- Extract from sales copy
- Review
- Your feedback
The idea?
... Dedicated to continuous improvement across all
levels.
... Dedicated to truth, honesty, freedom and integrity.
The plan is simple and straightforward. You are always
in charge of your money and your decisions. Helping others to help themselves creates abundance and wealth
for all.
Nothing is more rewarding than showing other members
how to achieve their dreams. It may mean being able to buy cars, boats or homes for cash. Retirement and
pensions cease to be a problem – no more having to depend on the government for handouts.
To inform potential members of this once in a lifetime
opportunity proven and approved advertising of all types is available to be sent out by our members. Responses
for more information are frequent.
Is this really possible?
We planned this system very carefully to ensure that
it produces results. Many years of trial and research went into the marketing data and strategies. It
has been test driven by us! We know it works for us and it will for you too. We pride ourselves on having
access to the best financial strategies anywhere in the world.
This fantastic programme builds true wealth fast –
faster than anything else. Nothing can beat it – it is the best.
Review:
Liberty Wealth Club is a copycat of The Ultimate Entrepreneur
Club (TUE Club), a multi-level scheme which we reviewed in the August 2007 issue of BOW.
We rated The Ultimate Entrepreneur Club Zero out of Ten because most people would lose money with it and
also it was illegal in the UK. The reason why most people would lose money with The Ultimate Entrepreneur
Club is because you have to recruit 6 people in order to make any money. 6 people is a lot - most people
who enter network marketing struggle even to recruit three people.
The Ultimate Entrepreneur Club is illegal in the UK because it is a multi-level scheme and it should comply
with the Trading Schemes Regulations, but it doesn't comply. That's a criminal offence.
One of the requirements of the Trading Schemes Regulations is that the maximum amount that a scheme can
legally demand from recruits in the first 7 days after signing the contract is £200, whereas the
Ultimate Entrepreneur Club demands $1,250 at the outset. Furthermore, the Regulations require a
scheme to give people the right to cancel their contract and have a full refund in the first 14 days after
signing, which this scheme does not, and neither does it give an address in the UK for the return of goods.
Also, such schemes are obliged to display the "Statutory Warning" wherever they mention earnings, as follows:
"It is illegal for a promoter or participant in a trading scheme to persuade anyone to make a payment
by promising benefits from getting other people to join a trading scheme. Do not be misled by claims
that high earnings can be easily achieved.".
The Ultimate Entrepreneur Club does not display this warning. Anyone who promotes Liberty Wealth
Club in the UK without this warning and without compliance with the other requirements of the Trading
Schemes Regulations is guilty of a criminal offence.
The Ultimate Entrepreneur Club itself was a remake of an earlier scheme called Investors International,which
was the brainchild of Dr. Rudolf Van Lin (real name Rudolf Alexander Victor Linschoten). The Royal Canadian
Mounted Police issued a public warning about Investors International in 1998. In 1999 the New Zealand
Securities Commission issued a Bulletin referring to court action which had been taken in Australia against
the company promoting the scheme and its director. In September 1999 Dr. Lin was convicted of fraud for
his involvement in a "prime bank" scheme and was jailed for nearly five years. The prime bank
scheme was called Sabre Asset Management and it was promoted to members of Investors International at
various conferences on luxurious cruises and in expensive hotels.
Liberty Wealth Club itself makes worrying references to seminars about "investments only the wealthy
are normally privy to" on its 5-7 day seminar cruise event, without giving any details about
who are the speakers or what their qualifications are or whether they are registered with the Financial
Services Authority or whether the investments are covered by the Financial Ombudsman scheme. They say
on their website, "These Key Seminars not only allow you to make more money, with our unique money
making plan, but show you where to put your money to make it work for you instead of you working for money".
We are not suggesting that these investments have anything to do with bogus schemes, but what we are saying
is that the lack of any kind of detail about them is clearly a concern.
You might have thought that the "Wealth" in Liberty Wealth Club came from learning about
and applying the information in the material provided as part of the courses and seminars. It doesn't.
The "Wealth" comes from selling this information to others. Under the heading "The
Liberty Wealth Club Marketing Plan" it says, "Marketing The Programme ... This is how
you make your money ..." and it goes on to explain the three levels in the club and the earnings
you can achieve from sales at each level.
Liberty Wealth Club has copied exactly the marketing same structure as The Ultimate Entrepreneur Club.
For example, you have to pay £650 to enter and you then have to recruit six people to lift yourself
off the Foundation Level.
And just like Ultimate Entrepreneur Club, Liberty Wealth Club has two higher levels - Key Seminar 1 which
you pay £3,200 for and you are told that you will make profits of £18,000 and Key Seminar
2 which you pay £16,000 for and you are told that you will make profits of £92,160.
Liberty Wealth Club shows exactly the same 6 x 6 profit matrix and, just like Ultimate Entrepreneur Club,
claims that "Your first six in the Foundation of Freedom sales can provide all the sales you need".
This is misleading because it assumes that everyone you recruit succeeds in themselves recruiting six
people. In practice, this is near impossible because many people drop out of multi-level schemes, and
even those who are keen rarely succeed in recruiting as many as six people.
There are other reasons why Liberty Wealth Club is illegal. It is breaking the European E-commerce Regulations
by not stating who is the owner of the business. Is it a proprietorial club, and if so who owns it? Or
is it a partnership? If so, who are the partners? Or is it owned by a limited company? The club is also
breaking European E-commerce Regulations by not stating its address. The name and address given at the
head of this review are the name and address shown for the person who registered and administers the website
at www. libertywealthclub.com. Coincidentally, Gary Foxcroft was also a big shot in The Ultimate Entrepreneur
Club until he jumped ship last September when Liberty Wealth Club was set up.
Liberty Wealth Club has also copied word for word whole blocks of text from the website of the Ultimate
Entrepreneur Club.
I wrote to ask Gary Foxcroft to ask him some questions. These questions appear below, together with replies
from a member of Liberty Wealth Club who said that he did not wish to be named. The Liberty Wealth Club
member subsequently said that he did not realise that his replies were to be published and he asserted
copyright over them. For that reason, his replies have been paraphrased:
1. Are you the owner of Liberty Wealth Club? If not, who owns it and where can people interested in joining
obtain the names and addresses of its officers?
Reply from Liberty Wealth Club member: The club is
not owned by Gary Foxcroft, He is a wholesaler of club materials. It is a company not based in Europe
and LWClub is 100% owned by Liberty Wealth Publishing Ltd. Its day to day business is run by an advisory
board under a strict private charter.
BOW reply: The reason why I addressed my questions to Gary Foxcroft is because he appears to be
the key person for Liberty Wealth Club. He registered the club's website last September using his own
name and telephone number and a PO Box address which is registered to his own home address, and the WhoIs
details for the site show that he is the admin, technical and billing contact for the site also. He answered
the emails I sent to him in February 2009 in an authoritative fashion, asserting that "Liberty
Wealth Club is not connected to [The Ultimate Entrepreneur Club] in any way". Finally, in February,
he said that he would forward my email to Liberty Wealth Club for their consideration, and he told me
that the email address of Liberty Wealth Club is info@libertywealthclub.com. Then he sent me an email
from info@libertywealthclub.com to confirm that he had forwarded my email to the club. So it seems that
he is so closely involved in the running of Liberty Wealth Club that he uses their own email address.
Presumably, also, Gary Foxcroft needs to correct his public profiles on plaxo.com where he says that he
is a "Co-founder" of Liberty Wealth Club and also on ecademy.com where he says that he
is "one of 12 co-founders".
However, since you state that Liberty Wealth Club is not owned by Gary Foxcroft but by a limited company
based in some undisclosed location overseas, I am copying this present email to the email address at info@libertywealthclub.com.
You have not given the country of incorporation and address of Liberty Wealth Publishing Ltd. However,
where it is incorporated does not change the fact that it needs to be registered at Companies House. It's
an offshore company which is trading in the UK through a UK branch - apparently located at Gary Foxcroft's
home address. Company accounts and details of the officers and owners of the company need to be submitted
to Companies House.
Moreover, since Liberty Wealth Publishing Ltd is clearly trading in Europe, then its business practices
need to conform with European regulations.
2. Since Liberty Wealth Club states that it is "dedicated
to truth, honesty, freedom and integrity", why doesn't it give the name and address of its owner?
It is also required to do this under European E-Commerce Regulations.
Reply from Liberty Wealth Club member: The club
teaches people the truth as to what is really going on behind the scenes, who they are and what they can
do about it so they can personally benefit. This is a sensitive subject. However, we also teach members
about privacy and to publish private details about any of its members, including details of trustees,
would contravene a key belief of the membership.
BOW reply: Now you are talking about trustees. I thought it was a limited company run by directors
which owns a club run by officers? Where do the trustees come in? What is "really going on behind
the scenes" at Liberty Wealth Club itself?
3. Why do you say on your website at www.garyfoxcroft.com
that Liberty Wealth Club is "nothing to do with MLM" when not only is it patently obvious
that it is MLM but Liberty Wealth Club itself clearly believes that it is MLM because at the foot of nearly
every page on its website at www.libertywealthclub.com it bears the statutory warning which is only required
for MLM schemes i.e.:
"It is illegal for a promoter or participant in a trading scheme to persuade anyone to make a
payment by promising benefits from getting other people to join. Do not be misled by claims that high
earnings can be easily achieved."?
Here's a link to the booklet of the DTI (now BERR) which explains about Trading Schemes:
http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file24757.pdf
Reply from Liberty Wealth Club member: I believe
that the LWC is not an MLM scheme. Your comment about about the wording on the website is noted, however,
and I understand that this will be removed when the website is re-written.
BOW Reply: The question of whether Liberty Wealth
Club is or is not an MLM scheme is not a question of belief - it's a question of fact. According to the
facts of Liberty Wealth Club's Marketing Programme as publicised on its web site, it's a multi-level scheme
because there are a number of levels and people at the higher levels receive commissions based on the
sales made by people at the lower levels. For example, there are two different levels within the Foundation
Level - Member Retailer being a new entrant who has not yet succeeded in bringing six other members into
the scheme and who receives £50 for each person he introduces, and Mentor Wholesaler who receives
commission ten times as high i.e. £500 for each of the first six new members brought in by each
Member Retailer in his team.
There are also two different levels at the next stage, Key Seminar 1, under which you don't receive any
commission for your first six Key Seminar 1 sales - these all go to the person who introduced you, who
receives commission of £2,560 for each of your sales. Once you have succeeded in selling six Key
Seminar 1's, then you too start to receive commission of £2,560 on the first six sales of Key Seminar
1 made by each member of your team.
Liberty Wealth Club needs to consult with lawyers to have the scheme changed and draw up proper documentation
so that it complies with the Trading Scheme Regulations.
The Trading Schemes Regulations were set up to protect members of the public from getting carried away
by dreams of earning a lot of money from multi-level schemes and investing money which they later regretted.
Running a multi-level scheme which does not comply with the Trading Scheme Regulations is a criminal offence.
4. In February this year I emailed Liberty Wealth Club
to ask them for a copy of the Distributor's Agreement, as required by law under the Trading Schemes Regulations.
I never received it. Could you please provide me with a copy of the agreement which Liberty Wealth Club
presumably provided you with when you joined? If Liberty Wealth Club is not providing recruits with an
agreement which complies with the law, then Liberty Wealth Club is clearly an illegal scheme.
Reply from Liberty Wealth Club member: A contract
is attached.
BOW reply: The contract you have sent me does not
even define what Liberty Wealth Club is, let alone give its address. This contract says that Liberty Wealth
Club is a private club, but it can't be private because it is openly touting for members on the Internet.
The club is clearly carrying on a commercial activity and it is obliged to conform with the law. This
contract would be thrown out by any court because it does not give members of Liberty Wealth Club all
the rights they are entitled to as members of the multi-level scheme which the club operates, such as
protection from being asked to pay more than £200 in the first 7 days of joining a scheme and a
90-day right to a refund for any goods they return.
5. Who are Liberty Wealth Club's "experts in their
given fields" who are going to speak at Key Seminar 1 and when is this going to take place?
Reply from Liberty Wealth Club member: The seminar
dates are notified to the membership as and when they are arranged. So far we have had two. Because the
subject matter at the seminars is sensitive, the speakers want to remain anonymous for their own protection.
Also, Liberty Wealth Club has signed confidentiality agreements with the speakers and so it is prevented
from publicising who they are or where they are based. Members who have attended these seminars have so
far not been disappointed.
BOW reply: Without details of the names of the speakers
and their credentials, it's impossible to know whether the advice they give would be likely to have any
value and whether or not it would be risky to follow it. Hopefully, any members of Liberty Wealth Club
would consult with registered financial advisors before making any changes to their financial arrangements
or making any investments.
6. Who are the "foremost guest speakers and experts"
who will be speaking at Liberty Wealth Club's Key Seminar 2 and when is this going to take place?
Reply from Liberty Wealth Club member: LWC have
a preliminary KS2 planned for 2010 but no dates have been released yet, with regard to speakers I will
repeat my comments above.
BOW reply: as for question 4 above.
7. Since Liberty Wealth Club's seminars cover matters
such as "global investments normally reserved for the rich" what assurances can you give
that the investments are in reputable companies with appropriate safeguards? I am sure you will agree
that this matter is very important because in September 1999 Dr. Rudolf Van Lin was convicted of fraud
because he became mixed up in a bogus prime bank scheme promoted to members of his organisation Investors
International when they went on their offshore cruises to learn how to become rich.
Reply from Liberty Wealth Club member: IT
IS INCORRECT TO LINK Liberty Wealth Club with Investors International and The Ultimate Entrepreneurs Club.
Liberty Wealth Club has nothing to do with either Investors International or The Ultimate Entrepreneurs
Club. I did not know Dr. Lin personally (he died in June 2007). I would not personally comment on his
actions when I have no first hand personal knowledge.
BOW reply: There are some undeniable links between Liberty Wealth Club and The Ultimate Entrepreneurs
Club. Dr. Lin sadly fell foul of un-registered and unqualified "advisers" and "experts"
who acted as speakers on his cruises and who persuaded members of his club to make bogus investments.
The Ultimate Entrepreneur Club was inspired by Dr. Lin and was run by his daughter Simone Burns Linschoten.
Liberty Wealth Club certainly has some "links" with The Ultimate Entrepreneurs Club, even if
it is limited to copying much of their material for its website and copying their structure for its courses
and its marketing plan. I asked you what assurances you could give that only reputable investments would
be recommended to your members and you have not answered this question.
8. Do you know why Liberty Wealth Club has copied whole
blocks of text from the website of The Ultimate Entrepreneur Club?
Reply from Liberty Wealth Club member: I can't say
that I do but I am aware that a full re-vamp of the website is currently underway.
9. Since Gary Foxcroft was previously promoting The Ultimate Entrepreneur
Club, can you confirm whether or not the material people pay Liberty Wealth Club for is also copied from
The Ultimate Entrepreneur Club?
Reply from Liberty Wealth Club member: Liberty Wealth
Club has not copied information from The Ultimate Entrepreneur Club. The concepts are, however, similar.
In my opinion Liberty Wealth Club gives more information than TUE and represents greater value for money.
10. It seems to me that anyone who regrets joining Liberty
Wealth Club has a 90-day right to a refund for any goods they return under the Trading Schemes Regulations.
Do you have any comment on this?
Reply from Liberty Wealth Club member: LWC is
a specialist publisher and members purchase products. There is a 14 day cancellation period during which
time purchasers can return products for a full refund.
BOW reply: Because Liberty Wealth Club markets its
materials with a multi-level scheme, it needs to comply with the law for such schemes. Under the law,
customers of Liberty Wealth Club have a 90-day right to a full refund for goods they have bought.
Closing Comments from Liberty Wealth Club member:
Some of your comments give me the impression that you
believe you need to operate in a society which is conditioned, regulated and monitored. Our members do
not share this belief.
Our members want to be free of regulatory control and want to live their lives as they wish.
This is a fundamental human right that has been eroded.
The Liberty Wealth Club materials teach people to control their own lives without being influenced by
other people. Liberty Wealth Club do not seek praise or rankings in organisations such as yours and will
take action in respect of anything that is said or printed in a public media that is untrue or libellous.
BOW closing comments:
My comments have been directed at the rights of Liberty
Wealth Club's members and potential members. Liberty Wealth Club tries to tell them that they have fewer
rights than they actually have under the law.
You and the members of Liberty Wealth Club have chosen to
live in a regulated society. Therefore, you either obey the rules or you risk substantial problems. If
you and the members of Liberty Wealth Club don't want to live in a regulated society, then you should
perhaps consider emigrating to a country where there are few rules?
Otherwise, it seems to me that Liberty Wealth Club has 3
options to avoid problems:
1. Consult with its UK lawyers to change the structure of
its current MLM scheme and draw up appropriate documentation so that it is legal in the UK; or
2. Change it from a multi-level scheme to a single level
scheme in which members receive commission only on sales which they themselves personally make; or
3. Simply sell the material for a price, in a normal fashion,
with no marketing commission plan.
If people are recommending Liberty Wealth Club to their
friends because the material is as good as you say it is and not just because they hope to earn £18,000
at Key Seminar Stage 1 or £92,160 at Key Seminar Stage 2, then option 2 or option 3 should be viable.
Rating:
○○○○○○○○○○
BOW Notice: A zero score or a low score means that in our opinion the business model or the investment
model has flaws and/or that we have found inadequate evidence to back up claims about earnings, sales,
profits etc. It doesn't mean this evidence does not exist and it doesn't mean that the promoters are unprofessional
or dishonest. Questions arising are normally contained within the body of the review, and readers who
are interested should contact the company with these questions and/or questions of their own.
Your
feedback:
Have you tried this opportunity?
If you would like to comment on it please send
us an email. Your feedback will then be posted here anonymously unless you tell us that you want
your contact details included.
Dear Sirs
thank you for the read out on the Liberty Wealth Club, and I wish to ask the following questions, it would
appear that we do not have the full story on this enterprise, first it would appear that you do not have
a complete overview of the organization and of how it is structured, it would be an impossibility to make
a rational decision on it unless you understand the aims of the organization, I feel that the overview
which was sent is not completely correct and might give a biased opinion, firstly the Club is by invitation
only as it is private, secondly it is now going over 15 years with a huge membership worldwide, with regards
to Dr Lin I am still doing research on him as he is now deceased, as this is an educational program you
do not have to bring anyone into it, but of course their are incentives which is based on a 6x6 Matrix
with the money passed up,but you do not get this for nowt, their are quiet a few different aspects to
the Cub with everything being self financing, but that is not the best aspect to the club as their are
many testimonials and live contacts from various members, you should give a look in on the following thelibertywealthclub.com
and grab yourself a cup of coffe or what ever and have a look at the excelent videos produced
sincerely
Brook
__________________________________
Dear Sir/Madam,
I have just read your Business Opportunity Watch assessment
of the Liberty Wealth Club. Looking over your criteria in comparison to you rating I have to say I was
surprised at your rating! I have personal first hand experience with the Liberty Wealth Club for 18 months
and I would say based on that my personal investment for membership and the return I have had (on the
education alone) this was one of the very things I have ever done. I really cannot put a price on the
education I have received.
In financial terms my return is to date is approximately
50 times what I invested. And that is without getting anyone else to join – just from my education
and my application of it. In addition to this you receive fantastic back and help from real live people
who know what they are about. The Liberty Wealth Club is a private club and its membership is by invitation
only.
I would highly recommend this education to anyone including
your good self. In my personal opinion and based on my first hand experience and knowledge of MLM marketing
and pyramid schemes over the last 30 odd years the Liberty Wealth Club does not fall into either of these
categories. I personally have always declined offers to join such schemes as they do usually (95% of the
time) benefit the few at the top.
Personally - I cannot see how you can give am accurate
rating something until you have;
1) - tried it and have first hand personal knowledge
and experience
And;
2) - obtained feed back from those involved
On this basis it is my personal opinion your rating criteria
is not accurate and does not give a clear picture.
Some of the best examples of Pyramid and multilevel marketing
schemes that I have personal first hand knowledge of are Pension Funds, Banks and bankers commercial and
private, any bank, any pension fund, credit card companies. Since people have make investments into these
and have lost billions - lost their life savings etc. I would humbly suggest you put them through your
criteria and see what kind of rating you would come up with for say Barclays, Northern Rock, not to mention
Bernie Madoff and Fred the Shred (RBS) you may think these people are in the minority but they are not.
I think if you did that I believe you would help a great many people.
I have to say I like your website and what it stands
for – providing information on business opportunities and you have probably saved a few or a lot
of people money by what you do -, however points 1 and 2 above in my opinion are required for an accurate
rating and a good example of a similar company to your own is “The UK’s No 1 Business Opportunity
Resource” they at least - obtain first hand experience.
Sincerely Yours
Clubber
Editorial Reply:
Firstly, it's a criminal offence to promote Liberty Wealth Club in the UK and, secondly, history has shown
that most people lose money with programmes like this where the only money that comes in (which is distributed
to people already in the scheme) comes from money paid into it by new recruits.
You are wrong in saying that Liberty Wealth Club is "a private club and its membership is by invitation
only". This is merely a marketing ploy used by the people who set up the scheme to try to give
it the air of mystery and exclusivity. The fact is that this scheme is widely touted on the Internet ...
and to get an invitation to join it, all you have to do is apply.
Thanks for your "invitation" to join Liberty Wealth Club, but we don't join any schemes or business
opportunities or franchises etc, let alone an illegal one like Liberty Wealth Club. There are two reasons
for this.
The first one is that once you join a recruitment scheme then any review you give of it is bound to be
biased towards giving a good review because you benefit financially if more people join it.
The second reason is that we don't need to join a scheme, business opportunity, franchise etc to know
if it is any good or not. All the signs are already there in the marketing material if you know what to
look for and how to research the claims the company makes. As the editor I've had 14 years' experience
of reviewing and researching schemes, business opportunities, franchises etc so I've seen just about every
conceivable offer and I've seen what's happened to it.
I haven't seen any other reliable source of unbiased reviews on the Internet. The site you mention does
not normally try business opportunities themselves unless they are thinking about promoting the opportunity
themselves ... in which case, how can their reviews be unbiased? The feedback contained on their members
site from members who have tried an opportunity is very useful provided you can distinguish the unbiased
feedback from the feedback from people with a vested interest e.g. people who are in a recruitment scheme
and promoters and their associates.
We do have feedback on our site, but it's posted together with the review, so that readers can make up
their own minds from seeing both sides.
In the case of Liberty Wealth Club, people thinking of joining it clearly have a decision to make. Do
they want to join a scheme which they know is illegal and is the type of scheme where most people lose
money, and then try to make money by committing the criminal offence in the UK of persuading other people
to join it? That's a personal decision, but at least if they have read this then if they still decide
to join Liberty Wealth Club they will go into it with their eyes open.
_________________________________
Hi
I am delighted to have read your view of the Liberty Wealth Club. Which you state is illegal. Please could
you show any documentation that concurs with your opinion? Also on the fact that people have lost money
and it is indeed a pyramid scheme. Looking forward to receiving your reply!
Kind regards
Fred
Editorial Reply:
I think that if you read the review again you will find
that it explains quite clearly why it is illegal. The Trading Schemes Regulations which Liberty Wealth
is required to comply with - but doesn't - are explained in a booklet issued by the DTI (now called BERR),
which you can find at this link:
http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file24757.pdf
In essence (subject to certain specific exemptions which
do not apply to Liberty Wealth Club) any scheme is required to comply with the Trading Schemes Regulations
if the people in it receive (or are led to believe that they may receive) payments relating to sales made
by other people in the scheme. The Trading Schemes Regulations were introduced to protect consumers and
they give people in multi-level schemes a number of important rights.
We have been contacted by three people who have lost money
with this scheme.
If you want to take this matter further, Isuggest you contact
either your local Trading Standards office or a lawyer.
Hope this helps.
Kind regards
Marian
Marian Owen
Editor of BOW
__________________________________
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