David Murcia Guzman, the architect of Colombia’s biggest pyramid scheme, was found guilty of money-laundering and illicit enrichment on Wednesday in a Bogotá courthouse. The conviction could carry a sentence of 12 to 15 years in prison.
The scheme, carried out under the name DMG holdings collected as much as $4.8 billion in investments. When Guzman was apprehended in Panama last November and it was revealed that as many as 500,000 investors had lost their money, riots ensued across the country. Many of Guzman’s victims are seeking financial redress.
Murcia Guzman’s attorney, Gustavo Salazar, contended that the prosecution of his client was a “buffoonery” of the Colombian government.