QCOSTARICA – A bill by PAC legislator, Laura Guido, tries to classify as a crime the capture of money from third parties through pyramid or “ponzi” scheme. The plan, which gives an example of what happened in the Pietra Verdi case, a company of Brazilian origin supposedly dedicated to the commercialization of emeralds and precious stones, which had been recruiting investors for some time, stopped making the respective payments.
The initiative would add a final paragraph to article 63 of the Law for the Promotion of Competition and Effective Defense of the Consumer to qualify as a scam whoever “directs, executes or promotes a pyramidal business plan or any other analogous” and impose a sentence of two months to 13 years in prison on those who obtain resources with these structures, depending on the amount defrauded.
According to the project, the pyramid structure occurs when a consumer or user makes “consideration for the seller, or for a third party, in exchange for the opportunity to receive compensation derived from the adherence of other consumers or users to the plan, and not the sale or supply of goods or services”.
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When presenting her bill, Guido explained that pyramid schemes lack regulation in Costa Rica and “unscrupulous people offer large profits in companies that make themselves look and advertise themselves as legitimate multi-level marketing…
