Despite your initial thoughts, this site is not an assault of Amway or Quixtar "IBO's". It is, to the contrary, an effort to stop the well-organized deception that is being perpetrated upon them. They have my respect for having the motivation to seek a venue to better their lives. Please allow me to provide you with some background information on myself.
I was employed as a Federal auditor for the US Department of Energy. Following that I worked in management for a large insurance company. My wife and I were recruited by close friends and quickly rose through the ranks and found ourselves in the top 1/25th of 1% (Founder's Emeralds) of the multi-billion dollar Amway, then Quixtar Corporations.
For nearly a decade, we developed and expanded a "business" from North America to Europe, South America, and the Philippines. We spoke to thousands from stage and worked intimately with the Kingpin distributors through whom the majority of Amway/Quixtar's $6 billion dollars in annual revenue flows. My wife and I spent personal time with the company's billionaire founder Rich DeVos.
To make a long story short, at the highest level, I inadvertently discovered what documentation now appears to reveal as two decades of systematic, global fraud.This makes me a most unlikely whistle blower as I had devoted near a decade of my life energetically and passionately promoting the business. To discover, document and make public the fraud would wipe out the income I had worked so diligently to earn.
Consumers are recruited through deception and given the illusion that they own a business through which they can expect to produce a significant secondary net income. The reality seems to be a nearly 99% loss rate for consumers induced to invest in "their own Amway business".
Justice Norris reviewed IBO income in the UK case he presided over and in his 2008 decision determined that only about 90 IBO's out of a total of 33,000 made enough to cover the expenses of building their business.
When I initially personally discovered the deception, I naively thought it only involved Kingpin level distributors in the field. I immediately reported it to Amway/Quixtar senior management with nearly 50 pages of corroborating documentation. The documentation of the fraud was also reported directly to then President Dick DeVos by both fax and certified mail.
What was the response under Dick DeVos' leadership? The details are well documented in the free book Merchants of Deception which includes the correspondence sent directly to Mr. DeVos.
Their response was more shocking than the fraud I had discovered. Instead of taking action to protect their loyal distributors, they began to make threats of taking punitive action against me. Fortunately, I had them do it all in writing. I had already begun to make details of the deception known to other distributors, to whom I was accountable.
The details of their shocking actions are recounted in the book. I knew, from being an auditor, that without solid documentation I would be crushed by this powerful, wealthy and politically well connected organization. I spent literally thousands of hours in research, culling documentation from global sources as this scheme has spread like cancer around the world.
In its wake are reported bankruptcies, foreclosures and broken relationships all happening under the guise of "free Enterprise". I secured a cache of well over 1,000 hours of legally recorded tapes and videos. Internal Amway documents surfaced revealing that the Billionaire founder, Rich DeVos, has been aware of these fraudulent activities for well over twenty years.
Much of this documentation was put together in a compelling, meticulously documented page book I wrote titled Merchants of Deception. It was written specifically to be a road map for regulators and prosecutors worldwide. It was utilized by law enforcement in India after they raided Amway offices. It was also used by the government in the UK after I flew to London at my own expense in late 2004 to launch an investigation. The subsequent investigation ended with the UK government filing a legal action to have Amway completely shut down in the country. Amway, facing possible closure, took actions to radically change its business practices in that country, but only after being caught.
This book was used to initiate a NBC Dateline expose with Chris Hansen. The video of this show can be viewed online in the "Latest News" section of this website. In a few days with undercover cameras, the team of reporters at NBC were able to document in real time the fraud that has been perpetuated for twenty years as documented in Merchants of Deception. The book documents that Amway's billionaire founder and senior management not only were aware of two decades of systematic fraud, but that the company aided, abetted and financially rewarded the most egregious offenders. This statement is supported by many banker deposit boxes of documentation, including financials and confidential internal documents. Merchants of Deception reveals the methodology, manner and global scope of the fraud.
Senior managers and Devos and Van Andel family members actually became part of the process first hand by coming in and speaking at motivational organization seminars. Multiple statements of this nature were made,"You all involved in unquestionably the best business opportunity in the world".
The response to the book and sheer number of international downloads has been staggering. Over 47,000 are now on the email distribution list and in excess of 2,000 victims of the fraud have contacted me with 1-4 pages detailed testimonials of their experiences. Many allege they were defrauded of as much as $20,000 or more over time. Contacts have come in from almost all of the US, France, Italy, Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, Russia, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Poland, UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Brazil, India, Philippines, Canada, South Africa and Thailand. Most of the reports reveal a consumer scheme replicated with franchise like precision.
America cannot afford to continue to export fraud and cultism to other nations under the false veil of "free enterprise" or capitalism as the documentation seems to clearly reveal that this is neither. This appears to be a simple product based pyramid scheme that relies on a constant cycle of distributor investors who lose money, drop out and get replaced by a fresh crop of unknowing consumers -- most all of whom will also invest at a loss.
In the US there is nearly a 100% loss rate for those induced to "invest" in "their own business" in any given Amway/Quixtar motivational organization. The documentation seems to clearly support that Amway has been aware of this for nearly 20 years.
There is no legitimate "business opportunity" with an almost 100% loss rate for participants. This appears to have been a well organized investment scam, which has culled billions from the public.
The truth is simple and found in the tax returns of the IBO victims and Amway/Quixtar may soon be forced to make those public. If you are contacted by anyone to see Amway, ask them for their last three years tax returns to review their net income after expenses and increased consumer spending before you consider investing a penny of your money or time into "the business". Ask them if you will be expected to spend almost $5,000 a year on Amway related products (cost compare the prices on consumables like cosmetics, dog food, diapers, vitamins etc.), books, CD's, DVD's seminars, travel, phone bills, hotels, online services, e-commerce meetings, training sessions and voice mail systems as you "invest in your own business and practice delayed gratification".
The good news is that there are far more victims in the Amway/Quixtar motivational organizational scam than victimizers and we now have a collective voice. This house of cards may soon be brought to a screeching halt. Multiple class actions have been filed in the US.
Bernard Ebbers was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the $11 billion accounting scam at WorldCom. John Rigas and his son Timothy were sentenced to 15 and 20 years respectively in the Adelphia Communications scandal involving billions as well. A former top executive at Cendant Corp., E. Kirk Shelton, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a $500-million accounting fraud. Ex-Tyco International Ltd. Chief Executive Dennis Kozlowski and his finance chief, Mark Swartz, who were found guilty of looting Tyco of over a hundred million dollars and were each sentenced to 81/3 to 25 years in prison.
How do you think the perpetrators of this fraud would do before a jury?
In my opinion, based upon the documentation I have received, the above corporate frauds pale in comparison to the billions culled by Amway and the IBOAI Board off the backs of trusting, hard working distributors. The political tide is shifting in America and the public is fed up with corporate pirates who loot billions from hard working, honest people.
I encourage you to read your free copy of Merchants of Deception, review the supporting documentation (including pro-Amway and pro-Quixtar information), and form your own, educated opinion.
I sincerely wish you the best.
Kindest Regards,
Eric Scheibeler
Media Contacts enschei@yahoo.com
