EU to outlaw ‘pyramid’ schemes

CONTROVERSIAL “pyramid” schemes will be made illegal under a new EU directive - but it could take almost two years for the ban to come into force.

Under the schemes, people are asked to “gift” sizeable lump sums to others and promised they will eventually receive multiples of those amounts in return.

One such scheme which recently swept across Cork, Kerry and Clare, saw organisers asking people to each gift €10,000 in cash.