ED attaches assets worth over Rs 757 cr of Amway India in money-laundering probe

The Enforcement Directorate ED has attached assets worth over Rs 757 crore of one of the countrys most known multilevel marketing MLM and directselling companies Amway India as part of a moneylaundering investigationThe federal agency issued a statement alleging that the company was perpetrating a scam by running a pyramid fraud in the guise of directselling MLM network The entire focus of the company is about propagating how members can become rich by becoming members There is no focus on the products Products are used to masquerade this MLM pyramid fraud as a directselling company the ED alleged An Amway spokesperson said they are cooperating with the authorities towards a fair legal and logical conclusion of the outstanding issuesThe ED issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLA for attachment of assets worth Rs 75777 crore belonging to Amway India Enterprises Private Limited It said the company is accused of running a multilevel marketing scam The attached properties include land and factory buildings of Amway located in Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu plant and machineries vehicles bank accounts and fixed deposits Of the total attachment value immovable and movable properties are worth Rs 41183 crore while the remaining amount of Rs 34594 crore is deposited in 36 bank accounts belonging to Amway the agency said Amway said the ED action was with regard to an investigation dating back to 2011 and since then the company has been cooperating with the agency and has shared all the information sought by it from time to timeAmway has a rich history of maintaining the highest levels of probity integrity corporate governance and consumer protection which are much ahead of time in the interest of the consumers at large the spokesperson said Officials involved in the probe said the company had been operating in the country for years and many people were linked to its MLM schemeThe agency said the company collected a total amount of Rs 27562 crore from its business operations during 200203 to 202122 and of this paid a commission of Rs 7588 crore to its distributors and members in India and the United States from 200203 to 202021 A moneylaundering investigation by the ED revealed that Amway is running a pyramid fraud in the guise of directselling multilevel marketing network Without knowing the real facts the common gullible public is induced to join as members of the company and purchase products at exorbitant prices and are thus losing their hard earned money the federal agency said The new members it said are not buying the products to use those but to become rich by becoming members as showcased by the upline membersThe reality is that the commissions received by the upline members contribute enormously in hike of prices of the products it said The moneylaundering probe found out that Amway brought Rs 2139 crore as share capital in India during 199697 and till the financial year 202021 it remitted a huge amount of Rs 28591 crore in the name of dividend royalty and other payments to their investors and parent entities Companies like Britt Worldwide India Private Limited and Network Twenty One Private Limited also played a major role in promoting Amways pyramid scheme by conducting seminars for joining members under the guise of sale of goods by enrolment of members in the chain system it allegedThe promoters are conducting mega conventions and flaunted their lavish lifestyle and used social media to lure gullible investors the ED said The company spokesperson said the recent inclusion of direct selling under the Consumer Protection Act Direct Selling Rules 2021 has brought in the much needed legal and regulatory clarity for the industry while again confirming Amway Indias continuous compliance with the spirit and letter of all laws and regulations in IndiaAs the matter is subjudice we do not wish to comment further the spokesperson said The Centre had in December 2021 banned directselling companies from promoting pyramid and moneycirculation schemes as it notified new rules for the directselling industryThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever