Acre Public Prosecutor Alessandra Marques told Boston radio station Vem Viva days ago that her office was in contact with US regulators. Marques also disclosed a US investigation involving the IRS was underway. TelexFree's International Marketing Director, Steve Labriola, later denied any such probe.
Labriola addressed affiliate investors who reached out since Saturday. He stated, "There is no investigation started or presented to TelexFree in any shape or form." He added, "As of right now there is nothing going on."
The lack of direct contact from US regulators appeared to form the basis of Labriola's denial. He outlined his understanding of how regulatory investigations proceed. "There has been no initiation of an investigation," Labriola said. "I would suspect that when an investigation starts on any company, they start the process and come to the company and say 'we've started this process, this is what we're doing'."
Much of the 32-minute call focused on "My Financial Advantage." This third-party platform offers services like credit restoration, debt elimination, and financial advice. TelexFree affiliates would market My Financial Advantage and earn commissions on fees paid.
This new offering differs from how most affiliates expect to make money. The company maintains it is not an investment scheme, yet a slide appeared during Labriola's talk detailing guaranteed returns. This slide outlined TelexFree's package costs and corresponding guaranteed returns over 52 weeks. Higher investments promised higher annual returns.
The slide also referenced AdAssure Lite, a service that automates the spam posting TelexFree requires from its affiliates. Without this posting, affiliates do not receive their weekly returns. AdAssure Lite charges a fee for this automation. The final figures on the right side of the chart displayed the guaranteed annual returns after deducting AdAssure Lite's fees and TelexFree's annual "end of contract" fee.
The AdAssure Lite website domain, adassurelite.com, is registered to Garry Harrison at a Utah address. AdAssure Lite states on its website, "When you purchase our services—we will Guarantee your TelexFREE earnings."