• Entrepreneurs: Mateusz Gużda, Zbigniew Lemański and Bartłomiej Żukiewicz promoted illegal pyramid-type promotional systems - said Tomasz Chróstny, the President of UOKiK.
• Consumers may have suffered financial loss as a result of those activities.
• The President of UOKiK has imposed financial penalties on the entrepreneurs in the total amount of approximately PLN 740 thousand, also, the entities have to post information about that decision on their social media accounts and on their websites.

If you do not have FutureNet account yet and you do not use FuturoCoin, I can help you to get started. (...) Against all appearances, it is not so difficult. Three years ago, I wasn't aware that cryptocurrencies existed and I thought that making money online was impossible. Today, 75% of my income comes from the Internet and I am not joking - Zbigniew Lemanski urged on his website: drhajs.pl.

I recommend inviting your friends to the programme because this is the way to earn a great amount of money - encouraged Internet users Bartłomiej Żukiewicz, boasting that he has already earned PLN 19 thousand out of the invested PLN 3,400, adding that the amount keeps growing.

That type of posts were supposed to encourage new people to invest in pyramid-type promotional systems: FutureNet, FutureAdPro and NetLeaders. Such projects "guarantee" profit, the amount of which depends mainly on the introduction of new participants to the system.

- Organising and advertising pyramid-type promotional systems is prohibited by law and it is considered unfair market practice. Such a system is not an investment project and it is financed solely with contributions from people who join it and, at the end, the system always collapses. Contrary to the promises, consumers do not manage to multiply their savings and, eventually, they lose the money they had invested  - explains Tomasz Chróstny, the President of UOKiK. - The so-called "callers" play an important role in that illegal practice.  Undoubtedly, a project that is often managed by a foreign entity would not be successful without the involvement of people who can reach out to potential customers, win their trust and encourage them to invest their money. That is why I have imposed severe penalties on Mateusz Gużda, Zbigniew Lemański and Bartłomiej Żukiewicz, who promoted pyramid-type systems among Polish Internet users.

Prohibited systems and their promoters in Poland

FutureNet portal and FutureAdPro advertising platform were run by FUTURENET UKRAINE from Lviv and BCU Trading from Dubai. The entities promised financial benefits to those who introduced new people into the systems and persuaded them to buy participation packages. The President of UOKiK warned about the activities of the companies already in March 2019, and in July 2020, issued a decision declaring that they promoted illegal pyramid-type promotional systems. In turn, NetLeaders network is an initiative of CL Singapore that introduced DasCoin cryptocurrency into the market. The company offered licenses, the price of which was from EUR 100 to EUR 25,000 and promised profit for persuading other people to invest their money. The President of UOKiK warned about the activities of that company already in March 2019, and in December 2019, issued a decision confirming that the system was a pyramid-type promotional scheme. The decision was upheld by the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection in its judgment of 13 September 2021 (file no. XVII AmA 20/20), an appeal was filed in the case.

The President of UOKiK recognises the important role of the so-called "callers" in promoting the above-mentioned types of systems. In Poland, a youtuber Damian Żukiewicz (INVESTPROVIDER) was the first person fined for promoting the aforementioned systems - the financial penalty, imposed a year ago by the President of UOKiK, amounted to PLN 437 thousand. In March 2021, other entrepreneurs were accused of promoting the schemes. In the course of the conducted proceedings, it was confirmed that the pyramid-type systems were promoted by:

• Mateusz Gużda who, until September 2020, conducted business activity under the name "iPrime Consulting" Mateusz Gużda from Kluczbork. Mateusz was a "global ambassador" of DasCoin/NetLeaders. He was promoting the system at various events and in the media. The financial penalty imposed by the President of UOKiK was almost PLN 510 thousand (PLN 509,821);
• Zbigniew Lemański - a musician who, until 2012, conducted a business activity under the name LEMAŃSKI ZBIGNIEW "LEMAN RECORDS" in Będzin and after the formal closure of the company, he continued the activity under his own name and on his own account. He promoted FutureNet and FutureAdPro systems. He was the author and performer of such songs as, i.a., "My Futurenet” and "Klikamy w reklamy”. He ran drhajs.pl website, via which he encouraged other people to join the promoted projects. The financial penalty amounted to over PLN 90,000 (PLN 92,296);
• Bartłomiej Żukiewicz who was in charge of (suspended) business activity under the name Bartłomiej Żukiewicz Investment from Wrocław. Through online posts, YouTube videos and various types of events, he promoted FutureNet, FutureAdPro and NetLeaders, he advised how to open an account in the systems and promised high income and free journeys. The financial penalty was nearly PLN 140,000 (PLN 138,444).

In addition to the financial penalties, the entrepreneurs have to publish statements about their activities and decisions of the President of UOKiK on their websites and social media accounts: YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn.

The President of UOKiK has already issued 4 decisions against the so-called "callers" who encouraged people to join the pyramid-type schemes. The imposed financial penalties amounted to over PLN 1 million, in total.

How to recognise a pyramid-type system?

The basic assumption of pyramid-type promotional systems is to persuade a consumer to join the "project" in exchange for a promise of gaining income or other benefits that depend mainly on the introduction of other people into the system, and not on the sale or consumption of products. Most often, in such schemes, tokens are offered as well as cryptocurrencies, educational or language packages, apartments, etc.

The mechanism of a pyramid-type scheme looks as follows: you invest your money in a certain type of an investment project, then you encourage other people to join the scheme and you get paid for introducing new customers. Your money is not actually invested but it is used to pay other people who joined the system. At the same time, your profit comes from the contributions of the people whom you have directly or indirectly recommended. In this way, it is you, your friends and friends of your friends who finance the system which is not really an investment project. Therefore, after a certain period of time, the system has to collapse because the money paid in is not invested in any assets and does not bring any profit. The money goes to those who run the system and to persons who occupy the highest positions in the chain. The system works as long as the number of people who join and make contributions increases, which is impossible to last. At the end, the system collapses and the invested money is lost.

Pyramid-type promotional systems are hidden under slogans such as: "programme", "make money at home", "earn money on the Internet", "investments", "advertising platform". The systems are often promoted by celebrities who attend certain events organised to advertise illegal projects. Sometimes dishonest entrepreneurs steal images of famous people - actors, politicians, businessmen, athletes - to promote an illegal project.

Some projects of that type may also have a form of the so-called financial pyramid scheme, what is considered an organised a crime of fraud (Art. 286 of the Criminal Code). In such a situation, law enforcement authorities (police, prosecutor's office) should be informed.

Consumer support:

Telephone number: 801 440 220 or 22 290 89 16 – consumer helpline
Email: porady@dlakonsumentow.pl
 Consumer Ombudsmen – in your town or district

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
E-mail: biuroprasowe@uokik.gov.pl
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL