Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth over 757 crore rupees of Amway India Enterprises Private Limited, a company accused of running a multi-level marketing scam. The attached properties include land and factory building of Amway, machinery, vehicles, bank accounts, and fixed deposits. A money-laundering investigation by the ED revealed that Amway was running a pyramid fraud in the guise of direct selling multi-level marketing networks. It was observed that the prices of most of the products offered by the company were exorbitant as compared to the alternative popular products of reputed manufacturers available in the open market. Without knowing the real facts, the common gullible public was induced to join as members of the company and purchase products at exorbitant prices and were thus losing their hard-earned money. The new members were not buying the products to use them, but to become rich through membership as showcased by the upline members. The ED said, the reality was that the commissions received by the upline members contributed enormously to the hike in prices of the products.
The agency said, the company collected an amount of 27,562 crore rupees from its business operations from 2002-03 to 2021-22, and out of this, the company paid a commission of 7,588 crore rupees to its distributors and members in India and in USA during the period. The entire focus of the company was on propagating the membership while there was no focus on the products. Products were used to masquerade this MLM Pyramid fraud as a direct selling company. The ED said, the promoters of Amway conducted mega conventions and flaunted their lavish lifestyle, and used social media to lure gullible investors.
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