...
I hope the people scammed get some or perhaps all of their money back.
Unfortunately, in these kind of Ponzi schemes, that money is long gone.
What might happen however is for an appointed trustee to demand that any/all INVESTORS that earned any money back to return it.
That will come as a second-wave shock for investors who got some "profit" but never got their principal back. In other words, they suffered a huge loss--and now they are going to be further shattered with the news that the trustee is going to "claw back" money they were paid. This will in fact greatly worsen the devastation for many investors.
However, the theory is that all the money should be brought back in, even if they have to sue investors who suffered losses already. Then whatever they can get back, they will distribute equally to all investors (pro-rata).
It's a horrific mess and about to get worse for some unsuspecting investors. They will be threatened with litigation/penalties and, in some cases, actually sued for return of any payments they received.
It is very unlikely that investors (in total) will get back more than pennies to the dollar.
FLASHBACK: About 25 years ago. A major international event. All of he Scientology parishioners were seated and the auditorium brought to a dead silence. Then, from the back of the massive structure, the lights went up and there was a procession. . .
From the rear of the indoor stadium, one-by-one, Scientology's most sacred CELEBRITIES were coming down the aisle to thunderous flashing lights and applause. They were the GODS of Scientology, fully worshipped for their money, their celebrity and their elite OT status.
I cringed at that moment, because what had originally thought was a "science" of developing human ability was now parading "HOLLYWOOD CELEBRITIES" as the fulfillment of the vision of reaching higher spiritual levels.
And to make it even worse, coming down the aisle, basking in applause, was someone I had known as a regular fella who was trying to make a mark in the world of filmmaking--Dror Sorref. He wasn't anything special. He had written or directed a movie. Hey, by that point I had written movies too. But i wasn't in the hideous procession of Scientology Saints! LOL. Such a cringeworthy travesty was in fact the EXACT OPPOSITE of every reason I had decided to try Scientology in the first place.
But, as I say, there was goofy Dror with his goofy smile....(now get this) WAVING to the fans.
Waving.
LOLOL.
He had magically been re-born as a sacred scn celeb.
The common man in the stands was supposed to stamp and yell and pour forth our heartfelt "validation" for these "power beings". LOl
Such insanity. That moment cinched it for me. I was already nearly out of Scientology, but at that very moment I knew that I actually hated Scientology.
I detested the celebrity scam.
I detested the stupidity of Scientologists being told who to applaud for.
Dror was nothing more or less than every single one of the people in that huge audience, but somehow he had.......somehow....TRANSCENDED! LOL. And the Scientologists I was scanning in every direction were BUYING IT! They were "flowing power" to Dror.
Well, fast forward to the end of the third act.
Dror's in jail with $2.4M bond, indicted for a long menu of very serious criminal charges that could well land him in prison for the rest of his life.
That's who we were
instructed to worship. That's who we were
told to worship. LOL
And now? Now Scientologists will shun and disconnect from Dror and say the most hideously awful things about him. They will un-friend him on Facebook and turn their backs on him forever. Why? Because they are told to do that.
Scientology: It tells a person what to do. If someone succeeds it tells everyone to worship them. If someone fails, it tells everyone to disconnect and fair game them. This is all fine and good for Scientologists----until the day that Scientology is applied to
them personally.