A Geneva-based Sierra Leonean activist is urgently calling on the Sierra Leone government to take decisive action against QNET and its affiliated IGNITE network marketing operations, following a landmark court ruling in neighboring Ivory Coast that permanently shut down the company’s activities.

In a widely circulated Facebook video, Karim Kamara warned that thousands of Sierra Leoneans have become victims of what he described as a fraudulent scheme that functions as a front for human trafficking and financial exploitation. His appeal comes as courts in Côte d’Ivoire’s Economic and Financial Crimes Division (PPEF) delivered a sweeping verdict on July 30, 2026, ordering the permanent closure of QNET Africa Development Market (QNET ADM), imposing a 3 billion FCFA fine, and sentencing key leaders to up to five years in prison.

“The head office of QNET in Africa is based in Ivory Coast. As I speak, an Ivorian court has passed a judgment ordering the closure of QNET within the country,” Kamara stated in his video address. “They were found guilty of operating across Africa in a fraudulent manner and engaging in human trafficking.”

The Ivorian court confirmed prosecution claims that the network operated as a disguised Ponzi scheme, stripping victims of funds and travel documents. Legal proceedings are ongoing, with an Ivorian Member of Parliament implicated in the case and parliamentary immunity proceedings being initiated for questioning.

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Kamara’s concerns are reinforced by recent enforcement actions and investigative reporting documenting how criminal networks have exploited QNET’s name to lure young West Africans with false promises of overseas employment.

An investigation by BBC Africa Eye revealed that thousands of young people across West Africa are being lured by human trafficking scams commonly known as QNET. While QNET itself is a legitimate wellness and lifestyle company founded in Hong Kong, criminal gangs in West Africa are using its name as a front for illegal activities, targeting victims with promises of work opportunities in the United States, Canada, Dubai, and Europe.

The BBC investigation documented how victims are required to pay large sums of money for administrative costs, then often trafficked to neighboring countries and told they can only travel abroad once they recruit others into the scheme. The promised jobs never materialize.

In one case, a father from Guinea paid $25,000 to traffickers after his 22-year-old son and 18-year-old daughter were recruited from their remote village and taken captive in Sierra Leone. Police have conducted more than 20 raids over the past year, rescuing hundreds of trafficking victims.

Sierra Leonean authorities have already taken some action against QNET-related operations. In June 2026, police arrested 12 suspected QNET operatives during a major operation in Waterloo. The raid at Lovers Corner in Waterloo led to the arrest of three women and nine men, while several others escaped and remain at large.

Local Unit Commander Superintendent Bankolay Mansaray confirmed that officers encountered foreign nationals during the operation and identified them as suspected QNET operatives. All suspects were transferred to the Transnational Organized Crime Unit at Hastings for further investigation.

Sierra Leone’s Internal Affairs Minister AIG (Rtd.) Morie Lengor reaffirmed the government’s zero-tolerance stance against organized crime, human trafficking, and fraudulent networks, assuring that all suspects would be fully investigated and prosecuted.

Earlier, in April 2025, the Sierra Leone High Commission in The Gambia uncovered a criminal network allegedly linked to QNET trafficking dozens of young Sierra Leoneans to The Gambia. Victims were lured to pay between $1,000 and $1,500 on the pretext of receiving visas for the United States, Canada, or Australia. High Commissioner Martha Consilia Kanagbo found 21 young Sierra Leoneans who had been recruited to help convince others back home to join the network.

In January 2025, Court of Appeal Judge Honourable Justice Tonia Barnett remanded five individuals, including two Q-Net network marketers, on migrant smuggling charges.

QNET has responded to the Ivorian court decision with a statement acknowledging the ruling but expressing disappointment. “We respect the judicial process, but we regret the conclusions reached by the court. We will exercise the avenues of appeal available to us, convinced that our position will be fully and fairly examined on appeal,” the company stated on its official Facebook page.

The company has repeatedly denied affiliation with IGNITE, the network mentioned by Kamara, stating in a July 2026 statement that it has “absolutely no connection with IGNITE or the individuals implicated in these allegations”. QNET maintains that it does not recruit people with promises of overseas employment, migration pathways, or visa services, and that criminal syndicates misuse its name for fraudulent schemes.

Kamara, who described himself as speaking “for the young generation,” warned that QNET and IGNITE have established significant operations in Sierra Leone with more than 100 offices across the country.

“Regarding their main hubs in Sierra Leone and how they run this QNET ‘Ignite’ network marketing… Lungi and Waterloo are where they have their largest camps,” Kamara said. “Thousands of Sierra Leoneans are there and have now become victims.”

He expressed concern that government registration processes would not reveal the true nature of the operations. “They’re going to go to the government, they’re going to register and say, okay, this is a product we sell. And the government, they’re not going to know what the demand goes through,” he warned.

Kamara called on bloggers, media outlets, and community leaders to intensify awareness campaigns. “If we get the big platforms… to strictly educate people, sensitize them on radio stations, TV stations, organize programs, and go village to village… I believe we will be able to protect a better future for the young generation,” Kamara said.

According to US State Department statistics, between July 2022—when Sierra Leone’s anti-trafficking act was passed—and April 2025, there were only four trafficking convictions.

Kamara and other activists are urging the Sierra Leone government to strengthen enforcement and follow the example of neighboring countries that have taken more aggressive action against QNET-related operations.