bbom-logoIn 2013 BBOM found itself the subject of multiple Brazilian regulatory investigations.

In July 2013 a Judge froze BBOM’s assets after prosecutors convinced a Judge it was a Ponzi scheme.

In November the asset-freeze was lifted so that BBOM could pay commissions unrelated to its Ponzi activities. With no retail sales to speak of, this decision effectively didn’t change anything.

In December 2013, Brazil’s Ministry of Finance concluded BBOM was a Ponzi scheme.

Ten months later, Federal Prosecutors in São Paulo reported BBOM management, including owner João Francisco de Paulo, for criminal activity.

BehindMLM concluded BBOM was a Ponzi scheme in our own review, published in June of 2013

I’m not too sure on the specifics of jurisdiction, but it appears the Federal Public Ministry of Goias (MPF GO) has also been pursuing its own case against BBOM since 2013.

In their civil lawsuit, MPF GO asked a court to launch a judicial investigation into BBOM to conclude “irrefutably” that BBOM was engaged in ‘the practice of (a) financial pyramid’ scheme.

Based on this finding, MPF GO also asked that funds be secured for return to victims of the scheme.

An expert report summing up the judicial investigation into BBOM was filed on June 23rd.

In the business model adopted by BBOM, participants became affiliates by paying a membership value that varied depending on the chosen plan (bronze – R $600, silver – R $1,800 or gold – R $3,000).

Affiliates were forced to recruit new members and to pay a mandatory monthly fee in the amount of R $80 for a period of 36 months.

Commissions paid to affiliates were calculated based on the recruitment of new participants. The more people who were brought into the network, the greater the promised payout.

The expert report, a detailed break down of the technical and economical aspects of BBOM’s business model, concluded that ‘the company has been operating as a Ponzi scheme since it launched‘.

MPF GO issued a press-release covering the expert report finding on July 7th. It’s expected MPF GO will use the report to push for frozen funds to be returned to victims of the scheme.

Recently BBOM has attempted to relaunch itself in the MLM cryptocurrency space with “VibeCoin”.

“VibeCoin” was a cryptocurrency being developed for BBOM, however plans fell through when the developer severed ties with the company a few weeks ago.

João Francisco de Paulo is still holding BBOM web-conferences on YouTube, with the latest uploaded just yesterday.

The current status of the BBOM MLM opportunity is unclear.