Rolling protection of Devide by the Swedish publication Sydsvenskan has enraged the corporate, prompting a protest and grievance with the Press Ombudsman.
Sydsvenskan first reported on Devide again on January twenty ninth. The piece is relatively tame in comparison with our personal Devide assessment, which recognized it as a blatant Ponzi factors scheme.
In Sydsvenskan’s article the writer lays out Devide’s enterprise mannequin as follows:
Purchase a field with luxurious watches and sun shades for $ 30,000.
Enlist extra like Do the identical and make large cash.
A suggestion that guarantees very excessive returns is now unfold over Scandinavia, underneath the title of Devide.
Sydsvenskan hyperlinks these behind Devide to the Timeless Gallery Group, allegedly some kind of art-based funding rip-off.
The article briefly covers Devide’s prelaunch occasion in a Gothenburg nightclub. Sydsvenskan notes that a lot of the attendees are from Norway.
When queried on whether or not Devide operated as a pyramid scheme, CEO Anja Al-Akabi instructed Sydsvenskan by way of electronic mail that
It’s utterly deceptive to make use of Devide and pyramid scheme in the identical sense.
Recruitment bonuses are quite common in all potential corporations, she argues.
Relating to recruiting new “model ambassadors” it’s accepted that one provides a “sit back” or bonus to those that succeed.
As a part of their analysis, Sydsvenskan approached the Swedish Gaming Inspectorate (Spelinspektionen).
They had been instructed that preliminary inspection of Devide’s enterprise mannequin warranted a more in-depth look.
Following publication of their article Sydsvenskan acquired a protest response from Devide just a few days later (early February).
The article from January 27 … will get the reader to consider that
Devide is a so-called pyramid scheme.Devide believes that Sydsvenskan has violated a number of publicity guidelines and enormously overruled their function as a severe information dealer.
The corporate claimed it had reported the matter to the Press Ombudsman.
Devide nitpicked Sydsvenskan’s reporting, difficult them on the assertion that Devide associates don’t promote something.
Members promote items; on this case watches from Hauger Watches and sun shades from Saint Rochés.
Devide has pointed this out to Sydsvenskan, however they’ve chosen to cover data.
Having reviewed Devide’s compensation plan, whereas it may be argued that associates are promoting watches and sun shades as a part of the affiliate packages – this isn’t the identical as promoting services and products to retail prospects.
Attaching services and products to recruitment doesn’t legitimize it if there’s no retail exercise going down.
Devide additionally took concern with Sydsvenskan’s reporting relating to the Gaming Inspectorate and availability of Devide workers for correspondence.
Sydsvenskan responded to Devide’s criticisms by stating
The format is described by the corporate itself a “moneytrain” with, in response to our assessment, utterly unreasonable returns on returns.
On totally different locations make Devide herself promoting herself with the motto “you promote nothing … man ought to simply be an envoy. ”
All our interviews, together with the one with the Gaming Inspectorate, are both permitted by them interviewed or recorded.
At a brand new verify with the present officer, she says that the authority is closely burdened and should prioritize which instances are investigated.
Devide just isn’t certainly one of them at current.
We will additionally state that no concrete proposals for bodily interviews have come to us, with out the e-mail correspondence suggesting a want to delay our work.
In a followup article dated March twenty sixth, Sydsvenskan revealed the Norwegian Gaming Board had despatched Devide a regulatory warning.
The warning pertained to Devide’s enterprise mannequin, and sought to tell the corporate about Norway’s anti pyramid legal guidelines.
As per stated pyramid legal guidelines, an organization should generate no less than 50 p.c of its income from sale of “actual merchandise” to retail prospects (non-participants).
Talking with Monica Kjelsnes, Sydsvenskan had been instructed the Gaming Board had recognized “a number of similarities with pyramid schemes”.
Regardless of Devide having no retail gross sales of their enterprise mannequin, Anja Al-Akabi is adamant the corporate operates legally inside Norwegian legislation.
Fairly than tackle the dearth of retail focus throughout the firm nevertheless, Al-Akabi instructed the Gaming Board
The massive variety of suggestions (you could have acquired) comes from individuals (who) are despatched to harm the corporate.
We now have change into victims of a private vendetta from opponents.
Al-Akabi doesn’t state who Devide’s imagined opponents are.
In a followup electronic mail to Sydsvenskan, Al-Akabi clarified that Devide
welcomes the contact with the authority.
It doesn’t in any means blame Devide or have any views on (our) enterprise (mannequin).
Nonetheless Al-Akabi confirmed she was “changes” to Devide’s enterprise mannequin, however affirmed there can be “no adjustments to the fundamental idea”.