Who was “Cheverengue” and how was CLAE, one of the biggest pyramid scams, created?

Carlos Manrique was involved in one of the most controversial financial scandals in Peruvian and Latin American history.

Wednesday, July 10, 2024 Carlos Manrique “Cheverengue” has been confirmed dead at the age of 88. after encountering health problems.

The death occurred at the Ramón Castilla II Hospital of EsSalud, in the Cercado de Lima, Peru .

His brother, Sabino Manrique, confirmed to RPA What He was hospitalized on Monday morning. because he faced complications with his lungs and kidneys

“Cheverengue” played in a fraud who was catalogued at the time as “the greatest scam “financial in the history” of the country South American .

This, through Latin American Business Consulting Center (CLAE) a company he founded in 1978.

Once the affair was discovered, he left Peru and He became the “most wanted” Peruvian in 1994 .

After his escape, the authorities requested his capture from Interpol. He was arrested in November of that year as he left a bank in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood. Florida, United States.

In 1995 he was extradited to his native country and there served part of an 8-year sentence prison for fraud and financial crimes .

He was released in 2001 .

Afterwardsreturned to prison in 2008 and 2011 after fraud charges were brought against him .

However, on these occasions He has been behind bars for shorter periods according to the rescue BBC .

After leaving prison, he repeatedly received shouts from passers-by in Lima, who They demanded that he “return the money” .

It is estimated that, Thanks to CLAE, the savings of around 250,000 Peruvians have disappeared from the 80s to the early 90s.

Who was “Cheverengue” and how CLAE, one of the largest pyramid scams, was created. Photo: Carlos Manrique “Cheverengue”.

The movements of Carlos Manrique and CLAE

In the early 80s, The company began collecting savings to supposedly invest them in a network of CLAE companies and for the supposed profits to pay interest. to customers.

Manrique promised “high returns” to those who contributed . And in fact, some of the “claeists” benefited from it, although, due to the informal nature of their operations, their number has never been specified.

However, Many have lost their money in the pyramid scheme with which he managed to move 640 million dollars without being accountable to the State, according to figures collected by The trade .

Sources consulted by the BBC assure that One of the points that generated the most confidence among the “class members” was that Manrique, when he could, took care of them personally. .

But as expected, that was not all. The CLAE paid variable interest of up to 13% monthly or up to 100% annually. local newspapers reported in 1993.

Before the company’s movements were known, Manrique had positioned himself as a kind of celebrity in your country.

Even, was interviewed on the TV show Gisela —one of the most popular of the time—, a tourist association declared him twice “businessman of the year”, the magazine Events named him “person of the year” in 1991 and the magazine Inter-American Air Law and Tourism earned him recognition for his “outstanding work as a businessman.”

Furthermore, A political party asked him to be a candidate in the elections 1995 presidential elections among other exploits.

At the same time, the CLAE organized activities such as offering scholarships, raffling off at least one van and two apartments and excursions towards the Sierra de Lima.

There was also a national competition for commercial creativity and There was a club with a swimming pool and a restaurant .

In a moment, He even announced an airline to be called “Aeroclae”, but it never came to fruition. .

Once the matter was known, They started calling him “Cheverengue” when they were already looking for him. authorities.

He got this nickname because The comedian Arturo Álvarez imitated him on television and said “cheverengue” in order to present him as someone who made fun of his “liveliness”.

Who was “Cheverengue” and how CLAE, one of the biggest pyramid scams, was created. Photos: Carlos Manrique “Cheverengue”.

How “Cheverengue” fell and what his company did

The CLAE did not have funds to guarantee customers’ savings and was not subject to controls to verify the origin of the money or guarantee deposits. in case of contingency.

This is why it has been identified as an “informal bank” or “parallel”.

Until the early 1990s, Peru had no laws to control or intervene in the movements of this type of signatures.

The head of litigation at the Superintendence of Banking and Insurance (SBS), Carlos Cueva, explained to the BBC in 2021 that At that time, the entity “did not have any immediate direct tools to act” .

But in 1991, a standard was promulgated so that these companies can be regulated.

This, yes, had to be integrated into the formal financial system .

The CLAE began this process, but Manrique ran into a problem: Previously, he had to demonstrate his company’s investments and his accounts had to be balanced. .

Three years before his death, when he was already more than known for this case and had been in prison, he himself assured the aforementioned media that He owned a store “to export textiles” to Chile, a small factory of “gymnastic equipment” in Brazil and a store in the United States to “export handicrafts from Peru.” .

Furthermore, He said he imports products from the United States such as machines for printing photos on textiles and ceramics. and that he was developing a device that promised to increase height.

Although it was specified that the CLAE group consisted of 89 companies, He was never able to prove that his investments were profitable or what he did with his clients’ savings. .

Consequently, the signature could not be formalized in the system.

In Cueva’s words, “(Manrique) could not explain well what he was doing with the money and he did not have reliable documents either.” .

The pyramid scam that CLAE had It revolved around the same money, so it could continue to operate as long as other “classists” came along. .

It was like a kind of carousel. illustrated the SBS representative.

It was like that In April 1993, the CLAE offices intervened in Lima and other cities.

There they found approximately $36 million in cash .

For its part, “Cheverengue” denies having structured a pyramid scam .

Source: Latercera

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