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Are get-rich-quick schemes really working?

By Denise Clarke, Staff Reporter

WESTERN BUREAU-

FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE, improvements in living conditions, and the realisation of their goals are just some of the benefits that many persons claim to have received, thanks to their participation in get-rich-quick schemes.

Amidst warnings from banking authorities and consumer groups about the high risk involved in joining these schemes, the participants are not afraid to speak of its success, and to plunge their money into the hands of the unknown persons. 35-year-old bus operator Samuels Williams said he has been able to speed up the construction of his dream home, which he started last year. Mr. Williams, who lives in Westmoreland, joined the Speedy Cash Partner Plan in Montego Bay with $12,000 in January, and said his returns already exceed $200,000. "Me caan work to finish me house, so me join it and get some fast cash," he told The Gleaner last week. "My sister tell me about it and she get a whole heap a money too."

Using the funds he received from the partner plan, Mr. Williams said, his three-bedroom house is now near completion.
He admitted that he was concerned about losing his 'deposit,' but said his faith in the scheme soared after he received his first draw. So much so that he has re-entered $60,000, this time in the Savanna-la-Mar branch of Speedy Cash.

Mr. Williams might lose his money this time however, since the Savanna-la-Mar plan has run short of cash and has been refunding its clients over the past two weeks. He still thinks he has triumphed. "Me fretting bout de money but on de other hand, if I don't get it back I still don't lose, because I get my draw already and is their money I put back." Dean Powell is also a firm believer in the success of get-rich-quick schemes. The vendor from Montego Bay has not yet received any returns from his investment in one of the city's partner plans last month, but he still defends the plan. "It is an easier way to achieve what you want. If a house tek you 10 years to build, within 2 months you can get it through the partner plan and car too. Me see people, who get $100,000," he voiced confidently. Powell did not say how much he invested in the plan or how much he expected to collect, but he added that he was confident that he would get his 'draw' which is a few weeks overdue. And he is not worried about the warnings either.

"To be honest I never really hear about the warnings but it don't really matter, because is my friend put me in there and she get over $70,000 already," he said.

And it's the same story almost anywhere you go in western Jamaica. A Savanna-la-Mar businessman with $60,000 in the failed Speedy Cash branch in the town, plans to invest in the Quick Cash partner plan in Lucea, as soon as he gets his refund. Another man has $78,000 tied up in Speedy Cash, Montego Bay, but he too plans to invest more money in the city's latest get-rich scheme, Instant Cash partner plan, which opened on Monday.

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