'MonaVie' another 'MLM' racket

http://idfspokesperson.com/2016/04/08/monavie-reviews-purple-juice-business/

The MonaVie Purple Juice Collapse

MonaVie was a multi level marketing (MLM) company that manufactured and sold fruit juice beverages and supplements. For a time, it was a top player in a growing market—some call a fad, others call “cult-like”—that touted the miraculous health benefits of certain berries and “super” juices.

MonaVie didn’t sell its juice products through retailers. Like all traditional MLMs, it relied on a network of independent distributors who marketed and sold the products and recruited others to follow suit. Multi-level marketing relies on multiple levels of distribution to sustain the business model.

For a few years, it looked like there was no stopping MonaVie’s meteoric rise. In fact, according to an article in Newsweek, MonaVie claimed at one time to be one of the fastest-growing private companies in the world. In 2009, its founder and chairman, Dallin Larsen, was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

From the Salt Lake Tribune: “From its start in 2005, MonaVie grew to $854 million in revenue in 2008 and had recruited 1 million distributors, Larsen said at the time.”

How did MonaVie rise and fall so quickly?

Well, first of all, it was the subject of a number of controversies, not the least of which were health claims about its products that were never scientifically verified or OK’s by any regulatory body. What’s more, according to Forbes, MonaVie’s business model resembled a pyramid scheme. Then came all the negative MonaVie reviews that called the business a scam.

In what the Salt Lake Tribune calls “a spectacular failure,” MonaVie’s rise and fall culminated with a default on a $182 million loan and foreclosure in 2015. The company took it the loan in November 2010, the Tribune said, “but, with the company apparently struggling financially, MonaVie in July 2014 announced the retirement of founders Dallin Larsen, Randy Larsen and Henry Marsh.”

In 2008, during MonaVie’s heyday, Newsweek wrote an article titled: “MonaVie Acai Juice: Cure-All or Marketing Scam?” MonaVie’s pitch was two-fold: better health from drinking its juice (which sold for a whopping $40 a bottle), and income from income from being a distributor.

However, Newsweek reported at the time, “not everyone is drinking the Kool-Aid.”

“Critics call MonaVie a ‘legalized scam’ that benefits only a few kingpin executives,” the Newsweek article states. “The product itself, they say, is an overhyped fruit drink that eludes drug regulation by the Food and Drug Administration by letting its distributors (as opposed to MonaVie itself) make the health promises. … A NEWSWEEK reporter who took the MonaVie daily dose—two ounces, twice a day—for two weeks, didn’t experience the drink’s miraculous benefits, and got headaches.”

According to Wikipedia, one “report also noted that ‘MonaVie’s vitamin C level was 5 times lower than that of Welch’s Grape Juice,’ a product priced at a fraction of the cost of MonaVie for the same serving volume.” MonaVie product ingredients were not

What’s more, of all MonaVie distributors at the time, “fewer than 1 percent qualified for commissions and of those, only 10 percent made more than $100 a week,” Newsweek reports. “And the dropout rate, while not disclosed by MonaVie, is around 70 percent, according to a top recruiter.”

The company really came under fire in 2014. In May of that year, “a class-action lawsuit was filed against MonaVie for allegedly deceptively advertising its juices, such as MonaVie Active, MonaVie Essential, MonaVie Pulse,” Truth in Advertising reported. “Among other things, the complaint alleges that the company promises its juices will provide a variety of health benefits—including increased energy and improved joint health—without scientific proof to support such claims. In addition, plaintiffs claim that the company fails to warn consumers that the juices contain ingredients—such as arsenic and lead—that could cause health problems.” The MonaVie pyramid began to crumble.

The unsustainable hype and horrible online MonaVie reviews surrounding the astounding properties of the acai berry and other “super fruits” has led to the demise of several MLMs like MonaVie. Unfortunately, their failures—and the perception that their business models are nothing more than pyramid schemes—tarnish the broader industry of direct sales. Many direct-selling organizations are not MLMs and have solid reputations, sound business models, and viable products lines.

Not all of MonaVie’s problems can be stated in this article. Wikipedia goes into more detail about the issues that eventually brought down this MLM, including poor distributor earnings,poor online reviews, misleading health claims and advertising, pyramid scheme allegations, and litigation.

Multilevel marketer MonaVie settles employee lawsuit for $19 million

By TOM HARVEY | The Salt Lake Tribune

 Jul 27 2016 

http://www.sltrib.com/news/4164468-155/multilevel-marketer-monavie-settles-employee-lawsuit

The former top officers and owners of once-high flying nutritional juice company MonaVie and Bankers Trust Co. of South Dakota have agreed to pay $19.8 million to settle a lawsuit over an employee stock program that lost nearly all its value within about two years and was left burdened with a $186 million loan.

The proposed settlement still needs approval by U.S. District Judge Bruce Jenkins but includes a payment of $3.8 million from three founders and top officers of the now defunct South Jordan-based multilevel marketing company, according to a transcript of a recent court hearing. Bankers Trust, trustee of the employee stock ownership program, will pay about $16 million.

 Most of the funds will go to former MonaVie employees who were members in the employee stock ownership program that was created in November of 2010. Bankers Trust helped the employee program acquire 12.8 million shares of MonaVie stock that were valued at $186.5 million and financed by a loan carrying a 10 percent interest rate, according to court documents.

The transaction allowed the company "to unload thousands of MonaVie shares at grossly inflated values and saddle MonaVie's own employees with a crushing loan to finance the transaction," a complaint says.

The employee program lost just over one-third of its value within 44 days of the transaction and by January of 2014 the stock had lost 99.95 percent of its value, the lawsuit says.

Court documents show that the U.S. Department of Labor threatened to take action against Bankers Trust for possible violations of federal laws in its handling of the MonaVie employee stock program, prompting settlement talks.

Greg Porter, a Washington, D.C., attorney who filed the lawsuit, called the results "excellent" for 420 employees of MonaVie who were plan participants.

"We estimate that the average beneficiary of the MonaVie [employee stock program] will receive over $30,000 from this settlement," Porter said. "That money can be rolled into an IRA for retirement savings, with taxes deferred."

Former MonaVie Chairman CEO Dallin Larsen, his brother Randy Larsen, a senior vice president and board member, and company co-founder Henry Marsh, an executive vice president and board member, are expected to pay about $3.8 million.

W. Waldan Lloyd, an attorney for the three former officers, said in a statement, "We are delighted to have achieved an excellent result for the employees of MonaVie. We commend the defendants and the Department of Labor, which participated in the settlement discussions, for working with us to obtain a great financial settlement."

The former officers' payment is voluntary and without admission of wrongdoing, Lloyd said.

Scott Valbert, spokesman for Bankers Trust, said the company has insurance coverages that will pay part of the settlement, "therefore the actual cost to the company will be significantly less" than the $16 million mentioned in the court transcript. He declined further comment.

The employee program transaction in 2010 came about the same time as a company called TSG-MV Financing converted a capital infusion into a $182 million loan to MonaVie, which pledged almost all its assets as collateral, court documents show.

MonaVie defaulted on the loan in early 2010 and a multi-level marketing company called Jeunesse purchased the note for $15 million and then later foreclosed and took over MonaVie.

The juice marketer used a multilevel business plan in which independent distributors can earn commissions on sales to others they recruit. The company once approached $1 billion in annual sales.

LA Times - more questions about the 'Herbalife (HLF)' racket.

The following article (published in yesterday's LA Times) makes the somewhat foolish, but understandable, assumption that the FTC's new rules don't, and won't, apply to the 'Herbalife' racket outside of the USA. In reality, if you read the details of the FTC vs 'Herbalife' ruling, any American 'Herbalife' employee or contractee peddling the pernicious Utopian 'MLM' fairy story, is in breach of the agreement. I can't find anything in the ruling which says that these rules only apply to the activities of American 'Herbalife' employees and contractees inside the USA.

So far mainstream journalists have completely failed to uncover the big story i.e. that the use of stolen money by the 'Herbalife' racketeers to buy association with reputable individuals and organisations in the traditional world, was designed to shut-down the critical faculties of 'Herbalife' victims in order to prevent them from facing reality and filing complaints. As such, this extensive infiltration of sport in order to commit fraud and obstruct justice, should be identified as forming part of an overall pattern of ongoing major racketeering activity (as defined by the US federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act, 1970).

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http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-herbalife-sports-marketing-20160726-snap-story.html

Herbalife's deals with LA Galaxy and Olympic athletes are key for its push overseas, where FTC rules don't apply

Paris Saint-Germain's Nicolas Douchez makes a save against D.C. United during the Herbalife World Football Challenge in 2012 at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington. (Larry French / Associated Press)

Melody Petersen

“How many of you would like to make at least a million dollars a year?” John Tartol, a top Herbalife distributor, asked a wildly cheering crowd filling a Los Angeles auditorium in 2012.

For years, supplement-maker Herbalife Ltd. relied on these rag-to-riches pitches to attract people into the business of selling its weight-loss shakes, protein powders and teas. A brochure used until 2014 featured photos of ebullient people in front of mansions and fancy cars and offered “the opportunity to earn more than you ever thought possible.”

But those promotional promises must end with Herbalife’s $200-million settlement this month with federal regulators, who said the company had engaged in “deceptive and unlawful acts” by misleading people. The overwhelming majority of distributors earned little or no money, the regulators said, with many losing thousands of dollars. The company said it disagrees with many of the Federal Trade Commission’s findings.

Not banned, however, is the increasing stream of cash that Herbalife has been spending each year to sponsor sports stars and sporting events around the world, including, most prominently, Los Angeles’ professional soccer team the LA Galaxy.

The sports-related push has been part of Chief Executive Michael O. Johnson’s plan to transform Herbalife from a controversial multi-level marketing company into a global nutrition company. More than 80% of its sales are now overseas — where the FTC has no power.

This summer, the company is sponsoring the Olympic committees of Costa Rica, India, Israel, Italy and Vietnam. Among its 200 sports sponsorships is a Croatian triathlete, a Colombian BMX racer and a Malaysian squash player.

“Largely it’s back to business” for Herbalife after the settlement, said Timothy Ramey, a Pivotal Research Group analyst who owns Herbalife shares.

“I think sports marketing is a key part of that,” he said. “Their whole shift has to be fewer Lamborghinis and more Spandex.”

Herbalife Chief Executive Michael O. Johnson at the 2011 Los Angeles Triathlon, which was presented by Herbalife. (Tiffany Rose / WireImage)

In June, 11,000 Herbalife distributors watched in a Seoul auditorium as Herbalife introduced a new energy drink, its label emblazoned with a photo of international soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo. 

“The world is wearing the Herbalife brand and it is a testament to our products,” Johnson explained in a message to distributors after it signed the deal with Ronaldo in 2013.

What’s unclear is whether the international sports campaign, which cost $30 million last year according to an executive, can stem losses that may come with the strict new rules laid down by the FTC. 

Bill Ackman, the billionaire investor who first claimed Herbalife was a pyramid scheme in late 2012, told investors this month that he believes it is only a matter of time before the new legal requirements cause the company to collapse.

“Herbalife has been shut down by the FTC — it just doesn’t know it yet,” said Ackman, whose hedge fund has bet $1 billion that the company’s stock will plummet. Instead, the stock price has soared about 50% from where it was just before Ackman announced his position in December 2012.

At issue is whether Herbalife’s rising sales come from actual consumer demand for its supplements. According to the FTC’s investigation, the company’s compensation program for distributors was driven not by selling products to people who actually consumed them, but by recruiting additional people into the network.

The system, the agency said, put pressure on distributors to buy large quantities of weight-loss powders and other products so that they qualified for greater discounts and recruiting-based rewards.

As a result, many distributors bought Herbalife products they found difficult to sell, the FTC said. Those distributors gave away the powders and teas to friends, consumed the goods themselves, or threw them away, the agency said. Some distributors sold excess products at flea markets or auction websites, the FTC said, despite Herbalife rules prohibiting such sales.

One top distributor paid more than $8 million for Herbalife products, which were purchased in the names of junior members down the line from that person’s place in the network,  according to the FTC. Those purchases generated so much in additional rewards and higher payments from Herbalife that they more than covered the distributor’s $8-million outlay. The distributor then donated the products to charity, the FTC said.

Under the settlement, Herbalife must now verify through receipts that at least 80% of its sales are made to legitimate retail customers.

The company said many of the FTC’s findings are “factually incorrect” and that it had agreed to the terms to avoid more costly litigation.

“The terms of the settlement in no way change our business model as a direct selling company but simply build upon current procedures,” Johnson said in a message to distributors posted on Herbalife’s website. “Because of this, we are confident and excited about the future of our business.”

Megan Jordan, an Herbalife spokeswoman, said the company would have no further comment until it releases its earnings early next month.

At least one large sports organization recently ended its Herbalife deal.

Herbalife had paid for the potential to have its name emblazoned on the jerseys of thousands of children playing in the American Youth Soccer Organization, which has more than 50,000 teams across the U.S. The teams had the option of putting Herbalife’s name on their jerseys, said Mike Hoyer, the group’s national executive director.

The agreement ended in December, he said.

“It worked out for the better,” Hoyer said. “It let them address their controversy,” he said speaking of Herbalife, “and let us go out and find new sponsors.”

The LA Galaxy, however, says it has no plans to end its sponsorship, which pays the team more than $4 million a year. The Galaxy is continuing to get more involved with Herbalife, said Chris Klein, the team’s president.

“This has been a fantastic partnership,” Klein said.

In 2011, David Beckham (23) of the Galaxy shakes hands with Sergio Ramos of Real Madrid at a match at the Herbalife World Football Challenge at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. (Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)

The Galaxy is owned by Anschutz Entertainment Group. AEG also owns the downtown entertainment complex L.A. Live, where Herbalife rents space for its global headquarters.

Brian McKinley, Herbalife’s vice president of sports marketing, explained the sports sponsorship strategy in an interview with Direct Selling News last year.  He said the deals helped establish the company’s credibility and provided marketing tools that its distributors could use to find customers.

For example, Herbalife distributors purchased more than 60,000 Galaxy jerseys when David Beckham joined the team — the first time the team allowed Herbalife or any company to put its name on players’ jerseys, he said.

The jerseys made Galaxy fans “walking billboards for our product,” McKinley said. “It shows that the LA Galaxy chose us as much as we chose them.”

Soccer is especially popular in Latin America and Europe, where Herbalife has been expanding.

According to last year’s annual report, almost 11% of Herbalife’s sales are in Mexico, and nearly 13% more are in South and Central America.

When the Galaxy won the Major League Soccer cup in 2014, Herbalife flew a group of its star players, as well as team president Klein, sports science manager Alex Savva and its head coach to Ecuador and Peru for a victory tour.

During the trip, Herbalife created videos showing the team giving soccer lessons to children in poor neighborhoods while promoting its products.

“Herbalife helps our players on the field, as well as off the field,” Savva said in a video. “They are getting the best nutrition possible.”

Asked about the promotional spots, Klein said, “The videos are authentic. The players are using the product.”

The FTC said part of the $200-million settlement will go to distributors who lost large amounts of money. Those details will be announced at FTC.gov.

Anthony Waller, 48, of Las Vegas said he became a distributor after being told about the money he could make.

He paid to go a Herbalife meeting in a Huntington Beach oceanfront hotel a few years ago, he said. He remembers watching videos of distributors showing off their boats, planes and bedroom closets filled with expensive shoes.

“People walked out with stars in their eyes,” he said.

Soon Waller was spending hundreds of dollars a month on Herbalife products, promotional brochures and drink shakers for potential clients, he said. Many people tried the supplements, he said, but didn’t buy more.

“All of a sudden the light comes on and you realize that you’re their best customer,” Waller said.

Melody Petersen 

July 29th. 2016.

LA Times (copyright 2016)

India still suffers from the failure of US regulators to stop 'MLM' racketeering.

The following article has been posted specifically to educate senior US law enforcement agents and prosecutors, who apparently remain blissfully unaware that: The Chronic failure of US commercial regulators to identify, let alone tackle, the historically significant phenomenon of 'MLM Income Opportunity /Prosperity Gospel' cultic racketeering, has enabled it to infect the world. 

Second generation 'MLM' racketeers, Doug De Vos and  Steve Van Andel.

Members of the DeVos and Van Andel clans. Billionaire 'Amway' Instigator, Richard De Vos (seated centre).

Even though the original 'MLM' cultic racket has already been judged unlawful in India, this original version of the reality-inverting Utopian 'MLM' fairy story continues to poison the lives of millions of Indian citizens - generating huge profits for a gang of American criminals who remain beyond the reach of Indian justice.

In 2013, 'Amway India Enterprises' Chief Executive Officer, William S. Pinckney, was arrested for fraud; whilst senior Indian police officers openly described 'Amway' as an enormous 'racket.' (Pinckney is 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 had issued clear warnings to the public not to get involved with 'Amway,' and they treated the matter of 'Amway' as criminal fraud disguised as 'legitimate business,' and therefore, nothing to do with civil regulators.

Predictably, in the wake of Pinckney's arrest, US-based 'MLM ' racketeers did everything they could to trivialise all these events and to have their own criminal activities effectively placed above the law in India. The 'Amway' Ministry of Truth swung into (reality-inverting) action, claiming that 'Amway' was a victim and that the Indian authorities simply don't understand how 'Amway' and 'MLM Direct Selling' functions.



  Steve De Vos and Doug Van Andel issued a typically arrogant statement (June 3rd. 2014):

'The continued detention and harassment of Amway India CEO Bill Pinckney must end. Amway is a reputable company with 55 years of operating legally and ethically in more than 100 countries and territories worldwide. We have fully cooperated with all investigations and requests from authorities in India and will continue to do so. To continue with this investigative retention when we have worked to be entirely transparent about our business is unnecessary and unreasonable.

We understand the new Union government in New Delhi played no role in this police action and hope they will help in the immediate release of Bill so he can quickly and safely be returned to his family. We also ask for them to assist in moving quickly to resolve this situation and restore confidence in India’s investment potential.

Despite the challenging market conditions, we remain committed to doing business in India as well as to the 500 Amway India employees and more than 550,000 distributors across the country. We will continue to expand our investments in India including the new USD $100 million manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu. And we will continue to provide an opportunity for Indian citizens to buy and sell our more than 140 high quality consumer products. It’s what we have been doing in India since 1998 and it’s what we intend to do for generations to come.

Ultimately, our goal is to find quick solutions that prevent events like this from ever occurring again. We want to operate under clear guidelines that enable us to continue to contribute to the growing prosperity of Indian citizens and the country as a whole.'

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Reality-inverting 'MLM' propaganda also appeared in the mainstream media

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

Sean MClain of The Wall St. Journal reported:

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.

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Unfortunately, 'The Wall St. Journal' 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 the pernicious 'Amway/MLM' fairy story 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 an innocent victim under attack. Ignoring all quantifiable evidence to the contrary, the lawyers steadfastly pretended that their employer’s ‘MLM Business Opportunity’ is fully-approved by US and other regulators in dozens of different countries, making it entirely legal in India because ‘Amway India Enterprises’ had also been examined by, and was acting with the full-approval of, the Indian government officials. 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.

Today, a decade 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 Indian (state and national) legislators continue to be approached and groomed 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 was only 37 years old, Sachin Pilot (b. 1977) was the American-educated, Indian Minister for Corporate Affairs at the time of William 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 an Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh) as well as a member of Indian Parliament and a serving, regular officer in the Indian Territorial Army. 

Unfortunately, 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 reported), 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 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 had 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 still 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 urgently didn'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, recruitment leads, recruitment lead generation systems,' etc.).

David Brear (copyright 2016)