I did some reading about GHPi. They are a private program, run out of Hong Kong, who is open to new members until they reach 20,000. The minimum investment is $100, but that plan is closing on April 15th. I think that the next minimum is $250. From what I could find, it looks like they invest in multiple stock markets and their own payment processor, but that's not verified. They say they opened in 2004 and two forum posts support this, but their first website dates from June 2006. According to their FAQ, they use e-gold, bank wires, Moneypay-Europe, Be-Cash, IOP, GHPcash, NetPay, e-bullion, and Alertpay. They have a sister site called Blue People.
That being said, there are more open questions than there are answers. It's strange that as I read through forum posts there were no real discussions about GHPi. There were those posting copies of information from the website and some simple "I got paid" or "I'm in/out." Lack of discussion, even for a private program, isn't good.
Here's the history as far as I've read (I'm not in it and none of the following is verified.)
- Began in 2004 with an email system. (Really?)
- June 2006 opened the website GHPi.org with 710 members and ~$5K in deposits and no withdraws. New members given 16 hours to deposit.
- December 2006 went private and proceeded to make multiple TOS/plan changes.
- March 21, 2007 reopened for new members by invitation and new members given 72 hours to deposit. Also announced that the lowest minimum deposit plan is closing on April 1st, then changed it to April 15th.
From their history, I speculate that they really opened in June 2006. There is no real proof of their outside income stream. Their TOS is a copy of many other sites, including the paragraph abount being US SEC exempt, which is weird for a Hong Kong company. Then there is the open/close/open of membership, forced rush to deposit, and plan changes. To top it off is their refusal to answer questions, other than those already answered on their site. These signal red flags. My speculation is that it is too late to make a new deposit.
Does anyone trust them? If yes, why?
Thanks,
Sharon