SINGAPORE – A man and his wife were called the “Adam and Eve” of a multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme by the prosecution, having spearheaded the programme in Singapore.
Mohamad Hisham Mohd Idris, 58, and his wife, Nurnavi Janti Imam Makruf, 53, were the first to participate in and promote the illegal Galaxy Trio referral programme after bringing it to Singapore in 2013.
On Dec 27, Hisham was convicted on two charges under the Multi-level Marketing and Pyramid Selling (Prohibition) Act (MLMA) and sentenced to four months’ jail, a $10,000 fine and a penalty of $27,509. A third similar charge was taken into consideration for sentencing.
He is currently out on bail pending an appeal.
Each of the charges related to him promoting the Galaxy Trio scheme with his wife, whose case is pending.
Galaxy Trio is a foreign company that was started in January 2013.
Around that time, a person identified only as Vanessa, who claimed to be from Galaxy Trio, met Hisham and Nurnavi in Singapore and invited them to be involved in the programme by training others how to promote the scheme.
They agreed and became the first two in Singapore to join the programme, which was also promoted in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines.
As the first to join here, they became the highest “uplines” in Singapore, and promoted the scheme for more than two years from March 2013 to May 2015.
The scheme involved two types of “boards” with pyramid structures, which participants could join for a fee.
One was a “Mars” board, which cost US$300 (S$400) to join, and the other was a “Jupiter” board that cost US$1,500 to join.
Members could open multiple accounts for more places on the boards, with bonuses for different positions and referrals.
A referral bonus on a “Mars” board was US$25, while the bonus on a “Jupiter” board was US$75.
The accounts for participants were opened via the Galaxy Trio website, and the accounts gave them access to several e-books and audio tracks.
The bonuses were deposited into participants’ e-wallets on the website, which they could then withdraw for a 10 per cent processing fee and an additional charge of 3 per cent on the remaining sum. This meant that for a withdrawal of $100, a participant would get $87.30.