As panicky investors besieged its Moscow headquarters, MMM collapsed. Its share price – once about $56 – had shrunk to a wispy 46 cents. “This was all I had,” said Valentina Stepanova, 65, who had invested $1,000. “They’ve left me naked.” Across town, 10,000 enraged shareholders stormed the commodities exchange, smashing windows in a futile effort to get a decent price for their shares. With dozens of MMM clones sprouting up and much of Russian business in the grip of organized crime, lawmakers need to act fast if they are to rope in the Wild East’s version of capitalism.
