A federal jury found Paul Burks, the founder of ZeekRewards, guilty Thursday on all four charges in a $939 million Ponzi scheme.
It was one of the largest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history, according to federal regulatory officials and prosecutors. The companies, which debuted in January 2011, were shut down and their assets frozen in August 2012.
The jury needed less than three hours to come back with its verdicts, according to Lia Bantavani, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina. Burks, 67, of Lexington was found guilty of wire and mail-fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud, and tax-fraud conspiracy.
“For nearly two years, Burks used deceit and dishonesty to engineer an extensive Ponzi scheme that amassed millions of dollars from thousands of victims, many in the Western
Tag Archive for MLM Lawsuits
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Herbalife And The FTC Reach Settlement Agreement
by Ted Nuyten • • 0 Comments
Settlement Does Not Change Herbalife’s Business Model as a Direct Selling Company.
Herbalife Board of Directors Frees Carl Icahn to Acquire Up to 34.99% of the Company’s Outstanding Common Shares.
Global nutrition company Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF) (“Herbalife” or “the Company”) announced it has reached a settlement agreement with the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or the “Commission”) resolving the FTC’s multi-year investigation of the Company. The terms of the settlement do not change Herbalife’s business model as a direct selling company and set new standards for the industry. With the settlement agreement announced today, the FTC’s investigation of Herbalife is complete.
Herbalife and the Illinois Attorney General also reached a settlement, and the Company agreed to pay $3 million as part of this separate agreement. With the conclusion of the Illinois investigation, the Company is
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Youngevity Claims Wakaya Products Contain Lead And Arsenic
by Ted Nuyten • • 0 Comments
According to a letter Youngevity has send Wakaya Perfection the start up company products contain lead and Arsenic:
The letter:
“Youngevity discovered that Wakaya violates California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (“Prop 65”), which is codified at California Health & Safety Code § 25248.5 et seq., with respect to the products identified below.
These violations have occurred and continue to occur because Wakaya failed to provide clear and reasonable warnings concerning, inter alia, the excessive lead content in certain products.
This letter serves as a notice of these violations to Wakaya and the appropriate enforcement agencies. Pursuant to Section 25249.7(d) of the statute, Youngevity will seek leave to amend its Complaint in YGYI v. Wakaya after the sixty-day statutory period following effective service of this notice, unless the parties can reach a
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Is The DSA Still Relevant?
by Ted Nuyten • • 0 Comments
The USA Direct Selling Association (DSA) describes its role as “the national trade association for companies that offer entrepreneurial opportunities to independent sellers to market and sell products and services, typically outside of a fixed retail establishment”.
Lately several CEO’s and distributors are having doubts about the DSA added value while consumer watchdogs like TINA are plain negative.
Ramin Mesgarlou CEO – Global Wealth Trade and the Forensic Networker’s opinion:
One after one DSA companies fall to FTC, Vemma being the latest one. Herballife, Amway, ACN and many more are constantly being challenged or taken down by FTC for being an illegal pyramid so DSA needs to be asked this ONE important questions and that is
“Is DSA Still Relevant? “
We were part of DSA in 2008 and pulled out because quickly I realize they were more of
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TelexFree Fraud Victims Can Now File Claims Online
by Ted Nuyten • • 0 Comments
An online claim site is now live for victims of the TelexFree Inc. fraud.
Participants in the scheme, who number nearly 2 million and live in virtually every country in the world, can log in to the website telexfreeclaims.com and file claims for alleged losses, according to the bankruptcy trustee in the case.
The deadline for filing a claim is Sept. 26, although any payments will likely take much longer.
TelexFree, formerly based in Marlborough and Brazil, is believed to be the largest Ponzi scheme of all time, in terms of the number of people affected. The company, which nominally sold Internet phone service, grew into a vast global investment swindle, prosecutors have alleged, with investors believing they had $3 billion in their accounts.
TelexFree filed for federal bankruptcy protection two years ago. The company’s two
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Bonofa Management Arrested In Germany For $100 Million Fraud
by Ted Nuyten • • 0 Comments
According to an article in the German paper saarbruecker-zeitung the Bonofa management is arrested for an up to $100 million + fraud around Bonofa and Alpha Pool.
Master distributor Christian Goebel who lives on Ibiza – Spain was not immidiately available for a statement.
Founders Detlef Tilgenkamp (63), Thomas Kulla (54), Gernot Fuhr (60) and Martin Böhm (38) were last week arrested.
The google translation of the German news article:
Arrested Managers were the focus of financial investigation.
Established under a large raid in Saarland (Germany) financial jugglers celebrated on the Internet as “ingenious founders”
The four detained managers have since 2014 trouble with the Financial Supervisory. In addition to gang-fraud being investigated for breaches of the Banking Act.
After a major raid in which four financial jugglers were arrested, were more details on the activities of the
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Youngevity Vs. Wakaya Perfection Law Suit – Amended Complaint
by Ted Nuyten • • 0 Comments
The Youngevity Complaint seeks damages and injunctive relief, alleging that Wakaya Perfection intentionally interfered with Youngevity’s existing and prospective business relationships, and converted Youngevity’s proprietary business information for use in developing Wakaya’s nascent business.
Wakaya was formed by a small group of former Youngevity distributors and executives who broke from Youngevity in 2015.
Youngevity filed an Amended Complaint and documented the case with 300 pages.
A summary of the complaint:
From 1997 until March of 2016, Todd Smith was a top level Youngevity distributor. Wakaya is a multi-level marketing company that competes directly with Youngevity.
Through improper and unlawful means, and trade on the trust and confidence of their prominent Youngevity positions, Wakaya’s owners, operators, and promoters (all of whom were affiliated with Youngevity as officers, employees, or top level distributors) have interfered with and injured Youngevity’s business
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OneCoin CEO Ruja Ignatova Statement On China Rumors
by Ted Nuyten • • 0 Comments
According to an anti-network marketing website a few OneCoin members in China are arrested and that website is publishing the news if the whole company is in trouble. They also mention a scheduled event in China is cancelled.
The people arrested are a few individuals who were primary in illegal fundraising and represented crypto currency somehow.
I have reached out to OneCoin CEO Ruja Ignatova and the management and they stated as follow:
“Of course we know about the challenges of an economy like China.
Cryptocurrency is extremely successful as the Chinese are well known as embracing innovations. So OneCoin is pushing hard and already working on several licenses to enhance the business in China.
Dr. Ruja Ignatova and OneCoin management have invited 2,500 Chinese members to Macau on the 9th of May. This
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Network Marketing In India
by Ted Nuyten • • 0 Comments
India and network marketing, a sleeping Giant is awakening.
Although India is the home of 1.3 billion people with over 50% youth population and the 3rd largest economy (PPP) in the world, Multi-Level Marketing is only one billion dollar in annual sales in India and growth is stagnant.
Lack of clarity in law and countless Money Chain/Ponzy schemes are responsible for the same. But Legalization process of Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) in India is getting completed now. MLM started in India by European major Oriflame in 1995.
Although Direct Selling was legal as per the Indian law, Multi-Level Marketing often confused with Money Chain, which is banned by Prize Chit & Money Circulation Schemes (banning) Act, 1978. Many Fly by Night operators mushroomed in India in the name of MLM in the last decade.
Situation became critical
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Youngevity Files Suit Against Wakaya Perfection
by Ted Nuyten • • 0 Comments
Youngevity International, Corp. (YGYI) filed suit against Wakaya Perfection, LLC, a competing direct network marketing enterprise that began operations in 2016 and individuals involved in aiding and abetting Wakaya in the commission of tortious acts against Youngevity.
The Youngevity Complaint seeks damages and injunctive relief, alleging that Wakaya intentionally interfered with Youngevity’s existing and prospective business relationships, and converted Youngevity’s proprietary business information for use in developing Wakaya’s nascent business.
Wakaya was formed by a small group of former Youngevity distributors and executives who broke from Youngevity in 2015.
According to Youngevity’s Complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, the fledgling Wakaya venture secured products and investors at Youngevity’s expense through improper cross-recruiting practices, deliberate breaches of employment agreements, and targeted efforts encouraging other distributors to breach