Tan Haojun
The so-called pyramid scheme refers to the behavior of illegally obtaining wealth by developing people or requiring people to be developed to obtain membership qualifications on the condition of paying a certain fee. The essence of MLM is a "Ponzi scheme", which uses the money of latecomers to give to those who came before. In the end, the scam becomes bigger and bigger, and the holes become bigger and bigger.
Traditional MLM methods not only require participants to pay a certain fee, but in many cases also restrict personal freedom, confiscate ID cards, mobile phones, and attend group classes. The new MLM method is much more relaxed and does not require as many personal restrictions as traditional MLM. Instead, it uses capital operation as an excuse to attract people to defraud money, allowing participants to recruit relatives and friends to join the group, and in the end everyone loses everything.
Previously, a private anti-pyramid scheme team issued an article saying that after receiving a response from the Shijiazhuang City Yuhua District Market Supervision and Administration Bureau’s verification letter, Shanghai Dalwei Trading Co., Ltd., a company owned by Lin Ruiyang and Zhang Ting, was investigated for suspected pyramid schemes. In response to this, "TST Court Secret" issued an article in the early morning of December 29, saying that Shanghai Dalwei is a legally operating company. Since its establishment, it has always followed government guidance, adhered to legal operations, and paid taxes in accordance with the law.
In response to TST, relevant personnel from the Yuhua District Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Shijiazhuang City said in an interview with the media that they had received a large number of reports from the public claiming that the "TST Court Secret" was suspected of pyramid schemes. After investigation, the Yuhua District Municipal Supervision Bureau determined that Shanghai Dalwei, the parent company of "TST Court Secret", was suspected of pyramid schemes. The reason is that Dalwei has the three characteristics of a pyramid scheme, namely the pyramid structure of recruiting people, paying entry fees and team remuneration. Relevant personnel also revealed that the case has now entered the audit stage, and the next stage involves penalty decisions and penalty amounts, which is expected to take several months.
If it is determined to be a pyramid scheme, the company will face very severe penalties. If the amount involved is too large, the relevant personnel will also be held criminally responsible. This is why it is more difficult to file a case against pyramid schemes. Because the marketing methods launched by some "smart" companies and "smart" people are somewhere between MLM and non-MLM, and are wandering on the edge of the law. How to make a reasonable and legal determination is worth pondering.
According to the information provided by the Yuhua District Market Supervision Bureau, after an inquiry into Dalwei’s bank account, it was also discovered that the company used financial institutions to set up bank accounts to transfer and hide market funds in large quantities. In order to prevent heavy losses to the country, the Yuhua District Market Supervision Bureau applied to the court to take property preservation measures in accordance with the law and froze the company's 600 million yuan in funds.
The parent company of "TST Court Secret" is Shanghai Dalwei Company. The response of "TST Court Secret" only said that Shanghai Dalwei Company is a legally operating company, and did not say whether Dalwei Company's branches are also operating legally. If Shanghai Dalwei Company operates legally and its subsidiaries are engaged in pyramid schemes, then Dalwei Company cannot escape relevant responsibilities (such as poor management, etc.). Therefore, it cannot only investigate its subsidiaries and ignore the operating conditions of the parent company.
MLM behavior is extremely harmful. If it is not controlled when it can be controlled, and investigated and banned in accordance with the law, once the bubble bursts and the capital chain is broken, the consequences will be disastrous. Therefore, while Dalwei Company still has financial strength, it should be investigated as soon as possible whether the company is suspected of pyramid schemes.
In response to the market supervision department's inspection of Dalwei Company, spokesperson Ma Xiaoguang of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said that anyone doing business or starting a business in mainland China must first abide by laws and regulations. In other words, if the law is violated, no one can be spared and will be severely investigated and punished.
Comics/Chen Bin
