Word: andele
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...wealthy U.S. business executives, Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos, faced indictments last week on criminal charges that they had defrauded the Canadian government of more than $22 million in import duties between 1965 and 1980. Van Andel, 58, and DeVos, 56, are chairman and president of Amway, a large direct-selling organization that claims $1.5 billion in annual sales and at least 1 million distributors, mostly part-timers, who peddle the company's diverse line of products, from laundry detergents to health food...
...Andel and DeVos founded the company, and they and their families own the whole thing. Forbes calculated in September that together the executives were worth $550 million, which put them well up on the magazine's list of the 400 richest Americans. Though Amway has its headquarters in tiny Ada, Mich., Van Andel and DeVos are widely known for their espousal of conservative political and economic ideas. Moreover, Van Andel served in 1979-80 as chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. DeVos was the Republican National Committee's finance chief until he was fired in August...
...criminal charges, which were also brought against Amway itself and two other top company executives, appeared to take Van Andel and DeVos by surprise. But Amway's troubles in Canada are nothing new. Two years ago the Canadians brought suit against the company to collect $118 million in back customs taxes and penalties, arguing that Amway had understated the value of the goods it was importing for sale...
DeVos and Van Andel say the Canadians approved the company's system for handling valuations back in 1965, but the Canadians are arguing that Amway never stuck to that plan at all. Further, they claim that Amway fabricated bogus invoices to fake a low level of wholesale prices. After the customs people filed civil charges against the company, a criminal investigation leading to the indictments was begun by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police...
...Andel said Amway was "totally innocent of any wrongdoing." Said DeVos: "The 1965 agreement was made between honorable people at the time." DeVos also told TIME, "We don't think they have a case. In no way whatsoever are we crooked...