Do not be carried away by the smooth talk of Amway

Many a time we hear people praising that so and so company is an honest one conducting business legally. I would like to remind them that Honesty is not a relative term. It has to fulfil many things. For the simple reason that some company is given permission to conduct business by the government or the company is conducting business openly by issuing demand drafts and its operations are computerised, do not make it an honest company. We have to make sure that these companies are not violating the law of the land.

The glaring example is the recent criminal case against GoldQuest International Ltd. Its members argued vehemently that the company is a legal one and it is conducting a good business transparently. Once the criminal cases are filed against them, everyone went into hiding instead of answering to the courts of law that they are doing honest business.

Let us recall what the assistant solicitor general of India commented in the Amway writ petition No. 20470 and 20471 in the Andhra Pradesh High Court that the scheme the Amway is implementing is not the one accorded permission by the Indian Government and the Amway cannot use the government permission as shield to escape its liability.

Yet, people innocently or rather cunningly argue that the Amway is conducting business legally. This is only to deceive themselves. The important thing is that they are induced to become easy/quick rich and they are in the hope that they would become rich sooner or later. But by the time they realised it is a mirage, the damage would be done and they would be bringing in more and more friends and relatives into the web of the money circulation scheme. These friends and relatives cannot complain against their introducers fearing that they would lose them forever. That is the secret behind the Amway scheme.

Another argument is that the Amway is refunding the money if the customer is not happy with their products. Still, the customer is bound to lose money on account of returning the products and the membership fee.

Regarding ethics, when the whole scheme is evil and ingeniously designed to bring in more and more people into it in the name of attractive commissions, what is the point in discussing ethics. The whole scheme is against the law of the land i.e. Prize Chits & Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978.

Please feel free to ask any more queries.

The secret behind Amway's cunning strategy

The question we face often is that there are no complainants against Amway. Why? The answer lies inherent in the Amway's cunning strategy. You go through Amway literature. It encourages the IBOs to make their relatives, friends and even family members to become IBOs. It also suggests to treat anyone who refuses to heed to the demand to become an IBO as an enemy and cut off relations/ friendship with them. That is how it has become a threat to the social fabric of the society. If anybody feels cheated or actually loses his money, he cannot file a complaint against his relative or close friend. He feels that he had already lost money why lose friendship or relationship. In a case in Andhra Pradesh, a village level worker committed suicide after his boss, a mandal revenue officer exerted pressure on him to continue as an IBO giving him money on promissory notes. He cannot repay the loans nor say anything against the boss fear of losing his job.

That is the secret of Amway's business. I have already mentioned about a a set of doctors -- an ENT surgeon, an orthopaedician and a neuro surgeon in Vijayawada who prescribe Amway's Nutrilite dietary supplements to their patients. Can they say against the doctor who is treated as a living god.

The crux of the scheme is it is running a scheme which is against the law of the land. In the name of selling products, the Amway is indulging in money circulation scheme which lines the pockets of the people in the top vortex only. We have to remove the veil and see the real motive behind the scheme. Otherwise, there is no explanation for the sale of a toothpaste at an exorbitant price of Rs. 120 though the Amway is paying tax on the ex-factory price of Rs. 16 to the Government. Who is sharing the rest of the amount attracts the money circulation scheme. You can go through older posts and find out the provisions of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Bannaing) Act, 1978 to get clarification on the relevant portions of the law. This is only a single example and is applicable to all other products. Now my friend, you can see why the Amway scheme is against the law and you can also understand why nobody is complaining against the Amway. If you have further queries, feel free to ask questions.

New fraudsters round the corner, Beware!

Beware! My countrymen! More and more fraudsters are entering the scene of deception to hoodwink you and run away with hard-earned money. They lure you with huge profits, overnight riches and easy money with their ingenious schemes. They abet you to cheat your own neighbours, relatives, and even your own family members. Their ultimate goal is to line their own pockets with your, in fact our, money.

Multilevel marketing is raising its ugly head in yet another shape and they are now introducing new arenas. This time, they have come openly in insurance sector. As usual, the bureaucracy is in its deep slumber. They just close their eyes making everyone believe that everything is normal.

Many advertisments are appearing in Classifieds soliciting the gullible people to become members of its insurance schemes offering earnings anywhere between Rs. 1000 to Rs. 1.25 lakh depending upon your performance i.e. depending upon your willingness to cheat your friends, relatives, neighbours and who else.

They appeal to you to buy an insurance policy for a minimum of Rs. 5,000 and introduce two more members to become policy holders. Lo! Behold! Now you are out to make a lot of money with the downline members enrolling more members into the network. They say that sky is the limit.

Whenever you come across such advertisements, try to tell your friends that these ads are traps and not to fall prey to them. If possible, try to file a complaint with the police. Anyway you may not be successful at this. But don't get dejected. Keep on trying to stop these fraudsters from exploiting the weakness of our fellow humans.

Tell everyone that multilevel marketing menace is eating away the vitals of our economy and it is not good for the society and its social fabric.

Amway friend talks about truth but Truth is bitter my friend

Truth is bitter my friend. But truth always triumphs. That is the experience of our ancient civilisation. That is why our slogan is 'Satyameva Jayate'.

More often than not we refuse to recognise the truth and claim whatever we believe is truth. The truth is not relative and it won't change from person to person and institution to institution. One may argue that what he believes is truth. The truth is Amway schemes are ingeniously designed to cheat people. The Amway has no answers to the questions raised in this blog from time to time. It does not answer why anybody needs to enroll as member paying hefty fee to purchase some products and it does not answer why a member needs to renew his membership to further purchase products. The 'truth' is that the Amway is lining its pocket with the hard-earned money of people.

No thief admits that what he committed is wrong. Instead he builds up an argument that what he has been doing is right. That is what is called 'defence mechanism' in psychology. Let us remember once again that ''the easiest thing in the world is to convince oneself that one is right''.

Discussing whatever you think is right is not waste of time my friend. It will be enlightening if more people discussed more issues and then only truth will come out. That is our ancient civilisation. Try to be honest to yourself and don't try to indulge in self-deception.

Amway restrained to advertise by Andhra Pradesh Government

In the latest twist to the unlawful activities of the infamous Amway India, the Andhra Pradesh State Government has issued a Government Order on 15-09-2008 bearing No. G.O.M.S. No. 178 published in the official Gazette restraining Amway India Enterprises from publishing any material/advertisement which are promoting and/or conducting the in contravention of the provisions of the Prize Chits & Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978. The G.O. also made it clear that every copy of the publication/website to be forfeited to the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The G.O. could be viewed at http:/goir.ap.gov.in/Reports.aspx.

Mysterious silence from my Amway friend

My dear Amway friend

What happened to ibofightack blog. It is not appearing these days. It seems that he is hit hard in the gut with the argument in this blog. Silence is no answer my friend. Come outwith some meaningless comment or senseless argument. A Cheat is a cheat whatever name he calls himself. The Amway has been defrauding this country for nearly a decade and it is wonder no vigilante organisation is watching them barring a few officers. How these fraudsters are allowed to loot the country is amazing.

The assistant solicitor general of India in the writ petition filed by the Amway itself, stated in his argument and quoted by the Honorable Judge of Andhra Pradesh High Court in Para No. 12 of the judgment, that the scheme approved by the Government of India is different from the scheme which the Amway is executing and, therefore, the approval given by the Government of India cannot be used as a shield by the Amway for carrying its unlawful business.

It is baffling why the Government of India did not initiate action against the company when its solicitor general clearly stated that the Amway is indulging in unlawful activities.

Anway it is high time some action is initiated against Amway and closed its unlawful activities in the country. Even the Chinese government banned the pyramid scheme in their country.

Joining hands with criminals like Amway, Shame on you press

Amway has been, beyond reasonable doubt, proved to be indulging in unlawful activities. Yet, the so-called Fourth Estate has become so short-sighted that it begs the law-violators to become sponsors of their activities. It is no secret that the media survives on advertisements only. But it used to judiciously exercise its option to raise its revenues. Of late, probably due to the acute cut-throat competition and growing over-head expenses, it is indulging in all types of activities to fill its pockets.

The latest is the painting competition at Vijayawad organised by Eenadu group and sponsored by Amway. It is apt to recall here that Eenadu has published many stories about the nefarious activities of Amway. Yet it falls flat on its belly for sponsorship accepting the tainted money from Amway. For a giant like Eenadu group is it necessary. It is high time the media made some introspection and act accordingly.

Amway shedding crocodile tears

In an exclusive interview, Mr William Pinckney, managing director of Amway, lamented that many companies are indulging in money circulation schemes without actually selling any products as if Amway can indulge in such schemes by selling products. What exactly Amway is doing is nothing but money circulation scheme. Otherwise, is there any explanation or any other name for the multilevel marketing adopted by Amway. It is nothing but money circulation schemes. They found a bakara in the name of the reporter of Deccan Chronicle who readily accepted whatever he is told and published accordingly. The reporter never examined nor verified the veracity of the statement made by the managing director.

Amway is one of the members of IDSA and is the mother of all scams. The direct selling they refer never benefit any customer or consumer.

Amway sells a toothpaste for Rs. 120 though they pay tax on it on the ex-factory price of Rs. 16 only. If it is direct selling the end-consumer should get the benefit of buying the toothpaste at Rs. 18 or Rs. 20 avoiding all middlemen.

Amway can never explain why it is charging Rs. 120 for the toothpaste and still the end-consumer is getting benefited. It is high time the Amway's evil veil is removed and thrown out of the country along with its evil designs.

The Amway never reveals that China Government has stopped its pyramid scheme and put objections to the multilevel marketing. They never reveal what type of business it indulged in People's Republic of China. If at all it is doing business in China, it must be other than multilevel marketing.

Now the Amway is shedding crocodile tears that many companies are indulging in money circulation schemes while actually it is the company which is promoting money circulation scheme in the name of direct selling.

For instance, a rice merchant in Ponnuru, Guntur district, is selling 50 kg rice for Rs. 2000 and asking people to get two more people to buy rice for that price by offering commission to them. He is also selling product and like Amway he is offering commission. Shall we call it genuine?

Micro Finance Institutions become monsters

Microfinance Institutions which have been lauded as new age messiah for the poor and downtrodden have turned out to be monsters with inherent faults in the system. It is high we checked its acvitities as it is eating away into the vitals of our economy.

The micro finance institutions borrow huge sums from commercial banks at low interest rate and lend it to the poor people on several conditions. The interest rate is high and repayment is very harsh. In some instances, which were brought to the notice of CORPORATE FRAUDS WATCH SOCIETY, poor women who are dragged into the web of easy finance are forced into untoward conditions to repay the loan. To be frank, they are asked blatantly to become prostitutes to repay the loans. Now corruption has become rampant among micro finance institutions, it is high time the officials reviewed the situation and verify how some people are lining their pockets and how the gullible are being dragged into the web.

Many microfinance institutions (MFIs) operate in ‘difficult’ countries with a weak rule of law, open and latent conflicts, and corruption affecting everyday live. Social and private investors who finance MFIs may therefore be concerned about the benefits of their engagement and the sustainability and profitability of their investments. Obviously, there is no corruption-free world. Corruption may occur in an MFI as it may in any other type of company, organisation or government institution. Empirical experience, together with the theoretical line of reasoning, however, provide good reasons to assume that corruption in MFIs is not a big issue. How are MFIs affected by corruption (and money laundering)? How do they deal with this situation? And what is the appropriate benchmark to evaluate the outcome?

Corruption and money laundering - Definitions
Corruption is commonly defined as the abuse of official power for private gain or, more generally, the misuse of a position of trust (within administration, private and public companies or politics) for a dishonest personal benefit. The main forms of corruption involve bribery, embezzlement, fraud and extortion. Depending on the focus, corruption may also take very subtle forms, such as attending unnecessary seminars or conferences implying higher inefficiency within the company or institution. Sometimes corruption is even understood in a very broad context as “something against law”.
Money laundering refers to the act of concealing the origin (source and identity) of funds, either because funds have been generated by illegal means or because they are subject to reporting requirements that involve paying taxes and other duties. Money launderers may operate through financial systems or fictive companies and transactions. In particular since 9/11 concerns about terror financing have gained a lot of attention. There are different levels where
corruption may affect MFIs directly and indirectly The most probable type of corruption and financial crime that might occur at MFIs is fraud. Although fraud occurs in all business sectors, institutions dealing with finance are specifically exposed to it. Loan officers and managers may make fictitious loans, transfer funds into their personal accounts, receive bribes or simply steal cash .
Corruption-related concern may also be linked to the ownership structure of an MFI. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), for instance, tend to be more focused on social benefits rather than financial outcomes and profitability. As majority shareholders in MFIs they may on average demand less stringent internal controls than private, profit-maximizing owners and thereby unintentionally open doors for fraudulent behaviour. By contrast, other people argue that NGOs often have a social and church-related background bringing in higher moral standards and therefore less corruption. Last but not least, corruption may origin from activities
of MFI owners themselves, abusing MFI lending for their own mission or political agendas, for instance, granting loans to buy votes. This type of political corruption has not been a big issue but has occurred in some cases where governments have been direct or indirect owners of MFIs.