SpeakAsians

AISPA Updates - 21st April,13

2013-04-21T17:01:00.004+05:30

Dear Speakasians,

We once again bring to you the current situation in the Speakasia matter as below:

SLP (cri) 3130/2013 in the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India arising out of the Disposal of ABA 1083/2012 In the Hon’ble Bombay High Court:

The Anticipatory Bail Application of our secretary Mr. Ashok Bahirwani was heard on 19th March, 2013. The ABA has been dismissed and the detailed order was uploaded on 4th April, 2013 and is available for view on the website of the Hon’ble Bombay High Court:

http://bombayhighcourt.nic.in/generatenew.php?path=./data/criminal/2013/&fname=2ABA108312190313.pdf&smflag=N

Mr. Bahirwani however had been provided an opportunity to approach the Supreme Court. The undertaking given by the Special Public Prosecutor that Mr. Bahirwani will not be arrested to continue till 12th April, 2013.
Consequently an SLP (Criminal) was preferred in the Hon’ble SC and the same was heard on 12th April, 2013 and it was ordered that the “Interim protection is granted, till further orders”.

The said order can be viewed on the website of the Hon’ble Supreme Court:http://courtnic.nic.in/supremecourt/temp/3130201321242013p.txt

Pertinent to note here is that under an order dated 7th December, 2012 of the Hon’ble High court the company was served a notice to come before the Hon’ble court and explain the business model, pursuant to which the company submitted an exhaustive affidavit running into hundreds of pages.

We wish to reproduce some paragraphs from the said Affidavit as under:

“Speakasia at all times, despite various criminal cases having been registered against them maintained the stand that they are ready and willing to make payments to those who have opted for exit option. Such an endeavor could be seen from i) various correspondences written to all central and state government authorities ii) various correspondences written to Reserve bank of India iii) submissions before the Hon’ble Justice R C Lahoti iv) deposit of 10 Million US Dollars with the Supreme Court of India;

Above all, the Company is still ready and willing to fulfill its obligations towards the Panelists who have opted for exit option

The complainant in the present C.R. No. 60 of 2011 dated July 28, 2011 i.e. Navnit Khosla, as understood by us, have received his entire dues and also has filed an Affidavit before this Hon’ble High Court that he does not want to pursue his complaint any further;

In any event, strictly without prejudice to the above, there is no question of Speakasia and/or its officials having committed cheating or criminal breach of trust particularly when they are still ready and willing to cooperate with the authorities and fulfill its obligations under the Exit Option; and

It is only due to inappropriate and unfitting actions taken by various authorities arbitrarily and in haste without granting any opportunity to Speakasia, just keeping in mind negative media campaign, the present situation has arisen where Lacs of Panelists are not even able to receive the money which is due and payable to them “

ABA 174/2013 In the Sessions Court, Mumbai: This is the Anticipatory Bail Application of Mr. Aman Azad aka Vivek Roopchand Sharma.

This Application will now be heard on 18^th April, 2013.

The involving of Mr. Ashok Bahirwani and Mr. Aman Azad by the EOW as accused persons and the arrest of Mr. Melwyn Crasto in November 2011 clearly exposes the EOW’s intention of harassing the panelists connected and working actively for AISPA.

This act of the EOW against AISPA is an absolute high handed behaviour on the part of the authorities whose only objective in this could be to stifle the voice of the panelists and to harm the unity of us Speakasians.

What we cannot understand is why the authorities would want to harm us the Panelists as we are only fighting for our monies to be refunded back to us. In fact the authorities like the EOW should also be interested in this as this is the only larger PUBLIC INTEREST to ensure that the monies of the small and marginal investor is safeguarded and returned to them.

EXIT PAYOUTS: We at AISPA had uploaded some EXIT PAYMENT proofs on our website www.aispa.co.in, the EOW is claiming that these payment proofs put up on our website are false. We place on record with full responsibility after having done a recheck that all the proofs put up on our website are 100% genuine, clearly indicating that the EXIT PAYMENT are being effected to the bank accounts of our constituents the panelists of SAOL.

We once again urge all the Panelists who have received the payouts in the bank accounts to upload the same so that this information percolates down to the entire panel base.

We receive loads of phone calls from panelists around the country asking if the company will announce a fresh round of EXIT OPTION for the panelists who for various reasons could not opt for the first EXIT OPTION.
We at AISPA through an update of 2^nd February, 2013http://aispa.co.in/view.php?idd=130 had urged the company as follows:

“We also wish to urge the Company that many of our members have not been able to opt for the EXIT PAYMENTS in the first phase which ended on 31^st March, 2012. As such it would be only fair and proper for the company to have one more round of EXIT OPTION for all those members who wish to EXIT OUT from the business model”.

We will continue to relentlessly follow up with the company to ensure that a second round of EXIT OPTION is announced by the company for the Panelists who have missed out from the first phase.

AISPA INITIATIVE/PROTEST: In our interaction with Panelists spread across the country and on following the emotions of many Panelists on various social networking sites and other forums we have come to realize that the general mood of the panelists is that we should undertake some sort of a public demonstration on an ALL INDIA basis to highlight the excesses against us Speakasians and to bring to light before the various government and semi government authorities the inordinate delay in refunding of the EXIT PAYMENTS.

Towards this end we wish to request all Speakasians to start activating your teams and be prepared and ready to stand united together once we formalise and announce such an ALL INDIA movement to protest the delay in receiving our legitimate return of payments from the Company.

Team AISPA has created an E mail: aispa.protest@gmail.com, Speakasians are requested to send in their suggestions, opinions and their consent for working towards making this envisaged protest a huge success.

As we enter this new financial year 2013-14, the accounts of AISPA have been handed over to our Auditors for final auditing. The next AGM of the Society will be held sometime in the month of June, 2013. All members who have paid their annual membership fees for the financial year 2012-13 are hereby called upon to pay their membership fees for the financial year 2013-14 before 15^th June, 2013 to be eligible for attending the AGM and to avoid discontinuation of their membership of the Society.

AISPA will update the modalities and procedure to send in your Annual Membership Fees within a few days.

Next Dates in the matters filed by the Company are as follows:

WP/3210 & 3211/2011 in the Bombay High Court: This matter is now posted for 22^nd April, 2013.

WP/1127/2013 in the Bombay High Court: This is a new writ filed by the company in the Hon’ble Bombay High Court. The Matter is now listed for 22^ndApril, 2013.

Stay tuned for updates in the Speakasia Matter.

Warm Regards

Team AISPA

SpeakAsia Updates 25th Sept,12

2012-09-25T15:53:00.002+05:30

Dear SpeakAsians,

In furtherance to our earlier communication and also to bring more clarity to the subject please find below the course of action as being decided by the company:-

1) Whilst waiting for the Order passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court to be made available to us, we would like to repeat and reiterate that payments to panelists opting out under the EXIT option remain the utmost priority for the Company.

2) At this stage, particularly since mediation process could not be completed, the Company would now take necessary legal steps to remit the payments to the panelists directly.

3) The Company is also in the process of approaching concerned Government authorities for seeking possession of the Panelist database in order to authenticate the information.

4) The Company would also approach the banks and RBI for the purpose of remittance of payments. An ascertainment date about disbursement will be provided once above formalities are done with.

5) In the meantime, the Company would also await Speaking Order from RBI which has to be passed by RBI by September 27, 2012 as per the Order of Bombay High Court and take appropriate steps as per the same.

The company has been fighting its battle for survival for more than a year’s period and at this stage, your cooperation and patience in this battle is highly appreciated. We would urge the same deliberation from all of you for times to come.

With all the efforts in line we are bound to overcome the difficult times.

Warm Regards,
SpeakAsia Corporate Marketing Team

Speakasia's final verdict is expected to be on 8th August

2012-06-10T15:21:00.003+05:30

The next date of hearing of speakasia's case (383/2011) is on 8th August,12.On the last hearing which held on 10th May, 2012 the hon’ble supreme court has taken note of the seriousness of the matter and has decided to hear the matter at length so as to reach a decision.
On 8th August,2012 hearing we can expect a final decision on this matter. Below is the official communication from the management:

Dear Speakasians,

Yesterday was a very important day for us as our matter was heard by Hon'ble Supreme Court and we got a favourable response in the interest of all our panelists. We are happy to share that Honourable Court gave a patient hearing to our learned counsels and the other parties. The Hon'ble Court heard our plea that EOW is making baseless objections in sharing our data and we are not getting any cooperation from EOW in resolving the matter and disbursement of money which is already lying with the Registrar of Hon¹ble Supreme Court. Based on our pleas, the Hon¹ble Court directed EOW to hand over the data to the Hon'ble Court on the next date fixed as 8th August for final disposal.

This indeed is a great achievement as we are inching close to our victory. What normally takes years to achieve, we have been able to get in just 3-4 months. We will use this interim period to consolidate our position which should help in early resolution of our problems.

We would also like to point out that Mr. Navnit Khosla has been consistently pursuing the matter in one form or the other and in different forums despite AISPA members handling his claims and his affidavit in that regard before Hon¹ble Mumbai High Court. We fail to see his ulterior motive to derail the process of disbursement of money to panelists who have chosen to exercise the company’s exit option.

We would also like to share with you that we are taking legal opinion regarding early resumption of our business in India. We understand that some misguided people will try to spread panic and create doubts in the minds of our people. Also, do not give any of your personal details to any unauthorised person or on website which claims to be collecting data on behalf of the company.

We once again urge all our Speakasian family members to remain calm and patient as the resolution to our problems are well within our sights.

Warm Regards,
SpeakAsia Corporate Marketing Team

speakasia consumer protection movement:12th may,12

2012-05-09T13:59:00.002+05:30

On 12th may,AISPA is organizing a nation wide movement called as "Consumer Protection Movement".Below is the promo "Consumer Protection Movement"

SpeakAsia:Blood Donation camp on 12th May

2012-05-08T15:26:00.001+05:30

Official Updates : 8th May

2012-05-08T15:25:00.002+05:30

Dear Speakasians,

This is to inform you all that a website by the name of www.speakasiaexit.com has recently put up an exit application form for all those panellist who wish to leave our family.

The company would like to state that it has no connection with the above mentioned site whatsoever. This website has been put up by certain vested interests who wish to derail the process of the exit options. Suitable legal actions have been initiated against the concerned for this gross inappropriate action.

The company as usual will continue communicating with all of you through its own blog site. Speakasiaonline.marketing.blogspot.com .

Warm Regards,

SpeakAsia Corporate Marketing Team

Next Hearing after summer vaccations

2012-05-02T18:52:00.002+05:30

The hearing which was scheduled on 30th of April was postponed and now its scheduled after summer vacation which will end in July. But the lawyers of speakasia are trying to get the hearing dates before the closure of the court and if they are successful in getting the dates the hearing will be in a week or two.

This hearing is well anticipated among the panelists and is considered to be a milestone is speakasia case. According to some of the senior panelsits of speakasia the business restart is just a step away and the verdict of this hearing will bring about a major impact on the speakasia case.

SpeakAsia Official Communication

2012-05-02T18:26:00.001+05:30

Update from speakasia's official blog:

Dear Panellists,

As you are all aware that the company has been actively engaged in solving the current crises that it faces for the last eleven months. This journey has been long and tough and has brought out the best effort from all of us in combating the situation. We now do have reasons to believe that we should be able to resolve the current impasse soon.

As mentioned earlier, efforts are underway to open a permanent establishment of the company in India, so that it is able to re-start the business as a local entity in India, in accordance with the prevalent local laws.

In order to have a smooth and Hassel free re-start, we request you to kindly have the following documents ready as they will be required upon re-start of the business.
a) Name
b) Proof of Residential Address
c) Bank Account Details including Swift Code and IFSC Codes

Please do note that this only a preparatory exercise in anticipation of our business re-starts. Once we get all the permissions from the concerned authorities, we will communicate with you for the next set of actions to be taken.
We once again thank you for your support to the company during this difficult period .

Warm Regards,
SpeakAsia Corporate Marketing Team

Legal proceedings: 16th April,12

2012-04-16T09:05:00.000+05:30

Bombay High Court: WP/3611 of 2011 filed by AISPA for quashing of FIR 60/2011 of EOW filed under the complaint of Navniit Kkhosla, the investigations of EOW in the FIR is stayed under this Writ. The matter is now posted for 3^rd May, 2012.

Supreme Court: WP/383/2011 is scheduled to be heard on 30^th April, 2012. This Writ deals with the payment for the EXIT OPTION and the Hon’ble Supreme Court has appointed Hon’ble Mr. Justice R.C. Lahoti ji as a mediator in this matter.

Mediation Process: The Hon’ble Supreme Court vide an order dated 14^th November, 2011 had appointed Mr. Justice R.C.Lahoti ji as a Mediator in this matter. The court has asked the Mediator to ascertain the entire dues of the panelists wanting to EXIT and the Tax liabilities of the company.

Before the Mediator could ascertain the entire dues the company on its own accord has deposited with the SC registry an amount of USD 10 Million (Approx Rs. 50 Crores)

AISPA had conducted a question and answer session with our Adv. Ahmad Abdi Sahab and Abdi Sahab has reminded us in the end of the video that the speed of the SAOL matter is creating history of sorts and it is rarely seen that the matter reaches such an advanced stage in such a short time frame.

Some panelists have mistaken Abdi Sahab’s contention, and have assumed that the Web Site is with the Mediator. Mr. Abdi Sahab has in fact said that “the matter” related to Web site is before the Mediator and will be resolved by the Supreme Court.

All in all the entire matter is moving in the favor of the panelists and the resolve of the company to return back soon is amply evident by the letter dated 3^rd April, 2012.

next hearing dates

2012-04-16T08:53:00.000+05:30

CRLP 10782 / 2011 - Andhra Pradesh High Court - 17.04.2012

SLP 7509-7510/2011 - Supreme Court - 27.04.2012

WP 383/2011 - Supreme Court - 30.04.2012

WP/3611/2011 - Mumbai High Court - 03.05.12

WPST/3210 & 3211/2011 - Mumbai High Court - 10.05.2012

SpeakAsia Official Updates-04-04-12

2012-04-04T22:08:00.000+05:30

Dear SpeakAsians

Since the last update, there are several issues we would like to address and clarify with our valued panelists. It is important that you understand our position and the actions we are taking.

Media Reports

The Times of India reported recently that we have sister companies that have been investigated for fraud. There is no truth in this and we categorically deny that SpeakAsia has anything to do with either of these companies. The companies mentioned are Red Carpet and Index AdMatrix. As for Seven Rings International, they were the publisher of the E-Zine magazine which was distributed by HVP. SpeakAsia has no interest, commercial or otherwise, in any of their operations. The reports in the Times of India are false and seem to be motivated by certain vested interests. We have, on more than one occasion, offered to clarify our positions regarding the various issues with the Times of India, but unfortunately, our offer was not accepted.

Exit Policy

As you are aware, we have submitted a list of all those members who have opted to exit to the learned mediator. The Mediator, accordingly had instructed the EOW and Mumbai Police (which still had in possession our company’s data and server) to return the database of our members to the Mediator for the disbursement process to commence. However, the EOW and Mumbai Police have filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court refusing to submit the data to the Mediator. We have also filed an appeal against this action. Once this issue is resolved, we will resume the process of implementing the exit policy

Resumption of Business

The company has also initiated various steps for the resumption of our business. Dialogue with various departments and authorities is underway with regard to PE formation, statutory clearances etc. We would like to assure all our SpeakAsian Family members that we wish to quickly resume business once all the legal requirements are fulfilled.

Contact with the company and officials

As you know, we welcome your feedback. Because of the overwhelming amount of emails we received on our present email address, our responses to you have been far from ideal. To remedy the situation, we have created exclusively for India more email addresses according to the regions. They are:-

a. India.north@speakasiamarketing.com

b. India.east@speakasiamarketing.com

c. India.south@speakasiamarketing.com

d. India.west@speakasiamarketing.com

Please do note that when you are communicating with the company, kindly mention your full name, address, current contact number, your login id and the name of your immediate upline. This will help us in verifying your credentials. Please also note that if these details are not given in your email, no reply will be sent to you.

Warm Regards,

SpeakAsia Corporate Marketing Team

AISPA's secretary Ashok Bahirwani's bail hearing today

2012-03-19T10:25:00.000+05:30

Yesterday AISPA's secretary Ashok Bahirwani was issued with a 72 hours arrest notice by EOW. Anticipatory bail hearing of the same is to be held today at 2:30 p.m at Mumbai.

Hats Off Prod. wins the case over SpeakAsia

2012-03-13T14:00:00.000+05:30

Few weeks ago Speakasia has filed a case against Hats Off production's R. K. Laxman ki Duniya as they telecast an episode in which they used the word Silent Asia, which eventually prove to be the fraudulent organization in the story.
Hats Off productions has won the case against the company leaving all the charges on them as null and void.According to the verdict among the two only the word Asia is common, and this word can be used by anyone as its an universal term,and hence case was dismissed.

Updates 2nd march-Speakasia official communicaiton

2012-03-02T13:59:00.000+05:30

Dear SpeakAsian’s,

Our Family of Speakasians stood rock steady by us through one of the most troubled time in the corporate history of any company. We were attacked maliciously by certain sections of the media, hounded by the authorities, and attempts were made to crush our total entity. However we continuously maintained our commitment to our cause and the protection of the interest of our family.

In these troubled times we gave an ‘Exit Option’ to all those who wanted to leave our fold. A total of 94,334 panelists decided to exercise this option (this is less than 7% of our entire universe of Speak Asians.) We respect their wishes and would gladly welcome them back with open arms whenever they decide to re-join our family. Any other members of the Speak Asians family who still want to exercise the exit option can do so till 31st March 2012.

On the orders of the Honorable Supreme Court of India a mediator was appointed to ascertain the dues of all those who wanted to exit the company, and the process to settle the their legitimate dues is well underway. As a manifest of our intent and to demonstrate our never ending commitment to our family of Speakasian’s we have voluntarily deposited a sum of US $ 10 Million, with the Registrar General – Supreme Court. We have further committed to deposit any more amounts due, post the ascertainment of the honorable mediator and proactively facilitate the disbursement process.

We stand committed to all our panellists, our employees, trade partners, and the nation at large. Our endeavor to create a whole new marketplace through our patented ‘Precision Marketing Tool’ stands. We cannot thank you enough for all your support. The end of our woes is near, and soon the new sun heralding brightness of our future will dawn.

Warm Regards,

SpeakAsia Corporate Marketing Team

SpeakAsia Updates-29th Feb,12

2012-02-29T16:44:00.000+05:30

Recently there were many articles published in various newspapers,different newspapers are putting up different views of the speakasia issue.Here are some of the articles published in some of the leading newspapers:

TIMES OF INDIA - FEB,27

MUMBAI: Police are probing the role of an international firm in the SpeakAsia scam.

They said a link had been established between Seven Rings International, a UAE-based firm, and the multi-level marketing company being investigated for fraud.

Sources said that the economic offences wing (EOW) found evidence to prove the nexus. "SpeakAsia office-bearers have been denying links with Seven Rings International, but we have got documentary evidence," said a police officer.A source said Seven Rings entered into an agreement with SpeakAsia Pte and Haren Ventures Pvt Ltd. "Seven Rings offered to act as a publisher for SpeakAsia surveys but on the condition that they get 60% profit while SpeakAsia got 40%. Seven Rings said it had a wider reach and the agreement would be beneficial to SpeakAsia. They promised to publish an electronic magazine (e-zine) too," said the source.EOW arrested 10 persons allegedly associated with SpeakAsia last year following complaints from investors that they had been cheated. The investors had said that they had been sold web subscriptions for Rs11,000 each, and in return for filling survey forms for multinational firms, had been promised annual payments of Rs52,000. But the money, they said, had not been paid.The police are hunting for SpeakAsia's Indian head, Manojkumar Sharma and its global chief Haren Kaur."SpeakAsia entered into the agreement in February 2011 to avoid tax agencies. "While Elia De Prisco signed papers on behalf of Seven Rings, Sharma signed them for SpeakAsia," said the source. Prisco is said to be an Italian who organizes business lectures and seminars across the world.The police suspect that Sharma is behind the Brazilian firm Mister Colibri (mistercolibri.com and colibrimakemoney.com), which op-erates on the same model as SpeakAsia and lists Sharma as its largest investor.The police suspect that over Rs700 crore was laundered from India with help from Seven Rings.Investigators said AdMatrix, another company, was involved in SpeakAsia's operations.Colibri promises investors large annual returns for watching advertisements on a video-sharing web site and EOW found that it was using the same backend codes as AdMatrix.

HINDUSTAN,28TH FEB

(SpeakAsia had deposited a sum of 50 crores to the supreme court and the court has put that amount in FB for 91 days,and in addition to that speakasia has been asked to deposit sum of 115 crores as tax,which company has accepted to pay.The draft which the company had paid was made from State Bank Of India's branch in Singapore with the draft No:037003)

SpeakAsia panellists accuse EOW of harassment, move court

2012-02-21T10:33:00.001+05:30

A group of over 15 lakh panellists of Singapore-headquartered SpeakAsia Online company has moved the Bombay High Court, claiming that officials of the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of the city police are harassing them with repeated attempts to extort money.

The panellists have in their writ filed in court claimed being threatened of being booked in a criminal case if they didn’t cough up the money demanded by the police. While over 150 panellists have so far been called in for questioning by the city police, a senior EOW official denied the charge saying it was aimed at derailing the ongoing probe, sources said.

Represented by Melwyn Crasto and Ashok Bahirwani, president and secretary respectively of the All-India SpeakAsia Panellists Association (AISPA), the association with a 15-lakh members, including over 3.5 lakh in Mumbai alone, has charged the police of using the company’s seized records to target members of the general public, who constitute the panellists.

One of the paragraphs in the criminal writ plea points to the unabashed means of police officers, who openly demand a certain amount from the panellists or ask them to face arrest. “It is public knowledge that Rs5,000 is the going rate for avoiding police harassment. If these corrupt officers are able in collect the sum from every panellist, they would end up with a total of Rs1500 crore,” it adds. Demanding an inquiry by the CBI into the case, the petitioners’ counsel Ahmed Abdi claimed that so far no probe by any investigating agencies in the country has found anything wrong with the company.

Source:DNAindia

Biz Basket Updates:13th feb

2012-02-13T13:55:00.001+05:30

As you all know that we have almost won the case in supreme court of India and the company is moving very fast towards the normalization of its operations. At this critical point of time all the entities (particularly "TRP hungry media") with vested interests want to confuse the panelists of Speak Asia by spreading false rumors.

Through this platform we want to make you all aware about the steps taken by our panelist association AISPA for the welfare of entire panelist community of India. For detail please go through the recent article dated 11/02/2012 on www.aispa.co.in by the secretary Mr. Ashok Bahirwani. This association is a legal entity and more than capable to safeguard the interests of the entire Speak Asia family.

Apart from these authentic updates please do not pay any attention to any other news from any media. The actions taken by the company and the learned mediator Mr. Justice (retd.) R. C. Lahoti on the orders of supreme court will shortly be informed to all of you very soon through authentic media.

At least being party to this Speak Asia dispute we have closely watched the most ugly face of Indian print and electronic media. There is no distinction between any newspaper and any news channel. Naming one or two is of no use. In this highly commercialized world everyone is after only one word "Profit". Any news media will survive only on one condition "SELLING NEGATIVITY". Now its up to us to look after the welfare of our family and friends.

Lets stay united as one Speak Asia family.

Proud to be Speak Asian ! ! !

Team Bizbasket

SpeakAsia: Aaj Tak Telecast

2012-02-09T01:30:00.000+05:30

Yesterday (8th Feb) at 11:30 p.m AajTak showed a short report on speakasia regarding court decision.

SpeakAsia Official Updates-8th Feb,12

2012-02-08T19:20:00.002+05:30

After two months of complete ignorance the management of speakasia has finally bothered to intimate its panelists with the latest updates.Here is the update released by speakasia team:

Dear Speak Asians,

At the outset we would like to state that we welcome the verdict of honourable Supreme Court with regards to the WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO(s). 383 OF 2011. In our opinion this judgement only furthers our belief in the honourable courts protecting the rights of the consumers in the country.

As is the stated position of the company, SAOL will extend all the support required in executing this directive of the honourable Supreme Court and will actively work towards re-starting its suspended operations at earliest opportune moment.

Warm Regards,

SpeakAsia Corporate Marketing Team

SpeakAsia Updates 8th Feb,12

2012-02-08T01:39:00.003+05:30

On the petition filed by 115 panelists, Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the appointed mediator of the case to deposit a sum of 50 crores to Apex Court Secretary General in A bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Dipak Verma gave time of 2 weeks to submit the above mentioned amount and it will be used for the repayment of subscription fee given by the panelists.

Further hearing of the cases are as follows:

16th Feb,12- Bombay High Court hearing of the case filed by AISPA (WP/3611/2011).

17th Feb,12-Bombay High Court hearing of the case filed by SpeakAsia against Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd (for R.K.Laxman ki Duniya).

We are now on Facebook too

2012-01-11T17:36:00.000+05:30

Hello readers,
First of all i would like to thank you all for you contribution in making this blog a success.This blog was release last April and in less than a year it has achieved a good reputation in its niche with average page visits exceeding seventy thousand monthly. It has become a 'goto' resource for all speakasia updates.So realizing the popularity of this blog we have created a Facebook page for our blog.Please visit our page and stay connected with us.

Click Here to visit our Facebook Page

SpeakAsia 'amount credited'

2012-01-09T16:05:00.001+05:30

The amount of the last survey done by the panel members of speakasia has been credited . Though there is no official communication on the same but the panelists can see the amount credited in their account by going to the 'survey income' menu.Below is a screenshot of the same.The amount has been credited on 5th of Jan,12.

SpeakAsia site working!!!

2012-01-05T14:28:00.000+05:30

SpeakAsia's official site(www.speakasiaonline.com) has started to work again. A few days back also suddenly website started working but that time they closed the site the same day.Though there is no official communication on the same but people are expecting that it will continue to be functional.

Now all eyes are on the court verdict of 9th Jan.

ED registers money laundering case against Speak Asia

2012-01-04T17:50:00.002+05:30

The Enforcement Directorate today registered a case against Speak Asia, a Singapore-based online survey company, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in connection with a multi-level marketing scam, sources said. The firm had allegedly duped over 12 lakh investors, also called as panelists, to the tune of Rs 1,300 crore, after assuring them commission if they introduced new members. Speak Asia had promised lucrative returns to its investors, who were asked to pay a fee to register with it, through a multi-marketing pyramid model. The city police had earlier arrested Speak Asia's Chief Operating Officer in India (COO) Tarak Bajpai, Financial Manager Ravi Khanna, the web portal's technicians Rajeev Malhotra, and Rais Khan and panelist Deepankar Sarkar.

Source: IBN7

Sucheta Dalal again targets MLM companies.

2011-12-29T10:10:00.001+05:30

After her statement about SpeakAsia last September Sucheta Dalal again targets MLM companies and this time it's 'Real Planet Multigrade'. Take a look at what she says:

Real Planet Multitrade - new MLM scheme. Where is the regulator?

Despite several MLMs like Speak Asia duping numerous ‘investors’ for crores of rupees, there are no efforts by the government either to ban such ‘get-rich-quick’ schemes or to regulate it.

Even as the investigating agencies are probing multi-crore ponzi schemes and scams across India, many others continue to flourish, luring people with huge returns and other incentives.

Real Planet Multitrade is a relatively new entrant in the endless list of these MLM schemes. This has left several activists doubting the role of government in regulating such schemes.

This multi level marketing (MLM) company, registered in Mumbai, promises income on buying selling certain products. Once their products are bought, it entitles one to become a distributor and further, eligible for easy income on selling these products. It, in its vision statement claims to, “To produce millions of millionaires.”

Real Planet, has basket of products – mobile chips, anti-radiation bio energy card, solar pendant and diamond pendant that are sold for Rs500 to Rs2,000. It has several package deals combing various products and sold for Rs3,000 to Rs5,000. The company also has list of health care related products such as slimming capsules, piles capsules, aloe vera capsules and rheumatic massage oil.

Real Planet has business model similar to a typical MLM company. It promises income after the initial buyer introduces or propels new members to buy these products. The level of income increases as the number of people under the initial buyer increases.

The company has two main business plans, Samprak Planet Business Plan and Re-Purchase Business Plan. In the first plan it promises Rs250, on getting two people (1:1) enrolled in the company. This binary income is unlimited. It also promises diamond star royalty and gold star royalty income, which is given on completing 300 pairs ratio. In its re-purchase plan, the company promises 5-15% on direct income. Here, if a distributor has 3 direct pairs on both sides – left hand right hand - and if the left is earning Rs1 lakh weekly, then the distributor is entitled for 10% of their weekly earning, Rs10,000 in this case.

Interestingly on all the earning plans, it has certain caps and trimming applicable. Experts point out that the originality of these products is questionable. Considering the income that the company promises, the business is bound to collapse in long run. It could be typical case, where an MLM or ponzi schemes does pay in the start and then abscond after collecting the money.

Industry experts say that there is urgent need to regulate these schemes and companies, which are technically illegal under the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978.

-Sucheta Dalal

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