Tweet
Anybody with Japan or economics knowledge, tell me what's up with this. It sounds like a really stupid Ponzi scheme with weird complications; basically, he promised a 36% annual return on investments if people bought into "Enten," this virtual currency he made which would supposedly become THE world currency someday. Meanwhile their Enten could be used to buy products online from this dude's website (I think they were at least real products, but knowing Japan they could well have bought virtual everything--it's not totally clear from the news reports I've scanned). In early 2007 he started paying dividends in Enten instead of real cash, and everyone demanded out of the scheme. They went bankrupt in late '07, and the guy was arrested a few days ago. Questions:
--WhyTF did it take Japan's authorities this long to nail the guy, two years after his company went bankrupt?
--Does anyone know where he was getting the money from? I assume it was Ponzi, ie investor A was paid off with investor B's cash, but it's not clear, like so much else.
--I'm almost certain that these people bought real, non-electronic stuff with their fake cash for a while (making Enten more like gift certificates than WoW Gold), but like I said, with Japan one never knows...
Maybe I just have to wait and see as more news is released. Alas.
Comment