A mayor in Germany is promoting the HyperFund Ponzi scheme to his constituents.
Saarland Radio, a public broadcaster, conducted a secret investigation into a mayor from Kaiserslautern.
Kaiserslautern is a rural district in Germany’s west.
Update 25th November 2021 – Saarland Radio don’t identify the mayor by name.
As per research from BehindMLM reader Melanie in the comments below, the mayor in question is Uli Zimmer.
On LinkedIn Zimmer refers to himself as a “bitcoin fan”.
Circa 2016 there was an Uli Zimmer in Germany promoting ACN.
I’m not 100% sure this is the same Zimmer. If it is, it provides potential insight into what Zimmer was up to prior to MLM crypto Ponzi schemes. /end update
Saarland Radio uncovered the mayor “promising private individuals a return of up to 200 percent”.
As reviewed here on BehindMLM in April 2021, HyperFund is a Ponzi scheme touting a return of up to 300%.
Having conducted their own research into HyperFund, involving consumer advocates and lawyers, Saarland Radio warns;
Hyperfund could be an illegal pyramid scheme in which investors end up losing their money.
Last month Germany’s top financial regulator, BaFin, announced it was investigating HyperFund for securities fraud.
As of yet nothing has come of that investigation.
Meanwhile a local mayor pushing HyperFund would appear to be a gross abuse of public office.
Investors recruited by the mayor told Saarland Radio that “paid in money mainly because of the trustworthiness of the local politician.”
While the identity of the mayor isn’t released by Saarland Radio, local media report he is “the top German recruiter” for HyperFund.
When approached for comment, the mayor’s attorney told Saarland Radio “he was not promoting HyperFund as mayor”.
Which is of course baloney. If you’re the presently elected mayor, what you get up to reflects on your office.
Notwithstanding the mayor’s position is very much part of is HyperFund Ponzi pitch;
The mayor advertises his webinars in a video on a Facebook page. He does not address his office.
In the title, however, is his name, his community and his office. The text says: “Do you trust a mayor?”
In the webinars, a woman says that she did not initially invest in Hyperfund.
After a phone call with the local mayor, the system seemed logical and plausible to her.
Literally she says: “You were a confidante, you are the mayor. Yes, and then I said, okay, everything I have: in!”
HyperFund unfortunately isn’t the first MLM Ponzi scheme a politician has been caught promoting.
In an investigation of our own, BehindMLM blew the lid on John Wuo promoting the USFIA Ponzi scheme.
At the time Wuo, a former mayor himself, was a sitting Arcadia Councilman.
After initially denying involvement, Wuo later resigned in disgrace.
A court-appointed Receiver would later reveal Wuo received $1.8 million from USFIA.
After opening an investigation, California’s Fair Political Practices Commission found Wuo breached the Political Reform Act. He was subsequently fined $2000.
In the UK there are two documented instances of local politicians pushing the Ponzi scheme onto constituents. One in 2015 (Hailsham) and again in 2018 (Woking).
The 2015 attempt was shut down by the council before it could take off.
The Woking attempt quietly fizzled out after recruitment inevitably collapsed. To the best of my knowledge nobody was ever held accountable.
I’m not sure what German laws are when it comes to politicians engaging in illegal activity. Sounds like a slam-dunk case for a political commission is such a body exists.