#TGLife
Senior journalist Aruna Ravikumar’s maiden book on multi-level marketing schemes and scams in India was recently launched in Panaji. The book points the scams which are prevalent in the country for over two decades using pyramid and ponzi schemes to con innocent people. These schemes are financial scams which target gullible people on the pretext of offering easy sources of income. Victims wake up too late enabling perpetrators of frauds to make huge profits at their expense.
“The heart-rending stories of victims and the unfolding saga of misery unleashed by the greed of a few marauders who manipulate individuals, families, societies and nations using them as sacrificial lambs at the altar of greed, moved the journalist in me. It led to months of painstaking research and interviews that unveiled the mask of the ‘Merchants of Deception’. If it inspires readers to don their thinking caps, the effort may have been well worth it,” said Aruna Ravikumar at the time of the launch.
The book is being billed as an eye-opener for all concerned citizens across the country. It dissects multi-level marketing scams, elaborates why they happened and unfolds remedial measures to stop the cancerous growth of dubious multinational corporations that were quick at feeding off people, hungry to make fast money. This book is about the unconcealed greed of companies and individuals who reap a rich harvest through fraudulent financial schemes that are a recipe for disaster. It is also about political patronage and failure of different regulatory and enforcement authorities to contain illegal forces.
The author’s enduring fascination for words propelled her to explore different frontiers of creativity, as scriptwriter, corporate and documentary filmmaker, translator and television anchor. Politics and art, news and views, celebrities and ordinary folk, common and uncommon situations are all an intrinsic part of her journey, filled with adrenaline moments. Using her rich experience as a journalist with the print and electronic media Aruna Ravikumar outlines systemic failures in curbing financial crimes that are destroying the social, psychological and economic well-being of a majority, to fill the coffers of a few.
