Colombians protest against massive fraud (Updated)

Thousands of Colombians have taken to the streets after they found that fake business offices promoting savings schemes had gone for good.  Interior Minister Fabio Valencia said thousands of people were victims of "massive fraud" over the past few months, despite warnings by the government.  "The truth is that the government has been slow and inefficient in dealing with the criminals, but promised prompt intervention by the Justice Department and greater control of financial businesses in future." Valencia said.  The biggest street protests were in southwestern Popayan, where many of its 200,000 inhabitants fell victim to DRFE Company, a fictitious firm promoting the savings scheme that disappeared overnight along with all its clients' money. Some 2,000 people gathered outside the offices of the company that had promised a 200 percent profit on investments made only a few months ago, as rumors spread that its staff were fleeing the premises with suitcases full of money.  No estimates have been given of the total amount of money that was scammed, but on Friday, the Internal Revenue Service asked the Justice Department to investigate 1,302 companies for suspect financial activities it said netted some 4.4 billion dollars.  SG/RE. Original source at PressTV

President Alvaro Uribe called on Congress to pass a law that would penalise the swindlers and Vice President Francisco Santos warned people to avoid the schemes, which have mushroomed on promises of easy money. "When someone promises to double your money in six months they are trying to trick you," Santos said. "Nothing is free in this world and that is not going to change." Police arrested a group of loan managers as they tried to flee the central city of Pereira with four suitcases stuffed with cash. They were charged with bribery after offering money to the officers in exchange for their freedom. Pyramid scams are common in the developing world where many people have little financial sophistication. The collapse in 1997 of pyramid investment schemes in Albania produced losses of $2bn and led to anarchy until an Italian-led European force restored order. Many Colombians are feeling squeezed as the world financial crisis weighs on the Andean country's economy, which the central bank says may grow by only 1 per cent next year after a boom driven by record foreign direct investment. Uribe remains popular for driving leftist rebels back into the jungles after decades of fighting that once encroached on the country's urban industrial areas.