1 dead in rioting over Colombia pyramid scam [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

1 dead in rioting over Colombia pyramid scam
Mostly poor investors fleeced of millions in scheme offering big returns

updated 6:16 p.m. CT, Thurs., Nov. 13, 2008

BOGOTA, Colombia - At least one man was killed in rioting over the collapse of a pyramid scheme that offered 70 percent returns and fleeced its mostly poor investors out of millions of dollars, Colombian authorities said Thursday.

The victim was shot dead Wednesday evening in a southern cocaine-producing region where angry investors were demanding their money back from a company called "Dinero Rapido Facil Efectivo," or DRFE.

The name means "Fast Money, Easy Cash" in English.

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Dead man had tried to calm investors
The man killed Wednesday night, Byron Santander, was a public official who was trying to calm upset investors in Buesaco when he was shot by an unknown assailant, Mayor Jose Maria Moncayo told the AP in a telephone interview.

"We don't know who did this or why," Moncayo said, adding that nearly every family in Buesaco, population 22,400, had money in DRFE.

More:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27705846/