It should be noted that this mlm is no longer in existance but they used to be headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. JewelWay International Inc. was established in November 1990 and was a network marketing company promoting fine jewelry.
JewelWay ran into legal trouble with the FTC in June of 1997 when the FTC was granted a restraining order against JewelWay based on a allegations in a lawsuit that JewelWay was operating a pyramid scheme. It was further alleged that the main source of revenue was from the recruitment of new members rather than the sale of their products to sources outside of the organization which indicated the probability of collapse in the near future. The lawsuit claimed that of the almost 200,000 people who became JewelWay Distributors at an average cost of $1,000 about 150,000 of those never earned a dime.
JewelWay settled the lawsuit in November of 1997 without admitting liability, the officers of JewelWay were ordered to pay $5 million which the FTC paid as restitution to the alleged victims of the scam. JewelWay as well as it's officers and representatives are restricted from operating a pyramid scheme which includes misrepresenting potential earnings and required product purchases and generating revenue from recruits and sales to recruits rather than outside sources.
There are quite a few stories from people who feel they were scammed by JewelWay, others who claim they were potential victims but saw through the scheme during recruitment and accusations that JewelWay resorted to high pressure, unethical recruitment practices. Others tend to defend JewelWay, claiming it did nothing wrong, operated in the same manner as any other MLM company.
