From Tehran to Texas: How a Convicted Iranian Pyramid Scheme Ringleader Built a New Life in the U.S.

Gage told OCCRP he was invited at the last minute to Dubai in 2008 to run a leadership workshop. Gage told OCCRP Palinure staff “had a lot of money,” adding that he was completely unaware that it was a pyramid scheme. In 2009, a branch of the Oregon company was registered in California with a new address at a nondescript commercial unit. This Palinure fraudster used a Dominica passport to acquire the Dubai apartment next door, while Mahan’s wife used her Iranian passport to purchase their apartment. (Mahan’s wife was eventually acquitted.)