Herbalife Hires Former FTC Commissioner For Compliance Department

 
Herbalife Ltd. HLF has hired a former U.S. regulator to lead its compliance team, after the Federal Trade Commission opened an investigation into the embattled nutritional-supplement company in March.
Pamela Jones Harbour —who worked as an FTC commissioner from 2003 to 2010 and as a prosecutor for the New York State Attorney General’s office for 12 years—has been appointed senior vice president of global member compliance and privacy. She will lead a compliance team across 91 markets in the newly created role, Herbalife said Monday.
Ms. Harbour’s appointment comes as activist investors continue to face off over the company.
Herbalife, which sells weight-loss shakes and fitness supplements, has been pummeled by hedge fund manager William Ackman since December 2012, when he spent more than three hours in a Manhattan auditorium laying out his case for why he thinks the direct marketer is a pyramid scheme whose salespeople rely more on signing up new recruits than selling product. Mr. Ackman has repeatedly called for an FTC investigation into the company, and his firm, Pershing Square Capital Management, has bet about $1 billion that the company’s shares will fall.
The company has repeatedly defended its operations and has won the support of a number of Mr. Ackman’s hedge fund rivals, including Carl

Read more...

90,000 Checks On The Way To Defrauded Zeek Rewards Investors

 
The receiver for ZeekRewards.com said last week that more than 90,000 checks are in the mail as part of his first distribution of refunds from the defunct Lexington Internet company.
Kenneth Bell said the value of the 90,297 checks is a combined $134.3 million. However, a combined $23 million was withheld for tax purpose.
Bell stated in August that the payout for most recipients is 40 percent of what they were owed “using the rising-tide method of calculation already approved by the federal court.” A rising-tide distribution is used by courts as a method to pay recovered assets to defrauded investors. The method serves to distribute money in a way that leaves as many investors as possible with the same percentage recovery of their total investment.
Each person receiving a check is owed at least $100.
In August 2012, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused Rex Venture Group LLC, Zeekler, ZeekRewards.comand Paul Burks, their principal owner, of raising $850 million through unregistered securities. The companies were shut down and their assets frozen.
The companies raised the money from at least 2.2 million customers, including more than 230,000 in the United States and 47,000 in North Carolina.
U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen approved in July the distribution request of Sept.

Read more...

Morinda Set To Open First Store-Front In U.S.

 
The Making A Difference (M.A.D.) Team, one of the network marketing industry’s most forward-thinking and fastest-growing business groups, plans to open its first storefront networking and health awareness facility in the United States.
The facility, located in one of Wilmington, Delaware’s most popular retail and office areas, features two distinct spaces. The first, the M.A.D. Team Headquarters, allows members to teach and train entrepreneurs how to use cutting-edge business strategies to create their dream lifestyle. The second, the M.A.D. Team Store, provides an experiential environment where individuals can learn how to proactively improve their health.
Visitors can experience a variety of activities at the new location. Individuals can attend business-development presentations, participate in leadership trainings and attend various networking events. Additionally, visitors can receive complimentary AGE (advanced glycation end-product) health readings and sample Morinda’s newest AGE-fighting products.

“We are so excited to have a facility where individuals can come and learn how to improve their health in a proactive way,” said M.A.D. Team CEO and co-founder, Valencia Pamphile. “The science of AGEs gives us information that can help us live younger, longer and sharing this education in our new facility is so rewarding. I love what we are doing!”
 

The opening of The M.A.D.

Read more...

Restraining Order Filed Against Michael Hansen, CEO Of DubLi

 
Dustin Mitchell, who states he was the former V.P. of North American Sales Development, has filed a petition for order of protection against Michael Hansen, CEO of DubLi. The judge granted and signed the request today.
The order demands Michael Hansen maintain a distance of at least 5,000 feet from Dustin Mitchell as well as any contact via email, web, or telephone. A demand for reimbursement for medical and legal expenses was also entered into the filing.
Stalking petition was filed for: stalking, coercion, harassment, and threatening acts. The restraining order is also the first step in filing an injuctive relief that could possiby prevent Michael Hansen (a non-US resident) from conducting business in the continental U.S.  
A source shares that this is the beginning of many more steps that will be taken against Michael Hansen and DubLi regarding operations of the company. The restraining order is in effect in St. Louis, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Boca Raton. DubLi has an operating office in Florida but  Michael Hansen maintains a residence in Europe and Dubai. 
No additional information is available at this time on reaction from DubLi or Michael Hansen to the filing. 

Read more...