegal
activities are to be used to compensate
their victims.
The Supreme Court authorized Murcia Guzman’s
extradition in October, but the final
decision on whether or not to send him to
the United States was in the hands of the
president.
The 29-year-old Murcia Guzman, who rose from
being a humble traveling salesman to
presiding over a multi-million-dollar
enterprise, is currently jailed at Bogota’s
La Picota prison after being convicted in
his homeland on charges of running a
combination pyramid scheme-money laundering
operation in the Andean nation.
He was arrested in Panama in November in
2008 and subsequently extradited to Bogota.
Suarez, who like Murcia Guzman maintained
his innocence throughout the proceedings,
was earlier convicted in Colombia of illegal
enrichment charges.
DMG comprised dozens of branches in Colombia
and Murcia Guzman planned to expand his
business empire into neighboring countries
when it was taken over by the Colombian
government on Nov. 17, 2008.
His business model consisted of selling
pre-paid debit cards to clients, who could
use them to purchase products at DMG stores
and later redeem them for cash as a reward
for signing on other investors.
While several other pyramid schemes in
Colombia went bust last year, leaving
thousands of duped investors in the lurch,
DMG was still operating at the time it was
shuttered.
The decision to shut down DMG’s operations
sparked protests in the southwestern
Colombian provinces of Putumayo and Huila.
The demonstrators said the up to 300 percent
returns they were receiving on their
investments were their only means of putting
food on the table after government coca
spraying left many peasants jobless.
But authorities said there was no way DMG
could pay such exorbitant returns and that
early investors were being paid with money
contributed by subsequent investors, rather
than from profit – a classic pyramid scheme.
According to Colombian newsweekly Semana,
prosecutors accused Murcia Guzman of
illegally raising more than $2.6 billion.
Semana also noted that the U.S. ambassador
to Colombia, William Brownfield, said at the
beginning of this year that his country has
“evidence that (Murcia Guzman) carried out
some of his activities and financial
transactions in the United States, which of
course gives our legal system the
possibility of requesting his extradition at
any moment.” |
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