Of late the media has reported cases of questionable “get-rich-quick” schemes that lure unsuspecting people into their nets.A number of pyramid - some even call them Ponzi - schemes have resurfaced after a couple of years off the radar Investigations by financial regulators in the country discovered that these pyramid companies were posing as cooperatives, or as providing “high-end tourism and multi-level marketing services”.While the Rwanda Development Board should be commended for its efficiency in registering new companies, and in record time, it should also tighten its mo nitoring routine by periodically verifying whether a firm is complying with the terms of its registration.This way, it will be able to pick out fraudsters before they cause huge financial damage to unwitting investors who might be misled to think they have landed on the hen that lays golden eggs.Maybe if stiffer penalties were handed down on managers of such questionable operations, it would dissuade the practice. Otherwise when the bubble is left to grow, when it bursts it will swallow the life savings of unsuspecting innocent “investors”.
