Goldquest Hall of shame
Links to verifiable news stories with their summaries.
Sucheta Dalal (Indian Express, Aug 5, 2006) https://indianexpress.com/sunday/story/9571.html
An ‘international’ network-marketing or chain marketing scheme calledGoldQuest is busy ensnaring people across India; especially those whocan shell out Rs 30, 000 to purchase numismatic coins procured frominternational mints. Unlike previous local chain schemes, GoldQuestclaims an ISO 9001:2000 certification, ‘government registration’(Goldquest International India Pvt Ltd) and its communications person, Ms. Preetha says that ‘‘Mrs Nalini Chidambaram was engaged by thecompany on the legal side’’. What lures people to this company is notthe ostensible value of limited edition coins but the usual lure ofintroducing two new people to the scheme, who in turn introduce twoothers to set off a chain that earns ‘lakhs’ of rupees for the originalintroducer. The company has a detailed website which is silent on the‘Ponzi’ element of the chain, as well as some tall claims made at‘marketing seminars’ including tales of riches quoted to potentialmembers. Unlike similar schemes of the past, which vanished over timeafter duping people, this one claims an international standing. ‘‘It isa part of the Qi Group with its head office at Hong Kong. The MultiMillion Qi Group has offices in 22 countries, and employee strength of400 worldwide’’. Whatever its claims to legitimacy, people must knowthat GoldQuest operates outside any formal regulation or supervision.
It is a pyramid scam, almost identical in every way to one that ran in the US called Gold Unlimited. (see the US Court of appeals judgement - the full text at this link: https://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=6th&navby=case&no=99a0170p
GoldQuest Banned in Nepal (nepalnews.com)
https://nepalnews.com/contents/englishmonthly/businessage/2003/mar/followup.htm
Nepaligovernment banned the Nepal operations of Hong Kong based numismatics company GoldQuestInternational Ltd. by issuing a notice early February 2003. The central bank followed suitby issuing another notice at the end of the month.Meanwhile, two high level officers of GoldQuest have been arrested and case filed against them at thedistrict court of Kathmandu. Donna Marie Glenn Imson, a Filipino identified as one of thetwo GoldQuest officers arrested by the police, is the Director, Training and Developmentof GoldQuest. The other person arrested is one Indian national Tanbir Nijam.Responding to thenotice by the Home Ministry of Nepal, GoldQuest has expressed a shock and announced a planto send a delegation of senior officials to Nepal to discuss the issue. The ban came soonafter JR Mayer, Associate Director (Product Development and Promotions) ofGoldQuest, returned following a Nepal visit during which he met a number of senior officers in theCentral Bank here (NBA, February 2003).While the HomeMinistry’s notice has alleged GoldQuest of conducting indirect and illegal scheme atvarious parts of Nepal, the company has started that its business model is not a short-cutmethod of making quick, fast money. “To succeed in the business one requires a highdegree of professional skills in marketing and sales, training and interpersonal skills”, it says. “Nowhere in anypromotional program does GoldQuest even state that of it is enlisting members, or is aquick money scheme”, it has added.GoldQuest is conducting indirect and illegal scheme at various parts of Nepal. Two high level officers of GoldQuest have been arrested and case filed against them at the district court of Kathmandu.
With the arrest of Goldquest officials in Chennai, where the company’s India headquarters is located, police claimed to have exposed yet another alleged money circulation racket.(The Hindu, Aug 22, 2003)
https://hinduonnet.com/2003/08/22/stories/2003082210240300.htm
Chennai city police department is nurturing a doubt that GoldQuest International is operating a money chain scheme. Responding to the query about the possibilities of the coin value appreciating, Wolf Dziambor, head of Goldquest product training, says: "We don’t guarantee appreciation".
https://domain-b.com/companies/companies_g/goldQuest_international/20030708_job.htm
For those of you who wish to pursue further study and review, the list that follows profiles a laundry list of real Ponzi/Pyramid scams and cases that you can research.Goldquest International Ltd is Hong Kong based scam that markets gold coins and products.(frauds and scams.com)
https://fraudsandscams.com/examples.htm
A murder attempt on a customs sleuth probing a controversial international company (Goldquest) has scared thousands of its customers in Sri Lanka, where business analysts say weak laws allow scams to flourish at the expense of citizens. Athula Lankadeva, superintendent of the automated data processing division of Customs, is leading a team investigating GoldQuest. Last week, three assailants confronted Lankadeva outside his home at Maharagama, some 10 kilometers from Colombo.sserts Lankadeva, "I am quite sure GoldQuest sent these men. We have detained their shipment and despite pressure to release it, we stood firm. GoldQuest may have thought that by killing me they could get their shipment released." https://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/89307/1/33
Very user friendly guide to identifying scams of all types including MLM/pyramid scams at. https://quatloos.com/mlm/mlm.htm