A few years ago forex MLM Ponzi schemes were all the rage in Malaysia.

One of the top companies to dominate the space was FX United.

As is custom among Malaysian scams, FX United’s owners went to great lengths to project the company wasn’t Malaysian.

This saw the incorporation of United Global Holdings Limited in New Zealand, as well as inconsequential ties to the UK and Australia.

Eventually New Zealand wised up to FX United but by then the damage was done.

FX United would go on to collapse in early 2017, resulting in over $250 million dollars in losses.

Unknown to us, authorities in Malaysia continued to investigate FX United after its collapse.

That long-running investigation lead to the arrest of three admins last weekend. [Continue reading…]

Amzbit operate in the e-commerce MLM niche and provide a corporate address in Florida on their website.

On the “our story” section of the Amzbit website, Burke Hedges and Sean Connors are cited as “the minds behind Amzbit”.

Burke Hedges and Sean Connors, the minds behind Amzbit, recognized that greed and corruption had taken over a lot of business and were looking for a positive way to help people earn money while also providing 100% transparency.

A chance meeting, that turned into a brainstorming session eventually gave rise to the idea of Amzbit.

Burke Hedges is a former top earner in LifeVantage.

Following an investigation into Hedges for misconduct, Hedges was terminated as a LifeVantage affiliate in August, 2011.

A month later Hedges sues LifeVantage for wrongful termination.

An initial ruling on the case was issued in favor of Hedges, but in an unpredictable move the judge reversed the decision after damages were assessed in the multi-millions.

The reason for the reversal was allegedly that Hedges caused the initial material breach of contract, not with misconduct but under new allegations by the defendant that he used a proprietary training tool without permission. A claim that Hedges denies.

According to an article on Medium by “writer & marketeer” Melissa Razdrih, published November 17th, 2017,

a trial is scheduled for Monday, November 27th to bring to light the truth of this case.

In a followup article published on November 22nd, Razdrih wrote

In a hearing Monday, November 20th, a judge in the 3rd District Court of Salt Lake County ruled Burke Hedges and legal team will not be allowed to present their entire case in front of a jury at Monday’s trial.

The case, which is set to go to jury trial Monday November 27th, is a last ditch effort for Hedges to prove his allegation that LifeVantage (LFVN) is guilty of wrongful termination and defamation.

This ruling is a devastating blow for the Hedges camp.

A third article published on November 24th claims Hedges lost the case.

The decision was made that if Hedges was in breach of contract he is strictly liable for the termination that resulted.

And since the judge had already ruled that the material breach was on Hedges, he will have to wait until appeals to present the MLM Civil Trial of the Century worth $34 million in damages and a chance to stand up for distributor rights.

So what does that mean for Monday? For now, the MLM Civil Trial of the Century is to be continued in appeals court.

Instead, the Hedges team will present an undisputed case for $60,000 that LifeVantage did not make good on as part of their contractual obligation.

This case doesn’t appear on Pacer so I’m unable to track it myself.

After LifeVantage Hedges was an affiliate with Numis Network for a few years.

Sean Connors meanwhile is a bit of a mystery. I was unable to find anything previously tying him to the MLM industry.

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

PinCoin provide no information on their website about who owns or runs the business.

The PinCoin website domain (“pincoin.io”) was privately registered on November 18th, 2017.

Two possibilities are Japan and South Korea. Alexa currently estimate that almost 40% of traffic to the PinCoin website originates out of these two countries.

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…]

In contrast to the granting of a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against BitConnect in the Kentucky class-action, a Judge has denied essentially the same motion in Florida. [Continue reading…]

Monat Global launched in late 2014 and operates in the personal care MLM niche.

The company is owned by the Alcora Corporation, who are based out of Florida in the US.

According to the Alcora corporation, the company was initially founded in 2001 as L’EUDINE Global.

L’EUDINE Global, was originally established in 2001 as a direct sales company specializing in beauty and wellness with offices in Maracaibo, Venezuela and Miami, Florida.

In 2008 we embarked on to another level of fruition in the United States, expanding into a broader conglomerate of brands and transitioning with a new corporate name, Alcora Corporation.

The name L’EUDINE now refers exclusively to the renowned brand of trusted beauty and wellness products, while a new direct sales division specializing on modern, natural formulas for the hair -MONAT- emerged in 2014.

Heading up Monat Global is Chairman and Founder, Luis Urdaneta. Urdeneta’s son Rayner Urdaneta serves as CEO.

According to Luis Urdaneta’s Monat Global corporate bio, he’s

a first-generation direct-sales entrepreneur (who) recognized the potential of social marketing when he was just 15 years old.

That’s when he started his first direct-sales business, which would ultimately lead to MONAT.

One other name that caught my eye on Monat Global’s executive team is company President Stuart MacMillan (right with Rayner (left) and Luis Urdaneta (center)).

Stuart MacMillan was appointed interim CEO in the dying days of the TelexFree Ponzi scheme.

MacMillan is believed to have been the architect of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy exit-strategy adopted by TelexFree’s owners.

To be clear MacMillan had no role in designing and operating TelexFree’s $3 billion dollar Ponzi scheme.

To date however I don’t think he’s ever publicly addressed why he thought it’d be a good idea to try to help the owners cover their tracks.

TelexFree’s bankruptcy escapade was thwarted by the SEC, who shut down the company in April, 2014.

According to a Monat Global press-release, MacMillan was appointed President six months later in October.

Over the past year Monat Global has filed two separate lawsuits against critics of the company.

In the first lawsuit filed in July, 2017, Monat Global claim defendant Mags Kavanaugh, owner of California Beauty Studios,

made repeated, malicious, and false claims against MONAT, its products, and employees for her own personal and financial gain.

Further, the suit maintains that she deliberately misled customers about the safety of MONAT products for the sole purpose of diverting sales to her own business.

Monat Global filed the second lawsuit was filed a few weeks ago on January 26th.

In it the company alleges defendant Vickie Harrington is

the principal behind an online, self-proclaimed anti-MONAT group.

MONAT alleges that Harrington made and repeated explicitly false statements about the ingredients and safety of MONAT’s products.

The suit also maintains that Harrington made these false statements in order to mislead and deceive consumers.

Both cases are currently playing out in court.

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

Last June a grand jury returned an indictment against Richard Maike, his wife Angela Leonard-Maike and affiliates Doyce Barnes, Richard Anzalone, Faraday Hosseinipour, Dennis Dvorin, Jason Syn.

I’d been following Richard Maike’s case docket and while I was aware the other defendants had separate case dockets, assumed they’d be consolidated.

Turns out that’s not the case, so I only just found out about a motion to dismiss being denied. [Continue reading…]

Diamond Reserve provide no information on their website about who owns or runs the business.

The Diamond Reserve website domain (“diamondreserve.net”) was registered on December 12th, 2017.

Keaton Brooks is listed as the owner, through a residential address in London, UK.

Brooks is also listed as the sole Director of Diamond Reserve Group Limited, a UK company incorporated on November 28th, 2017.

No information on Keaton Brooks in connection with Diamond Reserve exists outside of the domain registration and UK incorporation.

UK incorporation is dirt cheap and for the most part unregulated. It is a favorite for scammers looking to incorporate dodgy companies.

It is far more likely that whoever is running Diamond Reserve is of Russian nationality and based out of Europe.

This is supported by the first Diamond Reserve marketing video being narrated in Russian, Russian and English the only provided website languages, as well as Alexa pegging Russia as the top source of traffic to the Diamond Reserve website (23%).

Keaton Brooks, as represented by Diamond Reserve, is assumed not to be an actual person.

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…]

FutureCash provide no information on their website about who owns or runs the business.

The FutureCash website domain (“futurecash.io”) was privately registered on December 2nd, 2017.

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…]

Y’all know those collapsing ICO lending Ponzi schemes that have pretty much dominated the MLM underbelly of late?

Yeah, those scams that tons of people have lost money in. Well, turns out the problem isn’t they’re all just Ponzi schemes, rather it’s just a branding issue.

Leading the pack with a new generation of the ICO lending Ponzi model is ThornCoin, and you’re not going to believe what they’ve come up with. [Continue reading…]

EtherLend provide no information on their website about who owns or runs the business.

The EtherLend website domain (“etherlend.org”) was privately registered on November 25th, 2017.

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…]