Government Of Rwanda, Citing Pyramid And Money-Laundering Concerns, Bans TelexFree Enterprise After Joint Probe With Nation’s Central Bank

The Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Republic of Rwanda has announced that a TelexFree enterprise has been banned in the country after a joint investigation with the National Bank of Rwanda, the nation’s central bank.

Central banks control monetary policy in their respective countries. Other examples of central banks include the Bank of Canada, Banco Centro do Brasil and the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The move by the Rwandan government and the central bank may mark the first public effort to choke off TelexFree.

Whether TelexFree headquarters in the United States had direct/indirect or no control over the operation in Rwanda was not immediately clear. Nor was it clear whether any help from TelexFree’s U.S. or Brazilian operations would be forthcoming.

Kanimba Francois, Rwanda’s Trade and Industry Minister, signed the order, specifically naming an entity known as P.L.I Telexfree Rwanda Ltd.

How many other TelexFree-related enterprises may be operating in Rwanda wasn’t immediately clear. In theory, a single distributor could recruit tens, hundreds or even thousands of affiliates, with those affiliates creating even more.

TelexFree has thrived, based on assertions that sums sent to the firm triple or quadruple in a year.

Separately, Uganda is signaling that it may follow Rwanda’s lead. The Twitter site of Richard Kabonero, Uganda’s ambassador to Rwanda, has published the Rwanda ban signed by Francois.

A Tweet attributed to Kabonero read, “like [all] good ponzi schemes the people who get in first make the money but eventually they fold.”

@tumksivan @KakandeAlex @tomddumba like alll good ponzi schemes the people who get in first make the money but eventually they fold

— Richard Kabonero (@richardkabonero) March 18, 2014

Following a common theme when a government moves against an MLM “program,” a fellow Tweeter asserted that Kabonero was jealous because he wasn’t earning money in TelexFree.

RwandaEye, an online financial publication, is reporting that TelexFree operated from the second floor of a supermarket in Remera.

TelexFree is under investigation in Brazil, amid pyramid allegations. The “program” also is under investigation in the U.S. state of Massachusetts.

News of the Rwanda ban after the joint probe with the central bank came while some TelexFree affiliates were complaining about not getting paid and poor response to customer-service issues.

On March 14, this message appeared on a Facebook site dubbed “TelexFreeInUSA” (italics added/quoted section verbatim except as noted):

Hello, i opened an account the 27/2/20014 and i payed invoice for a family pack (amount 1425$) the 10/03/2014. In ewallet i recived this message from TelexFree near my payed invoice: “Invoice Number [deleted by PP Blog] Voided as per management request. Package is no longer available”.

!!! AT THIS MOMENT MY ACCOUNT IS NOT ACTIVATED, I HAVE NOT RECIVED A REFUND FROM TELEXFREE, ANYONE ANSWER TO MY EMAILS AND MY SUPPORT REQUESTS !!!

Efforts to get a refund have failed so far, the poster claimed. Many TelexFree affiliates have claimed that purchases of “family packs” generate guaranteed income. Sales of “packs” are typical of HYIP Ponzi schemes.