Enforcement directorate (ED), the agency responsible for enforcing economic laws and fighting economic crime in India, has frozen 36 bank accounts relating to various companies, individuals and proprietorships connected with Vihaan Direct Selling India Pvt Ltd, the master franchisee of multi-level marketing (MLM) company Qnet Ltd in India.
In a release, ED says on Tuesday, it conducted searches at various locations in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai in relation to the money laundering case of Vihaan Direct Selling and froze total 36 bank accounts with amounts involving more than Rs90 crore.
In 2014, ED had registered a case in the Rs425 crore QNet scam for money laundering. ED named QNet Ltd from Hong Kong, its official franchisee Vihaan Direct Selling, Vijay Eswaran, the founder of QI group and three other independent representatives (IRs) of QNet from Mumbai.
In the same year, the economic offences wing (EOW) of Mumbai police, while opposing bail applications of seven in the QNet scam told the Sessions Court how these accused tried to mislead the court by submitting fake documents. The EOW had said QNet team leaders, including former world billiards champion Michael Ferriera, Srinavas Rao Vanka, Magarlal Viravali Balaji, Malcolm Nozer Desai, Navjyot Mahesh Das, Chinar Surendra Shinde and Mereilla Kamal Dutta have misled the Court by submitting a fake document while seeking bail. The police sub-inspector (PSI), under whose name the document was submitted, has, in an affidavit, denied having prepared it, the EOW told the court at that time. (Read: QNet: Ferriera, six others misled court by submitting 'fake' document, says EOW
https://www.moneylife.in/article/qnet-ferriera-six-others-misled-court-by-submitting-fake-document-says-eow/38384.html)
In August 2019, the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) and the department of consumer affairs under the ministry of consumer affairs, food & public distribution initiated the filing of a winding-up petition against Vihaan Direct Selling (India) Pvt Ltd, a franchise of controversial MLM operator QNet. MCA also issued lookout notices against several persons, including former world billiards champion Michael Ferreira.
The registrar of companies (RoC) in Karnataka inspected the books of Vihaan, which allegedly revealed the company's fraudulent activities with the intention to dupe investors. Based on this report, the RoC has filed a winding-up petition against Vihaan Direct Selling under Section 271 of the Companies Act before the national company law tribunal (NCLT)'s Bengaluru bench.
Further, MCA has also issued lookout circulars (LOCs) against 12 persons associated with the company, including Guhan Ramachandran, MN Gunasheela, Subha Thulasiram, Vanka Srinivasa Rao, Balaji Magaral Veeravalli, Premdas Ramunni Kurup, Kantha Vijaya Sarathi, Muhammad Imthiaaz, Malcolm Nozer Desai and Michael Joseph Ferreira. (
Read: QNet: MCA Files Winding Up Petition against Vihaan Direct Selling, Initiates Penal Action)
Earlier, on 6 May 2016, Justice Mridula Bhatkar of the Bombay High Court, while rejecting anticipatory bail applications of five accused in the multi-crore QNet scam, had observed that "the deceit and fraud is camouflaged under the name of e-marketing and business". The HC rejected bail applications of five including, Srinivas Rao Vanka and Magaral Veervalli Balaji, both directors of Vihaan Direct selling (India) Pvt Ltd, Suresh Thimiri, director of Transview Enterprises India Pvt Ltd, Malcolm Nozer Desai, who is a 20% stakeholder in Vihaan and Michael Joseph Ferreira, former world champion of billiards and an 80% stakeholder in Vihaan. (
Read: QNet: “It is a chain where a person is fooled and then he is trained to fool others to earn money” says Bombay HC order)
As reported by Moneylife, QuestNet and GoldQuest (previous avatars of QNet), the MLM companies that had shut shop in 2009 following police action are back with a bigger bang. They now call themselves as QNet and are thriving in an environment where tens of thousands of Ponzis and MLM companies are able to lure people into believing that they have the formula to instant riches and a high growth career.
QNet operates in India through its official franchisee Vihaan Direct Selling Pvt Ltd which carries the company's brand name in the country. However, Suresh Thimiri, who is often touted as QNet India's chief executive and had denied any relationship with QNet or any of its representatives, owns the 'QNet' trademark in India through his company Transview Enterprises Pvt Ltd!
He did not disclose the company name the return period of those products. Just engaged me name of training and meeting the whole September. They told I must learn the business after that my all the confusion and queries also will go away. I received items in the second week of Sep-2022. I came to know that this is QNET after joining the weekly Sunday meeting in the third week of September-2022. In October-2022, Sourav told me to add more people into this business and convance them to invest money. I understood that this is completely a fraud business. Also, I felt that, I didn't receive any email from QNET, that day when I made payment (26-Aug-2022).
I had understood that I lost my hard-earned money of Rs 3,04,500 in this fraud business. After receiving invoices, I found that there was a useless expensive item which Sourav had purchased for me worth Rs 3,04,500. I told him to cancel my IR ship and make refund, but Sourav was continuously trying to convince me to continue this international business. And he was doing all this just to trap me.
He has violated all the QNET red line policy. After seeing the QNET I-card, I found that there was no need to give registration fees, deposits, investment and job offers.
I request you to please help me to get back my money from him and QNET also take necessary step against them.
Upliner's Detail:
Name: Sourav Paul
IR Number: IN904465
Phone Number: 7047540709
Email id: [email protected]
Address (if available): New Town, Kolkata
Regards,
Chiranjit Das
IM013223
Have you got your money back. I'm also stuck in the same situation.
Can we connect?
I am continuously emailing to all of you but till today I didn't get any positive response from anybody except auto generated emails or NID's eyewash response. I told all of you earlier that your shop will close very soon from India. Now it's started. I trapped by my upliner just because I had trusted him/her. My upliner has cheated me on behalf of QNET. He lied to me at every step and created my fake email id. He has violated all the policies. Is this a joke that without my consent my upliner purchased useless and overcharged virtual and physical items for me and when I asked regarding these items, he told me that the company is giving me these items as a gift. This is the clear cut case of fraud and money laundering. My upliner told me this is International business and I need to invest in this business. He used this statement just to trap me. This is not any international business. I can define this fraud organization in only one line. Trap innocent people, take money from them and sell useless items to them and earn commission. Why do all the upliners hide everything during the add new members? Why is QNET management not taking strong action against those upliners? Why will I buy useless overcharged items by taking a loan from the bank? Why did my upliner take money into his personal account? There are so many other suspicious things which show that you people are doing big scams all over India and trap upliner's close relatives, friends, office colleagues and childhood friends in this business and looting their huge money.
In association with the bank your upliners arrange loans disbursed for people even if they do not have the eligibility for bank loan. You sell your inferior goods to people by disbursing loans from the bank at a very high rate of interest. Not sharing a refund policy with people before taking money, is this the QNET policy? I want my money back from you people at any cost. I will go to any legal process to get my money. You people will have to give my money, you have no option.
I will not leave you easily until I get all my money from you or my upliner.
Upliner Name:VIPUL KUMAR GARG
Phone number:7417515059/9818333443
Email ID:[email protected]
Residential Address:NOIDA
Regards,
Name:OMKAR SINGH
IR Number:IN244342
Phone Number:9718603096