Operator of functional coffee MLM hit with permanent injunction, $7.3 million fine
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The former principal of a multilevel marketing organization selling a mushroom-infused coffee has been permanently banned from operating such a business and has been slapped with a $7.3 million fine.
A federal court brought the contempt of court ruling against James D. ‘Jay’ Noland Jr. on the basis of a complaint by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Noland was found to have illegally owned and operated two pyramid schemes—Success by Health (SBH) and VOZ Travel. He was also judged to have violated a previous court order barring him from operating a pyramid scheme and from misrepresenting the income potential that participants in the scheme could aspire to.
“The court’s order holding these defendants in contempt and barring them from the multilevel marketing business should send a strong message that FTC orders should not be ignored,” said Samuel Levine, director of FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a May 25 news release announcing the court ruling by U.S. District Judge Dominic W. Lanza. “The FTC will not hesitate to act with the full force of the law to protect the American public and hold recidivists accountable.”
According to court documents, SBH offered coffee products, other beverages and nutraceuticals, while VOZ promised to offer travel-related benefits.
FTC first sued Noland over the SBH scheme in January of 2020. Also named in that suit were his wife Lina Noland and two other individuals, identified as Scott Harris, and Thomas Sacca.
The charges related to the travel business were added in September of that year.
The quartet were charged with making outlandish claims aimed at “the masses” that suggested participants could quickly earn as much as $1 million a month by following Noland’s “system.”
Content retrieved from: https://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/regulatory/operator-functional-coffee-mlm-hit-permanent-injunction-73-million-fine.
