How did the creator of the "MMM" pyramid spent the last years of his life: the Great Combiner Sergei Mavrodi

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In the 1990s, tens of millions of people believed in him. And they brought their money to JSC "MMM" in the hope of increasing their simple savings. When the financial pyramid burst, and a criminal case was opened against its creator, Sergei Mavrodi successfully hid from the investigation for more than five years, while being in Moscow. And even after his release from prison, he did not abandon his seemingly crazy ideas. The most amazing thing was that they continued to believe Sergei Mavrodi, no matter what.

Criminal talent

This man had a truly criminal talent. For what else can explain the fact that all information about Sergei Mavrodi is included in different sources from his words. And even the omniscient Wikipedia contains references to the fact that heart disease, phenomenal memory, successes in the study of physics and mathematics, victories in subject Olympiads in school years are the statements of Sergei Mavrodi himself.

But in which Moscow school the great combinator studied, in the 35th or 45th, remained unknown. Despite his successes in the study of physics and mathematics, Mavrodi did not enter the coveted MIPT, but he became a student at the Institute of Electronic Engineering. Sergei Mavrodi was fond of chess and poker, and made his first steps in entrepreneurship at the institute, when he replicated audio and video. And only in 1983 he first came to the attention of the OBKhSS for illegal business. However, before that, he managed to work for a couple of years at a closed research institute.

Six years after the first arrest (then no criminal case was initiated against him), Sergei Mavrodi, together with his younger brother and his first wife, founded his own cooperative, named after the first letters of the names of its founders - Mavrodi, Melnikov, Mavrodi. The further history of JSC MMM is wide known for: a meteoric rise, massive advertising on television and in the media, thousands of lucky people who managed to get their profits and about 15 million who lost their money, trustingly invested in a financial pyramid created by Sergei Mavrodi.

Between the creation of "MMM" Sergei Mavrodi managed to go to prison again in 1994, this time for hiding taxes of one of his enterprises, to run while in custody in the State Duma, to become a deputy and receive, accordingly, immunity. True, in 1996 he was deprived of his deputy mandate, the investigation was resumed against him and additionally accused of fraud.

For five years, the great schemer was successfully hiding from the investigation, being directly in Moscow, where he was arrested in 2003. True, during this time Sergey Mavrodi managed to create another rather large pyramid, this time on the Internet. But it had the status of a virtual stock exchange, was registered as a gambling game with the appropriate license and registration somewhere in the Caribbean. Stock Generation existed for a year and during this time managed to rob about 275 thousand foreign citizens.

At the time of the arrest of Sergei Mavrodi in a rented apartment on the Frunzenskaya embankment in Moscow, a passport with his photograph was found with him, but with someone else's name and surname. The investigation lasted more than four years, and the court sentenced Mavrodi to four and a half years in prison. Therefore, shortly after the announcement of the verdict, he was released.

To freedom - with a clear conscience

Even during his stay in Matrosskaya Tishina, Sergei Mavrodi did not feel any remorse. Even before the announcement of "MMM" bankrupt, he began to write books, and in prison he had enough time for creativity. He first began to keep a diary, and then decided to release the novel "Son of Lucifer". He did not have much success, but Sergey Mavrodi was able to amuse his pride.

After the liberation, a descendant of Ostap Bender repeatedly tried to create new and new pyramids. In 2011, “MMM-2011” appeared, which later changed the year to 2012, then a new project appeared - “MMM Global”. This time, Mavrodi decided to work with cryptocurrency, but at the same time he argued that bitcoins have long outlived their usefulness, their people overestimated them, and therefore it is necessary to invest in something new and more sustainable. Of course, in Mavro - the electronic currency created by him, named by its own name.

As you know, the project was not very successful. Compared to the troubled nineties, the financial literacy of the population has increased significantly and there were few people willing to invest real money in the ephemeral Moors. But Mavrodi was not discouraged. He saw his mission in the destruction of the existing financial system and believed that this would benefit society. He dreamed of doing everything for the onset of a financial apocalypse.

The "opposition fight" with money did not prevent him from running for the presidency of Russia. In 2017, he stated that he knew exactly how he could help his Fatherland. He saw it as his civic duty to take over as head of state. Before that, back in 1996, he had already registered his candidacy for the presidential elections. But the CEC refused Mavrodi because of fake subscription lists.

In recent years, the founder of JSC "MMM" lived in complete solitude. He divorced his wife back in 2005, and in his statements he often referred to female deceit.

According to the lawyer, Mavrodi treated money with a fair amount of contempt, calling them cut pieces of paper. True, at one time it was they who helped him become what he became. Mavrodi led a predominantly nocturnal lifestyle, woke up at about six in the evening and went to bed after 10 in the morning. During his waking hours, as his personal lawyer said, Mavrodi allegedly was exclusively engaged in creativity, wrote poetry, and worked on another book. And he no longer had anything to do with financial fraud and new pyramids created under his name, but without his participation.

On March 26, 2018, Mavrodi was taken from a public transport stop by an ambulance, and in the hospital he died due to a heart attack. The funeral was handled by Mavrodi's ex-wife. The younger brother of the great schemer forbade burying him next to his parents at the Khovanskoye cemetery. As a result, the ashes of Sergei Mavrodi rest at the Troyekurovsky cemetery in the capital.

As you know, the most famous financial pyramid was organized by the British Lord Treasurer Robert Harley, the first Earl of Oxford, creating the scandalous South Seas Company in 1711. More than a century and a half had to pass for such a pyramid to appear in Russia. True, she had her own characteristics, and unlike the well-known financial scams of the late twentieth century, the creator of the first Russian MMM was never able to get rich.