Emerald Passport Review and Profile

Emerald Passport no longer appears to be active as a direct sales company.

Emerald Passport’s operations collapsed during 2009 and did not return as an active direct-selling company.

Original Npros business profile for Emerald Passport, preserved below for archival purposes:

Emerald Passport Inc. was a Panama-based educational-products company led by President Alonso de la Guardia. Company promotional materials described the business as having been incorporated in 1990, although its Internet-based direct-selling opportunity became most visible during the 2000s. Emerald Passport marketed financial education, personal-development, wealth-building, real-estate, and self-improvement programs through independent resellers. Its principal offerings included the Passport to Prosperity online home-study program, the Wealth and Self live conference, and the higher-level Millionaires Club program.

The company used a high-ticket "two-up" or pass-up sales structure rather than a conventional retail-focused MLM compensation plan. Contemporary marketing materials listed Passport to Prosperity at $1,295 with a $1,000 reseller commission. A new participant's first two qualifying sales were generally passed to the sponsor before the participant could retain commissions from subsequent sales. Higher-level programs carried substantially larger prices and commissions; promotional materials listed the Wealth and Self Conference at $5,995 with a $4,500 commission. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission later reported that participants were encouraged to make annual payments based on the prospect of earning between $1,000 and $10,000 for introducing new participants, along with additional commissions generated through later recruits.

In May 2009, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission filed Federal Court proceedings against Australian promoter Cosic Holdings Pty Ltd and director John Cosic over their participation in Emerald Passport. On December 10, 2009, the ACCC announced that the Federal Court had found Cosic Holdings participated in an illegal international pyramid selling scheme established by Emerald Passport Inc. The court found that the Australian promoter operated websites, printed promotional materials, arranged advertising, and received participant payments connected to the scheme. Cosic Holdings and John Cosic were restrained from participating in similar schemes, required to publish corrective notices, and ordered to pay the ACCC's legal costs.