By Keril Wright,
Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
TRAFFIC CAME to a crawl yesterday on Market Street, Montego Bay, when hundreds of members of the crumbling Revolving Partner Plan (RPP) stormed the organisation's offices to get promised draw-downs or immediate refunds. Although the get-rich-quick scheme had pulled in significant support up to late last year, signs of trouble surfaced in January when people began demanding payments or refunds.
The police were called in twice since last week to control angry crowds, some members of which were threatening to damage the building after pay-out promises were not kept. A similar scheme, Friends in Partnership, ran into problems in November and eventually the Montego Bay operation collapsed after payments were made at the Montego Bay police station to prevent violence.
The Gleaner was unable to get a comment from operators of the Revolving Partner Plan who remained locked inside their offices at the Market Street Plaza for most of the day. They advised angry depositors, however, to visit the Strand Theatre if they required a refund, as they were not paying out any money this week.
Confusion and chaos reigned as persons who had invested in the "get-rich-quick" scheme and were due their first draw in January clamoured for information about what was happening.
However, others still maintained strong faith in the plan, despite the unstable situation.
Elroyce Adlam told The Gleaner the $2,000 she was putting in was a gamble and she was not perturbed about the possibility of losing it.
According to the Police Fraud Squad, Montego Bay, nobody has lodged any complaints to date.
But the RPP crowd was not the only of its kind on Market Street yesterday. Half mile to the right of RPP's offices, a smaller crowd gathered to participate in the opening of the city's newest get-rich quick scheme -- The Infinitive Partner Plan (IPP). The IPP, the fourth such plan to emerge in Montego Bay since July last year, promises more than the RPP did.
Under the IPP a $50,000 pay-out is made on an initial deposit of $6,000.
A flyer that was circulated yesterday at a cost of $10, did not name the operators nor give a contact number for the location.
"Payment will begin after the first month of operation. Initial deposit will be $6,000 per hand and the benefit payment will be $50,000 per hand less the $6,000 for reset. Fifty per cent of all reset will be allocated to the administrative costs of the fund and is not refundable", the flyer read.
Yesterday people thronged the office at the Georgian House where they made their initial deposits. The Infinitive Plan promises a second payment of $25,000 and two subsequent payments of $20,000, all less the initial reset amount.
