By Sallieu S. Kanu
A joint regional operation team of the Sierra Leone Police on Thursday, July 20, 2023, conducted a search at the Qnet office on 294 Bai Bureh Road, Sayenoh Junction, Calaba Town where several persons of interest were arrested.
The search operation came following intelligence that individuals acting on behalf of Qnet, a global lifestyle and wellness company utilizing a direct selling business model, were fraudulently receiving moneys from people on the pretext that they would facilitate their travelling overseas.
“Acting on the instructions of the Regional Commanding Officer ACP, Dr. John Martin Senesie, a Search Warrant was executed at the said premise where several pieces of documentary evidence were discovered that indicated Qnet modus operandi,” the police said in statement on Thursday.
Shedding tears while narrating their ordeal to the police, Fatmata Bangura of Portee, Bintu Sono of Kenema, and Sia Lebbie revealed that the total sum of thirty thousand New Leones (NLe 30,000) was obtained from each of them with the pretext that they will facilitate their travelling to Canada.
“They requested that I should also come with two individuals for the programme to work, and I came with my parents that also paid the sum of Thirty Thousand Leones (Le 30,000) each,” Fatmata lamented.
Musa Mahmoud Kamara of Jalloh Terrace, a Qnet operative and key suspect in the matter, referred to most of the people arrested as independent representatives that were being taught on various online courses for overseas job employment.
QNET has categorically dissociates itself from any fraudulent activities and individuals misrepresenting the company.
“It is crucial to clarify that these individuals are acting independently and do not represent the values and business principles of QNET. As a responsible corporate entity, we are open to collaborating with law enforcement and security agencies to address this matter promptly,” management of the company said in a statement it put out on Friday.
Mr Biram Fall, Regional General Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa, reiterated their ongoing collaboration with security and judicial authorities to address any misrepresentations of QNET. He stated: “We are determined to take strong actions against individuals engaged in false and fraudulent representations for personal gains. It is important to reiterate that QNET is not a Ponzi or investment scheme, nor are we a travel agency. We do not promise fixed salaries to our Independent Representatives (IRs) or distributors.”
Mr Fall added, “We are not involved in any alleged acts of fake promises or travel assistance. We will never ask for money from anyone to provide job opportunities or promise travel assistance. Our business model is based on direct selling, where individuals can register as an IR on our e-commerce platform and promote our products. Successful IRs earn commissions based on their sales of QNET products to new IRs and customers.”