Some 9,850 persons lost their savings in the collapse of Momentum, a pyramid-type operation that paid members 20 to 36% monthly interest on savings. The depositors’ savings were not insured by the government or any other institution. Some persons lost as much as RD$1 million. Momentum was located at Plaza Merengue and offered a calling card plus a savings scheme whereby persons attracting other depositors could earn more interest on their savings. According to the Superintendent of Banks, which closed the institution last month, Momentum directors tricked naive depositors into entrusting them with more than RD$116 million since operations began in January 1997. The president of the company, Alberto Rodríguez, Mexican, is now a fugitive of Dominican justice. When the institution was intervened by the Dirección Nacional de Investigaciones, the national bureau of investigations, only RD$10 million was found on the premises. The company did not use city banks because these would not accept deposits, fearing they could be linked to money laundering operations. The Superintendency of Banks began investigating the company when its deposits in local banks went from RD$5,000, when operations began, to RD$2.4 million, seven months later.
