Usury:

Usury is the practice of charging unreasonable amounts of interest on a loan.

Usury laws vary considerably from state to state and country to country.  Some states and countries have no usury laws at all, while others have very strict standards.

The Scam: Scam artists would have one believe that enormous profits can be realized by purchasing financial instruments, such as LETTERS OF CREDIT, PROMISSORY NOTES  and DEBENTURES, or TREASURIES at substantial DISCOUNTS ranging from 25% to 10% of the their value, and then reselling them for full value.  For instance, that a Letter of Credit for $425,000 can be purchased for a mere $425.00.

Whereas it is possible for outrageous interest to be charged on one of these instruments, it is also true that the issuer of the instrument must be able to repay the entire amount within a given period of time.   If the amount due exceeds the financial capability of the issuer, then there is no profit, only default and possible bankruptcy.

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