'Amway' already judged unlawful in India.

'Amway India Enterprises' Chief Executive Officer William S. Pinckney has been arrested for a second time this week; whilst senior Indian police officers are openly describing 'Amway' as an enormous 'racket.' Pinckney is reported as being of joint American and Indian nationality, but holding an Australian passport

http://innlivenews.in/2013/11/16/cid-cautions-public-against-amway/

Previously, the Indian police have issued clear warnings to the public not to get involved with 'Amway,' and they are treating the matter of 'Amway' as criminal fraud disguised as 'legitimate business.'

Meanwhile, US-based 'MLM Income Opportunity' racketeers are now doing everything they can to trivialise all these events and to have their own criminal activities effectively placed above the law in India. The 'Amway' Ministry of Truth has already swung into (reality-inverting) action, claiming that 'Amway' is the victim and that the Indian authorities simply don't understand how 'Amway' and 'MLM Direct Selling' functions.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/second-case-brought-against-amways-india-chief-1401388981

Sean MClain of The Wall St. Journal reports

NEW DELHI—The head of Amway Corp.'s Indian business was arrested for a second time this week as police investigate allegations that the American direct-selling company is violating a law against pyramid schemes.

Amway India Chief Executive William Scott Pinckney was already in jail in the Indian city of Kadapa when police from another municipality showed up Wednesday and transferred him to another jurisdiction for further questioning by police, in what Amway called "an interesting and curious sequence of events."

No charges have been filed in either case, and Mr. Pinckney has been remanded to custody for police questioning.

Mr. Pinckney had been arrested Monday at Amway's Indian headquarters outside New Delhi and taken to a police station more than 1,000 miles away in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

In both cases, police are investigating complaints alleging that Mr. Pinckney and Amway had broken an Indian law against informal lotteries and so-called money-circulation schemes, a kind of pyramid scheme.

Amway said neither Mr. Pinckney nor the company had done anything wrong, and that authorities didn't understand the nature of Amway's operations. Amway distributors earn money from products sold to consumers themselves and by other people they bring into the business.

The allegations are "frivolous and give a misleading impression about our business," Amway said in a statement. The company also noted the content of the complaints was "identical" and they were "filed by advocates or activists."

Police said both cases are related to alleged violations of the law banning pyramid schemes. The case for which Mr. Pinckney was first arrested was filed after P. Rama Jaganatha Reddy, a local lawyer, said he was approached to become an Amway distributor. The complainant in the latest case said he was told by other Amway distributors that he would lose his distributorship if he failed to recruit new distributors. Mr. Reddy couldn't be located for comment.

Mr. Pinckney, who was in custody, couldn't be reached for comment. His attorney didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Indian courts increasingly are willing to consider criminal liability for executives related to the actions of their companies, said Mritunjay Kapur, head of risk consulting at KPMG in India.

The biggest risk corporations face, he said, "is compliance with the various regulations that are sometimes complicated and have gray areas."

A dispute over payments between a Samsung Electronics Co. unit and one of its suppliers led an Indian court in April to summon Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee to come to India to face criminal charges. Samsung has denied wrongdoing and said Mr. Lee has no connection to the case.

These sorts of business-related complaints aren't new, but what has changed recently is that Indian courts are now responding with arrest warrants.

"It's a mind-set change," said Harish Salve, an attorney who has represented Amway India in the past. "This began four-five years ago," Mr. Salve said, adding that before that, "there was a feeling that the rich and mighty were above the law."

In India, even some civil-code violations can lead to jail sentences, said Rajat Mukherjee, a partner at Indian law firm Khaitan & Co. He said statutes now prescribe jail terms for offenses such as not complying with labor regulations or failing to contribute to employees' social-security plans.

On Wednesday, a magistrate in Kurnool—where the original complaint was filed—denied bail to Mr. Pinckney after local police sought to keep him in custody at the Kadapa jail for questioning, police said. Later that day, officers from the city of Khammam arrested him at the Kadapa jail, said Ramana Moorthy, a police inspector from Khammam.

"We drove with him overnight for 10-12 hours and produced him before a magistrate at 8 a.m." on Thursday in Khammam, Mr. Moorthy said. A magistrate in Khammam has ordered Mr. Pinckney held in Warangal central jail, 340 miles from Kurnool. Mr. Pinckney is under judicial custody until June 10.

A local resident Gollaubudi Rama Rao had filed a complaint on May 19 with the Khammam police, Mr. Moorthy said. "He told us that he took membership with Amway in 2012 and they asked him to recruit other members. He was told that if he didn't recruit others then his membership would be canceled," Mr. Moorthy said.

Mr. Rama Rao couldn't be located for comment.

The Khammam police filed an arrest warrant with a magistrate in Khammam after seeing on television that Mr. Pinckney had been arrested in Kurnool, Mr. Moorthy said.

Amway and other direct-selling companies want a law in India defining direct selling to make it clear that they aren't the same as a pyramid scheme. "There is no clarity in the regulations; they think we're doing money circulation," Amway spokesman Yoginder Singh said.

A money-circulation scheme is an Indian term for a type of pyramid scheme in which money is paid to the enroller for adding members to the scheme.

_________________________________________________________________

Unfortunately, 'The Wall St. Journal' has completely failed to report these key- facts:

(Readers should note that the WSJ has previously participated in covering up the 'Amway' racket http://mlmtheamericandreammadenightmare.blogspot.fr/2012/03/chairman-and-ceo-of-amway-have.html).

'Amway's' so-called 'MLM income opportunity' has already been closely examined, and judged unlawful, by the High Court of Andhra Pradesh in 2007. At that time, the court even began to examine how 'Amway' had got into India in the first place.

In June 1994, representatives of the US-based ‘Amway’ crime families approached the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Dept. of Industrial Development) bearing gifts.

By steadfastly pretending affinity with officials (who, naturally, wanted to believe that all external investment creates employment), the ‘Amway’ crime families initially sought an agreement (renewable biannually) which simply paved the way for the creation a privately-controlled, unlimited-liability, commercial company, ‘Amway India Enterprises.’ As a subsidiary (entirely owned by its American parent company), the representatives of the ‘Amway’ racketeers meekly accepted that ‘Amway India Enterprises’ would be forbidden to manufacture or import. The proposed company would be permitted only to use its ‘Multi-Level Marketing Business Model’ to sell products sourced from local, independent, Indian manufacturers. 





Furthermore, ‘Amway India Enterprises’ was obliged to file a separate agreement with the Reserve Bank of India, allowing the proposed subsidiary to transfer capital to, and from, its parent and, thus, act as a de facto, foreign exchange dealer.

Consequently, without any informed scrutiny, officials at the Indian Ministry of Industry, Secretariat for Industrial Approval (Foreign Collaborations II Section) rubber-stamped the application for the proposed 'Amway' company (within less than two months) on August 26th 1994.

Twelve months later, 'Amway India Enterprises' was legally-registered after final approval by the Indian 'Foreign Investment Promotion Board.'

In this way, America’s contemporary version of the Trojan Horse was dragged unnoticed into India with the assistance of the country’s own naïve regulators. However, it lay dormant until May 5th 1998 when a network of regional offices began to be established.

Six years later, the destructive contents finally began to spill out. On August 8th 2004, the (apparently safe) original (biannual) agreement was mysteriously altered (at the request of the corporate officers of ‘Amway India Enterprises’) allowing the unregulated manufacture, and/or importation, of ‘Amway’s’ own range of effectively-unsaleable household, beauty and health products.

At no stage did Indian officials bother to apply common-sense and ask how the so-called ‘MLM Business Opportunity’ could possibly be economically-viable, and lawful, when ‘Amway’ products were now, self-evidently, several times the price of equivalent (and often superior) merchandise widely-available in traditional Indian retail outlets? Yet, implicit to the modified agreement was the understanding that ‘Amway India Enterprises’ would respect Indian law and recruit non-salaried agents who could earn commission payments from retailing products to the public. In plain language, Indian officials were deceived by the de facto agents of US-based racketeers.

That said, it is not known what other inducements (if any) these conveniently-blind civil servants received.

The guts of above information comes from a landmark judgement given on July 19th 2007 against ‘Amway India Enterprises’ by Chief Justice G.S. Singhvi, and Justice C.V. Nagarjuna Reddy, of the High Court of Judicature, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad.

In 2006, the Criminal Investigations Dept. of the Hyderabad police raided, and sealed, the local offices of ‘Amway India Enterprises’ arresting various employees, following a particularly detailed complaint filed by A.V.S. Satyanarayana under the ‘Prize Chits and Money Circulation (banning) Act, 1978.’ This courageous individual confessed that he had been deceived into wasting a significant amount of time and money after having being subjected to overwhelming psychological pressure to join ‘Amway’ by two dominant men in his own social circle. Within three days of the registration of this complaint, aggressive lawyers acting for ‘Amway India Enterprises’ issued two writs against the Hyderabad CID. Typically, ‘Amway’ posed as the innocent victim under attack. Ignoring all quantifiable evidence to the contrary, the lawyers steadfastly pretended that their employer’s ‘MLM Business Opportunity’ was entirely legal and that ‘Amway India Enterprises’ was acting with the full-approval of the Indian government. Therefore, the Andhra Pradesh police had neither reason nor authority to launch such a heavy-handed investigation, and, thus, damage, a legitimate business. At the same time, both the lawyers and corporate officers of ‘Amway India Enterprises’ tried to convince the world that Satyanarayana was a pathetic liar who had filed a malicious complaint as the result of a marital/financial dispute which had, itself, resulted in his pursuing a vendetta against members of his family who were ‘Amway Distributors.’ 

Ironically, it was ‘Amway India Enterprise’s’ own malicious writs which brought the company under the rigorous scrutiny of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

Simply by applying common-sense, Chief Justice Singhvi and Justice Reddy were immediately able to see that the ‘Amway MLM’ fairy story is far too good to be true. Then, by ignoring the scripted-lies of ‘Amway’s’ attorneys, and by concentrating on the compelling testimony of the victim (backed up by documentary evidence), they deduced that the so-called ‘MLM Income Opportunity’ is in breach of Indian legislation. Despite the mystifying, linguistic and mathematical complexity of ‘Amway’s’ corporate camouflage, de facto agents of the company actually propagate the self-gratifying delusion that limitless prosperity can eventually be obtained without any further effort simply by regularly purchasing products and recruiting others to do the same, etc., ad infinitum. As a consequence, the two writs were dismissed, and the High Court of Andhra Pradesh ordered that the Hyderabad Criminal Investigation Dept. should be allowed to continue to follow whatever procedures are permitted by law to hold the corporate officers of ‘Amway India Enterprises’ to account.

Seven years later, despite the boss of 'Amway India Enterprises,' and two other corporate officers, being arrested for, and charged with, fraud in the Indian State of Kerala in 2013, the 'MLM Income Opportunity' virus still continues to infect India, whilst India legislators continue to be approached by the representatives of US-based racketeers who, obviously, do not wish to have their real activities rigorously investigated by independent Indian law enforcement agents.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sachin_Pilot

Although he is only 37 years old, Sachin Pilot (b. 1977) was the American-educated, Indian Minister for Corporate Affairs at the time of Willima Pinckney's first arrest in 2013. Sachin Pilot has previously worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation in India, as a well as for the American-based multi-national, General Motors. 

Sachin Pilot with his party, and nation's, leader, Manmohan Singh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_National_Congress
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajesh_Pilot

Sachin Pilot, whose late father, Rajesh, briefly led the the Indian National Congress party, is a member of the same party (now led by the former Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh) as well as a member of Indian Parliament and a serving, regular officer in the Indian Territorial Army. 

Unfortunately, young Sachin Pilot (like his American equivalent, Sarah Palin) seemed to have been promoted to his lofty governmental post more for his clean-cut, good-looks, than for his intellectual capacities; for, if he sincerely believes that 'Amway India Enterprises' is a 'law abiding and reputable company' (as was reported last year), then he was probably far too stupid even to be making the tea at the Indian Corporate Affairs Ministry, let alone running it.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/1841200/report-clearer-laws-on-tackling-fraud-schemes-soon-sachin-pilot-on-amway-issue
 

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/1841200/report-clearer-laws-on-tackling-fraud-schemes-soon-sachin-pilot-on-amway-issue

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/corporate-minister-sachin-pilot-pitches-for-distinction-between-ponzi-genuine-schemes/articleshow/20345636.cms

Despite his previous, apparently well-informed pronouncements, on hearing of the arrest of the managing director of 'Amway India Enterprises' on fraud charges in 2013, Sachin Pilot is reported as saying:

'it is disappointing that such an eventuality came about.' 

'the government will remove as early as possible the ambiguities in laws aimed at tackling fraudulent investment schemes.'

'We (Corporate Affairs Ministry) will work closely with concerned ministries and industries to remove the ambiguity in the law (related to tackling ponzi and other fraudulent schemes) as soon as possible.' 

'While steps should be taken to crack down on fraudulent companies running dubious investment schemes, companies that are reputed and abiding by the law must be delineated,'

'Such events  might negatively affect the prospects of our country as an attractive investment destination,'

'While we take strong actions against ponzi schemes, we need to be careful not to create a vitiating atmosphere for reputed and law abiding companies.' 

When translated into plain English, Sachin Pilot has apparently said that he had absolutely no intention of allowing the Indian police or the courts to do their job and protect the people of the republic of India from the biggest 'MLM income opportunity' racketeers! On the contrary this young fellow is reported as having steadfastly pretended moral and intellectual authority whilst, at the same time, foolishly broadcasting his urgent intention to place all the biggest  'MLM income opportunity' racketeers above the law of the land, before their Indian agents can be convicted of fraud and sent to prison.

Apart from the fact that Sachin Pilot has already been approached by countless deluded 'MLM' adherents, begging him to save their 'businesses, there is another explanation for his morally, and intellectually, bankrupt commentary. Namely, the billionaire racketeers whom Sachin Pilot apparently claimed he selflessly wanted to protect in the wider-economic interests of the people of the Indian republic, have been following the same subversive tactics which have enabled them to dodge criminal prosecution in the USA, and elsewhere, for decades.

Thus, I have some common-sense questions which I would like to put to Mr. Sachin Pilot:

• What exactly has been your own, and/or your political party's, financial connection, with the foreign-controlled, major, organized crime group known as 'Amway?'

• What exactly has been your own, and/or your political party's, financial connection with the foreign-controlled, parallel organization known as the 'Direct Sellng Association?'

• What quantifiable evidence have you seen to prove that any member of the so-called 'Direct Selling Association' has actually been regularly retailing goods, and/or services (based on value and demand) to the Indian public, rather than operating a dissimulated closed-closed market swindle, or pyramid scam, in which unlawful investment payments (based on the false expectation of future reward) have been laundered as retail sales simply by offering a never-ending chain of temporarily-deluded victims of the swindle, effectively-unsaleable wampum?   

• What possible lawful reason can you supply to explain why you now, urgently don't want the above serious matters to be fully-investigated by independent Indian law enforcement agents and put before independent Indian judges by independent Indian prosecutors? 

In an ideal world, it wouldn't be me putting these common-sense questions to Sachin Pilot. Self-evidently, if they have been reported accurately (and I have no reason to doubt that they have), Sachin Pilot's thoughtless pronouncements are further evidence that, due to the length of time it has survived and amount of capital it has already unlawfully-generated, the absurd, but nonetheless pernicious, lie entitled 'MLM income opportunity,' represents an ongoing threat to democracy and the rule of law, all around the globe.

More than half a century of quantifiable evidence, proves beyond all reasonable doubt that what has become popularly known as 'Multi-Level Marketing' is nothing more than an absurd, cultic, economic pseudo-science, and that the impressive-sounding made-up term 'MLM,' is, therefore, part of an extensive, thought-stopping, non-traditional jargon which has been developed, and constantly-repeated, by the instigators, and associates, of various, copy-cat, major, and minor, ongoing organized crime groups (hiding behind labyrinths of legally-registered corporate structures) to shut-down the critical, and evaluative, faculties of victims, and of casual observers, in order to perpetrate, and dissimulate, a series of blame-the-victim closed-market swindles or pyramid scams (dressed up as 'legitimate direct selling income opportunites'), and related advance-fee frauds (dressed up as 'legitimate training and motivation, self-betterment, programs,' etc.).

David Brear (copyright 2014)