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    Jaxmidway's Avatar
    Jaxmidway Posts: 25, Reputation: 2
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    #1

    Sep 18, 2007, 03:50 PM
    Foreign Bank CDs
    Hello,
    I have seen the CD rates for Millennium Bank is 7.5% for one year. Needless to say I am interested since we can not find this rate anywhere in the U.S. Has anyone out there experienced dealings with this bank?

    Many Thanks
    Jaxmidway
    tickle's Avatar
    tickle Posts: 23,796, Reputation: 2674
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    #2

    Sep 18, 2007, 04:05 PM
    Where are they based ?
    Jaxmidway's Avatar
    Jaxmidway Posts: 25, Reputation: 2
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    #3

    Sep 18, 2007, 05:23 PM
    St. Vincent and the Grenadines... Millennium Bank is a subsidiary of United Trust of Switzerland S.A. a Swiss-registered private trust company established in 1931.
    Jaxmidway
    MonkeySeeMonkeyDo's Avatar
    MonkeySeeMonkeyDo Posts: 4, Reputation: 1
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    #4

    Oct 5, 2007, 11:35 PM
    This "Millennium Bank" is running a con game. They attempt to gain your confidence so that you will give them your money.

    If you were to send them your money, they would probably send you periodic statements showing how you're earning interest on your money, and they're hoping that you'll tell your friends about these great CD rates and that this will convince your friends that they should send their money to Millennium Bank.

    This is how a Ponzi scheme operates... by word of mouth. Sometimes the early investors will get paid off, if there are enough new investments coming in to keep the fraud operating. But eventually it fails and the remaining investors are left holding the bag.

    The multi-year CD is an ideal instrument for a Ponzi scheme, because investors have no expectation of getting their money out before the CD reaches its maturity. Even for shorter-term CDs, most investors will want to roll over their CDs since they think they're getting such a good interest rate.

    There are a number of "tells" that Millennium Bank isn't a bona fide operation. Most blatant are misleading statements, such as "the interest you earn ... is tax-free in St. Vincent and the Grenadines." Never mind that it's still taxable to U.S. residents, and if it were taxed by St. Vincent, you would be eligible for a U.S. tax credit up to the amount of your U.S. tax liability on that income.

    They also seem to be encouraging tax fraud by advising customers that they can deduct interest charges as "losses" through their "loan-back program".

    Look at this! They say "absolutely no fees relevant to Millennium Bank’s Loan-Back Program are payable to any other financial organization until after the conclusion of the administrative process." This is starting to sound like one of these 419 Nigerian letter-type scams. After you've deposited your funds with them, if you want to use that as collateral for a loan, you'll actually have to send more money, payable to Millennium Bank. Then, once they've completed the "administrative process", they will come up with excuses that you have to send still more money. They can keep this going until you've sent them everything you've got.

    Read between the lines, the truth is out there.
    Jaxmidway's Avatar
    Jaxmidway Posts: 25, Reputation: 2
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    #5

    Oct 6, 2007, 07:29 PM
    Many thanks!

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