The company was first known as GoldQuest and then QuestNet before the name was shortened to QNet in 2010. In the beginning, it made custom commissioned commemorative coins and later began selling jewellery and watches. In 1999, Qnet expanded its operations to Malaysia and Singapore and began a partnership with B.H. Mayer’s Mint, a German – based mint coin facility.
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By 2002, the company was active in India, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Eastern Europe
QNet was founded in 1998 in Hong Kong by Malaysian businessmen Vijay Eswaran and Joseph Bismark. Though born and brought up in Malaysia, Eswaran undertook his higher education in the United Kingdom where he learned how multi – level marketing schemes work. He subsequently worked in the Philippines in a multi-level marketing company.
In 2000, Qnet was the official distributor of the Sydney Olympic Games commemorative coins, and would later be named a distributor at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
The company expanded its operations to Dubai, India, Indonesia and Thailand in 2001. Qnet started to diversify its products in 2002 into travel and vacations by partnering with QVI Club brand holidays. During this time, the company also announced that it was the official coin distributor for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and an expansion into Europe, Australia and Sri Lanka
In 2005, Qnet acquired QI Comm, a British telecommunications company. That same year, the company introduced aspIRe Magazine and announced that there were one million Qnet independent representatives around the world. In 2006, Qnet began marketing energy, health and nutritional products. That same year, Qnet acquired Prana Resorts and Spa, a vegetarian holiday resort in Koh Samui. Qnet also acquired the Swiss watchmaker, Cimier. In 2007, the QI Group acquired Down To Earth (DTE), a vegetarian organic health store chain in Hawaii
The company announced its sponsorship of Team Meritus, a Malaysian motor racing team, and became a sponsor for the Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting Business Forum in 2007. From 2007 and 2012, Qnet’s direct sales increased by 70%
From 2009 to 2012, Qnet was an official sponsor of the Asian Football Confederation during the AFC Champions League. In 2010, the company partnered with Virgin Racing. Qnet received the TRUSTe Privacy Certification in late 2012. In 2013, Qnet announced its intention to shift its manufacturing operations to India and to open an office in Russia. The company’s QI Tower in Malaysia received the 2013 Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Green Mark Gold Award.
In 2014, Qnet started a three -year partnership with Manchester City football club to become the club’s official direct selling partner. The deal was then expanded in 2017, and signed a similar deal with the Confederation Of African Football in 2018.
Qnet changed its name repeatedly and launched at least 76 companies (as per the Bombay High court order of May 2016), often to sell lesser-known products manufactured by smaller companies using a multilevel marketing/direct sales model. Common people (IR in Qnet parlance) were taught to sell these products (often through workshops). Sellers earned commissions for each new seller / buyer brought into the fold.
Since it opened in 1998, Qnet (Questnet at the time) promoted gold and silver coins. The coin collection business was outlawed in some countries. Though registered in Hong Kong, the company has never operated there or in China. Its majority customer base remains in India and a few African countries. A few years later Questnet changed its name to Qnet and offered additional products via the MLM system. It promotes its products using claims “that would not pass official muster in much of the world.” Despite claiming to be an e-commerce based business, an ordinary retail customer can purchase a product only if they have a referrer ID of an independent Qnet representative. Qnet used websites such as http://www.Qnetindia.in, http://www.Qnetindia.net, http://www.Qnet.net and http://www.questnet.net to conduct its business. These were blocked by Indian Computer Emergency response team (CERT) following a court order. Other websites like portal.Qnetindia.net, are under investigation.
The company continues to operate in countries including India, and sells its products using a multi level marketing model, whereby independent representatives refer the products to consumers and receive compensation based on the sales volume of their referrals and the sales volume of other independent representatives in their teams.
The company has operations in more than 30 countries with offices in Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Philippines, United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Coted’ Ivoire and Rwanda with franchise companies in India. Singapore and Turkey
It was sued by Egypt, Rwanda and Ski Lanka for allegedly operating a product-based pyramid scheme. The company and its franchise Vihaan are under investigation in India. The Bombay High Court denied the anticipatory bail plea of the directors of Vihaan Direct Selling Pvt Ltd., a franchise of Qnet, which included world amateur billiards champion Michael Ferreira after it was earlier rejected by Sessions Court. They were facing charges of cheating and forgery The court observed that “the deceit and fraud is
camouflaged under the name of e-marketing and business” The Delhi High Court also called it a multi-victim scam and refused to quash FIR against the directors of Indian franchise of Qnet, Vihaan Direct Selling Private Limited. The Serious Fraud Investigation Office,
in its report on GoldQuest and QuestNet India has called multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes run by overseas operators as “a potential threat to national security”. The Government of India ordered the Serious Fraud Investigation Office to file prosecution against GoldQuest International and QuestNet Enterprise under the Companies Act and Indian Penal Code. A brief executive summary of the SFIO report is now available in the public domain. The company has denied the allegations.
In 2019, Malou Caluza was announced as Qnet’s new CEO, becoming the first female to hold the position.
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