NewDelhi: The Indian government and vigilant agencies had exposed another scam operating in India. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on April 18 told that it has attached assets worth Rs 757.77 crore belonging to Amway India Enterprises Pvt Ltd, which is accused of running a “multi-level marketing (MLM) scam” in the guise of direct marketing.
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The attached properties consist of land and factory building of Amway at Dindigul district in Tamil Nadu; plant and machinery vehicles, bank accounts and fixed deposits, as per the ED statement. “Immovable and movable properties worth Rs 411.83 crore and bank balances of Rs 345.94 crore from 36 different accounts related to Amway have also been forfeited and attached,” said ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
According to ED, Amway India product prices are way too high as compared to the alternative available popular products of reputed manufacturers in the open market”. The Amway MLM marketing company collected Rs 27,562 crore between FY2003 and FY2022, and just paid a commission of Rs 7,588 crore to their associated members and distributors in the USA and India, it added.
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“Without knowing the gullible facts, the innocent people is induced to join as members of the company and forced to purchase products at exorbitant prices and are thus losing their hard-earned money. In the methodology of MLM, the new members are not buying the products to use-, but to become rich by becoming members as showcased by the seniors (upline) members. Reality is that the commissions received by the upline members contribute enormously in inflating the prices of the products,” ED said.
According to the agency, the alleged modus operandi of Amway works by aggressively propagating how the common public could become richer by joining it as a member. The products it offers are just a cover-up this “MLM pyramid scam” by showcasing the company as a direct selling brand, it said. Indian investigative agencies are toiling hard in the last few years to unearth such scams to safeguard the interests of common people and offshoring illegal funds.
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