| Submit your comments on this article |
| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Billion-Dollar Pyramid Scheme Rivets Lebanon |
| 2009-09-19 |
| The investor, a heavyset man in a gray polo shirt, sat back in a plastic chair in his hardware store and sighed, unable to explain how his life savings had vanished so quickly into thin air, The New York Times reported. "It's a disaster, a tsunami," he said. "Some farmers mortgaged their fields and brought in cash. Others sold land they had inherited from their parents. Teachers gave up all their savings. Old people lost everything they had." The money disappeared, judicial authorities say, in a billion-dollar pyramid scheme that has riveted Lebanon, The New York Times's Robert F. Worth writes from Tura. Its mastermind, a businessman named Salah Ezzedine, was charged with fraud on Saturday and is being called the "Lebanese Bernie Madoff" in local newspapers. Bankers say it is the biggest fraud of its kind this country has ever seen. But the dollar figures have drawn less attention here than Mr. Ezzedine's close links with Hezbollah, the militant Shiite movement. Many of the investors -- mostly Shiites living in Beirut and southern villages like this one -- say those party links were the reason they chose to risk their hard-earned savings with a man who offered 40 and 50 percent profits but never showed any paperwork. The scandal has embarrassed the party, which prides itself on a reputation for honesty and selfless piety. It has also illustrated the way many of Lebanon's Shiites, despite their ascent from near feudal poverty just a few decades ago, remain in some ways a nation apart. Their residual distrust of mainstream Lebanese institutions, which helped fuel Hezbollah's rise as a virtual state within a state, also appears to have made them vulnerable to Mr. Ezzedine's schemes. "We got guarantees that were stronger than any bank," said the investor here, who like others associated with Mr. Ezzedine, spoke only on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. Asked whether he meant Hezbollah, he declined to answer, The Times said. Hezbollah's general secretary, Hassan Nasrallah, denied in a speech last week that the party had any official connection with Mr. Ezzedine. But a few days later, during a Ramadan dinner with Hezbollah supporters where he appeared by video link, Mr. Nasrallah conceded that the party would in practice be held responsible, and said it was setting up a "crisis network" to assess each investor's losses. Several Hezbollah officials lost money, and at least one has filed suit against Mr. Ezzedine. There have even been calls for Hezbollah to compensate the investors. So far, the party has said it will not do so, and it is easy to see why. The losses among southern Shiites alone run into the hundreds of millions, and Hezbollah is still struggling to rebuild the houses destroyed during its devastating monthlong war with Israel in 2006. Mr. Ezzedine, 49, remains a mysterious figure. He was best known as the owner of Dar el-Hadi, a publishing house that specialized in religious titles and is based in the heart of Dahieh, Beirut's Shiite southern suburb. More recently, in 2007, he founded Al Mustathmir, a financial institution based in Beirut that focused on money management. He was known as a deeply religious and charitable man, with a gift for winning people's friendship. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #23 Happy Jewish New Year to you too, .5MT. May you and all Rantburgers be written in the book of life for health, happiness and success. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-09-19 23:53 |
| #22 Heh... Ima was researching the topic and found gold.... Jim here's a little non-sectarian religon for 'ye. |
| Posted by: .5MT 2009-09-19 23:51 |
| #21 Lots of Rantburg atheists agree with you about religion, Redneck Jim. If only we could figure out a way to prove one way or another, but that's the difference between faith and science. But because of your own faith, you might find it interesting to read Isaac Asimov's Guide to the Bible: A Historical Look at the Old and New Testaments. It's a tad dated now -- my copy is from 1988 -- but it addresses historical evidence as well as internal evidence, remembering that as a writer both of fact and fiction, the good doctor understood the various reasons a tale might be told. I reread it about every ten years |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-09-19 23:51 |
| #20 Jimmuah Ima here for you man! Also happy new year! |
| Posted by: .5MT 2009-09-19 23:45 |
| #19 OK the statemenrs I made ae being rewriten and derailed thus understand how you can sit through years and never get a clue what Christianity is about. Oh I got it, "Do as I say and Maybe you'll get aa reward long after it'll do you any good, and in a manner that nobody can verify" The first effect of not believing in God is to believe in anything. NO it's a hard lesson that well meaning people WILL LIE to get you to do what THEY want you to do. Give me Money, of course it's NOT for me, but FOR GOD (and to pay for the church building's mortgage)along with saying do not accumulate material things (Like the gold candlesticks and lectern, the Priest's salary, and Fancy cloths bleached snowy white those DON"T COUNT) what I'm speking of is the practice of NOT following the same "Lessons" we're taught That "GOD"S HOUSE is somehow exempt. To quote another saying "One set of rules for thee and another se for ME" So common in Government today. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2009-09-19 22:42 |
| #18 "Some farmers mortgaged their fields and brought in cash. Others sold land they had inherited from their parents. Teachers gave up all their savings. Old people lost everything they had." Then they're idiots. As are the people who gave Madoff their entire life savings to "invest" at some ridicuously high percent "return." Madoff was a selfish, self-centered criminal SOB, but their own greed did them in in the end. Same here. "Mortgaged their farms"; "sold their land"; what idiot does that? Now they're whining that they were scammed? Howzabout they remember you can't cheat an honest man? Pfui. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-09-19 21:52 |
| #17 It's not a religion/non-religion thingy. Rather, it's trusting another member of the in-group. So Jews fall for Madoff, Shiites fall for Ezzedine, and non-believers fall for those clever guys and gals working at Lehman Brothers. The important thing here is how sudden massive poverty and an embarrassing connection will affect Hizb'allah's pull on Lebanese affairs in the short to medium term. Could it be, f'r instance, that Nasrallah's sudden announcement that Hizb'allah is not interested in war with Israel is connected? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-09-19 21:30 |
| #16 I was raised Episcopal until I actually READ the Bible and not forced to listen to other "HOLY" folks, telling me "What it really means". Well that certainly explains your blame the If you want to argue your case, you've picked very bad examples. I suggest you actually go back and read what others here have said so that you aren't just like our blinkered Middle Eastern friends who spend their life assigning blame to a group of "very-bad-others" so they don't have to put much thought into complex issues. But then, it's so much easier that way, isn't it? Don't have to tax the brain to sort through human nature's ugly mess. You are good. They are bad. End of story. |
| Posted by: Jumbo Slinerong5015 2009-09-19 19:32 |
| #15 Enough, I'm no longer Hag ridden by "ANY Religion" and the bullshit you're taught as HOLY TRUTH Not to be questioned. That's nice. You're Free. Spare us the preaching tho, 'kay? You're pegging the irony meter. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2009-09-19 19:09 |
| #14 Kimmie who's trying right now to attain Godhood among the NORKS Last time I checked, they, like all communists, maintained an officially atheist party line. Just like you. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2009-09-19 18:39 |
| #13 IIRC a recent Ipsos poll in the UK revealed that a majority of (secular, post-modern post-Christian) Brits believe in parapsychology, communing with spirits, etc. Also, in Germany, where hardly anyone believes in God, about 30% of the populace believes that on 9/11 the Pentagon bombed the Pentagon. Recent polls of registered Democrats here indicate that 32% believe 9/11 was a conspiracy pulled off by Chimpy BusHitler ande Darth Cheney. I'd say that maybe a third of any population is susceptible to a monstrous delusion of one kind or another. Size matters here: see Hitler's "big lie" theory. |
| Posted by: lex 2009-09-19 17:40 |
| #12 Has anybody but me noticed that the "Deeply Religious" are behind a good 99% of the world's problems? I would say deeply indoctrinated, whether these are Islamists, Gaia worshippers, atheists or liberals. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2009-09-19 15:19 |
| #11 You mean like the Gulag, the Cultural Revolution, the Great Leap Forward, Pol Pot's killing fields, etc? them was religious too... the people just worshiped their leader instead of a traditional divinity. |
| Posted by: abu do you love 2009-09-19 14:44 |
| #10 To Continue Islam who preach that they will Kill ALL non Islamics (Y'all forget there's a war going on right now with "Religious Extremists"?) Japan in WW2 who firmly believed their Emperor WAS God. Kimmie who's trying right now to attain Godhood among the NORKS No I don't believe, I've seen too much evil under the HOLY banner, but you seem able to ignore facts unless your nose is rubbed in shit first "Pappy". And No, Just because I've Don't believe does NOT mean that I'm gullible enough to believe other plain scams like Tarot, Fortune tellers, palm reading Zodiac, or hundreds of other similar scams. I was raised Episcopal until I actually READ the Bible and not forced to listen to other "HOLY" folks, telling me "What it really means". Crap like Geology shows the earth far older than the Bible states, and being told (By a Priest, no less) that God made it that way to test our faith, either you believe in God, or the Lying Evidence of Your own Eyes. Enough, I'm no longer Hag ridden by "ANY Religion" and the bullshit you're taught as HOLY TRUTH Not to be questioned. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2009-09-19 14:42 |
| #9 I think Y'all missed the point Jim Jones Compound in Guyana and his "Koolaid" The Branch Davidians, ETC. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2009-09-19 14:18 |
| #8 It's basic Chesterton: The first effect of not believing in God is to believe in anything. Astrology, politicized science, the One ..... which is not to say that those who are highly religious can't sometimes be fools and PITAs too. They can, because it's a human potential that manifests in all groups. |
| Posted by: lotp 2009-09-19 13:49 |
| #7 Annnd lotp takes the early lead in today's Snark O' the Day Award™ |
| Posted by: badanov 2009-09-19 13:47 |
| #6 It's a good thing all those secular leftists voted the way they did in November, then. Not a hint of messianic imagery in that campaign, nosirree. Must be why the policies since then have been trouble free, for them and for us. |
| Posted by: lotp 2009-09-19 13:31 |
| #5 I've heard that Mormons from the Utah heartland are disproportionately likely to be victimized by these sorts of confidence-game-enhanced pyramid schemes. The con men depend on the higher level of trust that tight-knit religious communities produce to jump-start their scams. RJ's partially right in that members of self-isolating religious sects are more vulnerable to betrayal by quick-talking Elmer Gantry-style scammers. Look up the Dream Mine for a classic, ongoing example. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2009-09-19 11:42 |
| #4 Don't mind RJ. It's a Pavlovian thing - mentioning 'religion' just gets him to frothing at the mouth. Seriously, this isn't anything new - and really has to do more with social issues. Take this excerpt: many of Lebanon's Shiites, despite their ascent from near feudal poverty just a few decades ago, remain in some ways a nation apart. Their residual distrust of mainstream Lebanese institutions, which helped fuel Hezbollah's rise as a virtual state within a state, also appears to have made them vulnerable to Mr. Ezzedine's schemes Substitute 'African American', 'Hispanic', etc. for 'Shiite" and (insert advocacy group) for Hesb'allah. Heck, the defrauder doesn't even have to be religious - they just have to be more 'ethnic' than the rest of their target demographic. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2009-09-19 11:02 |
| #3 "the "Deeply Religious" are behind a good 99% of the world's problems" You mean like the Gulag, the Cultural Revolution, the Great Leap Forward, Pol Pot's killing fields, etc? It cannot be stated often enough - atheist regimes killed, raped, and tortured more people in the last century than have been harmed in all the religious conflicts in history COMBINED, even if you include the ROP. |
| Posted by: no mo uro 2009-09-19 06:54 |
| #2 "The scandal has embarrassed the party, which prides itself on a reputation for honesty and selfless piety." lol. Redneck Jim, you seem to be missing the forest for the trees here. Religion is concerned with spiritual afterlife. Greed is the motivator for all ponzi schemes and it is deeply rooted in the here and now and has little to do with one's faith or lack thereof. The reason that Arabs live in squalor is because their leaders allow them to blame the Jews for everything that is wrong in the world rather than holding the leaders accountable. I'm beginning to notice the same trend here among liberals and some independents- blaming "the deeply religious" or "fundamentalists" for all that is wrong. Just like the Arabs do to the Jews. Heck, it has worked for them for thousands of years, I suppose there is no reason it can't work here too. But I have no intention of falling for it. |
| Posted by: Jumbo Slinerong5015 2009-09-19 06:49 |
| #1 Has anybody but me noticed that the "Deeply Religious" are behind a good 99% of the world's problems? |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2009-09-19 02:56 |