The advertisement attacks Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers and Washington Attorney General Christine Gregoire for trying to dismantle a rash of pyramid schemes operating in the two states. A pyramid scheme is still a pyramid scheme, he said. It doesn't make any difference if you call it a gift. But Myers says the pyramids are doomed to collapse, because they quickly expand to a point they run out of donors. Only those who start the scheme wind up with a windfall in cash.
Most participants lose their money.
Wayne could not be reached for comment Monday. The women, who included Justice of the Peace Kate Martin, said they thought the clubs were legal, according to Jan Margosian, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office. Wayne said he was there to represent the women, but when justice officials learned he was not an attorney, they directed their comments to the three women. State officials issued the women notices that they had violated the state's illegal trade practices act. Margosian said state officials also are looking at Wayne's role in the pyramid schemes.