The BBC has published the results of its own journalistic investigation into the activities of the fake London design studio Madbird. As it turned out, for a long time a certain Ali Ayyad, who presents himself as the founder of the studio and former creative director of Nike, created and maintained the illusion of a successful design agency. He compared himself to Elon Musk, saying that Musk works 16 hours a day, and he tries to work 17 hours. Ayad used phrases from the arsenal of Steve Jobs and in every possible way inspired the employees he hired. At the same time, employees were recruited for a six-month trial period remotely. As a result, none of them got a job or money.
All contracts with workers were based on a commission system. After passing the probationary period, they were promised a fixed salary of $47.3 thousand. Until then, they will receive a percentage of the deal. As the BBC notes, most of the hired employees are novice professionals from around the world. They were promised compensation for moving to London on successful work, which was additionally encouraging. Some had no choice but to agree to the terms offered.
As a result, all the employees worked for nothing. Some, sensing something was wrong, left after a few weeks. But most worked through the entire trial period, borrowing from parents and friends or taking out loans. The longer an employee stayed, the more difficult it was to leave because of the fear that the deal on the order you were working on was about to go through. In addition, in the midst of the pandemic, it was very difficult for many to find another job.
One of the employees suspected something was wrong when she decided to check where she would go after the end of the pandemic. Instead of the offices shown in the promotional videos, Google Street View showed a luxury apartment building in the London Borough of Kensington at the Madbird headquarters address provided. The building was exclusively residential, and there were no offices in it. An employee, along with a colleague, decided to dig deeper and found out that all the work that Madbird presented as her own was stolen from other designers. Some colleagues with whom they corresponded on the Web did not exist at all.
Not knowing who was behind the scam, the girls were frightened and did not dare to announce the discovered fraud on their own. Instead, they sent out a letter to all employees from an addressee under the pseudonym Jane Smith., In which they talked about the immoral and unethical behavior of the company, including stealing other people's work and "fabricating" team members. The BBC noticed this appeal and launched an investigation, which confirmed fraud by Madbird.
Madbird hasn't been on the market for ten years, it said to employees. She was registered on September 23, 2020 by Ali Ayad. At least six people from the company's management do not exist in reality - their profiles on the Web were randomly posted photos of users published in the public domain under fictitious names. These profiles could communicate with employees and send them emails.
The BBC has reached out to all 42 brands on the Madbird partner list. Those that responded to the request denied cooperation with this company. Similarly, cooperation was denied by all universities and any companies listed on the site and biographies of the leadership. The portfolio of design work on the Madbird site was formed from the work published on the Internet.
After the mass mailing, Ali Ayyad told staff that he was completely in the dark. He promised to take full responsibility for what happened, remove the Madbird site and suspend all current work until the errors are corrected. Deceived employees found themselves out of work in the midst of a pandemic and in debt. One of them, having worked for six months, accumulated a debt of $13.6 thousand. Someone quit a good job, being enamored with Ayyad's promises. Many expected to move to the UK at the end of their probationary period.
Deceived workers are trying to get compensation through the courts. They file claims against Madbird, so, as the BBC explains, if representatives of the company prove Madbird's insolvency in court, no one will pay compensation. The only one who was paid at least some money received a transfer in the amount of $40. At the same time, the employee worked for the company for almost two weeks.
Representatives of the BBC managed to meet Ayad on the street in London. He denied any involvement in creating fake profiles and stealing other people's work. In response to a question about the office, he assured that this is a virtual office, and Madbird is a digital company.
bbabo.Net