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Auditing the trading history of an investment fund is an effective guard against financial frauds. But how can it be performed publicly, in real time, and without disclosing any commercial secret of a fund? In 2020, Luthra et al. developed ${\rm{ZeroAUDIT}}$ZeroAUDIT, a customized zero-knowledge protocol based on Merkle tree, which can assert that the accrued profit of an investment fund is as claimed given commitment/encryption of its transaction records. It was believed that a customized protocol has much better performance than general purpose zk-proof systems. In this work, we show that it is not true. We present ${\rm{ZeroAUDI}}{{\rm{T}}_{{\rm{GEN}}}}$ZeroAUDITGEN, a polymorphic zk-proof system for the same zk-audit problem, over a variety of general purpose zk-proof systems. We show that the prover and verifier cost can be greatly reduced by appropriate choice of security assumptions and design of concrete cryptographic constructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the legal loopholes and regulatory measures taken in response to pyramid and Ponzi schemes, specifically analyzing the lessons learned from Albania's financial crisis in the 1990s and what insights Indonesia can learn. The collapse of these schemes in Albania, which had a catastrophic effect on the economy and triggered an entire social and political crisis, exposed significant measures in governance negligence, financial supervision, legal frameworks, and understanding of investments. Through an in-depth examination of the Albanian catastrophe experience, this paper examines the legal framework in terms of inadequate regulations, government negligence due to lack of experience handling Ponzi and pyramid scheme issues, and lack of investment literacy. The paper explores how Indonesia can enhance its legal and regulatory environment by drawing lessons from Albania's mistakes in the past. Suggestions involve strengthening financial authority roles, establishing specific regulations to regulate pyramid and Ponzi schemes, and providing comprehensive investment literacy education for investors. This study highlights the significance of legislative reform and efficient governance to prevent financial schemes that take advantage of legal loopholes and uneducated investors, ultimately leading to a more resilient and stable financial system. By examining Albania's experience, Indonesia may establish a proactive strategy to protect its citizens and economy from the dangers of pyramid and Ponzi schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Most scientific research has focused on understanding Ponzi schemes from the point of view of the schemes and their operators, based on qualitative analysis. This paper aims to analyze Ponzi schemes from the perspective of their investors, emphasizing behavioral aspects, which have been little explored in the scientific literature, especially in quantitative research. In this way, the authors sought to understand the effects of heuristics and cognitive biases in understanding investor behavior. Design/methodology/approach: A logistic regression was carried out with Brazilian investors, some of them participants in Ponzi schemes, who answered a structured questionnaire by means of a survey. Findings: The authors found that social pressures, overconfidence and deliberate ignorance lead to credulity, generating little risk analysis and the desire to make a lot of money quickly. Practical implications: Helping investors improve their levels of information through financial education and self-knowledge about their behavior. Contribute to the competent authorities in the search for improvements in the information displayed to investors. Social implications: Understanding the mechanisms used when making a financial decision from the point of view of investors in general, but especially those exposed to Ponzi schemes, has the mission of enlightening them about the importance of financial education and the weight of psychological factors so that they can reduce the effects of heuristics and analysis biases when faced with a financial decision. Originality/value: The basis of this work will be the inclusion of psychological variables and financial education, adapting existing models in an attempt to demonstrate the effects they may or may not have on mental accounting in the specific case of investors [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Romance fraud uses the guise of a genuine relationship to deceive a victim into transferring often large amounts of money to an offender/s. Romance fraud has been in the top three categories of financial loss for Australian victims over the past decade, and this is a trend mirrored internationally. However, in recent years there has been a convergence of romance fraud and investment fraud approaches. Terms such as romance baiting, cryptorom and 'pig butchering' have all emerged to describe how offenders are evolving in their attempts to defraud victims through offering fake cryptocurrency investment opportunities, using a relationship as the mechanism. This article analyses this shift in romance fraud offending and its embracing of investment scheme opportunities. It highlights the underlying reasons for the success of this amalgamated approach and further demonstrates how it potentially distorts the reporting of fraud as well as prevention messaging targeting these incidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic crime has been an area of concern for regulators and governments across countries, and billions of hard-earned money is siphoned off by fraudsters yearly. Financial service consumers' lives are made easier with the new technological developments in fintech. However, with the growing participation of individuals in formalised channels of banking and finance, through greater emphasis on financial inclusion, there is also a massive surge in the victimisation of individuals through investment-related scams and digital financial frauds. Using nationally representative data, the present study looks into the significant demographic and socioeconomic factors influencing the likelihood of individual victimisation through investment scams and digital frauds. It further explores how financial literacy helps reduce the odds of victimisation in both cases. The study finds that in case of fraudulent investment scheme victimisation, males belonging to the 40–59 age group who have studied graduation or post-graduation (including professionals) and belong to middle-income groups are more vulnerable to victimisation than other groups. Similarly, in the case of digital financial fraud victimisation, males below the age group of 60 years who have studied at least high school or more, belonging to middle-income groups and lower socioeconomic classes, have higher odds of victimisation than other groups. The study also finds that the odds of victimisation of individuals through digital fraud are higher than investment-related fraud. It further suggests that financial education significantly reduces the odds of victimisation in both types of economic crime. The study concludes with policy recommendations to governments and regulators based on the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the emergence of New Clark City, Philippines, which is part of the country's development programme "Build‐Build‐Build". Triangulating data from field observations, interviews, and documents, we analyse the social, economic, and ecological consequences of this "city of the future". The city enables capital to be fixed into space, which (i) creates new accumulation opportunities for investors, (ii) lubricates capital circulation, shortening turnover times and lowering costs, and (iii) staves off a multitude of longstanding barriers faced by capital and state actors by reordering space along the lines of the Philippines' geographical expansion and spatial restructuring strategy. Aiming to address a geographical‐switching crisis, this socio‐ecological fix goes hand‐in‐hand with the stark reality of an internal colonialist agenda, resulting in negative consequences for local and Indigenous communities. We contribute to the socio‐ecological fix literature by arguing that internal colonialism offers a vital lens to understand capital expansion from the centre to the periphery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we analyse Minskian dynamics in the US economy via an empirical application of Minsky's financing regime classifications to a panel of nonfinancial corporations. First, we map Minsky's definitions of hedge, speculative and Ponzi finance onto firm-level data to describe the evolution of Minskian regimes. We highlight striking growth in the share of Ponzi firms in the post-1970 US, concentrated among small corporations. This secular growth in the incidence of Ponzi firms is consistent with the possibility of a long wave of increasingly fragile finance in the US economy. Second, we explore the possibility of short-run Minskian dynamics at a business cycle frequency. Using linear probability models relating firms' probability of being Ponzi to the aggregate output gap, which captures short-term macroeconomic fluctuations exogenous to individual firms, we find that the relationship between aggregate downturns and the probability of being Ponzi is statistically significant, but very small (almost zero). This result is corroborated by quantile regressions using a continuous measure of financial fragility, the interest coverage ratio, which identify almost zero effects of short-term fluctuations on financial fragility across the interest coverage distribution. Together, these results speak to an important question in the theoretical literature on financial fragility regarding the duration of Minskian cycles, and lend support, in particular, to the contention that Minskian dynamics may take the form of long waves, but do not operate at business cycle frequencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stablecoin represents a unique subset of cryptocurrencies designed to offer price stability, achieved either through backing by specific assets or by employing algorithms that adjust their supply in response to market demand. In its landscape, algorithmic stablecoin is one special type that is not backed by any asset, and it stands to revolutionize the way a sovereign fiat operates. As implemented, algorithmic stablecoins are poorly stabilized in most cases; their prices easily deviate from the target or even fall into a catastrophic collapse and are as a result often dismissed as a Ponzi scheme. However, what is the essence of Ponzi? In this paper, we try to clarify such a deceptive concept and reveal how algorithmic stablecoin works from a higher level. We find that Ponzi is basically a financial protocol that pays existing investors with funds collected from new ones. Running a Ponzi, however, does not necessarily imply that any participant is in any sense losing out, as long as the game can be perpetually rolled over. Economists call such realization as a rational Ponzi game. We accordingly propose a rational model in the context of algorithmic stablecoin and draw its holding conditions. We apply the model and use historical data to examine if the major types of algorithmic stablecoins meet the criteria for being a rational Ponzi game. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the artwork and philosophy of Jennifer Mary Ord (1948-2024), an outlier artist who lived and worked in Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha) for most of her life, and whose conceptual art has not received any previous critical attention. Examining Ord’s work through the lens of two articles she published in the South African Journal of Art History, as well as some of her work that was recently exhibited at the Bird Street Gallery, Nelson Mandela University, I argue that Ord was a highly sophisticated and playful poststructuralist visual artist, whose work was intended to deconstruct the foundational tenets of European philosophy, which she viewed as central to colonialism, racism, and patriarchy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Revisions are proposed to the taxonomic model of human motivation of Forbes (Review of General Psychology, 15(2), 85-98, 2011) in order to incorporate a heretofore missing fourth life domain, the spiritual. The growing literature on spiritual motives is systematically reviewed in accordance with literature review standards for theory development (Templier & Paré, 2018) focusing on the objective of identifying comprehensive theoretical systems that explicitly incorporate the spiritual domain as one of a limited set of human life domains. The structure of the Forbes model is contrasted with thirteen theoretical systems that explicitly incorporate the spiritual as a fourth life domain. Consistent with the Forbes model, the spiritual domain is proposed to consist of three modes of existence (Being, Doing, Having) represented as justice motivation, moral motivation, and transcendental motivation, respectively, as well as both promotion and prevention goals within each of the three motives. Empirical evidence is reviewed in support of a revised heuristic device wherein the Spiritual domain is closely linked with the Intrapsychic and Interpersonal domains, but not the Instrumental domain, resulting in a pyramidal structure and corresponding set of testable hypotheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper leverages the transformative capabilities of blockchain technology to introduce a new approach to developing Ponzi-like systems by integrating perpetual liquidity and time epochs within immutable smart contracts. Blockchain's transparent nature establishes a foundation for trust in the ecosystem. Departing from the unsustainable nature and inevitable collapse associated with traditional Ponzi schemes, the proposed framework ensures continuous token availability, mitigating supply depletion and thus minimizing system failure risk. The introduction of time epochs is a key feature that enhances the sustainability of our system. It enables continuous rebalancing, predictability, and transparency within the system. Through predetermined intervals, users can claim a percentage of tokens from previous epochs, ensuring a fair distribution mechanism and preventing stagnation. This predictable cycle fosters the user's confidence in the longevity of the protocol. The mechanics of the proposed system are designed to incentivize rational behaviour and trust among participants. Users are motivated to contribute to the ecosystem, knowing that their efforts will be reciprocated with proportional rewards. We design, implement and present the new model as a paradigm shift in Ponzilike structures. Through a multidisciplinary lens encompassing economics, game theory, and sustainable development, this research aims towards fostering long-term viability and ethical financial practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Good Corporate Governance is the management of a company that is transparent, accountable, responsible, fair, and considers all stakeholders. At the same time, intangible assets such as intellectual capital have a very important role in the shift to a knowledge-based economic orientation. Fund providers such as investors and creditors respond to the management of the company and the assets owned by the company in running the business. Changes in stock price, which is a component of stock return, will represent the response of fund providers. By analyzing the effect of intellectual capital on stock returns under the guidance of good corporate governance, this study seeks to generate empirical evidence. Companies in the financial sector listed between 2018 and 2022 on the Indonesia Stock Exchange serve as the study population. Purposive sampling was used to select 49 companies as research samples. Based on empirical evidence obtained from statistical analysis that has been carried out, all coefficients provide positive values, indicating that the movement of stock returns is in line with changes in Good Corporate Governance and intellectual capital. It can be concluded that the results of this study indicate that Good Corporate Governance affects stock returns. The effect of gcg on stock returns is strengthened by the role of intellectual capital, meaning that Good Corporate Governance will tend to have a greater influence on stock returns when the company has greater intellectual capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of entrepreneurial incentives among students is a highly relevant issue because it is of utmost importance for the economic development of the country to cultivate generations of entrepreneurs who will create high-value technological startups and contribute to the transformation of Georgia into a technological hub, a goal that we have been calling a priority for years. In recent years, there has been a tendency among young adults to show entrepreneurial initiative, although this is modest compared to what could truly change the image of the country. Funds and angel investors have emerged in the country, ready to invest in interesting business projects with global potential. In this process, the role of universities could be invaluable. The primary obstacle that Georgia's and Portugal's education systems are still facing is incorporating entrepreneurial skills into formal and vocational education. Scant is the rundown of colleges that have coordinated this new test in their educational programs. The region is characterized by precarious and unsystematic skill-based professional schooling, reflecting inadequate funding initiatives lacking sustainability. The article studies the factors influencing students' entrepreneurial incentives in Georgia and Portugal, identifies the interests and opportunities of Georgian and Portuguese university students in starting a business, and discusses the best foreign practices for encouraging students' entrepreneurial activity. The article reports a study, based on a survey, which identified the main facilitating and hindering factors that influence students' entrepreneurial incentives. The paper also analyzes the environment supporting students' entrepreneurial activities in Georgia and Portugal, discusses the possibilities of finding financing, and identifies the main obstacles that students face when starting a business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses judicial milestones concerning Ponzi scheme clawbacks and remedies in Utah. Topics explored include the filing of clawback lawsuits by bankruptcy trustees to recover payments made in Ponzi schemes, the fraudulent transfer provision of the Federal Bankruptcy Code, and the U.S. court cases which contributed to the development of the Ponzi clawback law such as Cunningham v. Brown in 1924 and Alexander v. Compton in 2000.

Investors face the dual considerations of return and risk when making investment decisions. Therefore, proper analysis is crucial, especially during the COVID-19 crisis, to achieve maximum returns while minimizing risk. This research used three portfolio optimization models, the Mean-Variance Model, the Mean-Absolute Deviation Model and the Value-at-Risk Model, to construct a stock portfolio. The findings indicated that the Mean-Variance Model can yield an expected return of 16.55% and a portfolio risk of 258.66%. The result from the Mean-Absolute Deviation Model was that the target return is 16%, along with a portfolio risk of 282.43%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to, firstly, develop a red flag checklist for cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes and, secondly, to test this red flag checklist against publicly available marketing material for Mirror Trading International (MTI). The red flag checklist test seeks to establish if MTI's marketing material posted on YouTube® (in the form of a live video presentation) exhibits any of the red flags from the checklist. Design/methodology/approach: The study uses a structured literature review and qualitative analysis of red flags for Ponzi and cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes. Findings: A research lacuna was discovered with regard to cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme red flags. By means of a structured literature review, journal papers were identified that listed and discussed Ponzi scheme red flags. The red flags from the identified journal papers were subsequently used in a qualitative analysis. The analyses and syntheses resulted in the development of a red flag checklist for cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes, with five red flag categories, containing 18 associated red flags. The red flag checklist was then tested against MTI's marketing material (a transcription of a live YouTube presentation). The test resulted in MTI's marketing material exhibiting 88% of the red flags contained within the checklist. Research limitations/implications: The inherent limitations in the design of using a structured literature review and the lack of research regarding the cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme red flags. Practical implications: The study provides a red flag checklist for cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes. The red flag checklist can be applied to a cryptocurrency investment scheme's marketing material to establish if it exhibits any of these red flags. Social implications: The red flag checklist can be applied to a cryptocurrency investment scheme's marketing material to establish if it exhibits any of these red flags. Originality/value: The study provides a red flag checklist for cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In today's modern business and technological landscape, businesses are increasingly inclined to seek alternative methods for resolving disputes rather than rely solely on traditional court procedures. Businesses are also increasingly aware of the significance of resolving conflicts through alternative means and taking proactive measures to avoid litigation. In recent decades, investment arbitration has gained widespread acceptance and has emerged as a preferred mechanism for resolving disputes involving international investors in Western Balkan countries. Some countries demonstrate a favourable inclination towards employing arbitration as a dispute resolution mechanism by enacting legislation that grants investors the right to initiate arbitration proceedings against the state in case of failure. This scientific research objective will be achieved through the reflection of the legislative framework in the matter of investment arbitration as well as the reflection of the flow of foreign investments, analysing and not limited to the treatment of concrete cases of arbitration disputes. Through this approach, we will answer the central question of how much arbitration as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism is a stimulating factor for attracting foreign direct investment or whether multinational companies only use the legislative and incentive favours offered by the Republic of Kosovo and North Macedonia. Methods: The article was conceived based on a modern methodological framework. Within the general methodological framework of scientific research, logical methods play a crucial role in the scientific processing of the research data, drawing conclusions and determining facts through which the truth of the thesis of the work is reached scientifically. In the context of this paper, the method of analysis through which the impact of arbitration as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism in relation to the flow of investments will be analysed is noteworthy. Additionally, methods of abstraction and concretisation will also be used. Abstraction is the basis of analysis, which sometimes represents the separation of parts from the whole subject. Moreover, the comparative method will highlight the diverse normative solutions in national legislation and international legal sources. Results and conclusions: In the article, the authors propose considering the effectiveness of existing provisions and determining whether adjustments or alternative approaches are needed to maximise the benefits of foreign investment while minimising potential risks and uncertainties associated with dispute resolution processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pyramid schemes are adapting to the digitalisation era and mimicking various organisations. The organisers of these schemes quite often appeal to such human qualities as greed and the desire to get rich quickly. Thus, it is becoming increasingly relevant to develop new methods for countering pyramid schemes taking into account modern realities and behavioural characteristics of an individual decisionmaker. The focus of the research is on selecting sludge tools to fight against digital pyramid schemes. Methodologically, the study relies on the concepts of behavioural economics, in particular, of the nudge theory (nudges vs sludges). The methods include brainstorming, focus groups. The evidence comes from primary qualitative research, in-depth interviews with both non-professional investors and experts in the field of financial market held in 2022. The analysis allowed defining the concept of sludge and present the types of sludge tools. The paper provides an original list of sludge tools as well as a set of practical tools to counter pyramid schemes, which, in particular, consists of legal restrictions, monitoring of Ponzi schemes’ activities, financial enlightenment, a legal information system, self-coordination of investors, and an individual approach. The paper concludes that sludge tools differ in terms of the length of impact and the speed of obtaining a result. Short-term sludges generate a fast effect and prevent from investing in pyramid schemes without preliminary preparation of participants; they, for instance, include placing a poster with a warning against Ponzi schemes, ensuring a careful reading of the contract, mandatory familiarisation with the List of entities with detected signs of illegal activities in the financial market created by the Bank of Russia, taking a risk test for assessing the probability of a decreased price or lost asset, ensuring advice of a financial counsellor as an obligatory stage of investment. The findings contribute to the understanding of the need for proactive (preventive) measures’ development aimed at countering fraudulent schemes.

As the dramatic consequences of climate change finally begin to motivate governments around the world to explore how to move away from a dependence on fossil fuels, nuclear power is back on the agenda in the UK as a potential energy source. However, this new-found enthusiasm confronts a fundamental challenge--namely, that the radioactive wastes, accumulating since the very first nuclear power stations were built in the 1950s, have yet to be made safe for the long-term future. At the governmental level, there is a clear international commitment to the view that the most secure option for the management of radioactive waste matter is burial deep underground in an engineered geological disposal facility (GDF).1 Finland leads the international field, and the repository at Onkalo is expected to be fully operational by 2025. The Swedish government approved plans for the construction of an underground repository for spent nuclear fuel in 2022, with Canada, France, Japan, Switzerland, the UK, and the USA all actively engaged in siting and design initiatives. Strategies for generating public acceptance of geological disposal vary, as do the modes of engagement, the investments of time and money afforded, and the decision-making processes. These processes are conceptually and politically challenging. They require not only technical expertise and scientific understanding across an entire range of disciplines, but also the imaginative capacity to think across scales of time and space in what Ele Carpenter (2016: 14) has suggestively referred to as 'reverse mining'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Annals of Juridica Sciences / Roczniki Nauk Prawnych is the property of Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL & Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawla II and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the past few years, cryptocurrency has gained widespread acceptance because of its decentralized nature, quick and secure transactions, and potential for investment and speculation. But the increased popularity has also led to increased cryptocurrency fraud, including scams, phishing attacks, Ponzi schemes, and other criminal activities. Although there is little documentation of cryptocurrency fraud, an in‐depth study is essential to recognize various scams in different cryptocurrencies. To fill this gap, a study investigated cryptocurrency‐related fraud in various cryptocurrencies and provided a taxonomy of crypto‐forensics and forensic blockchain. In addition, we have introduced an architecture that integrates artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technologies to investigate and protect against instances of cryptocurrency fraud. The suggested design's effectiveness was evaluated using several machine learning (ML) classification algorithms. The conclusion of the evaluation confirmed that the random forest (RF) classifier performed the best, delivering the highest level of accuracy, that is, 97.5%. Once the ML classifiers detect cryptocurrency fraud, the information is securely stored in the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS); the document's hash is also stored in the blockchain using smart contracts. Law enforcement can leverage blockchain technology to secure access to fraudulent cryptographic transactions. The proposed architecture was tested for bandwidth utilization. Despite the potential benefits of blockchain and crypto‐forensics, several issues and challenges remain, including privacy concerns, standardization, and difficulty identifying fraud between crypto‐currencies. Finally, the paper discusses various problems and challenges in blockchain and crypto forensics to investigate cryptocurrency fraud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While urban forests are recognized as imperative toward climate adaptation in cities and provide health and recreational benefits to citizens, municipal tree officers often struggle to find successful governance arrangements and budget support toward long-lasting investment and implementation in new planting schemes and protection of existing trees. Since its release in 2006, i-Tree Eco has helped urban tree officers worldwide to find tangible leverage in the means of quantitative mapping, numeric measures, and economic values of ecosystem services. This may in turn help ease gridlocks and potentially support constructive dialogues across sectors, with decision-makers and public engagement. With the release of i-Tree Eco v. 6 in Europe 2018, 13 Nordic cities were engaged in a larger research project with ambitions to use i-Tree Eco for the purpose of retrieving numeric and monetary data of the biophysical structures and ecosystem services of the urban forest. Based on questionnaires and semistructured interviews, we present the results from the Nordic i-Tree project with a focus on expectations, opportunities, and potential barriers experienced in using i-Tree Eco in urban forest management. The most prominent expectation and foreseeing opportunities were recognized toward using numeric information on trees to change policies and support cross-sectoral collaboration while reaching politicians and the public. Identified barriers involved how limited resources are spent on public outreach and how information about the project to relevant stakeholders were not distributed from the beginning which may have implications on the dissemination of results. As some important ecosystem services, e.g., cultural services, are not captured by i-Tree Eco, presenting the partial value of urban trees may pose also potential risks to cross-sectoral collaboration. Other findings conclude that although numeric information on ecosystem services is seen as beneficial in terms of communicating with different stakeholders, a deeper understanding toward the criteria used in the valuation process and the potential risks of numeric approaches may provide more context-specific applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indonesia is currently experiencing a surge of investments, which is resulting in both positive and negative outcomes. Supported by increasingly fast technology, “investment” activists are even more enthusiastic about continuing to develop their investments. Recently, investment activists have faced various forms of fraudulent investment with Ponzi schemes. This study aims to determine criminal liability in investing in Ponzi schemes in Indonesia and the protection measures that can be provided for victims. Using normative legal research methods, it was found that fraudulent Ponzi scheme investors in Indonesia can be charged with Article 378 of the Criminal Code. And, because they do not have a permit, fraudulent investments can be subject to Article 103 of Law Number 8 of 1995 concerning Capital Markets, related to investment victims, falsifying a Ponzi scheme in an application because it uses electronic media can be subject to Article 28 paragraph 1 of Law Number 11 of 2008 concerning information and electronic transactions, which has been amended by Law Number 19 of 2016 concerning Amendments to Law Number 11 of 2008 concerning information and electronic transactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The document is an interview with Professor Giorgio Gaja, an eminent scholar in public international law, discussing his experiences with the International Law Commission (ILC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Professor Gaja highlights the importance of collective work in refining individual contributions to international law and discusses the significant contributions of the ILC, such as the Draft Articles on the Law of Treaties and State Responsibility. He also addresses the relationship between the ILC and the Sixth Committee, potential conflicts of interest, and the role of international organizations like the ICJ and ILC in ensuring the relevance of international law in today's world. The interview concludes with Professor Gaja's suggestions for improving the working methods of the ILC. [Extracted from the article]

The primary goal of the present study was to examine the relationship between academic buoyancy, academic emotions, and self-regulated learning (SRL) writing strategies in the second or foreign language (L2) writing context. Particularly, we aimed to investigate whether the relationships between writing buoyancy and SRL writing strategies (environmental, behavioral, and personal) were mediated by positive and negative academic emotions in English writing classrooms. A sample of 362 Chinese university students completed self-report questionnaires. Basic statistics and structural equation modelling were used to analyze the data. The findings showed that academic buoyancy, positive and negative academic emotions, and SRL writing strategies were significantly correlated; the total and direct effect of negative academic emotions on environmental SRL writing strategies were not significant; positive and negative academic emotions mediated the relationship between academic buoyancy and SRL writing strategies. Implications for how to help university students to "bounce back" from English writing setbacks and invest efforts to develop positive emotions are discussed; suggestions for implementing a classroom intervention focusing on academic buoyancy to foster better use of SRL writing strategies are also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a revised definition of "argument scheme" that focuses on describing argumentative performances and normative assessments that occur within an argumentative context, the social context in which the scheme arises. Our premise-and-conclusion structure identifies the typical instantiation of an argument in the argumentative context, and our critical framework describes a set of normative assessments available to participants in the context, what we call practically normative assessments. We distinguish this practical normativity from the rationally or universally normative assessment that might be imposed from outside the argumentative context. Thus, the practical norms represented in an argument scheme may still be subject to rational critique, and the scheme avoids the is/ought fallacy. We ground our theoretical discussion and observations in an empirical study of US district court opinions resolving legal questions about copyright fair use and the lawyers' briefs that led to them, instantiating our definition of argument scheme in the "argument for classification by precedent." Our definition addresses some criticisms the argument-scheme construct has received. For example, using our data, we show that a minimally well formed instance of this type of argument does not shift any conventional burden from the proponent of the argument to its skeptics. We also argue that these argument schemes need not be seen as dialogical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates how the dual demands of finance and social impact affect the relationships of founders to disruption, as a rhetorical function, material goal and relational context. Building on recent studies of innovation and entrepreneurship such as Bardinelli (2019), Irani (2019) and Lindtner (2020), the article offers a nuanced view of disruption that complicates unidimensional narratives of financialization as a singular force and accounts for the complexity of reconciling financial and social interests. Based on data gathered at a startup participating in a government-funded accelerator program in Melbourne, Australia, we analyse how the logics of finance impact entrepreneurial experience in an early-stage social enterprise startup. Our data suggests that, in their attempts to attract the attention and funding of financial investors, founders of early-stage startups focus more on proving the value of their disruption in a rhetorical sense than on refining the materially disruptive potential of their products to ensure real world social impact. By analysing disruption through a relational lens, we identify four layers of disruption (product innovation; social value; financial return; and labour relations) to which early-stage startups are aligned, and through which their products and personal lives are transformed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article equates the antics of Shakespeare's Shylock with Ponzi schemes in contemporary Africa. Given the paucity of literary works on Ponzi schemes, it focuses on Nigeria to invoke a correspondence between usury and Ponzi schemes, using the former as a metaphor philosophically to account for the latter. Its discoveries afford an intertextual critique of Nigerian author Femi Osofisan's Love's Unlike Lading, its prototype , Merchant of Venice, and Fires Burn and Die Hard. With the background of New Historicism and intertextual theories, this study reconceptualizes Shakespeare's Shylock as Ponzi schemes, which are economic wolves in the dress of a humanitarian lamb, as they take more than a pound of flesh from investors who are effectively complicit in their own predicaments. It signals a place for literature in the quest for authorities and cybersecurity professionals to rid Africa and cyberspace of get-rich-quick schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In July 2020, the Chinese government warned that the Plus Token was a Ponzi scheme based on blockchain. More than 200 million investors were involved in this scam. We investigate how investors' search behaviour is associated with their decision making. We find that the bitcoin bag of words Baidu index is positively and significantly related to bitcoins transferred to Plus Token addresses, suggesting that public prominence of searches about bitcoin and blockchain tends to be related to investor decisions regarding the Plus Token project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interest in the Turin Papyrus, which records the names of the kings of ancient Egypt, began with its study by Champollion at the Turin museum in 1924. It was followed by the efforts of other scholars, who recognized its importance as the first papyrus to accurately record the timeline of Egyptian kings since the beginning of the coronation of kings in prehistory, proving that Egypt's civilization was the most ancient worldwide with its system, governance, and administration, in commemoration of the major events that it experienced, and in following up on the lineage and sequence of its kings. However, this importance quickly faded, and the content of the papyrus about those first periods, dating back to 36.620 years before the rule of King "Narmer" BC, was ignored. This is evidenced by most studies on the beginnings of the ancient Egyptian civilization that began with the attempts to unite Egypt, especially in 3000 BC, where the rule of the main king of unity began. This motivated me to explore this theme in an effort to determine the importance of this papyrus and the truth about the beginning of the rule of kings in ancient Egypt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims to investigate the causality relationship between investor happiness and cryptocurrency returns. The study is focused on the five largest cryptocurrencies, specifically Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), Ripple (XRP), and Cardano (ADA). Twitter-based Happiness Index is used to measure investor happiness. The sample period covers the period between January 1, 2019, and October 2, 2021. The Zivot-Andrews test is employed to detect stationary of covariates. After ensuring that all variables are stationary at levels, the Granger causality test is adopted to understand the relationship between the happiness index and cryptocurrency returns. The impulse-response functions are illustrated. The results indicate that there is a uni-directional relationship from BTC to Happiness Index, and Happiness Index to ETH. Considering that the causal relationship between cryptocurrency returns and investor happiness differs between cryptocurrencies, it is thought that investors should closely monitor the happiness index and make adjustments in their portfolios in response to changes in investor happiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "What NOT to Write in Your Personal Statement" by Kim Marie Puterbaugh, MD, discusses key recommendations for crafting a successful personal statement for residency applications. The author emphasizes the importance of being concise, avoiding clichés, and showcasing unique experiences that shaped the applicant's journey. The article provides practical advice on what to avoid in personal statements, such as focusing solely on medical experiences, explaining the field to the reader, or being overly casual in tone. The author highlights the significance of authenticity, professionalism, and attention to detail in creating a compelling personal statement for residency applications. [Extracted from the article]

Security threats posed by Ponzi schemes present a considerably higher risk compared to many other online crimes. These fraudulent online businesses, including Ponzi schemes, have witnessed rapid growth and emerged as major threats in societies like Nigeria, particularly due to the high poverty rate. Many individuals have fallen victim to these scams, resulting in significant financial losses. Despite efforts to detect Ponzi schemes using various methods, including machine learning (ML), current techniques still face challenges, such as deficient datasets, reliance on transaction records, and limited accuracy. To address the negative impact of Ponzi schemes, this paper proposes a novel approach focusing on detecting Ponzi schemes on Ethereum using ML algorithms like random forest (RF), neural network (NN), and K-nearest neighbor (KNN). Over 20,000 datasets related to Ethereum transaction networks were gathered from Kaggle and preprocessed for training the ML models. After evaluating and comparing the three models, RF demonstrated the best performance with an accuracy of 0.94, a class-score of 0.8833, and an overall-score of 0.96667. Comparative evaluations with previous models indicate that our model achieves high accuracy. Moreover, this innovative work successfully detects key fraud features within the Ponzi scheme dataset, reducing the number of features from 70 to only 10 while maintaining a high level of accuracy. The main strength of this proposed method lies in its ability to detect clever Ponzi schemes from their inception, offering valuable insights to combat these financial threats effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following Thematic Issue presents new research on the nature and extent of a wide range of scams, cons, frauds, and deceptive activities, including sextortion, the use of ransomware, phishing, identity theft, Ponzi schemes, online shopping fraud, gift card scams, and health care fraud targeting elderly victims. Are Americans particularly vulnerable to these scams? And does the public actually admire individuals who get involved, in large part due to the positive portrayal of scammers, fraudsters, and con artists in both literature and cinema? The potential impact of literary and cinematic depictions of these scams on the public's view of both offending and victimization are considered, along with the government's ongoing attempts to censure a wide range of books and films that may influence the public's view of morality–and more recently, the public's view of our government– due to their content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme may be one of the most famous in history. The victims included over 15,000 parties. Roughly 130 elected to share their stories in court by filing victim impact statements. In the current study, we performed a content analysis that explored the consequences of victimization as reported in Madoff's victim impact statements. We found that the consequences of Ponzi scheme victimization included financial, mental or emotional, interpersonal, physical, life trajectory, and a change in trust in the government. The findings indicate that victims would be better served by having quicker responses from the government after victimization. They also benefit from being included in all phases of criminal proceedings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]