Amid mounting evidence that he was heavily involved in uFun Club, yesterday saw the Prime Minister of Malaysia’s son deny any involvement in the uFun Club Ponzi scheme.

In a post published Wednesday afternoon, Mohd Nazifuddin (right) wrote

It has come to my attention that my name has been linked to UFunStore Co. Ltd since the raid at the company’s headquarters in the Bang Na district in Bangkok recently.

UFun have used my name to deceive buyers in order to encourage them to enrol in their Ponzi Scheme. I have no involvement with the group.

A number of online media publications reported my involvement in UFun Store through the collaboration with Sagajuta Sdn. Bhd. I have resigned from the post of Director and Chairman of Sagajuta on 18 Dec 2012.

Sagajuta (Sagajuta (Sabah) Sdn Bhd) are a Malaysian construction firm, who have been working with uFun Club since its apparent inception in 2013.

Last month saw the firm sign a memorandum of understanding with uFun Club, which will result in an undisclosed amount of stolen Ponzi funds flowing into Sagajuta’s Gateway Klang construction project.

Cracks in Mohd Nazifuddin’s denial almost immediately began to appear, with it taking all of an hour for a photo of him with several uFun Club executives to surface:

Sitting next to Nazifuddin is Athiwat Soonpan, uFun Club’s International President and Warren Eu, credited as a Founder of the scheme:

Overnight further information has cemented Nazifuddin’s ties to the $1.17 billion dollar Ponzi scheme.

Nazifuddin might have very well resigned from his post as Chairman of Sagajuta in 2012, however he remains a major shareholder in the firm.

As per the Sarawak Report;

It seems strange therefore that, in the context of all these denials, Nazifuddin neglected to mention that he remains a substantial shareholder of Sagajuta, of which he was previously the Chairman.

Nazifuddin is both a direct investor in Sagajuta (Sabah) SdnBhd and is also a shareholder of the company with the largest amount of shares.

Through the company Generasi Cipta Sdn Bhd (of which Nazifuddin is a shareholder in), Nazifuddin is tied to some 6,270,000 shares in Sagajuta. Combined, the other shareholders together hold only 3.7 million shares.

That Nazifuddin (through Generasi Cipta) is running the show over at Sagajuta via major shareholder stake is painfully obvious (nobody else seems to be sitting down for meals with uFun Club executives).

Yet despite his company having been tied to uFun Club since its inception and still, to this day, signing agreements to facilitate the laundering of Ponzi funds through Malaysian construction projects, Nazifuddin yesterday had the gall to deny involvement.

At the time of publication no further comment has been issued by Nazifuddin.

In the meantime, it’s increasingly looking like not only is the Prime Minister’s son neck-deep in Ponzi fraud, but so might members of Malaysian royalty. [Continue reading…]

Run a $1.17 billion dollar Ponzi scheme under the nose of Malaysian regulators… nothing happens.

Uncover that the Prime Minister of Malaysia’s son is tied to the scheme, and watch a volcano of controversy erupt.

Recently Thai news outlet Now26 covered a BehindMLM report linking Mohd Nazifuddin, son of current Malaysian Prime Minister Mohammad Najib Abdul Razak, to uFun Club.

Back in 2013 uFun Club affiliates claimed Nazifuddin (right) was the Executive Chairman of Sagajuta (Sabah) Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian construction firm who worked closely with uFun Club in its early stages.

The companies are still tied together, through the development project Gateway Klang in Kuala Lumpur.

Recently a signing ceremony gala was held on the Gateway Klang project site, with Daniel Tay signing an agreement that he hopes will see an undisclosed amount of stolen Ponzi funds enter Sagajuta (Sabah) Sdn Bhd’s coffers.

As recently as August 2014 uFun Club investors were still claiming Nazifuddin was involved in Sagajuta (Sabah) Sdn Bhd at an executive level.

Now Nazifuddin is refuting those claims, asserting that he left Sagajuta (Sabah) Sdn Bhd in 2012. [Continue reading…]

When we first took a loot at iFreeX back in September 2014, the company was in prelaunch.

Headed by top Sannderly Rodrigues, iFreeX in its prelaunch state was pretty much a reload scheme targeting those who lost money in TelexFree.

TelexFree was a $1.8 billion dollar Ponzi scheme, shut down by the SEC in April 2014. Billed as the top earner in the scheme, Rodrigues himself claimed to have stolen over $3 million dollars from TelexFree victims.

iFreeX sought to emulate TelexFree’s fraud, by also attaching itself to a paper-thin telecommunications front-end.

Now, as iFreeX appears to be on the verge of collapse, it appears the telecommunications ruse has been abandoned entirely.

And not for the better. [Continue reading…]

To be honest I’m not really sure why they’ve done so, but today the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) shed some light on the finer details of their Liberty Reserve investigation.

In the update, FinCEN revealed the Bank Secrecy Act played a major role in their investigation into the payment processor.

Why is that significant?

Because it’s never been done before… and upon closer inspection of the Act, one can only wonder what this will mean for the MLM underbelly going forward. [Continue reading…]

Panvoya describe themselves as ‘the most unique and exciting travel program available today.‘

The company are based out of the US state of Texas and identify Paul Koury as President and CEO.

Paul has over 25 years of experience in the travel industry, having started his own travel agency at the age of 16.

He has also founded or served at the executive level of multiple retail and service companies, including three with network marketing based affiliate compensation plans.

One of those companies was Viradyne, reviewed here on BehindMLM back in 2011.

Viradyne attempted to enter into the crowded niche of search, hoping to generate revenue from users using its search engine, Link 180.

Viradyne flopped shortly after launch, with Koury (right) complaining it was only able to attract “very low-quality users“.

Despite what’s claimed in Koury’s Panvoya corporate bio, I was unable to tie him to any other MLM company.

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

Ponzi scheme funds are dirty money.

Logically it follows that when invested in otherwise legitimate process, sooner or later the law is going to catch up and “claw back” the funds.

After much fanfare and posturing of legitimacy, this is exactly what we’ve seen go down with uFun Club’s investment in Bina Puri condos.

uFun Club did indeed invest funds in a Thai subsidiary of Bina Puri, one of Malaysia’s largest construction firms. And as a result of that, months of claims of legitimacy by association followed.

“Why would Bina Puri accept funds from a Ponzi scheme?”

“uFun Club has partnered with a big construction firm, of course it’s not a Ponzi scheme!”

“How can a Ponzi scheme invest in a construction project right under the noses of authorities and get away with it?”

And on and on it went…

Things first went awry when Bina Puri clarified that there was no such partnership, but rather all that uFun Club did was “express interest” in buying some condos.

These condos were part of the Bangkok Marina Resort and Spa development.

All was well until Thai police raided uFun Club’s local office and began making arrests.

As the investigation progressed, Bina Puri saw their Thai offices raided, as authorities sought to track funds laundered by uFun Club.

A week or so later Bina Puri then issued a statement, clarifying there being no partnership between uFun Club and the firm. Bina Puri had previously issued a similar statement late last year, however this mostly ignored by uFun Club affiliates.

Long story short, uFun Club had laundered 200 million THB ($5.9 million USD), which the firm will now have to pay back.

Following a followup meeting between Bina Puri, the developer of the @Room 46 condos, Thai police and the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) yesterday,

Developers of two condominium projects have been told by the police to hand over about 200 million baht in cash paid by Ufun Store Company for the purchase of 146 condominium units to the Anti-Money Laundering Office.

Earlier this month Thai police revealed that uFun Club had purchased forty-six condos in the @Room 46 project. uFun used the condos to wine and dine their top recruiting investors when they held local events in Thailand.

The discussion covered two options: that the two developers hand over the money they received from Ufun to AMLO or the AMLO impound all the condominium units bought by Ufun for public auction to raise money to compensate the affected investors of Ufun Store.

Currently Thai police hold the deeds to the uFun Club purchases, with the finer details of how the funds paid for them will be transferred to AMLO still being fleshed out.

The meeting was inconclusive and it was suggested that public receivers might have to file bankruptcy lawsuit against Ufun in order that its seized assets would be put on auction.

What isn’t in question though is that the properties were purchased with laundered Ponzi money, with any claim uFun Club might have to them forfeited.

And that’s the reality of Ponzi schemes attempting to launder funds through investment.

Yet it’s against this backdrop that uFun Club investors continue to be lead down the garden path… [Continue reading…]

Following the unveiling of what appeared to be an incredibly suspicious plan to drive Monavie into foreclosure, a Judge in Utah has now put the plans on hold.

We first reported about the foreclosure plans earlier this week, which were announced after Jeunesse purchased Monavie’s debt earlier this year and strongly suggested the move would see Monavie financially strengthened…

…only less than two months later announce Monavie was unable to pay its debt and was looking at foreclosure. [Continue reading…]

Following the revelation today that the Malaysian CEO of uFun Club has been apprehended in China, news today out of Thailand detailing an additional three arrests. [Continue reading…]

Encore3 claim to operate out of the US state of Georgia.

Details on the Encore3 management are limited, with the company website only revealing that Todd Spencer is the Founder.

Our mission began with founder Todd Spencer’s search for natural solutions to pain relief and common health issues.

No further information about Spencer or any of Encore3’s other executives are provided.

The email address used to register the Encore3 website domain (“ncore3.com”) appears to belong to an individual named “Beto Paredes”.

The same email used to register the Encore3 website domain appears on a “help wanted” ad bearing Paredes’ name.

The ad was posted on April 23rd and seeks a “Mandarin Translator/Interpreter” who will be

responsible for understanding/interpreting and reproducing statements, predominantly for a reading audience, from English to Mandarin.

We are seeking powerful and highly motivated individuals aspiring to learn and apply new knowledge from an exquisite Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) network company known as Encore3.

Here’s where things get murky.

Todd Spencer (right) is the former Vice-President of Product Development for Zhunrize. On his LinkedIn profile, Spencer additionally credits himself as Zhunrize’s Chief Operating Officer.

Zhunrize was launched in 2013 and saw affiliates invest up to $3000. In exchange, Zhunrize paid investors recruitment commissions and daily and monthly “profit-sharing” ROIs.

The SEC shut down Zhunrize in September 2014, revealing it to be a $105 million dollar global Ponzi investment scheme.

In December 2014 Zhunrize CEO Jeff Pan settled with the SEC. He lost his house and car, and is currently assisting a court-appointed Receiver with recovering Zhunrize funds.

Whether any criminal charges will be filed against Pan remains to be seen.

Todd Spencer meanwhile worked directly with Jeff Pan in Zhunrize.

According to the Zhunrize Receiver, Spencer had direct input as to the flow of funds within the scheme:

Zhunrize outsourced its back office functions to Vodaware, an IT and business services company.

The Receiver and his team has interviewed the Vodaware contractor who entered information into Quickbooks and paid bills as
directed by Jeff Pan or Zhunrize employee Todd Spencer.

Like Spencer, Beto Paredes was also involved in Zhunrize. His exactly role within the company however is unclear.

On his website, Paredes claims he ‘has extensive experience in training sales representatives and structuring MLM companies for success‘.

Paredes makes no mention of his involvement in Zhunrize.

Getting back to Encore3, the search for a Mandarin translator is of particular relevance because Zhunrize primarily targeted Chinese and Korean investors.

Are Todd Spencer “and the Encore3 team” looking to reboot Zhunrize and target investors who lost money?

Read on for a full review of the Encore3 MLM business opportunity. [Continue reading…]

As part of an ongoing investigation that began back in September 2014, news out of China today that ten uFun Club suspects have been arrested.

In addition to the arrests, Chinese regulators are also claiming to have seized bank cards, laptops and other electronic equipment, along with $4.1 million USD. [Continue reading…]