Hinode Group operates in the personal care and nutritional supplement MLM niches.

The company is based out of Brazil and headed up by co-founders Francisco and Mrs. Adelaide Rodrigues.

As per Hinode Group’s website;

Mr. Francisco and Mrs. Adelaide Rodrigues founded Hinode in 1988 from their home garage.

Today, their son Sandro Rodrigues is President of the Hinode Group.

Other children of the Rodrigues’ are also involved in running and management of the company.

One thing to note is that while Hinode Group was founded in 1988, the MLM side of the business didn’t launch until 2008.

Hinode Group primarily operates in and targets Brazil. This is reflected in Alexa estimating that 61% of its website traffic originates out of the country.

Bolivia is another significant market for Hinode Group, accounting for 9% of website traffic.

Read on for a full review of Hinode Group’s MLM opportunity. [Continue reading…]

As bits and pieces of the US DOJ case against OneCoin and its executives are unsealed, we’re getting a clearer picture of where the case is at.

In a recent filing concerning potentially privileged information, a previously sealed order has revealed the New York court’s position on the DOJ’s evidence. [Continue reading…]

As part of a civil case brought against him by the SEC, William Apostelos has received an $11.1 million dollar disgorgement judgment.

Apostelos popped up on BehindMLM’s radar in 2014, through a review we did on Genesis Acquisition International.

Turns out Genesis Acquisitions was part of a wider Ponzi scheme, which was Apostelos was busted for a month after our review. [Continue reading…]

Pursuant to a sealed July 23rd order, the DOJ is seeking access to potentially privileged evidence. [Continue reading…]

In a September 16th court filing, Online Education Academy has advised it is “suspending its business and dissolving as soon as possible”. [Continue reading…]

CryptZek provides no information on their website about who owns or runs the business.

CryptZek’s website domain (“cryptzek.com”) was privately registered on March 27th, 2019.

On their website CryptZek claims to be

an investment company registered in the United States Of America, under the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) with Registration Number 10874403.

ACRA is a Singapore regulatory body that has nothing to do with the US.

Furthermore even if you punch in the supplied registration number on ACRA’s website, nothing comes up:

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…]

Planet Impact operates in the educational MLM niche and claims it’s “the Netflix of environmental protection”.

The company provides a corporate address in Malta on its website.

Our headquarter is in Malta’s exclusive Smart City, the new hub for international IT.

Heading up Planet Imapact are co-founders Aron, Stephan and Christian Steinkeller (right), and Oscar Dalvit. Adrian Szumski serves as CEO.

Collectively known as the Steinkeller brothers, the trio made a name for themselves promoting Organo Gold.

The Steinkeller’s reputation took a hit when they left Organo Gold to launch Conligus, an MLM penny auction pyramid scheme.

They then went on to completely trash what was left of their reputations by stealing millions through the OneCoin Ponzi scheme.

Today this is what the Steinkeller brothers are best known for across the MLM industry.

Amid an ongoing investigation by Italian authorities and reported ties to the mafia, the Steinkeller brothers abruptly abandoned their OneCoin downline in May 2017.

As per a press-release issued by OneCoin corporate announcing their departure;

Aron, Christian and Stephan Steinkeller will retire from the network marketing business to go long-term on new exciting, confidential project, outside the MLM business.

At the time the brothers were reported to be stealing around $2.5 million a month from OneCoin victims.

Since OneCoin the Steinkellers have lay low. Planet Impact appears to be their return to the MLM industry.

Oscar Dalvit has experience launching and running MLM companies.

In 2017 Dalvit launched Bilpix, an attempt to combine MLM with pixel billboard advertising.

Possibly due to language barriers, I was unable to put together an MLM history for Adrian Szumski.

Read on for a full review of Planet Impact’s MLM opportunity. [Continue reading…]

Following regulatory pressure and court decisions that have gone against it, Lyoness appears to be distancing itself from Europe.

Desperate to keep new investment rolling after Italy outlawed the Ponzi scheme, Lyoness is gearing up for a push into Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Colombia. [Continue reading…]

In 2016 AmeriSciences Trustee Rodney Tow sued Organo Gold, Holton Buggs, former Amerisciences CEO Barry Cocheu, and fifteen other former AmeriSciences distributors.

By the time the case reached trial in May 2018, Organo Gold, Buggs and Cocheu were the only remaining defendants.

On May 15th a jury returned a verdict against Organo Gold and Buggs.

A final judgement ordered on May 16th held Organo Gold, Buggs, and Cocheu jointly liable for $3.4 million dollars.

Today we dig deeper into the case and the recently denied appeal. [Continue reading…]

After three years the City of London Police have revealed they’ve dropped their OneCoin investigation.

The revelation was made in what appears to be a public request for a case review. [Continue reading…]