The Court in Mumbai asked former world Billiards champion Michael Ferreira to return to India, surrender his passport and appear before the EOW, which is probing the Rs425 crore QNet scam
A Session Court in Mumbai on Wednesday has directed former world Billiards champion Michael Ferreira to return to the city and surrender his passport and not to leave the country without the Court's permission. While granting interim relief to Ferreira till 31st January, the Court asked him to appear before the economic offences wing (EOW), which is probing the Rs425 crore QNet scam. Ferreira is one of the main accused in the multi-level marketing (MLM) scam.
Earlier this month, The economic offences wing (EOW) of Mumbai police has issued lookout notices against 10 people including Michael Ferreira, former World Billiards Champion and Padma Bhushan awardee, after he failed to turn up for questioning in the QNet scam case.
Ferreira was summoned by the EOW in connection with the Rs425-crore scam allegedly committed by multi-level marketing (MLM) operator QNet. The former world champion is founder of Faith, which was started as a distributor network under the QI brand.
Last month, while speaking with news channels, Ferreira, who has gone abroad some time back, had said he would appear before the investigators as soon as he returns to India. He even defended the controversial company. However, the former World Billiards Champion did not turn up before the EOW, which resulted in police issuing a look out notice against him.
QNet operates in India through its official franchisee Vihaan Direct Selling Pvt Ltd, which carries the company's brand name in the country. Ferreira owns 80% stake in Vihaan Direct Selling with Malcolm N Desai holding the rest. Desai had already approached the Sessions Court in Mumbai for an anticipatory bail fearing that the EOW may arrest him soon.
According to Faith Egypt, Michael Ferreira is the founder of 'Team Faith' that is involved in hard-selling QNet scheme. Talking about Ferreira, it says, "As an individual, in a very short space of time he (Ferreira) was in the list of the top 30 earners and under his astute stewardship he provided the platform, environment, guidance, training and inspiration to his flock, many of whom are earning incomes beyond their wildest dreams."
Showing a clear link between, Ferreira, QNet and its founder Vijay Eswaran (one of the accused in the cases against the MLM operator), the portal says, "The core leadership of Faith is today in a position to concentrate more sharply on those who still remain vulnerable to the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” so that each one of them develops into lead birds of their own teams, all fiercely loyal to Faith, its philosophy and its ideals and to the values espoused by its visionary and mentor Dato Vijay Eswaran."
The EOW has also received a complaint against Bollywood actor Boman Irani and his son Danesh in the QNet scam. The police are probing transactions worth Rs18 crore in Danesh's bank accounts.
The EOW has already registered a case against directors and officers of Vihaan Direct Selling (India) Pvt Ltd, QNet, Transview Enterprises Pvt Ltd and Vanmala Hotels & Tourism Services.
Inside story of the National Stock Exchange’s amazing success, leading to hubris, regulatory capture and algo scam
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Fiercely independent and pro-consumer information on personal finance.
30-day online access to the magazine articles published during the subscription period.
Access is given for all articles published during the week (starting Monday) your subscription starts. For example, if you subscribe on Wednesday, you will have access to articles uploaded from Monday of that week.
This means access to other articles (outside the subscription period) are not included.
Articles outside the subscription period can be bought separately for a small price per article.
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Ever since you lost your hard earned money in QNET SCAM, you all have multiple questions and facing multiple issues like :
1. Where and whom to approach for recovering your hard earned money?
2. How to help fight and stop this QNET SCAM?
3. How to teach your CHEATER UPLINES a lesson?
4. Issues regarding the “so called†“REFUND POLICYâ€.
5. Are you eligible for “Compensations�
6. Issues regarding action buy police authorities.
7. What is the status of the court cases etc.
These are an example of just a few issues and concerns you are facing, but there is GOOD NEWS for you all. We have been working overtime to try and bring an end to these woes and issues faced by Victims of Financial Frauds like this QNETSCAM.
So guys and girls tomorrow is the BIG DAY finally , Please do join us tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon at 1.30 PM sharp at Andheri east, outside Sarangi Restaurant (Just 1 minute from the Andheri station on the east side).
Please do come and also inform other victims of the QNETSCAM.
Tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon sharp 1.30 PM, outside Sarangi Restaurant , Andheri-east, Mumbai.
Please note we have limited seats, first come first served basis allotment..so make sure to reach in time __/\__ . You can contact on 7498063701 in case of difficulty in locating us :)
Jai Hind.
VIJAYAWADA: Yet another multi-level marketing (MLM) company Vihaan Direct Selling Ltd was sealed by police and its representatives were paraded before mediapersons here on Tuesday. Police will soon serve a notice on its promoters -- Vasudeva Reddy and Ch Gangadhar - who are currently in Dubai and alert the Interpol to help nab the duo.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, commissioner of police A B Venkateswara Rao said that 134 people in the city have fallen prey to the company. "Vihaan Direct collected Rs 1.16 crore and deposited Rs 65 lakh in the account of Vihaan Direct Selling Ltd, which is based in Mumbai. Another Rs 10 lakh was deposited in the account of VR 1 Training Centre, which is based in Bangalore. Rest of the funds have been misappropriated," he said.
Acting on a complaint from a depositor Prathipathi Lakshmi Ganesh, Krishna Lanka police led by circle inspector S V V S Murthy arrested four representatives of the firm- Gourang Desai, Y Babul Reddy, D Nagaraju and Ch Manikanta -- on June 22 and recovered Rs 15 lakh in cash and four mobile phones.
It was on January 5 this year Mumbai-based Vasudeva Reddy, a notorious MLM agent, opened Vihaan Direct as a franchise of Hong Kong-based Q-Net near Prasanthi Hospital in Labbipet. He also ran a training centre called VR 1. City-lad Desai, who met Vasudeva in Mumbai, was nominated as in-charge of the training centre. Gangadhar, a close aide of Vasudava, was nominated to run the direct selling firm.
Gangadhar recruited Babul, Nagaraju and Manikanta as independent representatives (IRs) to carry out the fraudulent MLM operations. Their modus operandi was typical of a binary tree structure- each IR has to recruit more members. IRs will receive commission based on the number of referrals and sales volume of other IRs in their team.
The police commissioner said that Vijay Eswaran, who runs Q-Net, is the brain behind the MLM firms. "From 2002-08, he ran a firm in Chennai that swindled Rs 1,100 crore. Between 2010-14, he ran another MLM firm with Vasudeva Reddy, which swindled Rs 425 crore from depositors," he added.
https://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plsdlh0FBkU
http://www.business-standard.com/article...
Two top representatives of QNet, a Hong Kong-based multi-level marketing company allegedly involved in a Rs 425-crore fraud here, were arrested today after being picked up from Delhi international airport, police said.
The controversial company's senior independent representatives, identified as Sandeep Kalra and Hitesh Miglani, were intercepted by immigration authorities at the Indira Gandhi International Airport at Delhi last night, said an officer with Mumbai Police Economic Offence Wing (EOW).
The duo, who arrived from Dubai in separate flights, was stopped at the airport as Look Out Circulars (LOC) were issued against them by the EOW probing the case.
The two suspects, who were suspected to have had pocketed lakhs of rupees through the scheme and organised several training camps to lure investors, have been subsequently brought to the metropolis and placed under arrest this evening, police said.
The LOCs have been issued against those whose statements have been necessitated in the probe but did not appear before the investigators despite summons.
Kalra hails from Delhi while Miglani is from Bangalore, police said adding that this is the first arrest of those against whom LOCs had been issued.
The EOW had earlier arrested 15 persons for allegedly duping investors by selling QNet products, including magnetic disks, herbal products and holiday schemes, through allegedly fraudulent means.
The EOW has invoked the stringent Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) against the company which has denied any wrongdoing on its part.
QNet has also been accused of using the banned binary pyramid business model. An FIR in the case was registered in August in 2013.
The accused had been charged with cheating and forgery under relevant sections of the Prize, Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/i...
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/qne...
http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-mi...
Major Chinese dailies reported that more than 100 people had cancelled their membership in the controversial multi-level marketing scheme YSLM, established by self-proclaimed Chinese millionaire Zhang Jian.
They were required to sign a letter which stated that their reason for quitting was due to the impact from a Facebook page calling on netizens to combat pyramid schemes, and that they were grateful to Zhang Jian for allowing them to terminate their membership unconditionally.
On Wednesday, the company announced that members who had failed to introduce new members to the company were entitled to a full refund of RM300 (S$115) if they quit the scheme.
Zhang made headlines recently when giant billboards of him appeared in Penang proclaiming him as the "future richest man in the world".
http://news.asiaone.com/news/malaysia/10...
First Payouts Approved For Zeek Reward Victims
HIGH POINT, N.C.-- A federal judge has approved the first payouts for victims of the Zeek Rewards pyramid scheme. The High Point Enterprise reported that the attorney supervising efforts to return members to the victims said a judge on Thursday approved the payments.
Kenneth Bell said the first payments should be handed out late next month. Bell indicated earlier this year that the first payments could be for about 40 percent of what victims lost in the scheme. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shut down and seized the assets of Zeek Rewards in August 2012.
Bell estimates that from January 2011 until August 2012, more than 700,000 people lost more than $700 million. Zeek Rewards had said it was a multi-level marketing business operating in Lexington.
An open letter from MLM expert Robert L FitzPatrick of Pyramid Scheme Alert to the US FTC exposes illegality of multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes and how law enforcement agencies can curb it. The same applies for India where thousands of pyramid or network marketing schemes are duping gullible savers everyday and also lobbying for legitimacy
In an 'open letter' to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), pyramid scheme expert Robert L FitzPatrick, co-author of the book, 'False Profits', president of Pyramid Scheme Alert and co-founder of the International Coalition of Consumer Advocates, has provided a set of recommendations to the FTC on how to identify illegal multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes and to enforce consumer protection laws on pyramids disguised as 'direct selling'. The paper was sent following a conference call with officials of the FTC Consumer Protection Bureau in which an invitation for suggestions and recommendations was made by FTC officials.
The FTC recently prosecuted one of the larger MLMs, Fortune High Tech Marketing, but only after it had scammed more than 300,000 households and operated openly for nearly 12 years. Currently, the FTC is investigating one of the largest of all MLMs, Herbalife that has operated for more than 30 years.
Bright Lines of Illegality:
The paper submitted by FitzPatrick, entitled, Identifying 'Bright Lines' for Determining Illegality of Any Multi-Level Marketing Company under Section 5 of the FTC Act, lists telltale signs of illegality (unfair and deceptive trade practices):
1. Endless Chain Structure - The sales management chain has no sector of sales people that is focused directly and only on end-users. The sales chain expansion is without limit and without geographic restriction. All new participants, upon payment, are awarded the right and offered financial incentives to recruit more salespeople and extend the chain to multiple levels, usually six to infinity. This reward plan and structure indicate the use of the inherently deceptive“endless chain”, infinity factor” and “unlimited” income claim to induce purchases and fees.
2. Pay-to-Play – Despite providing no territorial protection or even historical saturation data provided to new salespeople, sales/ purchase quotas are imposed with specific dollar volumes of product purchases (either by the distributor personally or his/her recruitment chain). In some cases, there are structural recruiting requirements also imposed in order to maintain a position in the endless chain payment plan. These volume and recruiting quotas are signs of “pay-to-play” factors that operate in tandem with an endless chain structure and recruiting-based rewards to drive purchases and fee payments.
3. Money Transfer - The MLM employs a reward formula that overwhelmingly rewards chain extension activity that is recruiting-based over personal retail sales activity that is market-based. Evidence includes formulas that allocate higher aggregate rewards, per transaction, to those at the upper end of the chain, over those at the base and allocate total commission payout to recruiters in excess of total verified retail profits. Special bonuses and rates on total “group” volume are based on position on the endless chain. They money transfer formulas directly result in an extreme concentration of payments – 50% to 80% – of total payouts to those at the extreme upper end of the recruiting chain. As an example, the report referenced hard data on Nu Skin’s payment of 82% of all its commissions to the top 1.29% of its “active” sales force, which is 0.5% of the entire sales network.
4. Recruitment-Driven - The actual activity of the business is characterised by relentless recruiting, churning and transferring funds from later participants to earlier ones.
5. Little Evidence of Market-based Retail Selling - Little evidence, gained from an examination of marketing materials, website, and reports from participants or researchers, of market-based retail sales, per salesperson, and little evidence of retail profit gains among the sales force.
6. No Income Opportunity for Nearly All Participants - Large-scale losses are evident in the sales force, even among those in the upper one-third of sales chain.
Law Enforcement Guidelines
For law enforcement, the report offered specific reforms that would put any MLM on the legal side.
1. Limit the number of levels that any individual salesperson can personally recruit and gain override commissions to one or several. In combination with other reforms, this measure would eliminate the infinity factor.
2. Require that commissions be awarded only on consummated retail sales, that is to persons who are not signers of the company’s sales contract and are not eligible for recruiting-based rewards.
3. Allow no commissions to be paid on any purchases made by other salespeople or on the salesperson’s own account. This reform eliminates a major incentive for recruiting and for making personal purchases. It would also clearly indicate that all purchases made by the sales force are market-based.
4. Eliminate all purchase/ sales volume or recruiting requirements in order to maintain sales and recruiting authorization. With no geographic limitations or protections placed on MLM salespeople, and no information available on market saturation factors, volume and recruiting requirements serve no other purpose than as recruiting inducements.
5. Establish limited territories for distributors who want to develop sales teams with authorisation based upon management selection. The current practice of open-ended, even global territories and escalation on the sales chain being based purely on volume/ recruiting performance is a telltale indicator of the “endless chain” inducement and the lack of a real-world market basis for sales.
Principles of FTC Law Enforcement and Consumer Protection from Illegal MLMs
1. The establishment of an understandable and consistent “bright line” requires that the FTC take a clearly stated legal stand against the groundless and nonsensical claim of MLM promoters that purchasing products by the participants in multi-level marketing exempts the enterprise from an illegal pyramid definition. The bogus identity of “direct selling” by pyramid selling schemes and the claim of exemption from a pyramid scheme definition based on product purchases have confused and misled millions of consumers (“If the MLM sells a product, it’s can’t be a pyramid!”).
MLM lobbyists have claimed that pyramid scheme definitions must exempt enterprises in which rewards are gained through product sales “to participants.” They have lobbied for this “product exemption” in state laws and tried to get a federal law passed in 2003. In fact, in case after case of MLMs prosecuted by the FTC, the selling products was the disguise of choice, and “direct selling” turned out to be a false identity.
2. FTC must establish and publish a set of recognizable actors indicative of the use of the endless chain as a marketing device, once the endless structure is identified as part of that MLM’s business model.
The evidence of the use of endless chain marketing to induce purchases and fee payments is found in the MLM’s pay formula and in the statement of policies and procedures, both of which are generally published.
Additional evidence can be found in income disclosure documents, website, webinars and in SEC filings.
Evidence of the use of the endless chain is manifested in verifiable loss and churn rates and absence of profitable retail selling. Referencing these classic elements of a pyramid disguised as a sales company can be done in a matter of hours or days. Pyramid fraud is frequently in plain sight.
Mandate for Action Now
By offering bright lines and recommendations for law enforcement, the “Open Letter” supports the message of urgency that the International Coalition of Consumer Advocates delivered to the FTC in October, 2013 with it White Paper and petitions.
Currently, the FTC lacks a consistent or understandable standard for determining illegality of any MLM, rendering effective FTC prosecution and law enforcement in MLM sector essentially impossible and, indeed, virtually non-existent.
By any standard, this position for a law enforcement agency is intolerable. It leaves millions of people in America and around the world without any means of distinguishing legitimate direct selling opportunities from pyramid swindles. In recent years, these schemes have begun targeting the most vulnerable sectors of the public, students and immigrants. The FTC’s untenable position has also generated a dangerous uncertainty in the securities markets, putting pension funds at risk that are invested in MLM enterprises that are being openly challenged for operating illegally.
The scenario in India
Coming back to home, Moneylife has been continuously writing about the inaction by government and regulators regarding MLM companies, money circulation schemes, pyramid-marketing schemes and other similar companies that swindle the unwary public by offering them misleading inducements and depriving them of their hard-earned savings.
In April 2013, after the collapse of Saradha group, the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) in a face saving measure has decided to hand over probe of such chit-fund, MLM, Ponzi and pyramid scheme operators to a Special Task Force under the Serious Fraud Investigations Office (SFIO). The ministry said the probe has been ordered in view of a larger public interest involved in the issues, although the state governments are the appropriate authorities for regulation of such chit fund companies and schemes under the Chit Fund Act, 1982.
Here are some of the important stories written and representations made by Moneylife over the years…
Moneylife Foundation’s representation to PM, FM and RBI on MLM schemes
In May 2011, following the exposé by Moneylife on Speak Asia Online Pte Ltd and its MLM scheme, Moneylife Foundation sent a representation to prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, (the then) finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, finance secretary Sushama Nath and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor D Subbarao urging them to ban all MLM companies and their schemes in the country, or to bring all MLM companies under the regulation of either the RBI or the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), to stop them ensnaring gullible people.
West Bengal’s ‘chit fund’ mess and inaction of MCA
The massive money, which is raised surely shows somewhere on the balance sheet of the company, filed regularly with the MCA. The primary recipient of the information about these companies is the MCA, and surprisingly the MCA is the least proactive in the entire process of bringing these perpetrators to regulatory focus, sooner before tonnes of money vanish.
Chain Game
Dubious pyramid schemes or money-circulation schemes are looting Indians across economic strata, finds Sucheta Dalal. This will continue since Central and state governments seem unconcerned.
Pyramid schemes: Daylight robbery
Pyramid marketing companies are looting the public easily, while the government watches. Many countries have banned them outright.
Ponzi Scheme: Is RBI Passing the Buck?
A strange deposit scheme that is proliferating in the states of Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Maharashtra has already collected almost Rs1,000 crore and is expanding virtually unchecked. The scam has elements of money-laundering and possibly the use of fake and forged currency as well; however, the banking regulator would like to pass off the investigation to the respective state governments for investigation under the antiquated Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act.
Coin Game
An international network marketing scheme hawking expensive limited edition coins is attracting a huge following. Sucheta Dalal examines this strange quest.
Ponzi schemes: Free for all
Moneylife readers know how MLM schemes ensnare lakhs of people by promising extraordinary returns. We learn from the ministry of consumer affairs that the government is now waking up to the need for better regulation of MLMs and ponzis. At the same time, the powerful Direct Selling Association of the US is lobbying hard for an amendment.
‘Beware of deception by pyramid schemes, MLMs trying to lure people with promise of high returns’
Pyramids are pure fraud. Their business is unsustainable-they promise payment for goods or services of dubious value. The hallmark of these schemes is the promise of sky-high returns in a short period of time, for doing nothing other than simply handing over your money to them, and getting others to do the same.
Ponzi schemes: The fraudulent art of chain game
Even as India bans pyramid schemes under a statute called the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978, the country continues to be a happy hunting ground for pyramids because our legislation is deliberately unworkable.
Dubious Ponzi & MLM Schemes
Investors losing money, or falling for dubious Ponzi schemes, is not a recent phenomenon; this has been happening for decades and it is not restricted only to India. Why is it that people repeatedly fall prey to such schemes in spite of being aware of the frauds perpetrated by conmen under different guises?
Set up inter-departmental group to curb MLMs
EAS Sarma, former power and finance secretary, said the ministry of finance, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and the investigating agencies should collectively tackle this problem without any delay, as every day of procrastination will only result in thousands of hapless families cheated by the promoters of these schemes.
How MLMs wave an annulled letter to claim legitimacy of their operations and con people
Spokespersons and dealers of multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes or network marketing schemes respond to questions about their legitimacy by brandishing a 2003 letter issued by the then secretary, ministry of corporate affairs (MCA). What they omit to mention is that the letter was subsequently annulled following complaints about its misuse. This means, the letter used by these scamsters is no more valid.
Pyramid and MLM schemes are scourge on people
While there are existing laws such as Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978 (PCMCS Act) and others under which concerned agencies could prosecute the culprits, there is no effective mechanism in place to ensure a coordinated approach to identify the fraudulent operators in advance and book them well before they destroy the livelihoods of thousands of households and launder the ill-gotten funds to unknown destinations.
MLMs now want to ‘invest’ money in India, really?
A set of powerful MLMs, which are part of an exclusive closed club, called the Indian Direct Selling Association or IDSA (on the lines of the Direct Selling Association of the US) has been lobbying hard to make a distinction between their operations and those of others, who they call, fly-by-night operators such as SpeakAsia and Ad Magnet.
QNet, the MLM company, has no answers to Moneylife’s simple questions
QNet, the controversial Hong Kong-based multi-level marketing (MLM) operator with multiple names (GoldQuest, QuestNet, QNet, QI Ltd and QI group are the better known names) refused to answer simple questions like how much money their independent representative (IR) earns on an average every month and why their products are priced so highly. Instead, it sent us a threatening and defamatory mail that raises more questions as to their real motive.
2011: A year dedicated to MLM and Ponzi scheme frauds
If 2010 was the year of great Indian scams, 2011 was rather of ponzi and multi-level marketing (MLM) frauds. SpeakAsia managed to top the chart, but soon many others joined the bandwagon, duping gullible investors for several thousand crores.
How to avoid 'get-rich-quick' schemes and scams
Nothing comes free in this world, especially money. The universal truth is you need to earn your money by hard labour all the time and there are no shortcuts to double it in the shortest span of time. Therefore, even if your near and dear ones tell you he/she will double, triple, quadruple your money within a few days/months, politely reply to them that it is not possible and what they are advocating is a pure 'get-rich-quick' type of scam.
Herbalife is a pyramid scheme worth zero dollars: Bill Ackman
Herbalife, a global MLM scheme also prevalent in India, is believed to be worthless according to hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who made a detailed presentation on why consumers should avoid buying the company’s products and stay away from the MLM.
http://www.moneylife.in/article/illegali...
The Amway Job
Amway IBOs like to call themselves "Independent Business Owners". But when you sit down and think about this for a minute, I believe that the Amway opportunity is more like a job. As an IBO, you are basically acting as a commissioned salesperson without any benefits coming from the Amway corporation. It's great for Amway as they only pay you for products that are moved. If you work very hard but sell little or nothing, Amway pays you little or nothing. Even if you work hard but move less than 100 PV, Amway pays you nothing.
The Amway corporation can sit back, and simply issue bonuses to downline IBOs. It is the IBOs themselves who recruit others, train others and move the products. Many IBOs are fiercely loyal to Amway products even when they could get the exact same product or a similar product, in many cases, at a fraction of the cost at a big box retailer, or even a local retailer. Take a look at Amway's flagship vitamin (double x). Do you really need to pay $75 or more for a one month supply of multi vitamins? That isn't t say Amway has no products of value, but overall, you can get much more product at less cost by shopping at a retail outlet. Amway must add the cost of IBO bonuses to their prices, therefore their prices are abound to be higher than competing products.
Uplines get you to see the world differently. That you do not equate an hourly wage with your business. But if IBOs did think of their earnings that way, they would easily see that they are working to lose money or to make pennies an hour. For the larger majority of IBOs, working minimum wage would be far more lucrative than spending countless hours and money chasing an Amway dream that is very unlikely to materialize. Uplines also get you to think you are "investing" in your business by purchasing tools, but in reality, you are just a customer of your upline's tool business. Some of you upline might me making most of their income selling cds and function tickets. Tool profits are higher than the profits on Amway so the math is simlpe.
You dedicate yourself to attending meetings, working the phones, meeting with uplines and downlines. You drive a lot of miles. But what many IBOs do not notice is that the priority in building a business should be a focus on getting more customers and expanding sales. But because Amway products can be hard to sell, most IBOs are focused on expanding their business by recruiting others. An endless chain of recruitment, which is why many people think of Amway as a pyramid scheme. Whether it's legal or not as is, is not my call.
But the bottom line in my view, is that Amway is more like a job than an independent business. Call it what you will, but in either case, business or job, it doesn't pay well (or at all) for most.
Amway Will Set You Free?
When I was an IBO, I often saw my upline diamond driving around town dressed in a business suit. I used to wonder why he keeps working if he can "walk away" and collect residual income? My sponsor told me that the diamond only works because he cares about his downline and wants to help them. So there are two possible scenarios, the diamond is working to help his downline out of a genuine concern for them, or possibly he is working because he has to! The only difference now is that the diamond works the nite and/or graveyard shift, because many IBOs are building the business after the complete their day jobs. This is probably why diamonds sleep until the "crack of noon", because they are working all night!
Now Amway has stated that the average diamond earns about $147,000 a year. That is a decent income, but after taxes and paying for basic expenses such as medical and dental insurance, the average diamond probably lives a very middle class lifestyle. Keep in mind that a large portion of a diamond's income comes in the form of an annual bonus, thus a diamond's monthly income may be quite small. Yes, diamonds may have other sources of income such as speaking engagements and income from standing orders and functions. But this income depends on the diamond's continued appearances and efforts.
So is it likely that a diamond is "free"? I would have to conclude that a diamond is not free, and may actually have to spend more time maintaining his group than if the diamond simply had a 9-5 job. For one thing, a diamond needs to maintain a personal group to keep qualifying for bonuses. With a poor retention rate in Amway, I am fairly sure that a diamond spends much time recruiting personally sponsored IBOs to maintain this group. Additionally, a diamond must help his six or more groups of downline platinums to maintain their businesses or face the possibility of falling out of qualification. My former diamond dropped down to the emerald level but has since re-qualified at diamond. A diamond must also dedicate time to reward up and coming movers and shakers, to keep them motivated. I got to spend time with my upline diamond when I was considered a promising up and coming pin.
In order to continue to receive tools income, a diamond must also travel to numerous functions and speaking engagements. Although the tools income allegedly doubles a diamond's income, it also adds a lot of expenses, especially if the diamond and his family travel first class to show off the diamond lifestyle, and stays in 5 star hotels. It is probably why diamonds need free transportation to and from the airport and why they stay with friends when traveling as much as possible.
After breaking down projected income and considering projected expenses, I can only conclude that a diamond probably lives a middle to upper middle class lifestyle, and probably works as much as a man with a 9-5 job, except that a diamond works nites and weekends. A good portrait of this is shown in Ruth Carter's book (Amway Motivational Organizations: Behind The Smoke and Mirrors). In the book, the diamond had a net income of over $300,000, but lived in debt, could barely pay his mortgage, and was always on the run from one function to the next. It is very expensive and time consuming to travel from city to city showing off your freedom and diamond lifestyle.
Is this the freedom you are seeking?
Hyderabad: The top police officials of the two States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have launched a massive hunt to track down the ‘Diamonds’ and other members of Amway India Enterprises to make sure their role in the multilevel marketing scam of the US-based company.
According to informed sources, the police of both the states are even sharing information regarding the list of upline members in the hierarchy of Amway India Enterprises, who share commissions on purchase of products by the downline members. The sources said that in the business model of Amway, the upline members who enroll new members into the scheme of purchasing products received sizable income which was nothing but easy and quick money. “Once the list of the ‘Diamonds’ is prepared and their income on commissions is confirmed, we go ahead with arresting them also,” the source said.
Meanwhile, the police on Monday arrested the MD and CEO of Amway, William S Pinckney, who is presently in Charlapalli Jail and presented him in the judicial court which sent him to remand for 14 days. The MD was sent back to Charlapalli Jail. It is learnt that the police would file a petition in the court seeking custody of Pinckney for interrogation to take the criminal case against him to a logical conclusion.
A police official said that the law would take its own course and charge sheets would be filed soon in the criminal cases against Amway India. In another twist to the criminal case against the MD of Amway, the High Court did not issue any orders on the petition filed by Amway India to exempt its managing director Pinckney from surrendering the passport to the police department. However, the passport surrender order issue has become an impediment for the release of Pinckney on bail.
http://apthenewstate.in/2014/07/cops-tra...
parul.goel on Jun 21, 2014
there is a team of people operating in chandigarh, panchkula mohali. selling fake dreams and conning people of their money. Its a mlm scam. They will tell you its a great business opportunity it will make you crores and they have already brought bmws. its all lies. Fake it till you make it. The cons are mostly found sitting in ccds in sector 14 panchkula. The names of the people in this scams operating in chandigarh panchkula mohali are. 1. Gunjan Nagpal- https://http://www.facebook.com/gunjan.nagpal.75 she owns aura by gunjan. 2 Deepshikha Mahajan- https://http://www.facebook.com/deepshikha.mahajan.3 she owns agadh design studio. 3 sahil nagpal- https://http://www.facebook.com/Thesahilnagpal he sells meat by nagpal foods 4 rashi arora- https://http://www.facebook.com/rashi.arora.3367 5 amit soni who comes from mumbai. Many of the higher ups have landed in jail. These people are trying to con people every day beaware of them
If you are a victim of Qnet and have lost money or know someone who has lost/invested money by believing false claims of their friends and relatives.
Then follow these steps
1.Emailed complaint to [email protected]
2.Send a formal written complaint letter along with product purchase receipt etc as evidence through registered post to the address below:
Mr. Kapase Investigating Officer Qnet Economic Offenses Wing-3 Crime Branch Mumbai Police, Police Commissioner's Office,Opposite Crawford Market, D N Road, Fort Mumbai 400001.
3.Keep proof of letter of posting and a xerox copy of complaint.
4.Email eva.sing@qnet and [email protected] demanding refund.Save your emails.
5.Call/sms FIR complainant Gurupreet Singh Anand on 07498063701 for any query regarding all India FIRs, police complaints, ongoing court cases etc.
6.Follow developments on Moneylife Qnet (comments section) and join our Facebook group 'Anti Qnet India', where we are all exposing this MLM company along with others in a big way.
7.Spread the word and this message if you can, as it will be a big help.
Welcome back from the WE-Con.
Your leaders made claims and were posting many things like we are back "Stronger and We will make it grow BIGGER", I hope you all like this pleasant surprise of all your web sites being blocked now.
Well You all white collared criminals had been cheating innocent people even after my FIR was registered and action by the EOW by making statements that "TILL DATE NO COURT HAS ORDERED ANYTHING AGAINST US"
So Dear QTARDS how do u all feel to know that a competent court has ordered for blocking of all known web sites running this SICK QNET SCAM ONLINE.
This is the site i been waiting to see since long...here is the image
http://imageupper.com/i/?S0200010100011B...
For non-techies it means no web services are responding of the qnet web sites.
With the premier agencies having started investigations into this decade old SCAM, i am sure the flight details and flight manifests of all you sick QTARDS is under radar and all those QTARDS who have taken innocent people to Malaysia this year for the WE-CON will be arrested soon...
Jai Hind
Guru
CNN-IBN
Feb 26, 2008 at 11:35am IST
Software professional A V S Satyanarayana changed gears to become an Amway distributor only to realise he could not steer his life anymore. “What they publicise and talk inside are completely different. It is very much illegal. You can’t force your consumer to buy certain things and you can't force another consumer to utilise these things,” says Satyanarayana.
When his family life started to come apart Satyanarayana opted out but not before filing a FIR against Amway India Enterprises with the CID in Hyderabad. “I expressed my unwillingness to continue in the scheme and inability to enroll other member. They approached my family members and office subordinates and started to harass them to join in the scheme on my behalf,” says Satyanarayana.
“Amway confuses distributor as consumer, consumer as distributor. If consumer raises his voice and says this product is costly and suddenly they say you are a distributor you can't talk and if you go as a distributor say you need low prices,” Satyanarayana.
Loss or gain
A CNN-IBN investigation sought to find out the truth about multi-level marketing. It met a couple whose children sank their retirement benefits into network marketing. Dr Umamaheshwar Rao, a retired scientist, and his wife were initially supportive of their children's venture.
“For over five or six years they were into the business. I went along with them supported them in every way financially, physically and morally, but in the end it was found to be a losing game by themselves,” says Rao.
The expenditure was guaranteed but not the income. “The net result is a loss. The sales were less and the money spent in the game was more.” The family lost several lakh rupees even as their children drifted away.
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“It ruined our inter-personal relationships. People were cult controlled in immeasurable ways,” says Rao, who has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) for action against Amway.
In Percherla village, in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur district, the CNN-IBN investigation met more families who accuse network marketing companies of exploiting their ignorance and illiteracy.
Anasuya is a tailor. She has been dealing with angry neighbours ever since she got them to join the network-marketing scheme of Pearls Agrotech Corporation. “They told me pay Rs 1,365 per annum and after five and half year you will get Rs 10,900,” says Anasuya.
“The agent pursued me and said if I get 10 members I will be paid more commission. They were even promised plots of land as payment. They gave bonds in which there is no money but a plot I don't know where this plot is,” alleges Anasuya.
People from Percherla have been duped into shelling out almost Rs 20 lakh for land that only exists on paper. In Ramadevi's case after this dud investment, her husband just walked out on her.
“The money I paid was without the consent of my husband that led to problems. My husband left home,” says Ramadevi.
When contacted Pearls Agrotech refused to comment.
The recipe for success
Like Indian companies, Amway has also found its way into the villages of Andhra Pradesh. Brammiah Addanki wanted to do better in life, and was told that by joining Amway he could achieve his dream of owning a concrete house.
Brahmiah and his wife earned just Rs 4,000 a month and they poured all of that to become Amway distributors. “They promised my wife air tickets. She was told to enroll more persons to earn her commission. We were also told these products would earn us a lot of money,” says Brahmiah.
They spent thousands on enrolling members and stockpiling products… including items they didn't even need. Till they realised that buying was easier than selling.
“Out of Rs 20,000 I only recovered Rs 5,000. We had to consume most of it ourselves because these items are too expensive for others in the village. We put our savings into this. We borrowed money, now we are in debt,” says Brammiah.
PAGE_BREAK
Gajulapeta in Ibrahimpatnam is full of families who have lost money chasing the promises held out by network marketing firms.
Baali, a daily labourer earning Rs 50 a day, mortgaged her house hoping to become a successful Amway Business Owner. “When they met me, they said it's a great opportunity to earn money. I didn't have spare money then, so I raised it by mortgaging my house,” says Baali.
“First I paid Rs 5,000, then Rs 2000 and then Rs 2000 again. Like this I paid Rs 50,000 borrowing on interest,” says Baali.
“Companies create a rosy picture saying you should become a member of multi-level marketing and you will get many things. They say you will get health as well as wealth,” says Divakar Babu, of the Consumer Guidance Society.
Baali, like most women in Gajulapeta, got none. She curses herself for not being able to look beyond the gloss. CNN-IBN then approached the woman who introduced Amway and roped in all her neighbors to do network marketing in this small village.
B Lakshmi didn’t know about the risks of network marketing and enthusiastically made a down line of 30 people. “They said it depends upon the number of people I can convince to join. I was told I could earn up to Rs 50,000 a month. I would start with Rs 5000 and by the end of one year it would be Rs 50,000,” says Lakshmi
To sail the seven seas, she even borrowed from micro finance schemes. Lakshmi and her husband's story will never make it to these brochures her husband is livid and the neighbors unforgiving…
When asked how they chose their distributors, in a written response, Amway admitted that no minimum educational qualifications were required. Self-belief and a strong desire to succeed in the long term was needed in the business, the company said.
Amway Response:
"The Direct Selling Industry does not "impose" any minimum desirable educational qualification"
"For distributors, self belief and a strong desire to succeed with a long term business perspective is needed"
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/all-that-glit...