Attorney General Files Cease and Desist Against Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing
Posted on 14. Dec, 2009 by Ty Tribble in Fortune Hi-Tech, Network Marketing News
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Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing of Lexington, KY has been ordered to stop doing business in North Dakota. The company claims to offer consumers a “business and compensation plan designed to yield income through network marketing.”
Here is the official statement from the Attorney General.
Here is the cease and desist order.
Here is an article from KSJB radio:
BISMARCK – Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem has issued a Cease & Desist Order against Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing of Lexington, KY and its principals Paul C. Oberson, Jeff Oberson, and Thomas A. Mills for violations of North Dakota transient merchant, consumer fraud, and home solicitation sales laws. The Order was filed late yesterday, December 10, 2009.
Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing claims to offer consumers a “business and compensation plan designed to yield income through network marketing.” According to Stenehjem Fortune Hi-Tech continued its business activities in North Dakota even after being told it could not do so without the required Transient Merchant license. “This business blatantly disregarded our effort to ensure compliance with North Dakota law,” Stenehjem said. “This is not the typical response from a legitimate company and its actions must have consequences.”
The Consumer Protection Division is reviewing Fortune Hi-Tech’s activities and it appears there also may be violations of the consumer fraud and home solicitation sales laws. “I’m concerned about this assortment of violations,” said Stenehjem. Stenehjem has requested information about the extent of the company’s business transactions in North Dakota including dates of transactions, customers, and payments received.
In addition to these violations, Stenehjem asked the Consumer Protection Division to review whether this company is engaged in any violations of North Dakota’s pyramid law. North Dakota law prohibits promotional pyramid schemes in which the participant pays for the opportunity to receive income primarily from the recruitment of other participants rather than the sale of goods or services.
According to Stenehjem there certainly are legitimate network marketing companies, but consumers should be wary of any compensation plans that appear to emphasize recruitment of other participants, as opposed to sales of legitimate products or services. “We are skeptical of these claims to “make money while you sleep.” Stenehjem said.
North Dakota consumers with questions or complaints about Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing should contact the Consumer Protection Division toll-free at 1-800-472-2600
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4 Responses to “Attorney General Files Cease and Desist Against Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing”
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Keith Brown
30. Dec, 2009
Hey Ty,
A friend of mine got involved with FHTM about 6 months ago and told me about their compensation plan. I warned him that it looked suspicious, but he didn’t want to hear it. “It looks so easy” were his exact words. Now, he’s lost credibility with his friends and gets to start all over.
If someone is going to get involved in the network marketing industry, they better know what to look for.
Keith Brown
[Reply]
Ken
30. Dec, 2009
FHTM pays bonuses when recruits gather customers. Nobody gets paid unless customers are gathered. As to whether or not they forgot to cross some tees in North Dakota, who knows.
Those guys have been in business for 8 or 9 years now. Their founder was an MLM multi millionaire and took great pains to establish his company legally, as far as I’ve ever heard. As a participant in this industry, I’m more than a little concerned by the over-reaching of government entities. I think we all should be. Instead of taking pot shots at each other, we aught to be looking out for one another when warranted. In this case, I think it may be warranted. I would hope others would do some research instead of jumping to conclusions.
[Reply]
Keith Brown
30. Dec, 2009
Hi Ken,
No pot shots taken here. When the FHTM compensation plan was explained to me, customers where never mentioned. The only thing that was talked about was how much money you made when you recruited someone. When I asked how much you made when products were ordered, no one could answer me. So the only conclusion I could come up with was suspicion.
Keith Brown
[Reply]
Ken
01. Jan, 2010
Hi Keith,
Fair enough. It is apparent to me that the compensation plan was not accurately portrayed to you. That being the case, Perhaps there is a problem throughout their distributor force of describing the pay plan incorrectly.
Just for the record, I am not personally involved with FHTM, but I am familiar with the ownership. This is far from being some fly by night. And at its core, this is a customer gathering business. Like the majority of MLMs, FHTM strives to gather a multitude of reps who have a few customers each.
Like I said before, I am troubled by government over-reaching. An attorney general should be protecting consumers, not putting up roadblocks to success. It seems to me that the AG in this case hasn’t even read the actual compensation plan, or does not understand it.
[Reply]