News updates are sent daily. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Scottsdale firm to pay $100K for false claims
Digg|
Save|
License|
Print|
E-mail|
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office has reached a $100,000 settlement with a Scottsdale-based company accused of tricking its customers into believing they would receive large commissions for selling personal development products.
The settlement requires Liberty League International LLC to pay the state $100,000 in civil penalties and $15,000 in attorneys’ fees, the state office announced last week.
Restitution payments from the company at 14300 N. Northsight Blvd. will be determined by Maricopa County Superior Court at a later date.
The consent judgment against Liberty League and its principals, Brent Payne and Shane Krider, resolves complaints that the multilevel marketing corporation got customers to spend substantial amounts of money to help market its products.
The personal development products included a home-study course, a four-day personal development conference and a five-day personal finance and development conference. Prices ranged from $1,495 to $12,995 per person, according to the attorney general’s office.
Maricopa County Superior Court documents said Payne and Krider told customers they could earn large sums of money if they used and recruited new participants to use Liberty League’s personal development products.
However, most participants didn’t earn enough to cover what they paid to
buy the products.
The attorney general’s office began receiving complaints about the company after a competitor with a similar product complained about Liberty League on its Web site, said Grant Woods, Liberty League’s attorney.
The competitor suggested that people who spent a great deal of money to work for Liberty League but didn’t receive large compensation should contact the attorney general’s office to get their money back, Woods said.
“Technically, you’re not supposed to make income representations,” Woods said.
“Liberty League had people who said when they got involved with the company they made a six-figure income,” he said. “There’s literally thousands of companies that do that, but it makes it difficult when you’re the company being looked at.”
Liberty League is required to refrain from making unsubstantiated income claims, advise potential customers of the correct percentage of participants who have profited from the company’s program, and refrain from making false or deceptive statements in their marketing materials.
Please add your comments, but follow these guidelines to keep this a safe, credible place for discussing the news: