NUS - The Agony And The Angst: MLM Investors Ponder Enforcement Policies At The FTC
The fortunes of investors in the $20 Billion "multi-level marketing" sector hang, by a thread, on current enforcement policy of the FTC regarding Deception and Pyramid Scheme Fraud. Following the unprecedented Herbalife (HLF) prosecution in mid-2016, two more MLMs, both of which are large, mainstream and members of the Direct Selling Association, were prosecuted as pyramid scams this year. Adding to regulatory fears, the DOJ brought criminal bribery charges against two Herbalife officials in China. China is MLM's last market for expansion.
Informed observers and MLM promoters know that the violations cited by