European Kings Club
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The European Kings Club (EKC) was a large-scale
Ponzi scheme A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays Profit (accounting), profits to earlier investors with Funding, funds from more recent investors. Named after Italians, Italian confidence artist Charles Ponzi, this type of s ...
operated from 1991 to 1994 in Switzerland, Germany and Austria by the German nationals Damara and Harald Bertges and Hans Günther Spachtholz. The EKC promised investors profit rates of 70% after buying "letters" for 1,400
Swiss francs The Swiss franc, or simply the franc, is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) i ...
each. In total, victims bought some two billion
Deutsche Mark The Deutsche Mark (; "German mark (currency), mark"), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later of unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it ...
worth of EKC letters. Participation was particularly widespread in central Switzerland, where the scheme's operators successfully exploited popular mistrust in the banking system. In the cantons of
Uri Uri may refer to: Places * Canton of Uri, a canton in Switzerland * Úri, a village and commune in Hungary * Uri, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, a town in India * Uri (island), off Malakula Island in V ...
and