Whereas Brazil can’t seem to convict anyone over TelexFree’s $3 billion in Ponzi fraud, regulators have managed to convict Carlos Costa for tax fraud.

Costa is best known for being TelexFree’s Bagdad Bob. Even as authorities in the US and Brazil closed in on TelexFree, Costa, often sweating profusely, denied anything was amiss in regularly uploaded YouTube videos.

News of Costa’s tax fraud woes in Brazil first surfaced in December 2016.

Prosecutors at the Federal Public Ministry of Espirito Santo alleged Costa had failed to declare R$4.4 million in earnings, most of which is believed to have been stolen through TelexFree. [Continue reading…]

Following a boom in local investor recruitment, Lyoness caught the attention of Italian authorities.

Italy’s Competition Authority (AGCM) announced a preliminary investigation into Lyoness in September 2018.

The investigation concluded in late December, resulting in Lyoness being declared a pyramid scheme. [Continue reading…]

A few weeks back a BehindMLM reader informed me that, since publication of our initial Crush Global review (Nov 2016), the company had “changed significantly”.

Now offering CBD and nutritional products. No membership fee to join. Comp plan has been totally re-written as well.

Crush Global came up for review today and at first I was confused.

The Crush Global we reviewed two years ago marketed savings and rewards membership, part of which was a discounted travel offering.

Turns out there’s a Crush Global that publishes travel guides, only it has nothing to do with Crush Global the MLM company.

After confirming I had the right Crush Global yeah, it looks like the company has done a complete rework since our 2016 review.

Read on for an updated review of the Crush Global MLM opportunity. [Continue reading…]

Bonvera launched in February 2016 and operates in the health and nutrition MLM niche.

While Bonvera discloses it’s headquartered in Kansas, the company fails to provide executive details on its website.

There is a “Our Leaders” link, however when clicked visitors are redirected to a “leader’s thoughts” blog.

Posts on the blog are authored by Bob Dickie. Further research reveals Bob Dickie goes by Robert Dickie on his social media profiles.

On his LinkedIn profile, Dickie (right) cites himself as co-founder and CEO of Bonvera.

Dickie’s provided location is Knoxville, Tennessee, which didn’t make much sense considering Bonvera’s website states it’s headquartered in Kansas.

The answer is in Dickie’s LinkedIn profile, which states;

the company went through an ownership and leadership change in 2018 and relocated to Knoxville, Tennessee.

Dickie appears to have been appointed CEO of Bonvera on or around May 2018.

Prior to Bonvera Dickie was President of Crown Financial Ministries.

Crown, founded in 1976, is a global NGO focused on personal-finance policy and education that has taught or equipped more than 50 million people in more than 104 nations.

As far as I can tell, Dickie has no prior MLM executive experience.

Update 14th January 2019 – Scott Johnson has written in to inform us that Robert Dickie has a non-executive MLM history with Amway.

Robert Dickey has plenty of MLM experience. He headed up the tool scam company owned by Orrin Woodward while he was in Amway (Quixtar at the time), and Dickey’s father was the official Woodward organization preacher who eventually had a falling out with Woodward.

Dickey was forced to disclose some individuals who made disparaging remarks against Amway in a landmark free speech lawsuit when Woodward broke from Amway in 2007.

/end update

Read on for a full review of the Bonvera MLM opportunity. [Continue reading…]

After failing to respond to a lawsuit filed against TVizion and owner Ferras Jim Pshehalouk in April 2018, Dish Network filed for an entry of default in July.

The court clerk entered default on July 23rd. Subsequently Dish network filed for default judgment on November 12th.

On December 13th however, it was ruled that Pshehalouk had been incorrectly served. This meant that default judgment would not apply to him. [Continue reading…]

Trump’s government shutdown has wreaked havoc on scheduling for active FTC lawsuits.

One such lawsuit is FTC vs. MOBE, in which a Judge has bizarrely ordered the FTC to continue trying without lawyers. [Continue reading…]

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

The Crowdfunding Guaranteed website domain was privately registered on September 29th, 2015.

Despite the age of the domain, Alexa traffic estimates show interest in Crowdfunding Guaranteed beginning early December 2018.

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…]

Despite it appearing to be a bum deal for Jeunesse victims, the RICO lawsuit settlement has received final approval.

On January 9th a court order granting the settlement found it to be ‘fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interests of the Settlement Class Members‘.

Under the terms of the settlement, Jeunesse will pay $2.5 million to victims. Just under half of that amount is expected to go toward legal fees.

The original RICO lawsuit filed against Jeunesse alleged affiliate losses running into hundreds of millions of dollars. [Continue reading…]

3pexcel provides no information on their website about who owns or runs the business.

The 3pexcel website domain (“3pexcel.com”) was privately registered on July 24th, 2017.

The footer of the 3pexcel website advises the company is ‘a member of Xeap Group Inc.‘

Xeap Group is incorporated in California in the US.

Upon visiting the 3pexcel website for the first time visitors are required to choose a country. Nigeria is provided at the top of the list and is separated from the other choices. A corporate address in Port Harcourt, Nigeria is also provided on the 3pexcel website.

Both suggest 3pexcel is being operated from Nigeria itself. As far as I can tell Xeap Group is nothing more than an offshore shell company.

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 beef between Wakaya Perfection and Youngevity dates back to 2016.

Our reporting initially covered Youngevity’s lawsuit in California, which alleged Wakaya Perfection was founded on stealing business from Youngevity.

Wakaya Perfection filed their own lawsuit in Utah, over breach of contract and “tortious behavior”.

Wakaya Perfection’s lawsuit was subsequently moved to federal court, wherein Youngevity filed for dismissal.

In November 2017 the dismissal was granted, requiring Wakaya Perfection to settle the dispute via arbitration.

Wakaya Perfection filed an appeal, a decision on which was finally made last month. [Continue reading…]