Jigmi Wangdi

A ponzi scheme called Tallwin Life Plan has been luring Bhutanese citizens to invest in a fraudulent scheme with promises of generating quick and high financial returns.

The Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) says that the public should refrain from engaging in investment if any scheme has no genuine product or services sold, emphasises recruiting members down the line, and promises high returns within a short period.

According to officials from the RMA, the Tallwin Life Plan uses the financial contributions from subsequent investors to pay the earlier investors.

“It requires a constant flow of new money to survive, and the scheme collapses when it is not able to recruit new investors, or when large numbers of existing investors cash out.,” an official said.

It is reported that Bhutanese citizens have been lured to take part in the scheme through social media platforms, mainly Telegram.

RMA officials state that there are six types of income in the Tallwin Life Income Plan- sponsor bonus, boosting board income, team-building bonus, team promotion bonus, team performance bonus, and auto pool income.

RMA has been cautioning the public on the scheme as it also violates Section 11 of the Financial Service Act 2011 which states that individuals cannot offer financial services without the proper licence.

A Ponzi scheme is an investment fraud that pays the returns of existing investors with funds collected from new investors. The organisers of such schemes promise to use the invested money to make huge returns with little or no risk to the investor.