By Elizabeth Argyle
Christen Durham, 21, a junior at Utah Valley State College, was solicited by a friend to invest $2,000 for an easy return of $32,000.
Durham said she decided to invest only after being assured by her friend that it was completely legal. Within a week, Durham heard a news story reporting such investments as illegal.
Durham said she went back to her friend demanding the money back, but he said he no longer had it.
She was involved in a pyramid scheme, said Dan Stowe, detective for the Provo Police Department. Although they are disguised by other names, such as gifting clubs or financial groups, they all function the same and are illegal, Stowe said.
Even though Utah law protects citizens from pyramid schemes, victims will get little, if any, money back, said David Wayment, deputy attorney for Utah County.
'The best advice is if the deal sounds too good to be true, it usually is,' Stowe said.
Wayment said people should beware of anything that divorces risk from return.
Six small claims cases have been filed in Provo against local pyramid founders, Troy Dyches and Mike McMurtry, with whom Durham was involved, said Chris Killpack, deputy clerk in the Fourth District Court.
Four of those cases came against the defendants, and three of those have been appealed, according to court files. Two of the cases were dismissed. None of the plaintiffs have had any of their money returned.
Even if the cases on appeal are decided in favor of the victims, there is little chance of the money being returned, Killpack said.
'If the sum is not paid within eight years it becomes void, and he will no longer owe the money,' he said.
Killpack said the only way to further ensure the payment of the awarded money is to obtain a garnishment of wages or a bank account.
If Dyches and McMurtry were to ever move or change jobs, the collection process would become harder, Killpack said.
Durham said she and her friend, Clint Morris, who also paid $2,000 into the pyramid, got lucky after filing a small claims suit against Dyches and McMurtry.
'Someone from a court TV show called us up and asked us to be on their show,' she said.
Durham said she initially did not want to go, but she knew her chances of winning in Provo''s small claims court were small, so she accepted.
'I figured if I am going to lose I might as well get a free trip to New York, and a couple hundred bucks,' she said.
Morris and Durham said they won their suit for $2,000 each because they had a copy of Utah''s law on hand. Judge Hatchett told them that without it they would not have been awarded anything.
The law states, 'Any person who knowingly organizes, establishes, promotes or administers a pyramid scheme is guilty of a third degree felony.
'Any person giving consideration in connection with a pyramid scheme may bring court action to recover the consideration.'
Despite the law, victims can still lose in court. It is usually because of a lack of preparedness, Stowe said.
'If you stutter just once, they move on to the next case,' he said.
To be prepared, a plaintiff must know the law that protects them and must be able to defend their actions well, Stowe said.
On an average day in small claims court, a judge will see 30-40 cases, Killpack said.
Even though Durham and Morris won their case, they said their victory was bittersweet. Dyches and McMurtry never actually had to pay Durham and Morris back, Durham said.
The money awarded to Durham and Morris was paid by the television show.
The county attorney''s office has decided to file suit against Dyches on 10 charges of third degree felony, deputy attorney Wayment said.