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Health & Fitness

Gifting Circles: How Illegal Are They?

www.ask-roxy.com is a public service blog from the Law Offices of Roxanne Sher Olson (www.roxanneolson.com).  Roxanne is an attorney in Santa Cruz, CA.  Email your questions to askroxy@roxanneolson.com


Here is an idea:  You give me some money.  By giving me some money you will be entitled to ask others to join our group.   Eventually, there is a chance you will receive money.  Sound about right?  No?  Okay, how about I form a sister empowerment group that shares abundance.  We focus on fulfilling our deepest selves through gifting love (and cash) toward the center of our lotus circle and someday, after you gather more women together, with lightness and invigorating clarity, you might blossom into the center and receive the abundance.  Sound better?

Either way you describe it, the legal term for a scheme where someone is enticed to join by paying money in exchange for the opportunity of gathering more people to pay money for the chance of receiving money is an “endless chain” and it is illegal under the Penal Code (section 327 for those of you who like to read statutes as much as I do).  For those of you who hate reading code here are the cliff notes: anyone involved is guilty and may go to prison.  

TO READ THE REST OF THIS POST AND MY LEGAL DISCLAIMER GO TO WWW.ASK-ROXY.COM 

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