The FTC has sued 8 Determine Dream Way of life and its On-line Entrepreneur Academy spinoff.
The regulator alleges each corporations and their homeowners commited telemarketing and shopper fraud.
The FTC identifies John Bain, Alex Dee (fka Alex S. Dowlatshahi), Brian Kaplan and Jerrold Maurer (aka Jerry Maurer) as officers of 8 Determine Dream Way of life.
They’re named defendants within the FTC’s June twelfth go well with, together with 8 Determine Dream Way of life LLC, JL Web Bargains, OEA LLC (dba On-line Entrepreneur Academy) and Spirit Consulting Group.
In BehindMLM’s 2017 8 Determine Dream Way of life overview, we famous ties to Scott Miller and Tidom.
Neither Tidom Inc. or Miller are defendants within the FTC’s case.
In line with the FTC, 8 Determine Dream Way of life has been advertising and marketing it’s fraudulent alternative to customers since not less than January 2017.
Defendants have used a mix of illegal, pre-recorded phone calls (“robocalls”), dwell phone calls, textual content messaging, web advertisements, emails, social media, and dwell occasions to market and promote fraudulent money-making alternatives to customers underneath the names 8 Determine Dream Way of life or On-line Entrepreneur Academy.
The pitch noticed 8 Determine Dream Life declare
typical customers with no prior abilities or expertise will earn $5,000 to $10,000 in 10 to 14 days, and earn $10,000 or extra on a constant foundation inside 60-90 days of shopping for into this system.
In distinction to those advertising and marketing claims, upon investigation the FTC discovered
the vast majority of the customers who joined 8 Determine Dream Way of life- at a price of $2,395 to $22,495- by no means earned substantial earnings, a lot much less attained an “8 determine” way of life. They’ve misplaced their cash, and plenty of have incurred important loans and bank card debt.
Hardly shocking upon consideration of 8 Determine Dream Way of life’s gifting enterprise mannequin, which ensures the vast majority of members will lose cash.
8 Determine Dream Way of life collapsed in 2018, prompting Alex Dee, Brian M. Kaplan, and Jerrold S. Maurer to separate and launch On-line Entrepreneur Academy.
The FTC states On-line Entrepreneur Academy “is not any completely different” to eight Determine Dream Way of life.
The FTC alleges that via 8 Determine Dream Way of life and On-line Entrepreneur Academy, Bain, Dee, Kaplan and Maurer have stolen thousands and thousands of {dollars} from customers.
Defendant Dee bragged in an early 2018 advertising and marketing video for 8 Determine Dream Way of life that he and Defendants Kaplan and Maurer had themselves acquired greater than $6.5 million from over 500 customers in lower than two years, and additional said that this system as an entire had paid out “over $25 million in commissions” and had over 1,800 clients.
When launching On-line Entrepreneur Academy in November 2018, Defendant Dee claimed that 8 Determine Dream Way of life had paid out “near $30 Million in commissions.”
Observe that there aren’t any “commissions” in both 8 Determine Dream Way of life or On-line Entrepreneur Academy.
Funds purportedly paid out can be to prime associates as gifting funds.
The FTC alleges each 8 Determine Dream Way of life and On-line Entrepreneur Academy are “fraudulent cash making alternatives.
The regulator filed a sealed lawsuit towards the defendants on June twelfth.
Of the named particular person defendants, Alex Dee specifically stands out.
In their criticism, the FTC observes Dee has beforehand been sued for securities fraud twice.
In 2011 Dee was sued by the SEC for operating a Ponzi scheme. He was ordered to pay again over ‘$800,000 in disgorgement, civil penalties, and prejudgment curiosity.‘
In 2006, the State of California Enterprise, Transportation, and Housing Company discovered that Dee and others illegally provided securities for a purported gold mining operation whereas making materials misrepresentations.
And right here we’re once more, this time with two unlawful gifting schemes.
The FTC’s sealed June twelfth lawsuit alleges violations of the FTC Act and Telemarketing Gross sales Rule.
Particularly;
- one depend of misrepresentations relating to earnings;
- one depend of constructing false or deceptive statements to induce individuals to pay for items or companies;
- one depend of constructing misrepresentations relating to materials facets of an funding alternative;
- one depend of utilizing illegal prerecorded messages; and
- one depend of helping and facilitating abusive or misleading telemarketing acts or practices.
Reduction sought by the FTC included an injunction, restitution, refund of monies paid by customers, disgorgement of ill-gotten positive aspects and prices.
On June thirteenth the courtroom granted the FTC a Short-term Restraining Order, together with asset-freeze, however denied its request for the appointment of a short lived Receiver.
A preliminary injunction listening to was scheduled for June twenty fourth, at which the request for a short lived Receiver would even be revisited.
On June twenty first the preliminary injunction listening to was rescheduled from June twenty fourth to July eighth.
On June twenty fourth the listening to was rescheduled once more to July nineteenth.
Within the interim, the granted June twelfth TRO and asset-freeze stays in place.
On the time of publication the 8 Determine Dream Way of life web site has been pulled offline.
The On-line Entrepreneur Academy web site remains to be up, though Alexa visitors rankings to the area recommend the scheme has lengthy since collapsed.
Keep tuned…
Replace twentieth July 2019 – A preliminary injunction was granted towards the 8 Determine Dream Way of life defendants on July 18th.