Massive Multinational Ponzi Scheme Alleged As Nicholas Smirnow’s ‘Pathway To Prosperity’

Federal prosecutors are asserting that Nicholas Smirnow operated an online investment site, “Pathway to Prosperity,” that warned clients that “the bigger the return on offer, the louder the warning bells should sound.”  He claimed to have a “strong moral foundation” absent from other investment advisors. Yet, according to the government, investors did not heed the “warning bells” of Smirnow's “ridiculous claims of unrealistic rates of return and instead invested by the thousands.'' 

The upshot? The government alleges that 40,000 investors from around the world invested $70 million with Smirnow.  Perhaps they were persuaded to do so based on what the government says was Smirnow’s claims of returns of 546 percent to 17,000 percent.  In any event, according to the government, ''Pathway to Prosperity was a massive Ponzi scheme.''
 
We undoubtedly will be hearing more about this in the upcoming days and weeks.