Doug Wead's 'MLM XanGo' associate, Jean/John Godzich, is a wanted criminal in France

Shyam

Your free-thinking readers (and particularly senior Indian police officers) should be aware that, 25 years ago,  ‘Amway France’ proudly proclaimed ‘90 000 Independent Business Owners.’ However, at that time, the company was exposed by the mainstream French media as the front for a closed-market swindle which inflicted cult-style mind-manipulation, or brainwashing, techniques on its victims without their fully-informed consent. Independent, French consumer and cult advice associations were approached by former ‘Amway’ core-adherents who complained of significant financial losses coupled with bizarre quasi-religious and political indoctrination. The French media reported that the major financial activity within the ‘Amway’ organization was the peddling to its brainwashed adherents of publications, recordings, tickets to meetings, etc., on the pretext that ‘these optional materials contained exclusive secrets vital to achieving success.’ This bad publicity produced a drastic collapse of the'Amway' racket in France, and a possible official investigation led to the virtual disappearance of ‘Amway France’ and the creation of the ‘Group of  European Marketing Professionals’  a.k.a. ‘GEPM’  a.k.a. ‘le Groupement’ by former  ‘Amway Diamond,’ Jean/John Godzich. He, and approximately 8000 adherents, were apparently excommunicated  from 'Amway' in 1989, for allegedly being in breach of the organization's distributor rules and code of ethics. However, this new (apparently independent) corporate structure was undoubtedly just another front for  the major, US-based, organized crime group known as 'Amway'.

By the early 1990s, ‘GEPM’ propaganda was proudly proclaiming  ‘50 000 distributorships.’ However, it too was widely-exposed as the front for a vast, closed-market swindle which inflicted cult-style tactics on its victims. The French media again reported that the major financial activity within the 'GEPM’ organization was peddling to its brainwashed adherents of publications, recordings, tickets to meetings, etc., on the pretext that ‘these optional materials contained exclusive secrets vital to achieving success.’  The take from this secondary, advance fee fraud is estimated to have totalled hundreds of millions of dollars. A mystifying labyrinth of further corporate structures was created to prevent, and divert, investigation and isolate the final beneficiaries from liability. Thousands of enquiries were made to UNADFI (the Association for the Defence of the Family and the Individual) about ‘GEPM.’ During its 8 year existence, at least 300 000 annual contracts were signed with ‘GEPM’ in France and neighbouring, francophone countries. None of these so-called 'distributors' regularly retailed 'GEPM' wampum to the public for a profit. They were obliged to consume and to recruit in the classic 'Amway'-style economically-suicidal closed-market 'plan for total financial freedom' which had a hidden, overall, rolling drop-out/failure rate of effectively 100%.

Doug Wead and his long-time criminal associate, Dexter Yager, were two of the 'Amway' crime bosses behind  the  ‘GEPM’ racket. A lot of the ‘GEPM’ publications and recordings were produced by companies controlled by Yager in Canada. Doug Wead and Neil Bush were key-note speakers at  ‘GEPM’ mass-rallies in France. Wead was also the co-author of books with Godzich. During the 1990s, the pair shared an office in Phoenix Arizona where they were regular attendees of, and preachers at, the Church known as the ‘First Assembly of God.’  French core-adherents of  ‘GEPM’ were obliged to buy tickets to visit Phoenix where they secretly received full-immersion baptism into the ‘First Assembly of God.’ Pastor Leo Mark Godzich (brother of  Jean/John) officiated. These trips, called  ‘Super-Well,’ cost around 2000 Euros each. The profits went to an (apparently independent) Belgian-registered travel agency which was, in fact, controlled by Godzich and his criminal associates. All this evidence (proving a pattern of major racketeering activity), was uncovered by French television journalists who infiltrated the 'GEPM' mob with hidden cameras.

In the early 1990s, a serious complaint was filed against ‘GEPM’ by UNADFI and a French consumer advice association, the Women’s Social and Civic Union, on behalf of around 300 destitute former core-adherents. This led to a criminal enquiry conducted by the French police. Godzich and 12  ‘GEPM’ associates steadfastly pretended to be innocent, but they were eventually charged with running a pyramid fraud. In the mean time, the company was successfully sued in the civil courts by its victims, but its declared assets were insufficient to pay its new debts. ‘GEPM’ was bankrupted and compulsorily closed in 1995. A warrant was soon issued for the arrest of Godzich, but he had already escaped to the USA. At this time, approximately 1500 deeply-deluded core-adherents of  the ‘GEPM’ mob picketed the offices of UNADFI in Paris. The building was occupied, files stolen and a senior UNADFI volunteer, Mathieu Cossu, was held prisoner for several hours and obliged to make a video statement that  ‘GEPM was not a cult.’ Prior to this, Godzich had tried to silence UNADFI with a proposed 'donation' of one million French francs (approximately 160 000 Euros). When this was refused, Godzich financed the creation of an  (apparently independent) ‘anti-mental manipulation association.’ It was generally believed by core-adherents of the ‘GEPM’ mob that their company was the victim of an anti-capitalist conspiracy and that UNADFI was a form of cult itself.

Some of the other tactics attempted by Godzich to maintain his absolute monopoly of information in France were classics of a cultic movement. However, an 'Amway'-style gagging-clause in 'GEPM distributor contracts,' linked to a Mafia-style, internal system of dispute resolution, failed to prevent more dissidents from coming forward. Malicious lawsuits were filed against external critics in which Godzich posed as victim. Traditional culture was infiltrated via gifts to charity, sponsorship of sport, etc. During the early 1990s, Godzich (who included an insurance agency, ‘Cabinet l’Andelle,’  amongst his web of corporate structures) gave approximately 160 000 Euros to sponsor a professional cycling team known as ‘Norwich Union Groupement’ (Norwich Union France gave only about 16 000 Euros). The star rider was Luc le Blanc (the then reigning world road-race champion). In 2000, 2 years after his official retirement, Luc le Blanc confessed to taking illegal drugs in order to obtain his world title in 1994. (Interestingly, during WWII, the ‘Nazis’ also identified cycling as the most popular sport in France and used it to try to manipulate public opinion in their favour. ‘Nazi’ agents created a sports magazine and sponsored a series of major cycling races).  

The criminal case against Jean/John Godzich (in absentia) and his‘GEPM’ associates, didn’t come to trial until the Summer of  2000. At this time, no evidence was presented by the prosecution relating to the secondary advance fee fraud lurking behind ‘GEPM,’ and the pyramid fraud charge was eventually dismissed on technicalities. GEPM's attorneys were allowed to present the failed-company's own unenforced 'retailing rules' as evidence that the accused had not intended to break the law, whilst  French prosecutors failed to produce any of the abundant documentary evidence proving that, despite these demonstrably-fake 'retailing rules', 'GEPM' had actually always been operating an unlawful money circulation scheme dissimulated behind effectively-unsaleable products, and services. However, in January 2007, Jean Godzich received a prison sentence (by default) of  3 years from the Correctional Tribunal of Evreux (Dept. of Eure, Normandy), for illegally transferring around 6 millions Euros of his failed-French-registered company’s social funds to the USA (prior to its compulsory closure in 1995). At the same time, an international arrest warrant was issued for Godzich (a citizen of both France and the USA) and he was given an additional fine of 500 000 Euros for again failing to turn up for his trial in October 2006. Three of his former associates were given suspended prison sentences ranging from 8 months to 2 years along with fines ranging from 10 000 to 80 000 Euros. Apparently, the warrant for Godzich's arrest has not been served, because the USA does not permit the extradition of its citizens. Similarly, Godzich's fine cannot be collected, because he holds no assets in France. 

‘Amway France’ still exists today, albeit on a vastly reduced-scale of less than 5000 claimed adherents. Interestingly, in recent years, a large proportion of these ill-informed people have been ethnic Chinese living in the Paris region. Since its creation more than 30 years ago, the overall, rolling drop-out / failure-rate of 'Amway France' has been effectively 100%, but, for obvious reasons, this key-information has been deliberately hidden from the French public.

David Brear (copyright 2011)