By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

LOOMING, a popular activity likened to a Ponzi scheme, is illegal, Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade said yesterday, warning that those who participate in the scheme could find difficulty receiving remedies through the justice system when problems arise.

Looming has become a cultural phenomenon with many Bahamians joining such a scheme under the promise of being able to receive more money than one contributes.

“Turn $100 into $800” posts have become commonplace on social media recently, as the phenomenon made its way into the country from the United States.

“Yes we are concerned,” Commissioner Greenslade said about the matter yesterday.

“I am very pleased to tell you that the owners and operators of businesses where that was happening were quick to move in and declare what they deemed to be inappropriate behaviour, took all the right actions, and I want to applaud that,” he added, referring to gaming house Island Luck, which locked numerous accounts pending further investigation because the people associated with those accounts were suspected to be participating in the scheme. “They didn’t hide behind it, they didn’t encourage it, they stepped up, were forthright and in fact took action.”

He added: “We say to our public, nothing is free and we say that for you to just believe that you can just give somebody one hundred bucks and you’ll just get a thousand is really not smart. At some point someone’s going to get gypped in that deal and it’s going to turn into something bad. I’m told we have people fussing about owing them money, saying ‘I gave you my money in good faith but I never got anything so can I have my money back’ and there’s all kinds of discussions as to how you can get your money. If it’s illegal, and it is, it’s going to be fraught with fraudulent behaviour and again I say nothing that’s worthwhile is free.”

While he encouraged people to make complaints related to Looming, he cautioned that it’s difficult to get a desired outcome after participating in an illegal activity.

“The difficulty you have with these things is when you start from a position of illegality, it’s hard for you to report,” he said. “(Say) someone’s selling illegal drugs. A person walks up to the person that’s selling the illegal drugs and says right, can I get a $200 worth? Let’s say I get $200 worth. The person offers the illegal drugs. The person with the $200 snatches the illegal drugs, retains the $200 and runs off. Well the person who sold that drug can’t make a complaint. It started illegal. You started an illegal enterprise. What do you do when you come to the police station? Someone stole my money? Right how did he do that? Once you start to take a statement, the person giving it has to find a lie to tell you for you to go behind that person for their money. And most of the time they will perjure themselves and lie.”