JOIN USA local court on Tuesday granted conditional bail to network marketing firm Amway’s India Chairman and CEO William S Pinckney and two company Directors who were remanded in 14 days judicial custody.
Kalpetta Judicial first Class Magistrate N Ravishankar, who remanded the three to judicial custody on Monday, granted them bail with conditions including that the accused should report to the investigating official as and when directed. Pinckney and Directors Sanjay Malhotra and Anshu Budhraja were arrested by the Wayanad Crime Branch (Economic Offences) wing from Kozhikode on Monday in connection with the three fraud cases registered in Wayanad district.
They were booked under the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act based on complaints filed by distributors in 2011. The arrest was based on complaints filed in the Meppady police station by distributors Ashraf and Jaffer from Rippon and another distributor Hariharan from Vaduvanchal, Ambalavayal, Wayanad. The complainants accused the company of its failure in ensuring the promised benefits to those who joined the network marketing business. They alleged that the company had forced them to buy Amway products which included cosmetics for huge sum of money.