A class-action lawsuit that alleges WorldVentures is an illegal pyramid scheme was filed earlier this year.

This one slipped under the radar, so you’ll have to forgive the late coverage as I only found about the lawsuit yesterday.

On May 1st, 2017, Melody Yiru filed a RICO pyramid scheme lawsuit against WorldVentures.

Named defendants in the lawsuit include World Ventures, World Ventures Holdings, World Ventures Foundation, World Ventures Marketing, Michael Azcue, Wayne Nugent and Daniel Stammen.

Michael Azcue and Wayne Nugent are cited as “controlling managing-members” of the company. Daniel Stammen is cited as a “managing-member”.

In her complaint Yiru alleges that “WorldVentures is an illegal pyramid scheme”.

Yiru alleges that from 2011 to the present, she and as many as

250,000 other members of her purported class were misled about the financial structure and likelihood of financial gain from their participation (through initial and monthly membership fees) in WorldVentures’ business.

Yiru alleges that, despite what appeared to be truthful and

encouraging Annual Disclosure Statements, the only way to generate income as a Sales Representative was not through the sales of travel-related services, but through the recruitment of additional Sales Representatives.

BehindMLM
reviewed WorldVentures
way back in 2011 and concluded the same.

Yiru’s initial lawsuit was filed in California, alleging breaches of the California Civil Code (Endless Chain Scheme) and California Business & Professions Code (Unfair and Deceptive Practices and False Advertising).

The lawsuit also alleged RICO violations, specifically

a purported conspiracy which involved the investment of ill-gotten funds in an allegedly fraudulent enterprise.

On a personal level, Yiru alleges ‘
WorldVentures represented to (her) that she would make a fortune
‘.

However, Yiru did 
not
make money as promised.

As with the case of the more than two hundred and fifty thousand WorldVentures representatives before and after her, Yiru failed.

99.7% of WorldVentures representatives average net 
losses
of over $1000 per year, and gross revenues of $140.

No persons, except directors and secretly placed individuals into the “representative” tiers of the company, make 
any
money.

Yiru’s proposed class-action group spans WorldVentures’ operations from May 2010 to date, although she herself only signed up in September, 2015.

The front for WorldVentures’ pyramid recruitment scheme is the sale of memberships, which provide access to discounted travel offers.

In relation to WorldVentures’ travel offers, Yiru alleges;

Signifying how the travel package is of no value, the packages are overpriced, under-inclusive, and are significantly in excess of the price a consumer can obtain (from) the equivalent track packages from almost any online competitor – Cheap Tickets, Groupon and Exepdia.

WorldVentures does not have its own travel deals. It just scouts for deals and make(s) a person pay to

🤖 Quick Answer

What is the WorldVentures RICO lawsuit about?
A class-action lawsuit filed by Melody Yiru on May 1st, 2017, alleges that WorldVentures operates as an illegal pyramid scheme. The suit names company executives Michael Azcue, Wayne Nugent, and Daniel Stammen as defendants, claiming fraudulent business practices affected approximately 250,000 participants from 2011 onwards under RICO statutes.

Who are the defendants in the WorldVentures case?
Named defendants include WorldVentures, WorldVentures Holdings, WorldVentures Foundation, and WorldVentures Marketing. Key individuals cited include Michael Azcue and Wayne Nugent as controlling managing-members, and Daniel Stammen as a managing-member of the organization.

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