Shahidrawadey Shahidan, identified as the owner of Venus FX, registered the company in New Zealand on December 11, 2015. This registration used a virtual office address, costing $232 NZD annually, even as the operation appears to center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The Venus FX website, venusfx.com, was registered privately on October 6, 2015. This private domain registration prevents public access to the registrant's identity, a common practice among entities seeking to obscure their true operators. New Zealand corporate records confirm the registration of NZ Limited Company with business number 9429042102731.
But despite its New Zealand incorporation, Venus FX operates primarily from Malaysia. UK corporate records indicate Shahidan is Malaysian and resides in Malaysia. The company itself announced a "VENUSFX Malaysia Training Centre" in Kuala Lumpur, established in January 2016, describing it as a "meeting point among clients, prospects and the management." This suggests a physical headquarters in Malaysia, not New Zealand.
Venus FX offers no retail products or services to external customers. Instead, the company's business model relies solely on affiliates marketing Venus FX memberships to new recruits. This structure means no tangible goods or services are sold outside the affiliate network, raising questions about the source of funds for member payouts.
The Venus FX compensation plan requires affiliates to invest between $100 and $10,000. These investments promise a daily return on investment (ROI) of 4% to 6% over an 80-day period. This schedule means an investor could expect a total return of up to 480% on their initial capital within less than three months. Such high, guaranteed returns are a hallmark of pyramid or Ponzi schemes.
Recruitment commissions form a significant part of the compensation structure. Affiliates recruiting new investors receive 25% of the funds invested by their direct recruits. For those who choose not to invest their own money, a separate unilevel commission structure applies, paying 30% on level 1 recruits, 20% on level 2, and 10% on level 3.
Residual recruitment commissions are paid through a binary compensation structure. In this system, each affiliate sits at the top of a team with two positions directly beneath them. These two positions begin the binary team, split into a left and right side. New affiliates joining create additional levels, doubling positions at each step.
The binary team can theoretically extend to infinite depth, with new positions generated each time an affiliate is recruited. At the close of each day, Venus FX tallies the invested funds across both binary sides. The affiliate then receives a commission equal to 10% of the invested volume on their weaker binary leg. This daily calculation encourages constant recruitment to balance the two sides and maximize payouts.
The reliance on new investor funds for payouts, coupled with an absence of retail products and guaranteed high returns, mirrors the operational patterns of classic Ponzi schemes.