QNet franchise moves court against ban #QNet #CafeCoffeeDay #VihaanDirectSelling #MLMScam
Almost 2 months after the Mumbai authorities ordered cafe Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) to close doors to representatives of Hong Kong-based MLM company QNet. Now one of its franchises has actually challenged the restriction in the Karnataka high court.
Vihaan Direct Selling (India) Pvt Ltd has moved the Karnataka high court challenging the ban imposed by the Mumbai police,” special prosecutor Pradeep Gharat said. Vihaan, in its petition, has said their legal and constitutional rights were violated because of the ban. “We will be filing a detailed reply in the Karnataka high court stating that the Mumbai police has not restricted any individual from entering the coffee shop. However, the ban is only for taking part in business activities and indulging in any further criminal activities,” said Mr Gharat.
Economic Offences Wing (EOW) Of The Mumbai Police summoned the rep of a Public Relations firm, who is handling the account of QNet in India. At the same time, EOW authorities have also written to the banks that under section 91 and 102 of CrPC and Section 4 of the Bankers Books Evidence Act, 189, to freeze the PR company’s bank account.
Rajvardhan Sinha, additional commissioner said, “We suspect the money used to pay the PR firm was earned by QNet through the proceeds of crime. Till date, 10 people have been arrested in this case,”.
The cops also stated they will also summon various other Public Relations firms who did PR job for QNet in the past.
According to Mumbai Police, the Public Relations firm PR company had actually become part of an agreement with QNet in January to act as a coordinator between the media as well as the advertising company.
“We have asked the PR firm to furnish the contract copy, details of QNet officials who had approached it and bank payment details,” said an officer. But, the officer added, the EOW is not satisfied and has summoned the representative again.
The alleged Qnet scam is said to be of Rs 425 crore in India.
Due to the lack of legal framework in India for mlm companies, lots of ponzi schemes have looted gullible people in India. Still some of them have disguised with different names and business plans from time to time.
Here is the list of some of those the scam companies.
SPEAKASIA SCAM:
The massive fraud made by the Singapore based marketing company Speakasia online limited encouraged a huge population of investors to enroll in a quick rich scheme and collected Rs 2,200 crore from 2 lakh people. (more…)
Pushpam Appalanaidu, a 50 year-old Malaysian women, managing director of QuestNet India was arrested on the charge of duping Rs 160 crore through QuestNet, by Andhra Pradesh State Police. (more…)
The former billiards Champion Michael ferreira has received relief from the session court. Now he will not get arrest till February 24 in QNet scam case. (more…)
For quite some time, Michael Ferreira was avoiding appearing before Mumbai Economic Offences Wing in connection to the Rs 425 crore QNet scam but appeared on Monday, when the Session Court asked him to do so. (more…)
From the past 2-3 years, a lot of my friends have asked about QNet and they want to know in detail. They want to know, whether it is a legitimate business in India or is it a scam. And the people who are asking them to join their QNet group, the minimum capital required to start the business is 1,20,000 INR, whereas I have heard that one could start with 30,000 INR as well. On contrary to that, on the company’s website, anyone can join free of cost.
And what I share with them:
QNet is known with many names, such as QNet ltd, or QuestNet or GoldQuest or Qi limited. Over the years they changed their product line with new company names, so that when you search about the company on search engines, then you won’t get much information on previous names but only about QNet.
QNet was first started in 1998 with the name GoldQuest and made numismatic coins, but later changed the name to QNet, when they faced accusation of being a pyramid and a money circulation scheme in India and also at other countries.
Vijay Eswaran, Qnet’s executive director, has faced arrest for fraud on an Interpol warrant in May 2007. Where later on, he was freed.
QNet product range: ENERGY, NUTRITION, PERSONAL CARE, LUXURY & COLLECTIBLES, ACCESSORIES, HOLIDAYS and EDUCATION.
Do read this notice: Government of India, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Department of Consumer Affairs: Link
Some excerpts
MATTERS FALLING UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF OTHER MINISTRIES I DEPARTMENTS. During the course of Inspection, it is found that the above-said company is running a multi-level marketing or product-based pyramid scheme business. This is a new version of the pyramid scheme in which the consumers are turned into distributors and the promoters are able to sell far more products by selling to distributors than they would be • selling directly to the consumers. The philosophy goes that it is easier to buy than to sell. If a person can be convinced that he will make money by buying products to qualify for commissions from sales by those he has recruited, the sale is an easy one. The products in these schemes have become merely a means of disguising or laundering investments in the pyramid schemes while the dynamics of the chain promotion. the system is essentially the same. In fact, money from sales must go through the company’s infrastructure, and only a portion of the payout is rebated to participants. But must of it goes to top-level Independent Representatives (IRs) and rest of the amount is spread amongst tens of thousands of e participants, most of whom loss money
From time to time, QNet got banned in many counties, such as:
Afghanistan (2008)
Australia.
Rwanda (2009)
Iran (2005)
Sri Lanka (2004)
USA & Canada (2008)
Syria (2009)
India (2010, as Gold Quest)
Nepal
Saudi Arabia
Turkey
It is difficult to distinguish between a legal and a fraud company. Unless MLM law is passed in India, it would be difficult to get the real picture. Same is the case with Qnet. They are already facing legal challenges in India.
QNet has been banned in almost 10-15 countries for various reasons. Some of the reasons were inferiour quality of the products, over rated products, while in some countries like Nepal all Direct Selling/MLM companies are banned, but mostly because it was considered to be a pyramid scheme and looked almost like the money circulating ponzi schemes.
However, it is still opetating in some European countries.
✔️ Is QNET banned in India?
There is no straight way to answer this question. Inorder to understand QNet’s position in India we need to understand a bit of its background. QNet operation started in India through their franchise called Vihaan Direct Selling (India) Pvt Ltd and that time the laws on MLM were not clear. Mostly direct selling are laws are governed by the State Government and not by the Central Government. However, this menance of so called ponzi scheme reached to a boiling point where in the Central Government had issued guidelines for the Direct Selling Industry in India. Apart from this, recently many State Government have also taken proactive steps by enacting Direct Selling Guidelines and Laws.
Government of India’s Consumer Affair ministy has also initiated prosecution against M/s Vihaan Direct Selling (India) Pvt. Ltd. under section 27 6B & 279(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961;
Over the years Qnet has been the center of many controversies, the most damaging being the alligation by Gurupreet Singh Anand.
✔️ How do I get my money back from QNET?
Once you have made a purchase for any product from Qnet refund can be processed within 30 days of purchase incase you have paid in INR and within 7 days of purchase if you have paid in USD.
You can call their Global support center at +603 7949 8288 (all languages) or email them at [email protected]
In case you don’t get a refund than file an FIR against the company with all the above documents and proofs. This process at last might help you to get invested money back from Qnet.
✔️ Is QNET registered with IDSA?
Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA) is an independent, self-regulatory body for the direct selling industry in India. Currently , it has 21 members in India. QNet is not in the list of members.
First, you need to check the legal status of Qnet in your country. If it is operating under the guidelines of the direct selling industry and has not faced any legal hurdle then you can get started. Whereas in India, I think you should stay away from Qnet at the moment.
Saudi Arabia recently banned Qnet and has also issued warning to the people involved with Qnet ponzi scheme. The warning also includes a strict punishment to the people involved in the suspicious company venture.
Saudi Arabia, Ministry of Commerce & Sector stated ” This network marketing task involves deception of residents and has been banned in a number of countries”. (more…)
