Dear Friends,
This message is to create a warning on Empire Alliance Group (EGA). The company has a subsidiary, Sunshine Empire (SE), which mainly functions as Multi-Level Marketing Company. It is selling e-points which can be used to purchase products on their website. The scheme started 2006, August. Prior this project, EGA (or rather J*mes Ph*ang) has another project called New-Trend International (NTI) & Magic Kingdom (which claims to invest in Indonesia property) in Singapore which also functions somewhat similar, and it is now diminished in Singapore.
Sunshine Empire is on MAS consumers alert list (http://www.moneysense.gov.sg/check_our_list/Consumer_Portal_IAL.html). If you ask any of the SE members, they?ll tell you it?s not an investment company, but their proposal & key attraction work in that nature, using the word ?partnership?. Using wordings to find legal loopholes does not indicate legitimacy.
SE?s scam revealed in China: http://www.pincom.cn/action/eliteview?elite_id=1000000000225351
SE is located in Singapore, HDB Hub, Biz 3, BLK 490 Toa Payoh Lorong 6 hub, #07-10, s310490.
Anyone passing by TPY, would probably heard of Emcom or Sunshine Empire. The customers of the company is overwhelming people are literally queuing up to purchase (Gold Partnership) GP, currently costing at $11,520, to enjoy Customer Rebate Privileges (CRP) & Customer Loyalty Privileges (CLP) which is the main attraction of this scheme.
All of the people I know bought a few, some even ten, twenty, or more GP. The company claims they have more than 30,000 members each holding 1 or more GP which translate to at least $345.6 million SGD used to purchase GP. And their numbers are indeed convincing for anyone who stepped in their office before.
The money from GP is said to invest in a wireless project in Taiwan, Emcom. I highly suspect that the company is using the word ?rebate? & ?products? to cover meaning of dividends or investment returns or ponzi scheme. A Ponzi scheme usually offers abnormally high short-term returns in order to entice new investors. The high returns that a Ponzi scheme advertises (and pays) require an ever-increasing flow of money from investors in order to keep the scheme going (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponzi_scheme#Overview).
As far as I know, the key activity in Singapore is financing, so is their function other countries establishment.
The proponent:
1) Basic membership (SM) cost $1,240 SGD
2) Customer Alpha purchases 1 Gold Partnership (GP) at $11,520 SGD.
3) Alpha will get $2,500++ SGD the following month,
4) Alpha gets $1,300++ SGD every following month till total rebate of $19,200 SGD in about 15 months, guaranteed.
5) The company is able to payout such high returns from their ?other sources of income?
6) Sunshine Empire payout is based on how many people purchases GP every month (Multi-Level Marketing). SE uses new GP to pay existing GP > contravenes MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING AND PYRAMID SELLING (PROHIBITION) ACT (CHAPTER 190)
7) Once Emcom project launch in Taiwan, they?ll take 50% of the profit to share with each GP, till a total return of another $96,000 SGD. Expected to be over 5 ~8 years.
All ?partners? are encouraged to bring in more friends & relatives to purchase GP.
The contract, as attached with this mail, does not mention about the returns, any guarantees, or cash returns, which does not match their verbal presentation. All clauses seem to cover up for the company. Even if the project did exist and profits, the company is not obligated to pay the ?partners? anything.
He will get $ from ponzi schemes; All/Most Ponzi Scams WILL payout as promised as long as new members/investment are enrolled into the program, until the members/investment can no longer sustain the payout. It is designed to make people believe, & sign without reading the contract. If SE is sincere of their promise (for long term), the contract will not be written in such?
Even if he did made $ from ponzi schemes (by joining early & stop reinvesting early), it is unethical & unlawful money as it is cheated from his ?downlines?.
To summarize:
1) SE is promoting Multi-Level Marketing, using new GP to payout existing GP. > contravenes MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING AND PYRAMID SELLING (PROHIBITION) ACT (CHAPTER 190) http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/
Someone told me about MLM exclusion: http://app.mti.gov.sg/data/pages/81/doc/frm_LEG_MLMOrder_Act.pdf But maybe he can?t read & understand SE?s GP costs $11,500 already fails to meet any standard in the exclusion.
2) Such ?rebate income? is unregistered source of income and partners in SE mentioned some money launderers chose to buy GP. Verbal guaranteed rebate of 166% of initial purchase price, suspecting using of wording ?rebate? to cover meaning of ?income?.
3) The proposal is promoted as mainly investment, but not registered with MAS, however, product e-points are being sold, but not the focus of the scheme.
4) SE as MLM, not direct-selling, nor registered under Direct Selling Association of Singapore.
5) Verbal agreement does not match of written agreement, the written agreement differs from verbal as,
a. There is no mentioning any form of cash returns.
b. There is no mentioning money used to purchase GP goes into Emcom or any other projects.
c. There is no mentioning a promised percentage of EGA?s or SE?s or Emcom?s profit will be used to rebate the customers.
d. There is no mentioning guaranteed returns
e. There is no mentioning principle protected.
f. The written agreement is designed as a normal purchase agreement, whereas the verbal presentation & agreement is promoted as a high yielding, returns guaranteed investment.
6) Suspect of a ponzi /confidence scam, a non-sustainable business model that involves the exchange of money primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme. Usually over 90% of the people who get involved in pyramid/ponzi schemes never recoup their initial investment. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_scheme).
I have filed a report to CAD on Feb 2007 but still awaiting action. According to his statement, CAD is eager to carry out investigation on Sunshine Empire and filed to regulator MAS, however MAS haven?t pass an order for investigation on SE.
SE can probably push everything to individual?s presentation fault to avoid prosecution (that?s why the contract is different from verbal agreement, to make use of "distributors"), however since all members of SE learns and presents the same, there should be a mastermind; either way, the activity, if illegitimate, got to stop. Hope authorities can gather proof to prosecute the real masterminds instead of fishing ikan-bilis due to legal loopholes, if illegitimate.
Ponzi scams has existed more than a century, today's schemes are often considerably more sophisticated than Ponzi's, although the underlying formula is quite similar and the principle behind every Ponzi scheme is to exploit lapses in judgment arising from an investor's lack of information.
People cheated by thousands of scams around the world are not fools, many of them are graduates from universities & successful businessmen; swindlers tell stories like those you heard, & some believes. Swindlers (at least some, rest simply copy & modify) are clever, good mathematicians, good at penetrating legal loopholes (if I can understand so much, pro conmen can do better), and of course, lying.
The scheme has already affected more than 30,000 Singaporeans and multiplying by the day, it may soon reach market saturation in Singapore and may collapse, affecting the maximum population, and usually over 90% of the people who get involved in pyramid/ponzi schemes never recoup their initial investment.
No surprise we?ll know some people in SE, most people on the ground are innocent (despite annoyingly high), please do not be angry with them, although by participating & promoting they already liable to charges. Tell them about ponzi scams & JP history & senses, nicely.
Please forward this message to people you care about to warn about such schemes, and if you will, write in your concern to:
Monetary Authority of Singapore
10 Shenton Way MAS Building
Singapore 079117
[email protected] email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
Tel: (65)-6225-5577
Fax: (65)-6229-9491
Commercial Affairs Department
Address : 391 New Bridge Road #06-701
Police Cantonment Complex Block D
Singapore 088762
Tel : 1800 325 0000
Fax : 6223 3171
[email protected] email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
..or relevant authorities to encourage their investigation.
No matter you are SE members or not, do encourage the investigation. So if SE is legitimate from legal audits, opposes cease; if not, we learn experience & move on. Or that day new investors are unable to sustain pyramid model, we can all learn from experience too.
Best Regards,
C S Ng
?What if five robbers were robbing for you, and they each recruit five robbers to rob for you??
Attachment:
http://scams.myphotoalbum.com/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album01&id=ea_contract_f