Schemers of financial pyramids will be punished

The Code of Administrative Offenses will be amended with an article providing punishments for organizing financial pyramid schemes and luring persons into them. A Liberal-Democrat legislative proposal to this end was recently approved in a first reading by Parliament, Info-Prim Neo reports. The authors of the proposal argued that although the current legislation stipulates punishments for organizing financial pyramids, it cannot always repair victims’ rights and this is why a new article on “organizing financial pyramid schemes” will be added to the Code. Those found guilty will be fined with 2000-3000 lei (individuals) or 10,000 lei (legal entities). The head of the commission for economy, budget and finances, Veaceslav Ionita, proposed that the fines should become harsher before the proposal is considered in a second reading. “We want the punishment to be commensurable with the crime. The current provisions will not scare schemers and the organizers of pyramids, which often have up to 2,000 members. They will find it a piece of cake to pay a 4,000 lei fine”, said Veaceslav Ionita. Liberal MP Gheorghe Brega proposed that pyramid schemers should be punishable not only under administrative but also under criminal law.