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6 October 2000
News Release
WARNING : BIG INTERNATIONAL
The activities of an enterprise trading under the name of Big International have come to the Commission's attention.
Big International purports to be a humanitarian organisation which, among other things, runs a global lottery system.
"Registered players" in the lottery are entitled to buy "profit re-imbursements" in multiples of US$90 each, according to the promotional material. For every US$90 forwarded to Big International a player is credited with US$600 which is said to stay in an overseas account. This sum of US$600 belongs to Big International but the interest on it belongs to the player. After a year the player is entitled to receive the interest, less the original payment of US$90. The promotional material states that for every US$90 sent overseas the player will receive back US$270.62 - representing a return of 300 per cent.
The scheme appears to breach the Securities Act. There is no registered prospectus or investment statement. There is no information about who is behind Big International, what type of enterprise it is, or where it operates from.
The scheme is promoted on a web site. It has also been promoted by local agents in Otago and Nelson. Our impression is that it has been actively promoted throughout New Zealand. We do not know how much money New Zealanders have committed to the scheme.
People would be foolish to outlay money. There must be grave doubts about the legitimacy of any scheme that offers outlandish rates of return.
Norman F Miller
Senior Executive (Operations)