The Bulgarian Ponzi Aftermath

In Bulgaria, even today, you'll find empty lots of land and half-finished shells of alleged apartment buildings, sitting there today. What you probably don't know is they are the aftermath of Ponzi schemes.

In the 1990's Bulgaria was attempting to transition out of the former Soviet Bloc command economy into a more capitalistic economy. As a result, it is a free-for-all for crooks and scammers, as there are virtually no laws on investment. All of the Soviet Block countries suffered to one degree or another. Even Russia was rocked by the MMM Pyramid, believed to have sucked in one BILLION dollars (not rubles, DOLLARS) Albania had a whole revolution known as the "Lottery Uprising" when the pyramid schemes collapsed and the impoverished poor took up arms and turned anarchist.



The Bulgarian version was essentially a real estate scam in the 1990's. The "building pharoahs" told the masses that if they hand him money to be used to build beautiful apartment houses, he'll give back huge profits (even a whole unit they can sell later). Some even started construction. What then happened is the pharoahs ran with the money, leaving empty lots and broken dreams.


http://www.vagabond.bg/high-beam/item/2117-derelict-bulgaria-part-2.html


EDIT: updated link

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