India to ban MLM completely?
When we last checked in with the MLM industry’s fight for legitimacy over in India, the various government agencies involved were engaged in ongoing discussion as to what constitutes a legitimate MLM company.
In response to the multitude of scams operating within the MLM industry and local authorities seemingly all but powerless to regulate them, the Department of Consumer Affairs established a committee back in July of last year to establish guidelines to separate legitimate MLM companies from the scams.
A deadline was initially set in “early 2013” however it passed without the committee reaching its goal. As such a new deadline was set for April 30th, which has also now come and gone.
Whether the Department of Consumer Affair’s committee reached a conclusion or not I’m not sure but since the April 30th deadline, the issue seems to have quietly progressed behind the scenes.
In somewhat of a departure from establishing guidelines to define legitimate MLM companies, reports are now stating that the Indian government is looking to ban the entire MLM industry.
Whether on the advisement of the Department of Consumer Affairs committee or not is unclear, but recently the Department of Financial Services proposed to Indian parliament that, via an amendment to The Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978, the Indian government “ban multi-level marketing companies”.
The proposal is likely to be fast tracked considering the seriousness of the chit fund scam, an issue that was discussed by the standing committee of finance on Friday.
“Friday” being the just passed May 17th.
Speak Asia is credited as being the first major scam to spearhead heightened efforts to establish tighter regulation of the MLM industry, with ringleaders in the scheme even today, almost two years after the scam was shut down, still dragging out investigations with ongoing judicial action against the Indian authorities investigating the scheme.
Such action has naturally hampered the investigations, which already suffer from the commonly held view that even with co-operation, the Indian authorities will be able to do little to apprehend the fugitive management of Speak Asia, currently believed to be hiding out in the middle-east (Dubai) and Singapore.
Much of the confusion and long delays in the Speak Asia case, as I understand it, can be attributed to a lack of structure and definitions in current Indian laws, which were never intended to be used against such easily wide-spread and devastatingly huge scams like Speak Asia.
Saradha Group, another recent Ponzi scheme involving “thousands of crores of rupees” and “lakhs of investors” that went bust in March of this year is also credited with fast-tracking the government’s action against the MLM industry.
Given what has happened with Saradha Group and others, the department of financial services and the department of economic affairs (DEA) which has concurred that this proposal finally moots a specific amendment which will ban MLM companies from operating in India.
When will this be operationalised, the legal amendment will have to go through the Parliamentary route and will be tabled for Cabinet approval which will come up shortly.
However, in some ways this is the biggest regulatory loophole beyond what has been reported in the collective investment scheme — a mess that has been dogging India for so many years and is proposed to be closed.
Personally I find it a bit disappointing that the Indian government is taking such a heavy-handed approach on MLM. I’d much rather have seen them work on defining a legitimate MLM income opportunity than ban the entire industry.
That of course would have taken more time and required a great deal of legal framework to be fleshed out and in the face of mounting scams of increasing magnitude popping up faster than they can be investigated, I can see why, perhaps at least for now, the government has opted to just ban the MLM industry outright.
Especially when, under the current legal framework covering the industry, the authorities run into problems like this when they launch an investigation:
In the Saradha scam, the IT department has confessed to the standing committee that it has not been able to obtain the details as the West Bengal police and other authorities have refused access.
Forget about scams like Speak Asia funneling hundreds of millions in Ponzi funds across multiple countries in multiple continents, here you have authorities in one Indian state (Calcutta) being hampered by authorities in another. That’s currently just how ineffective India’s laws are regarding Ponzi and pyramid schemes.
All this paints a situation where the government is yet to come to grips with the chit fund issue but the key news will be that it may be doomsday for companies like Speak Asia very shortly.
Is banning the MLM industry in India rather than working to define framework for legitimate MLM companies to operate under throwing out the baby with the bathwater?
Stay tuned…
It’s far more likely they’re going to take the Chinese approach on MLMs… Ban everything EXCEPT those that specifically license themselves as MLM through a new government agency, and only as direct selling, not MLM (i.e. no recruiting).
Amway and such are in China, but only as single-level direct selling, not multi-level. All such companies have to register with the direct selling bureau in ministry of commerce. And even then there are occasional reports of people continuing to use matrix or levels.
Basically, they’re choosing “whitelisting” instead of “blacklisting” approach.
I think Indonesia had a similar approach… their BKPM has s separate license called SIUP-L for MLM companies, and such companies are STRONGLY encouraged to join their local chapter of DSA called ACPI, I think. TVI Express there refused to admit they are MLM and was closed but bureaucracy took almost two years to do it.
“Whitelisting” should do much better in the industry of fraud.
@Kasey
Sounds good to me, anything is better than the current designation of MLM regulation through the outdated Prize Chits and Money Act.
It will be quite sad if the government does something of this nature. Already 0.1% of India’s GDP is coming through the Network Marketing Industry. With proper regulations, it will only increase!
As reported by media channels, in Saradha scam a few ministers were involved at the top. No wonder the government and authorities are not cooperating. Even if Network Marketing Industry is banned, such investment (ponzi) companies will continue to operate.
The government also had set up a High-Level Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) for proper enforcement of regulatory framework for Multi-Level Marketing Companies. Seems like the people involved in this didn’t research on the Industry at all and are at loss on differentiation between MLM and Ponzi.
As such they seem to have put forth the opinion to ban MLM as it would ensure that they will not have to work on this field/topic at all. Laziness seems to be in the blood at places. Else the last month’s meeting involving departments of Govt of India, WFDSA, IDSA, Top MLM companies of India would have yielded better results for the Industry.
For ponzi companies like SpeakAsia, scamming people via use of Internet is quite easy and even if MLM is banned, these companies will swoop down and scam people. They will be easily able to hide behind the fact that legalities and Physical Establishment are not necessary in India!
Using a Whitelist would be a better approach and will ensure that the right companies are able to operate.
Hoping that some positive news comes for the Industry else 1.25 billion people i.e. one fifth of the world’s population will be lost to the Industry and the opportunity will be lost by the people.
Wondering what stance and action the big and legitimate companies will take on this.
The problem here is whitelisting will invariably be used as “evidence of legitimacy and legality”, but that was already going on.
I can see a system where a company that operates in India must name Indian residents as corporate officers and establish physical address as registered business address where records are kept, and submit to periodic but unannounced audits by various agencies. Add a good system for whistleblowers and India may yet tame this beast.
No update on the MLM ban but this report from the Indian Express sheds light on legislative progress being made to combat international-based scams that operate in India like Speak Asia:
It’s starting to look more and more like the EOW are waiting for the dust to settle on this before actively pushing forward with their investigation. At least that’s the impression given due to the lack of progress seemingly being made over the past year or so.
And to think, two years ago Speak Asia had its panelists believing they could overturn Indian law and legalise Ponzi schemes by way of a judiciarial mediation process.
I wonder how much panelist money Kumar and friends have actually wasted in the Indian courts thus far? And still the various Facebook groups profess their eagerness and anticipation of the Speak Asia’s restart of business operations in India.
It’s all panelist money any way.
There is no doubt that the MLM market would be a much more secure income opportunity with Government Legislation.
I recently posted my views of “WHY NETWORK MARKETING COMPANIES SHOULD BE GOVERNMENT LEGISLATED” on the blog on my website and I was incredibly surprised with the amount of people that have been victims of fowl play from different network marketing companies…
Here is the complete article from my blog for those interested:
To put the delays in investigating scams like Speak Asia into perspective,
Ideally agencies like the EOW would receive additional funding and staff to step up their efforts but looks like instead the Indian government are just opting to ban all MLM.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Beware-of-pyramid-schemes-60-firms-under-EOW-scanner/articleshow/20319545.cms
Some of the uncertainty over whether or not all MLM companies will be banned under the proposed changes to the PCMC Act appears to be in the wording of the Department of Financial Services’ proposal:
Another contributing factor is the frequent flawed argument used by scam supporters and participants that because a scam has a product or service attached, that it’s not a pyramid or Ponzi scheme:
At the end of the day, as always, it comes down to analysis of a company’s compensation plan and business model, to determine not only the flow of money inside the company but how affiliates earn commissions.
Those of us who have been following the Speak Asia scam over the years are all too familiar with the “but we have a survey!” nonsense affiliates regularly tout in defense of the largest Ponzi/pyramid hyrbid India has ever seen to date.
There has been an ongoing push to explicitly define what a legitimate MLM company business model however the Indian government recently stated that a ‘fresh look at definitions was unwarranted when the law was being amended’
In its current format, MLM companies would be treated no different to pyramid and Ponzi scams such as Speak Asia.
http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/mlm-structure-will-escape-ban-or-not-still-a-grey-area-113052900770_1.html
the first part about filing of chargesheet is a huge relief and long overdue. if eow thinks law has been broken, put it down on paper and forward it to the judiciary, don’t hem and haw.
the second part of the sentence gives you advice to rephrase yourself when you speak of speakasia ie ‘Maharashtra’s biggest-ever ‘ not india’s . shit, we got demoted !
further, PCMC may be expanded to include pyramid marketing schemes but multilevel marketing will stay out of the ambit of this law, with distinct guidelines.
http://m.economictimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/retail/post-amway-arrests-industry-demands-regulations-for-genuine-direct-selling-companies/articleshow/20322770.cms
Yeah but the government’s not interested in revisting the definitions whilst the changes to the PCMC Act are being considered and fleshed out. Their words.
Uh why? Did the EOW retract their initial statement from 2011? Name one Ponzi/pyramid scheme in Indian history bigger than Speak Asia…
soapbox,these days m/s sharada et all are being called the ‘biggest ‘ scams in india .
speakasia is no longer the flavor of the season ! relegated to being called the biggest scam in ‘maharashtra’ ????
glory days are gone !
we’ll get over it ,if you will .
As I understand it, Sarhada was an investment scheme that fell outside of the MLM industry.
Speak Asia to date is still the biggest pyramid/Ponzi hybrid India has ever seen.
nope
sharada has been crowned the ‘largest’ PONZI scheme india has ever seen – but that’s just because the lid has not yet been blown off other politician backed schemes which have ‘protection’ .
in the ‘PYRAMID’ scheme bracket, surely amway with over 10 years in india has collected far larger amounts than speaksia ? so right now they can wear that crown .
that leaves us crownless , but we’ll live !
Ponzi = investment scheme.
There’s a difference between investment schemes and MLM Ponzis.
We’re explicitly talking about Ponzi/pyramid hybrid MLM companies, which is the category Speak Asia falls into.
We’re explicitly talking about Ponzi/pyramid hybrid MLM companies, which is the category Speak Asia falls into.- oz
yuck oz,you really want to split hair don’t you ?
in india, eow ,sebi etc give away awards for two categories
1]ponzi – reigning queen m/s sharada
2]pyramid – reigning queen m/s amway
3]collective investment scheme -reigning queen m/s sahara
currently india does not define , celebrate or award this new species of ponzi/pyramid scheme you describe.
we don’t accept foreign awards .
This is idiotically offtopic.
The EOW have stated Speak Asia is the biggest MLM scam they’d ever seen back in 2011. I’m not aware of them retracting their statement, nor am I aware of another Ponzi/pyramid hybrid MLM company larger than Speak Asia since.
If you’re going to challenge this either provide the name of a bigger Ponzi/pyramid scheme or stop wasting my time with waffle.
Is Anju trying to invoke the “see, there’s a scam even bigger than us” card?
under our PCMC act any marketing model that allows recruitment is money circulation .
it does not matter if recruitment is absolutely necessary ,or a matter of choice or incidental to the business model .it does not matter if there is a product ,real or virtual .
you allow recruitment – you’re money circulation -off to jail with you .
in this environment ,i’m happy to make way for amway as the biggest MLM scam in india, for their sheer size and the volumes of money they have generated in india .
don’t start with ponzi/pyramid hybrid rubbish oz, because even the rbi said that speakasia falls in the category of MLM .
What part of Ponzi/hybrid MLM company are you not understanding?
Indian definitions don’t make anything less of a Ponzi or pyramid scheme. The PCMC Act amendment proposals are currently under consideration so hiding behind that won’t get you anywhere either.
Neither will citing what the RBI did or didn’t do under woefully inadequate legislation. Indian MLM regulation might be stuck in 1978, but the rest of the world has moved on.
A scam is a scam is a scam. Speak Asia was a scam, get over it.
No wonder it takes so long or the Indian government to do anything, they’ve got idiots like the Bahirwanis wasting everybody’s time every step of the way. What a nightmare.
kick and scream as much as you like , but we have to abide by and/or satisfy only the legislation, woeful or otherwise, that we fall under.
under this woeful legislation, our rbi has classified speakasia as MLM , and however forward the world may have matched on ,our definition sticks in our country .
i’m glad the govt is talking about revising MLM laws and when that happens ,everyone will obey from the date they come into force .
till then amway is the biggest MLM fraud, till date, in india.
don’t give the bahirwani’s so much credit oz . you’d be surprised how much delay the govt can cause all by itself. what a nightmare !
If Amway’s business model is that of what it is in India, then there seems to be some local level shenanigans going on.
Speak Asia on the other hand was defined a Ponzi/pyramid scam by its business model.
Apples and oranges…
Anyway, what Amway is or isn’t still doesn’t change the fact that Speak Asia was and is still the biggest Ponzi/pyramid hybrid scam the country has ever seen.
The sooner these amendments put a stop to the circus playing out in court the better. Although at this stage I think international warrants and what not are a pipedream. Ideally you’d want the establishment of an SEC/FTC body who can quickly put a stop to these scams after they’ve investigated.
amway ,in india , follows the same business model that it does in the rest of the world [except china?].whether their retail /self consumption numbers are skewed doesn’t matter ,because no one tracks all that detail here.
they’re in the dock for having recruitment as an part of their business .
law plays out in courts and circuses play out in tents and never the twain shall meet .
it wont come to that .this is a problem looking for resolution not exacerbation .there are only alleged criminals here, not real ones .
thumbs UP on that one !
@ anjali
Ashok Bahirwani and you people are defending Speakasia from a long time referring to its Business model. Either you people understand the Business model (whatever it is) completely or you are bluffing about it. So which one is true?
the ‘people’ who are defending speakasia are a large mass of middle class educated citizens who already have their plate full, dealing with everyday issues of survival.
as such, nobody has any time or inclination to defend an idea not worth defending. as for bluffing, the press of the country has bought out all rights to it, ordinary citizens just cant afford to indulge in that game.
Or to consider another angle… They were mislead into believing something they WANT to be true (i.e. easy money) that they cannot afford to abandon that dream, even if it’s a scam.
Esp. when there’s people “leading” them and still telling them “no it’s not scam! Don’t believe the government, the newspaper, or anybody except me!”
Have you actually *read* the act? PCMC defines money circulation scheme as one where money flows upon money, not as part exchange between payee and actual services or products rendered. It was written for pre-MLM era so it’s having a hard time getting applied to MLM, muchless pseudo-MLM scams.
well chang there can be an infinite set of angles to any issue, so no point arguing that. but don’t be presumptuous and try to fit your angle on our view of matters, because that would be misleading too.
However you are entitled to your opinion, and it matters frig to us.
as i write this, a new money circulation scheme must be getting launched somewhere in india. i’ve seen so many come and go in the last 2 years, my head is spinning.
there’s no dearth of easy money schemes for those who want to work that segment, let me assure you. you may be cynical now in your old age chang, but people STILL do stand up for something they perceive as RIGHT.
uh yes, we ALL know that . which is WHY it’s stupid to use pre MLM era law in an era of MLM?? it’s even stupider to arrest people based on a an antique law??? i’m on the same page with you on this, chang !
Maybe. 🙂
I asked a simple question to you whether you understand the business model you are talking about or not.
Anyways if we are wrong and you are right about Speakasia and it’s business model, give us a chance to understand the model properly.
I request you to explain the business model you are talking about. With examples if possible. So reader of this blog and Speakasians can get the idea correctly. Feel free to post this anywhere you like on AISPA blog, Mobi club or here.
Try to mention some points clearly like
– how much commission Speakasia will pay on retail sales
– for surveys
– how much a panelist can earn in a month/year according to this business model
– what will be the use of multiple panels for retail sales
Some other important points
– can other people who are not member of Speakasia will be able to buy products from Speakasia
– who will provide product support in case of installation, maintenance and repair
– how much market penetration Speakasia will require to pay the promised commission to its members
– what will be the estimated price range of the products so Speakasia can earn enough profits to share with its member
add more details if you like.
@ anjali
it’s ok if you explain the business model partially only covering panelists, commissions and sales.
Here is a Wikipedia link describing “Business Model”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_model
Anyways if we are wrong and you are right about Speakasia and it’s business model, give us a chance to understand the model properly.- andy
if you are from the press or even just an interested citizen ,you should contact the legal representatives of the company and get an official explanation . as a panelist it is not legally viable for me to explain the model here, except as a layperson and to the best of my understanding .
but i do believe the company has not transgressed any law of the country, and i do believe the company offers an opportunity of income for lacs of people who are unemployed or underemployed .
according to information i received when i joined the speaksaia business scheme :
1] how much commission Speakasia will pay on retail sales
10-15 %
2]- for surveys
RP’s which can be exchanged for discounts
3]how much a panelist can earn in a month/year according to this business model
depends entirely on personal efforts
4]what will be the use of multiple panels for retail sales
extra RP’s to sell more products, or even probably sell to panelists who require more RP’s .
5] can other people who are not member of Speakasia will be able to buy products from Speakasia
absolutely .the website also had a separate login for non panelist customers .
6]who will provide product support in case of installation, maintenance and repair
panelists can offer to set up service centers in their areas and run it as their private enterprise or established service centers of other brands could be approached too .it is easy to see that without service support the company will collapse ,and no one will need to fight for it anymore.
7]how much market penetration Speakasia will require to pay the promised commission to its members
i think each product has the margin to pay the panelist commission .however it goes without saying that more the market penetration more the business will prosper.
8]what will be the estimated price range of the products so Speakasia can earn enough profits to share with its member
25-30 % below street price .bulk buying at rock bottom price ,delivering products direct from manufacturer to consumer ,removing all intervening expenses, will provide products at at discounted rates and generate profits for speakasians and the company too.
we know the govt is working on guidelines for the MLM industry, any changes required will naturally be incorporated by the company ,since they appear to be well advised .
i know you are a smartass andy, so let me clarify that these explanations are purely based on my understanding ,and in no way should be construed as an official explanation .for that you need to approach the company ,as it’s their business
Only ONE of which had ANYTHING to do with surveys, its namesake.
Isn’t that a “bait and switch”, i.e. attempt to sign people up for doing surveys, then try to get them to do 6 other things instead?
I choosed not to post any comment in reply, first time I’ve felt that you have given a proper answer. I wish you best luck for Speakasia to re-start, whatever the govt.’s decision is.
as matters stand no authority has ordered speakasia to halt it’s operations .business is only suspended due to investigations which should conclude at some point soon .
it’s gracious of you to wish us luck and i thank you .
That idea was tried in Brazil. They ended up trying to sell the products for 50% over market price, having angry investors throwing stones at them, RP devaluation, local police arresting them. 🙂
Why would anyone buy panels and do fake surveys in the first place?
If your answer is something like “they will do it so they can earn 1040 RP per year per panel”, then why can’t they just SELL the 1040 RP directly to the “penalist” for $200-$220?
The fake surveys didn’t have any functions at all, except for making the income opportunity look like real work, and make people willing to invest in survey panels, making it possible for participants to earn commissions from a downline (pyramid scheme / Ponzi scheme), and generating a stream of money coming in to the organisers.
It also generated trouble, e.g. people being arrested. It left a trail of devastation behind it.
Neither the fake surveys nor the panels have any real function in a real business model? And neither has the binary compensation plan. All that could easily have been replaced by an inexpensive “shopping community” with no investments, but with low rewards in “shopping points” for recommending the community to new members.
It doesn’t make any sense to implement Ponzi or pyramid elements in a normal business: And the idea has already been tested and has failed in Brazil.
You should first of all avoid the illegal investments and the pyramid scheme part, the fake surveys and the panels.
Don’t THINK it will work, do some MATH to SHOW how that could work in a normal market.
E.G. use an “eightball” 2×3 structure with 15 people with 1 panel each:
YOU pay $220 for your single panel, the 14 others pay $220 each
TOTAL = $3,300
The 14 people in your downline will generate $280 in recruitment commissions, $320 in binary pairing commissions.
TOTAL = $600
Money IN – money OUT = $2,700
The 15 panels will generate 15 * 1040 RP = 15,600 RP
The value of each RP will be around $0.17, rounded down to a 6:1 ratio (6 RP = $1). The math here goes like this:
15,600 RP / $2,700 = 5.77 (USD to RP ratio)
$2,700 / 15,600 RP = 0.17 (RP to USD ratio)
USING RP TO BUY PRODUCTS
If a product is bought in bulk in China for e.g. $100 per item, you can use an estimated calculation like this:
$100 product cost (China)
+ $10 freight + insurance (China to India)
+ $40 local distribution costs (India)
= $150 TOTAL to cover initial costs
$450 estimated retail price (luxury product, well known brand)
– $150 direct product cost
= $300 gross profit (to cover sales costs, salaries, etc.)
Using RP to buy that product, 40% cash + 60% RP:
$450 * 0.4 = $180 in cash
$450 * 0.6 = 270 RP = $45 in hypothetical “value”
TOTAL = $225 ($45 of it comes indirectly from selling panels)
Company “A” doesn’t have the recruitment system, and will have a gross profit of $300 per item sold, to cover sales, distribution, service etc., or use some of its profit margin to compete with your company in a price war, where your company will be drained for money if it tries to compete.
Company “B” have that recruitment system. Its gross profit will be $75 per item sold. It has spent 75% of the potential gross profit on recruiting customers, the money it normally should spend on setting up a working organisation with local stores and service centers, paying salaries to employees, paying profit to the owners.
CONCLUSION
You can’t seriously expect to compete in a market with that model?
Selling panels and doing fake surveys won’t generate anything of value for the company, other than it will attract a few brain dead members.
Sign of things to come? EOW bust Ponzi without an FIR:
Great to see the Mumbai EOW proactively go after scammers and not needing an FIR. Hopefully the PCMC amendments can give them the powers they need in the court side of things as it’d be a shame to see a repeat Speak Asia “let’s waste everybody’s time” court performance by these MMMIndia guys.
http://www.punemirror.in/article/62/2013060920130609103111746dbaa7202/Mumbai-EOW-bust-Russian-Ponzi-scam.html
The whole idea of the police can only investigate if a member of the public had filed an FIR is stupid in the first place. That’s what a prosecutor is for… crimes against the public at large.
what a lie. there’s no similarity between SAOL and MMM
(Ozedit: Speak Asia was a Ponzi/pyramid hybrid. Do not waste my time claiming otherwise.)
How can you trust Speakasia marketing blog posts updated by unnamed person(s) and without any designation? if Speakasia lies in Court cases.
Here is a nice story about “get-rich-quick” schemes
End of the story – a lot of “monkeys” without any business 🙂
Ah, good story. Super pigeon drop. 🙂
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigeon_drop
Bit of a lose-lose for Speak Asia. On one hand if Bhatt has realised Manoj Kumar is not going to dip into his retirement fund and pay him and now wants out, that’s going to reflect on management and punch a whole in the defacto local management.
On the other hand, if Speak Asia’s lawyers pulled a dodgy, well that doesn’t look good for the company either. Doesn’t surprise me at all though, these are the same guys that paid their lawyers to stand up and commit perjury in the Indian Supreme Court which resulted in months of wasted time with the Lahoti Committee.
One thing doesn’t make much sense though, why did Bhatt wait until now to speak up? I mean, it’s not like he wouldn’t have been aware of the writ’s being filed. This makes me think it’s the former of the two scenarios, with Bhatt realising his mistake in working with local Speak Asia management to ultimately cover Manoj Kumar’s tracks.
I won’t recommend it as a career for you …
… there’s a flaw in the idea, and you might end up with hundreds of monkeys and no money.
The basic idea in a Ponzi scheme is to use the VICTIM’s own money to pay for the monkeys. The guy in the story used his own money all the time.
E.G. He bought 200 monkeys for $100 = $20,000
100 monkeys for $200 = $20,000
50 monkeys for $300 = $15,000
TOTAL = 350 monkeys for $55,000 (and absolutely no guarantee the villagers will buy any of the monkeys).
The villagers may of course be greedy and stupid, but there’s also a chance they already know the old “sell the monkeys back to the villagers” trick.
@M_Norway
The monkey business will work or not? Yes, it will work. You are wrong because (1) you have not read the story carefully (2) you have miscalculated the supply and demand of product (monkeys obliviously) (3) you have under estimated peoples stupidity and greed
Here is how this will go on:
Initially there were thousands of monkeys as per the story. Let’s go with 1000 for simple calculations
So we have 1000 M * $100 = 100, 000
There will be few hundred monkeys left after catching thousands we assume 300
300 M * $ 200 = 60,000
After that may be 40 or 50 M purchased at $300
50 M * $300 = 15,000
Total investment = 175,000 purchasing 1350 M
We are selling at $400 so if we can sell at least 50% = 675 M then we will have 675 M * $400 = 270,000 giving us $95,000 in profit, for 80% = 1080 M then 1080 M * $400 = 432,000 giving us $257,000 in profit, and for 100% sell 1350 M * $400 = 540,000 giving us $365,000 in profit.
And for the question if villagers will buy back the monkeys or not, here is a real story for the answer:
http://currentnews.in/2009/06/08/swindler-god-man-was-ayurveda-doctor-in-gujarat
http://bihartime.wordpress.com/2009/06/02/ashok-jadeja-the-true-story-of-indian-crook-thug
You can find more information googling “ashok jadeja scam”
@M_Norway
Don’t forget that Speakasian’s has bought E-zine and Panels for their real money and were happy about earning huge RPs.
The story was about any “get-rich-quick” schemes not any particular scheme like ponzi schemes and even Speakasia initially invested some money in advertizing, and for other basic setup.
If he only promised to pay a given amount for the monkeys the whole scam could be run without any monkey money being paid at all. The villagers would be the only source of funds.
Those two factors are too unreliable to be counted on in a market. We’re talking about relatively poor villagers here, who suddenly feel they have become rich. 🙂
When you first started to pay them for monkeys, they spent half of the money they earned buyng new flat screen TV’s, mobile phones, a completely new lifestyle due to the new supply of money coming in from the monkey buyer. They only have half of the money left from the first 2 purchases.
They may be greedy and stupid, but they only have $95,000 of the $175,000 left, while $80,000 has been spent on lifestyle products.
That’s the real human nature. “Greedy and stupid” is motivated by the desire to “feel important”, and the need to SHOW it to other people how successful they have become.
One of them borrowed money to buy a new Merceds Benz to impress his neighbors. Another one bought a computer, and is currently hanging around on Facebook telling people how successful he has become. And some of them have reinvested the money they have earned into other opportunities, to become even richer.
There is a saying, a man can never win an argument with a woman. This is because we need something called “sense” to argue, but a woman will never give up in an argument for a silly thing called “Sense” ….
She’ll therefore do nonsense to win an argument… thats what Anju is doing…
I’ve just been sending Anju’s comments to the spam bin lately. I don’t know what goes on in her brain but lately she’ll just come up with the most ridiculous of theories to explain away recent events.
Publish the comment, reply and she’ll just come up with more garbage filled essays, arguing for the sake of arguing and tossing reason and logic out the window. It’s been like this for a while but there’s only so much you can respond to before you realise someone is just wasting your time.
It appears EOW is still working on Speakasia
So Manoj Kumar is the real mastermind and Harender Kaur is just a figurehead… What about family members?
It appears EOW is still working on Speakasia- andy
of course they are .they have 24 lakh investors to work through .at the rate of half a dozen per year, you can figure out when to announce the D-Day party .
First arrest employe of speak asia Vijay baski
I don’t think that’s the first employee arrest, they’ve previously arrested Bajpai.
Good to see the EOW are still pushing the case. I think as they dismantle the local defacto management eventually they’ll work their way up to the top.