The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on April 18 said it has
attached assets worth Rs 757.77 crore belonging to Amway India Enterprises Pvt
Ltd, which allegedly runs a “multi-level marketing (MLM) scam”.

The attached assets include land and factory building of
Amway at Dindigul district in Tamil Nadu, plant and machinery vehicles, bank
accounts and fixed deposits, the probing agency said in a statement.

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Out of the total Rs 757.77 crore of assets attached under
the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), immovable and movable properties
are worth Rs 411.83 crore while the remaining are bank balances of Rs 345.94
crore kept in 36 accounts belonging to Amway, ED said.

In a money-laundering investigation, ED found that Amway
is running a pyramid fraud in the guise of direct selling multi-level marketing (MLM) network.

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“Without knowing the real facts, the common gullible
public is induced to join as members of the company and purchase products at
exorbitant prices and are thus losing their hard-earned money. The new members
are not buying the products to use them, but to become rich by becoming members
as showcased by the upline members. Reality is that the commissions received by
the upline members contribute enormously to the hike of prices of the
products,” ED said.

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It claimed that the company collected an amount of Rs
27,562 crore between FY2003 and FY2022. Out of this, they paid a commission of
Rs 7,588 crore to their affiliated members and distributors in the United
States and India.

The entire focus of the company is on aggressively
propagating how the general public could become richer by becoming its member.
The products it offers are used to cover up this “MLM pyramid fraud”
by showcasing the company as a direct selling brand, ED said.

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According to the agency, the prices of most of the Amway products are exorbitant as compared to the alternative popular products of reputed manufacturers available in the open market.

An Amway spokesperson said they are cooperating with the
authorities “towards a fair legal and logical conclusion of the
outstanding issues”.

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Amway said that the ED action was about an investigation
dating back to 2011 and since then, the company has been cooperating with the
agency and has shared the information sought by it from time to time.

In December 2021, the
government banned direct-selling companies from promoting pyramid and
money-circulation schemes as it notified new rules for the direct-selling
industry.