Auratus Gold has launched its third unregistered securities offering; “Storage Boxes” built around its TGP token.

TGP, or Tas Gold Points, is scheduled to be dumped on the BitexLive exchange in November. BitexLive is owned by Josip Heit’s longtime business partner Leon Filipovic. [Continue reading…]

Google has secured an injunction against the scammers behind OTCAI and other “click a button” Ponzi apps.

Google filed suit against Yunfeng Sun, aka Alphonse Sun and Hongnam Cheung, aka Zhang Hongnim and Stanford Fischer, on April 4th.

In its suit, which pushed RICO fraud charges, Google alleged Sun and Cheung had [Continue reading…]

Thai authorities have made multiple arrests and seizures pertaining to The iCon Group.

The iCon Group is an MLM company marketed across Thailand in Thai. Products detailed on The Icon Group’s website, which is still active, reveal a typical nutritional supplement offering. [Continue reading…]

Dial A Mula and associated companies have received a securities fraud warning from South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). [Continue reading…]

Melaleuca has filed suit against Vital Health alleging cross-recruitment.

For those not familiar with the term, cross-recruitment refers to recruitment of distributors in alleged violation of distributor contracts. It typically occurs when a prominent promoter of one MLM company leaves for another company.

Inevitably recruitment of their former company downline commences. This occasionally prompts legal action by said former company. [Continue reading…]

Jumeirah VIP fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website.

Jumeirah VIP’s website domain (“jumeira.vip”), was privately registered on September 4th, 2024.

Jumeirah VIP has already attracted the attention of financial regulators. The Central Bank of Russia issued a Jumeirah VIP pyramid fraud warning on October 9th, 2024.

As always, if an MLM company is not openly upfront about who is running or owns it, think long and hard about joining and/or handing over any money. [Continue reading…]

The Generation Zoe Ponzi trial has kicked off in Argentina.

Commencing October 16th and expected to run till December 11th, the mammoth trial will determine the future of owner Leonardo Cositorto.

Cositorto, appearing in a bulletproof vest alongside co-conspirator Maximiliano Batista, is on trial for criminal association and fraud. [Continue reading…]

Marcus Brisco has settled with the SAEG Ponzi Receiver for $400,000.

The CFTC filed suit against Brisco in January 2023 over his participation in the collapsed SAEG Ponzi scheme.

As part of the CFTC’s lawsuit, a Receiver was appointed to “recover assets for the benefit of [SAEG] victims”.

On October 7th, a settlement between Brisco and the SAEG Receiver was filed. [Continue reading…]

BYI TV, aka Beyond, fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website.

BYI TV has two known website domains:

1. byi-tv.vip – registered with bogus details on September 26th, 2024
2. byi-tv.com – registered with bogus details on October 3rd, 2024

BYI TV has already attracted the attention of financial regulators. The Central Bank of Russia issued a BYI TV pyramid fraud warning on October 7th, 2024.

As always, if an MLM company is not openly upfront about who is running or owns it, think long and hard about joining and/or handing over any money. [Continue reading…]

Empire fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website.

Empire’s website domain (“empire-trading.com”), was privately registered on July 15th, 2024.

Further research reveals official Empire marketing material citing Stan Koubatika as founder and CEO of the company.

Koubatika’s LinkedIn profile places him in France, with an MLM history dating back to 2016 with Kyani.

In 2020 Koubatika was promoting something called “Golden Ticket Club”:

By 2023, Koubatika was promoting investment schemes from Dubai:

On its website, Empire represents it is run the UK shell company “Empire Golden Group LTD”. Empire’s provided London address is a virtual office address owned by Your Virtual Office London.

It is unclear whether Koubatika is still in Dubai or has returned to France.

Due to the proliferation of scams and failure to enforce securities fraud regulation, BehindMLM ranks Dubai as the MLM crime capital of the world.

BehindMLM’s guidelines for Dubai are:

1. If someone lives in Dubai and approaches you about an MLM opportunity, they’re trying to scam you.
2. If an MLM company is based out of or represents it has ties to Dubai, it’s a scam.

If you want to know specifically how this applies to Empire, read on for a full review. [Continue reading…]