• President of UOKiK Tomasz Chróstny has penalised the NTIM company, which had been promoting the rockwall.investments platform in Poland; sanctions have also been imposed on the members of its management board who had deliberately allowed infringements.
• The rockwall.investments platform featured the Shield programme which is a banned pyramid promotional scheme.
• Pyramid schemes were also run by Luxinvest, Quantum and Quantum International – the President of UOKiK ordered them to return to consumers the funds they paid for training packages.

The President of UOKiK has issued further decisions targeting the developers and promoters of pyramid promotional schemes. Such schemes consist in persuading consumers to contribute money to projects that promise benefits that depend primarily on enrolling new people into the scheme. The latest decisions concern 4 companies and 2 managers.

"Pyramid schemes are extremely harmful, dishonest and illegal. Consumers are tempted by the prospect of high profits, but in the end, they lose the money they invested. The ones who make profit from pyramid schemes are their developers and promoters. We refuse to condone this. Unfair practices need to stop being worthwhile, both for the entrepreneurs who organise and manage such 'projects' as well as for those who promote them and persuade people to make payments. For the first time, I have also penalised the members of the company's management board responsible for promoting pyramid schemes and misleading consumers," says Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

NTIM – penalties for the company and its managers

NTIM, a company from Wroclaw, was promoting in Poland the Shields programme available on the rockwall.investments platform. The platform was used to offer 'projects' related to cryptocurrency mining. The Shields programme allowed the company to build its own distribution structure. Contributions ranged from USD 10 to USD 100 depending on the type of Shield. The creators of the platform promised earnings of 20 times the amount contributed once a Shield was 'closed', i.e. purchased by a certain number of invitees. In addition, each user was supposed to receive 8 per cent of the the amount invested by direct referrals.

"There is no doubt that it was a pyramid scheme, the promotion of which is an unfair practice violating the collective interests of consumers. The second charge against NTIM concerned the misrepresentation that the platform is managed by Poles. This was supposed to earn consumers' trust. If they had known that the real owner was based on an exotic island, they would have certainly thought more carefully about investing money and the potential problems with pursuing claims," says Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

The rockwall.investments platform was first owned by Rockwall Ltd. with its registered office on the Marshall Islands, and thereafter until 9 August 2019 – which is the date on which NTIM ceased to engage in unfair practices – by Perfect Lion Solution Ltd  in Charlestown (Saint Kitts and Nevis). NTIM provided IT and marketing services for them. Its board members introduced themselves using the English name "Chief Executive Officer", i.e. as CEOs of Rockwall Investments. Polish internet users could read information such as: "Meet the CEOs of Rockwall Investments. There are two people behind Rockwall Investments – Wiktor and Rafał. Passionate about new technologies, they have been searching for income opportunities for 3 years and now they are creating a joint business"; "Rockwall Investments – it is a Polish company (...) with an international scope of operation, thanks to which you can earn passive income by investing in new technologies, such as cryptocurrencies".

For the first time in the case of a pyramid promotional scheme, the President of UOKiK has penalised not only the entrepreneur, but also the company's managers who deliberately allowed infringements against consumers. Pursuant to the ​operative part of the decision, penalties in the total amount of over PLN 270,000 were imposed on:

• "«NTIM Spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością with its registered office in Wrocław»" – PLN 92,296;
• "Rafał Artur Krakowiak – member of the Management Board of «NTIM Spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością with its registered office in Wrocław»" – PLN 90,000;
• "Wiktor Piotr Zajączkowski – President of the Management Board of «NTIM Spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością with its registered office in Wrocław» in the period from 3 June 2017 to 24 April 2020" – PLN 90,000.

Luxinvest, Quantum and Quantum International – return of payments to consumers

The President of UOKiK has also issued 3 decisions against Luxinvest with its registered office in Kraków, Quantum with its registered office in Nowy Sącz and Quantum International with its registered office in Cheyenne (USA). They have successively conducted business activities consisting in selling training packages, the most expensive of which currently costs  PLN 14,300. The companies promised profits that depend on persuading other people to buy these packages. The President of UOKiK has charged them with promoting and running pyramid schemes.

"As a result of the unfair practices of Luxinvest, Quantum and Quantum International, consumers have lost their time and money. I ordered all three companies to return the money to the victims once the decision becomes final. Of course, this shall not prevent the pursuit of other claims from the entrepreneurs, e.g. for interest or lost profits," says Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

Pursuant to the decision, Quantum International shall immediately cease the challenged practices (Luxinvest and Quantum already did so several years ago). All three companies must also notify affected consumers of their refund via email or letter.

These are not the only decisions of the President of UOKiK issued recently in connection with pyramid schemes. In December 2021, Tomasz Chróstny has imposed penalties in the total amount of approx. 740,000 on three "touts" - entrepreneurs persuading people to invest in pyramid promotional systems: FutureNet, FutureAdPro and NetLeaders.

Consumer assistance:

Tel.: 801 440 220 or 22 290 89 16 – consumer hotline
Email: [SCODE]cG9yYWR5QGRsYWtvbnN1bWVudG93LnBs[ECODE]
Consumer Ombudsmen – in your town or county
Financial Ombudsman – if the complaint is rejected by the financial institution

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone +48 695 902 088, +48 22 55 60 246
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Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL