Amway MD: ARRESTED!

It has shattered image of Amway, in the eyes of all those consumers who believed in its trustworthiness for long. William S Pinckney, Managing Director and chief executive officer of Amway India, the direct selling company for various consumer products, arrested by the Andhra Pradesh police at Gurgaon. The police said charges had been filed against Pinckney under the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978. This was the second time Pinckney has been arrested in this country. The Kerala police arrested him last year on similar charges.

Amway India stated it was “aggrieved and shocked at the sudden and unwarranted act of detention”. “The case against which the action has been taken was filed in December 2013. The company had no prior information on the same. The allegations mentioned in the FIR (First Information Report) are frivolous and gives a misleading impression about our business,” it stated on Tuesday.

According to Amway, due to the lack of a legal framework for the direct selling sector, any case filed is being misinterpreted and booked under the 1978 law, which is meant to regulate financial schemes. The direct selling industry had been repeatedly seeking an amendment to the above law.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) and the Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA) have condemned the arrest.

“This move has been initiated by a consumer complaint and could have been easily addressed, since there was no criminality involved,” Ficci general secretary, Didar Singh, stated. (Courtesy: Business Standard)