MLM Defense: FTC Earnings Claims and Nonsolicitation Clauses
Welcome to Wiley’s update on recent developments and what’s next in consumer protection at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In this newsletter, we analyze recent regulatory...more
Historically, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has touted self-regulation as integral to consumer protection. This has included encouraging industries to work with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) in developing a...more
Last week, a class action was filed in California state court alleging that Optavia, a multilevel marketing (MLM) company selling weight loss products and services, violated California's Automatic Renewal Law (ARL). The case,...more
In November 2019, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against direct selling wellness company Neora, LLC (f/k/a Nerium International, LLC) and its Chief Executive Officer alleging that the company operates as an...more
Co-Founder of Fraudulent Cryptocurrency Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison - Karl Sebastian Greenwood, a citizen of Sweden and the United Kingdom and co-founder of the cryptocurrency OneCoin, was sentenced to 20 years in...more
“Blessing Loom” Scheme Unravels in FTC Settlement - Esoteric trappings can’t save pyramid-scheme-by-another-name - Neolawgism - By certain ironclad laws of demography, we aren’t allowed to add terms to the...more
Confidential arbitration clauses present an uphill battle to litigants seeking their day in court. When it comes to disputes in multilevel marketing matters, what is reasonable to fight and what is not?...more
Nicole Westbrook, Jones & Keller in Denver, Colorado, and Spencer Reese, Reese & Richards in Utah, discuss FTC proposed rules on earnings claims and nonsolicitation clauses for network marketing companies and their...more
FTC Tries to Clean Out 25 Fake Disinfectant Websites - But all information about scheme masterminds has been wiped away - Less Is More - There are elaborate schemes out there – boy, have we covered them. Misdirection, shadowy...more
Last week, DOJ announced the indictment of two former Herbalife executives in China for participating in a bribery scheme over a ten-year period. Herbalife, a multi-level marketing company, was not charged and its...more
China continues to be a high-risk location for US companies to do business. While the current administration has laid numerous tariffs on Chinese goods, the fact that it holds 6 billion potential consumers will continue to...more
The Federal Trade Commission reached a $150 million deal with multilevel marketing (MLM) defendants that also includes a ban from the business. ...more
In multi-district litigation arising out of the collapse of TelexFree, a company that signed up over one million promoters of a bare-bones Voice over Internet Protocol before ultimately declaring bankruptcy and admitting to...more
The sixteen month long lawsuit between the Federal Trade Commission and Vemma Nutrition Company has come to a negotiated resolution under terms which will allow Vemma to continue operating its business under restrictions...more
The FTC announced today that it had settled charges with multi-level marketer and seller of health and wellness drinks Vemma over allegations that it operated a pyramid scheme. The FTC initially filed the action in August...more
Over the past two years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has stepped up enforcement actions against pyramid schemes and related affinity frauds. Last week, in a speech at the University of Illinois at Chicago,...more
On August 7, 2015, Justice R. LeBlanc of the Federal Court of Canada dismissed a motion to certify a class action in Murphy v. Amway Canada Corporation, clarifying the conditions a proposed class plaintiff must meet in order...more
Following the disclosure of the massive Madoff fraud, Ponzi scheme cases became a staple of SEC enforcement. More recently the agency seems to be focusing on another type of investment fraud scheme — pyramid schemes. At the...more
Taiwan had approximately 369 multi-level marketing (MLM) companies and a total of 3.09 million MLM participants as of December 31, 2012. Adjusting for people who participate in more than one MLM company, almost 12% of...more
Taiwan has approximately 369 multi-level marketing (MLM) companies and a total of 3.09 million MLM participants, as of December 31, 2012. Adjusting for people who participate in more than one MLM company, almost 12% of...more