Supreme Court punishes fraudsters of Kerala in new money circulation schemes

Fraudsters always come up with new schemes and new mode of cheating. I have already stated this many a time. And the Supreme Court judgement in criminal appeals No 1044, No. 1045, and No 1046 of 2008 delivered on July 10, 2008, proved this once again. The Supreme Court has clearly stated in the judgement that whatever the scheme if there is quick and easy money and it is depended on future enrollment of members, it is a clear case of money circulation scheme.

In the first appeal, the accused promoted a scheme in which a member has to pay Rs. 625 and after the enrollment of 14 more members he is eligible for repayment of Rs. 1250. The accused has already collected Rs. 500 crore. The prosecution described the scheme as 'mathematical impossibility'. The Supreme Court upholding the High Court judgement stated that it is a money circulation scheme and liable for punishment.

In the second and third appeals, the member has to pay Rs. 625 and the scheme promoter would purchase lottery tickets in his name worth Rs. 350 fir 35 weeks at the rate of Rs. 10 each. If the member wins the lottery the amount would be given to him. The rest of the Rs. 275 would be used for the subscription of a magazine. After 35 weeks, the member would be returned Rs. 1250. In this case also, the promoters collected Rs. 500 crore. The Supreme Court held that the scheme is so grossly unworkable and the promoters made unworkable false representations. But inevitaly and inescapably later subscriers are ound to suffer unjust loss when they swallow the false promises and make payments and it attracts the mischief of Prize Chits & Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978. The Supreme Court also held that it is also a clear case of cheating under Section 420 and 34 of IPC.

The Supreme Court judgment is lauded as it is a trend setting and the same would be applied to the other companies like Amway, Herbalife and others. It is high time people realised the danger of dubious schemes and not to fall prey such schemes.

How multilevel marketing companies are destroying social fabric & economy

For the last one decade, many fraudulent companies have been wreaking havoc on our economy by siphoning out of our country several thousands of crores of rupees every year. They not only loot our money but also out to destroy the social fabric of our society. They started multilevel marketing system in the country but actually indulging in money circulation schemes in the guise of selling products and services. We must avoid joining these fraudulent schemes and efforts should be made to remove the veil of products sales and services to identify the real mal-intention of these rogue companies.
There are umpteen numbers of companies operating on these lines all over the country and many have intruded at the local level looting the common man with inducement of get quick rich. These fraudulent companies introduce various products with the dubious claims of high quality and equally dubious claims of direct selling. There is neither high quality nor direct selling but only money circulation scheme.
People who are unto these schemes lose money ultimately and end up in strained relations with their friends and relatives. Just a quick glance around will reveal how many companies are plundering people’s money and lining their pockets. Beware of these dubious companies which offer easy and quick money, early retirement, deluxe house, luxurious life and travel abroad.
Kindly remember, there is nothing like free lunch. One has to work hard to earn it and save it judiciously. Then only anyone can become rich over the years. These fraudulent companies are becoming rich through such schemes and ninety per cent of people who joined these companies end up losing their hard-earned money.
Notwithstanding the monetary loss to our countrymen who joined these money circulation schemes, there is bigger trauma people face after strained relations with their friends, relatives and family members. Out of compulsion they might join some money circulation scheme or other. But later, they would never trust the person who forced them to join the scheme. Will they ever trust the friend who caused him monetary loss, mental pressure and physical torture in future? This is the biggest threat the country is facing today.
In order to hoodwink the provisions of Prize Chits & Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978, these companies took this strategy of product sales and services. The mother of all scams is Amway which started its operations way back in 1998, entering into the country with the promise of foreign direct investment. However, it has been siphoning out several hundreds of crores of rupees every year. The ex-factory price of all the products of Amway is very low and the selling price is very high. For instance, the ex-factory price of Glister toothpaste is Rs. 16 and the selling price is Rs. 120. Who is pocketing the extra amount and who is paying taxes on this amount? This is how they are cheating not only people but also the government.
There are a number of companies which indulge in such activities. It is pertinent here to name some of them. Amway, Herbalife, Tupperware, Hindustan Lever Network, Modicare are only a few of them. Another company, GoldQuest International, which has been in existent in over 68 countries, is now closed in India thanks to the number of criminal complaints filed against the company.

Fraudsters complain they lose livelihood

It is really odd that some fraudsters are brazen enough to complain that they lose their livelihood if these fraudulent companies are closed down because they are indulging in multilevel marketing. It is pertinent to note that they are into the fraudulent activities affecting the economy of our country and destroying the social fabric of our society and they are still adamant enough to claim that what they are doing is for their livelihood only.

What more funny is that they argue that there are bigger crimes in the country like corruption, large size land encroachment scandals and why we are focusing on simple things like money circulation schemes.

It is like let the pickpockets, petty thieves, house burglars go unchecked as they are minor criminals. Shall we leave these people and concentrate on corrupt politicians and bureaucrats? There are people, media and the law enforcing agencies who concentrate on those crimes. The money circulation scheme crimes are spreading like water under the carpet and it is high time all right-thinking people joined hands to stop this menace.

With or without our knowledge, several hundreds of crores of rupees is being siphoned out of the country every year and only some people are getting unjustly enriched. Shall we allow this to continue without check or hindrance?

Funnily, they also claim that there is no other go for them except to commit suicide if they are out of work from these money circulation schemes. They never agree to the fact that they were induced into becoming overnight rich and are in turn trying to induce others.

The problem is all these crooks are highly educated and they care two hoots for the society, the economy and even the welfare of the country.

MyVideoTalk, e.biz.com and likes are not legal

Many people believe. rather wrongly, that the scheme of a particular company is not illegal because they are multilevel marketing only and not money circulation schemes. They should learn that if any company indulges in any quick/easy money schemes, it is certainly indulging in illegal money circulation schemes.

For the simple reason, that there are no cases against any company or no complaints from any quarter does not absolve the company from its guilty operations.

For instance, GoldQuest International claimed for long that its operations are transparent and every transaction is through demand drafts and everything is computerised. Once criminal cases were filed against the company, everything came down like a pack of cards. Now, every person who participated in the scheme of GoldQuest is running for cover and became fugitive. They can plead their arguments in any court of law instead of running away from it.

Why many companies choose multilevel marketing is that the companies can attract more people with inducement of easy/quick money. And naturally, people who joined early may make some money in the initial stages and everyone end up losing money. The inducement and the hook is so attractive that the people would be in an illusion that they are the first to join the scheme and they would make money fast. They would be disillusioned soon but prefer not to complain for obvious reasons: 1) they were introduced by their relatives or friends and they do not want to lose their relationship 2) they resign to their fate for not making money and curse their fate. They never realise that the scheme is inherently flawed and everyone except the company would lose eventually.

For instance, MyVideoTalk members claim that there is no membership fee. But the membership fee included in the money they have paid. The company may claim that their product's worth is actually Rs. 3 lakh and they are selling it for Rs. 8800. Why should any company sell the product that expensive for pittance? The secret is in the hook and the inducement it offers to the members.

People easily fall for easy and quick money and that is their weakness and that is the forte of these fraudulent companies. Since it is not easy to bring awareness among people about these fraudulent schemes, it is apt to file criminal complaints against these fraudulent companies.

My bitter experience with Amway: How I was forced to tell lies

Dear Friends,

Here is the bitter experience of a person who refused to part with his identity. He wanted to share his tryst with Amway scheme in which he experienced agony and mental torture. I am presenting his article as it is to present his views only.

Shyam Sundar

I appreciate your initiative very much. Here is my story. I am from Bangalore, India and I am working in an MNC as an engineer. I joined Amway in 2006, June and did every thing my upline instructed me to do for 2 months. But as I felt it actually was not very transparent one and indeed deviated a lot from the promises it actually makes during my upline recruited me, I left it immediately.
I will first share my experience and opinions regarding the promises you pointed out it generally makes during it introduces the “business” to a new person or prospect.
1. “You can earn a fortune in 12-15 hours a week. “ ………….Yes they told me the same when I was introduced to the business. Later I found out that its much more than that. Infact its like 2 to 5 hours everyday ! We were instructed to go for contacting for 30 min to 1 hour/day ... then making phone calls etc., for 30 mins/day … then showing the plan will take 1 to 2 hour/day and then almost every day there will be a meeting and stuff also it almost took 3 to 4 hours daily … still I have not taken traveling time into consideration. And on weekends (Saturday and Sunday it takes 10 hours in meeting contacting plan showing etc. etc. etc…… so per week it’s like 50 hours of work!!!
2. This business has created thousands of millionaires …. Yes they say it every time.
3. Little or no selling … just buy from yourself ……. Yes they say that it's not door to door selling but what I found out was shocking. In India they instruct to follow 9 “core” (fatal) steps to follow in order to be successful in the business. And every time they asks their downline whether they are following the steps properly or not. If you don’t follow all the steps they will make you feel guilty about it (by some sort of emotional pressure…. like upline will not help you much.. even some times my upline expressed his disgust about one of my crossline for he not following the steps) …. So one is emotionally or mentally forced to do it. And one such steps says “doing your personal 100 PV every month ….. you can do it by buying the products for you or retail it to outside “… Here “ personal means it can’t include your group volume. In India 100 PV means Rs 5000/- (almost US $120) since nobody uses the products worth Rs 5000/- every month one is forced to retail … almost like door to door selling. If the upline continuously tells you that you can’t succeed without doing personal 100 PV your mentally forced to do it … This particulars they deliberately hide during recruiting a new prospect and if I knew this fact earlier I would have never joined this business.
4. You can save at least 30% off your own shopping bill…. Yes they say that
5. Did anyone in the group you sponsored make a net income of one dollar after expenses? Did you make a profit? If not, how much do you think it cost you (approximately) ? ……………. Well I never make any profit.
6. You need to use 100% of the product in “your own business” regardless of cost…………………. Yes they strongly say that. Infact they say if you don’t do this you will never be successful. Although every time they use the word “recommend” again it’s almost like an emotional pressure to do so.
7. Did you find the products to be cheaper or more expensive than any thing at the store? How has this impacted you personally? Yes they are very much expensive. Although they say that products are concentrated and far better in quality than other company products I never found so. They say one needs to use the product in very less amount so that it lasts long and in the long run it saves your money …. But what I found is the products are hardly effective when you use them in small amounts.
In India the Amway nowadays sells a food supplement product under the brand called Nutrilite which I found extremely over priced and they claim it of very much superior quality than other food supplement products available in the market. I and my father used some of their product but we never found it that good as they claim. And they spread some super natural stories of the curing power of these product which can hardly be explained by medical sciences. They praise the products so much that one actually gets brainwashed about the quality of the product and never cares to verify the quality. (Andhra Pradesh State Food Laboratory found the Nutrilite adulterated and the District Consumer Forum at Vijayawada imposed a fine of Rs. 1 lakh on Amway on this count..Editor). One thing I found the most objectionable about Amway business process is that it's not professional, transparent and it teaches one to become a great liar. I and many people like me who were new to the business were advised to make many false promises and what was most shocking is that they deliberately lie about their income. My upline was showing a plan to a person I invited and when the person asked how much I earned my upline said something vague like “ You can’t even imagine how much he is earning” … whereas I earned almost nothing from the business.
I want to write more but I don’t have time right now so I will write in future.

Name withheld on request for obvious reasons.

Apologists of Amway keep stony silence

It is easy to imagine what happened to the apologists of Amway. They are too stunned to react or they have no basis or argument to answer the queries. They have no answer to the important query that the ex-factory price of its products is very low and the selling price is very high. They must admit that they are tax evaders and cheats.

Some of them claim that the Amway has mended its ways and changed its business tactics. By saying so, they did not realise that they are admitting that the earlier scheme of Amway was fraudulent. But people should realise that the amended scheme is also frauduelnt. The whole scheme is nothing but cheating the gullible.

The latest scheme of Amway boasts that the Amway has removed the admission fee and introduced many new features. What happened to the earlier crimes of collecting huge admission fee and renewal fee. They do not talk about earlier crimes.

People should understand that there is no time limit for any criminal action and the limitation does not permit anyone to cover the crimes. If they had beaten people with an iron rod now they are beating them with a soft rod. The only difference is the number of times people were beaten.

By simply claiming that the Amway has changed its business module and business model, the apologists only confirming the Amway's earlier crimes. One should remember we have been telling people from the beginning that Amway is a fraudulent company and now it changed its business tactics only to confirm the charges.

People realised the real intention of the Amway promoters and nowadays it has become hard for the Amway to find new members. That is why the Amway which was against advertising its products is now spending millions of rupees on the same.

Can the apologists deny this?

How MyVideoTalk is legal?

One has to ask oneself a question how any business opportunity becomes illegal. The law is clear in this aspect. The Prize Chits & Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978 clearly says that if there membership and the member needs to enroll more members with the offer of commission it amounts to money circulation scheme and it is punishable.

Let us see how. If a member joins paying some fee to the company, it is flouting the norms of business. Why because, no person needs to become a member paying some amount of money just because he wants to purchase some product. If I want to buy a product, I can straight go to the shop or business establishment and buy whatever I want. But the fraud begins with the membership. And it continues with further enrollment with the inducement of commission. Nobody can purchase products without becoming member and nobody can purchase without being referred to by someone. Here comes the money circulation scheme. These fraudsters may alter their business models and camouflage with the sale of products and services. But basically they all do one thing, that is money circulation. That is what is called quick/easy money. Let us not fall prey to these machinations. If anybody cannot enroll members he may not get commission. But due to the inducement of more commission, he is compelled to chase or hunt for new members putting in lot of efforts.

New fraudulent company MyVideoTalk on the Net

Move over folks, new entrants are on the way to cheat gullible people with the promises of huge commissions and easy/quick money after merely becoming a member associate of their company. Meet MyVideoTalk. It is offering huge commissions for introducing new business associates to it and offering you riches unimaginable.

The modus operandi is a la Amway. It too has the same system of chain marketing with various levels of marketing. It also gives fancy names to its members once they 'achieved' in inducing more members into the scheme. The whole point is how many members you can rope in. If you can 'convince' more people to part with their money, you earn a lot of commission.

The MyVideoTalk too has the similar pattern of personal volume earnings like Amway. The only difference is this company was floated as recently as 2004 only. Still, it is spreading like water under the carpet and deceiving a sizable number of people around the world.

This is the reason that I have been terming that Amway is the mother of all scams. Everybody is taking cue from Amway and have been working hard to cheat people.

I hope people would realise the dubious schemes of these fraudulent companies and not fall prey to these machinations.

మోసపోకండి. మోసపోతే వెంటనే ఫిర్యాదు చేయండి.

మిత్రులారా ఇంత వరకూ మీరు ఆంగ్ల భాషలో చదివిన విషయాలన్నీ ఇప్పుడు మీకు తెలుగులో కూడా అంద చేస్తాను.త్వరలో ఇంకా అనేక కంపెనీలు ఎలా మోసం చేస్తున్నాయో తెలుసుకుంటారు.మీకు ఇప్పటికే తెలుసు ఆంవే లాంటి కంపెనీలు ఎలా మోసాలు చేస్తున్నాయో. అల్లాంటివి చాలా కంపెనీలు మన కళ్ళ ముందే మోసాలు చేస్తూ కోట్ల రూపాయలు దోచుకుని పొతూ వుంటే మనం కళ్ళప్పగించి ఊరుకోనక్కర లెదు. పోలీసులకు ఫిర్యాదు చేద్దాం.వాళ్ళు వెంటనే చర్య తిసుకోకపోతే మనకు చాలా మార్గాలు ఉన్నాయి.

It is amazing so many people lost their money in money circulation schemes

Recently, addressing a live phone-in programme organised by Rainbow FM radio at Hyderabad, I have realised and amazed at the number of people who got cheated in money circulation schemes. A number of people revealed how they were cheated/have been under pressure to join some scheme or other. Still, they do not know what to do. Even after realising they were cheated they hesitate to file a complaint against such companies. A number of people called me during the interview and after also to tell me how I saved their lives.

Many people including a sizable number of women told me that though they suspect that it is a fraudulent scheme they do not know how to identify the same. It is no wonder still many people do not know how to recognise fraudulent schemes on the face of it.

Kindly note the points how to identify such schemes.

If anybody tells you to become a member in any scheme by paying some fee, you have to immediately suspect that it is a fraudulent one.

Secondly, if you are told to enroll at least two more members to earn commission, your suspicion is confirmed.

Thirdly, if you are told that there is easy/quick money in the scheme, you have to immediately lodge a complaint with the police in the larger interest of the society.

If you are lethargic in lodging the complaint, you are harming yourself and the rest of the society.

Why no there are no cases against fraudulent companies like Amway?

We come across many people who lost their precious, hard-earned money in the schemes fraudulently introduced by companies like Amway, Herbalife and a plethora of others. But they never lodge a complaint with the police nor even share their bitter experiences with their other friends and relatives.

There are many reasons for this strange phenomenon. Let us analyse one after one.

1) Many people, who lost their money, generally lose it after joining the scheme as they could not enroll more members because they could not convince or could not deceive others. The fraudsters blame them for not enrolling more members stating they are not sufficiently motivated to get more membership. But the problem is when the scheme itself is fraudulent how can anyone convince others to join the scheme. Out of compulsion or when they could not say 'no' to their relatives or friends, they have joined the scheme and they could not do the same to others. I know a gentleman who joined the scheme at least four times, when his friends put pressure on him and he himself could not do the same to others. At the same time, he is not willing to lodge a complaint with anyone forget about the police. He doesn't want to lose relations with friends and relatives though he suffered loss. That is the weakness of people and the forte of these fraudsters. This is how the social fabric is being destroyed due to these fraudulent schemes.

2) While joining the scheme, the members are thoroughly 'trained' to induce more members into the scheme with factors like 'motivation'. If one fails to enroll more members he is only blamed for his/her lack of motivation. Naturally, he blames himself for the loss he/she suffered and never complain against anyone.

3) Another important thing is their strong belief in fatalism. The members who lost money in such schemes blame themselves by convincing themselves that it is their fate and their bad luck for the failure. But they never realise that the fault is in the scheme itself.

4) Moreover, people get ashamed of asking others to become after they learnt that it is a fraudulent scheme and that is why they drop themselves out of such schemes.

5) This happens nearly 90 per cent of new members not only in India but all over world.

మోసపోయిన వాళ్ళు కేసులు పెట్టకపోవడం వల్ల ఆమ్వే లాంటి కంపెనీలు మోసాలు కొనసాగిస్తున్నాయి