QNET, an international wellness and lifestyle-focused direct selling company, is participating in a regional workshop convened by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and INTERPOL at the Ecobank Head Office in Accra, Ghana. The workshop aims to strengthen cross-border cooperation among law enforcement agencies, prosecutors and private sector partners across West and Central Africa in response to evolving forms of human trafficking and associated fraud.
The EOCO–INTERPOL regional workshop brings together representatives from Ghana, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Senegal, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin and The Gambia, along with regional and international partners, to coordinate investigations, share intelligence and develop practical responses to criminal networks that exploit legitimate company identities to recruit, deceive and traffic victims.
Reiterating QNET’s efforts to address scams involving the misuse and misrepresentation of the company’s name, products and business model, Ramya Chandrasekaran, Chief Communications Officer of QI Group, the parent company of QNET, said: “QNET’s commitment to this issue goes beyond protecting our brand. When criminal networks misuse the name of a legitimate company to deceive, traffic and exploit vulnerable people, it becomes a matter of public safety and shared responsibility.”
“As part of our responsibility to the communities in which we operate, we are committed to supporting law enforcement, strengthening information sharing, raising public awareness, and helping communities recognise and report these schemes. Our collaboration with EOCO reflects our belief that sustained public-private cooperation is essential to disrupting these networks and protecting innocent people across the sub-region.”
QNET recently participated in the Global Fraud Summit organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and INTERPOL in Vienna, where it endorsed the Global Public-Private Partnership Framework against Fraud. At the Summit, QNET also highlighted its Memorandum of Understanding with EOCO as an example of practical public-private cooperation in tackling fraud, brand misuse and victim exploitation.
Under the EOCO–QNET MoU and ongoing collaboration, the partners have worked to:
• support investigations into criminal networks misusing the QNET brand;
• strengthen information sharing between stakeholders; and
• raise public awareness to help protect citizens from fraud and human trafficking.
Raymond Archer, EOCO’s Executive Director stated, “EOCO recognises the importance of working closely with private sector partners whose brands are misused by criminal networks to facilitate fraud and human trafficking. Our collaboration with QNET has helped strengthen information sharing, support investigations, and raise public awareness about these schemes. This regional workshop provides an important platform to deepen cross-border cooperation and build a more coordinated response to protect citizens across West and Central Africa.”
Chief Communications Officer of the QI Group, Ramya Chandrasekeran thanked all partners and institutions working tirelessly to combat all forms of cross-border crimes: “Our collaboration with EOCO has shown us the value of sustained public-private cooperation. No single institution can address this problem alone. Criminal networks operate across borders, so our response must also be coordinated, practical, and cross-border. We are grateful to EOCO and INTERPOL for bringing together the right people in this room. We are fully committed, and this workshop is an important opportunity to share intelligence, understand emerging patterns, and strengthen cooperation across West and Central Africa.”