Three Sydney arrests

Press, 9 June 1980, Page 5

Three Sydney arrests

NZPA Sydney The Sydney police have arrested three men in connection with so-called pyramid parties. The police say the men, two aged 36 and one 37, were arrested at a motel in suburban Artarmon.

They’ have been charged with publishing a false and misleading document. In Australia, the pyramidparty craze has brought action by authorities in four States.

The New South Wales Minister for Consumer Affairs, Mr Sid Einfeld, has directed departmental officers to confer with senior police officers on how to deal with complaints against promoters of pyramid parties.

Mr Einfeld said the Attor-nev-General’s department had advised that promoters who claimed that nobocy lost might be involved in deception with intent to defraud. Victoria’s Consumer Af-

fairs Minister, Mr James Ramsay, said pyramid parties were duping people of thousands of dollars, and his bureau and the fraud squad were investigating.

Queensland’s Industrial Relations Minister, Mr Fred Campbell, warned against the introduction of pyramid parties, saying they . appeared to t? a case of “a fool and his money soon being parted.”

The West Australian Consumer Affairs Department has warned people not to play the game.

In Sydney, admission to a pyramid party costs $lOOO, of which half goe~ to the person who introduced the player, and half into a pool. Players are then added to the pyramid by doubling the numbers on each tier until it is six tiers deep, at which point the pool-totals $31,500. The original player at the top of the pyramid scoops the pool, and the process continues by players moving to the top of the pyramid as newcomers are added to the bottom.