A Delhi event, to be held under the prestigious The Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) umbrella, has evoked outrage and anger, because of its association with the tainted QNet
The banner announcing the event
A Delhi event, to be held under the prestigious The Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) umbrella, has evoked outrage and anger, because of its association with the tainted QNet. QNet is a Multi Level Marketing (MLM) scheme, which is under the scanner of the EOW in Mumbai and Delhi, the CBI and the Bombay High Court.
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The Bombay High Court in an order in May last year, while rejecting the bail applications of Michael Ferreira, former world champion of billiards and an 80 per cent stakeholder in Vihaan, a QNet subsidiary, Srinivas Rao Vanka and Magaral Veervalli Balaji, both directors of Vihaan Direct selling (India) Pvt Ltd, Suresh Thimiri, and Malcolm Nozer Desai, a 20 per cent stakeholder in Vihaan had stated: “The company stands on a basic statement that people can be fooled. Thus, the true motto is ‘sell more earn more’ by fooling people. In fact it is a chain where a person is fooled and then he is trained to fool others to earn money.”
Distinguished line up
The Assocham has organised the event, which is the BIMSTEC-SAARC Women Economic Forum with the theme, ‘Women in Development,’ which is to be held at the New Delhi from 9.30 am on Friday, January 13. Banners of the event on social media show QNet as one of the co-sponsors. It also has the logo of the Ministry of External Affairs. Its panelists include Mridula Sinha, Goa governor, Smriti Irani, Union Minister, Ministry of Textiles and others.
The fracas erupted when Assocham director Ajay Sharma posted a picture of the event’s banner on Twitter. QNet victims started a barrage of criticism exhorting Assocham to do background checks of the companies it associates with.
Sharma, Delhi-based director of Assocham, did not want to hear this reporter complete the sentence, and assumed correctly that the question would be about QNet. “I have been getting calls about the company we are associating with. Why should I discuss anything with you? There is nothing to be discussed,” he said before disconnecting.
Social media war
But Assocham’s Facebook page has a host of posts, most critical of the fact that such a prestigious event has QNet as co-sponsor. The posts say that the fact that QNet has some part to play in this event, gives QNet a credibility that is downright false if not undeserved. In fact, Mark Ferriera, son of Michael Ferriera, has capitalised on this. Michael is currently in Thane police custody and his bail plea hearing is scheduled for tomorrow, January 12. Mark has posted on Facebook: ‘Qnet is a proud co-sponsor of the Women’s Economic Forum on Jan 13, 2017 to be held in Delhi.’
Mark Ferreira is part of the charge sheet filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Court in Mumbai in December 2016 in QNet. The charge sheet quotes the police as saying that Mark Ferreira is not traceable and they are still looking for him.
When contacted, a QNet spokesperson had this to say. “According to media reports, one self-proclaimed activist, Mr. Gurpreet Singh Anand has called ASSOCHAM and complained about QNet. He has been alleging that Qnet has sold a fraudulent product to his wife Mrs Parmeet Kaur three and half years ago. We strongly refute this claim and have already submitted documents to relevant authorities indicating that Mrs Parmeet Kaur never purchased the Bio Disc product as alleged in the charge sheet. In fact, she placed an order for an online education product from the QNet India company portal and subsequently cancelled this order,” he said, adding, “Hence the slander against QNet in social media, using a reputed association’s name, is unmerited.”
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