Len Clements is amazing. He took the time to write a 28 page rebuttal to the Fraud Discovery Institute’s claims about USANA.
You can read Len’s document here.
Scoording to Len’s recent Marketwave Alert:
The FDI (Fraud Discovery Institute) is directed by Barry
Minkow, who
spent almost 7 1/2 years in prison after
being convicted on 57 counts of fraud and
conspiracy in the 1980s. Minkow has continued
his attacks on Usana by issuing additional
reports and posting anti-Usana videos on YouTube.
I will also point out that Minkow was helped by the author of the so called Pink Truth web site, Tracy Coenen. Coenen has become known for her attacks on Mary Kay Cosmetics. No news whether or not Coenen "shorted" the USANA stock (in the same manner that Minkow did) before the original report was released.
Too bad Len is wrong on most of his points.
too bad barry minkow is a slimebag who's totally short selling usana's stock and making millions from it. It's disgusting, I hope he goes back to jail.
I love people that say another person is wrong, but never say why or back up the statement with facts.
There is alot we as network marketers can do as well to prevent these kind of attacks. Mainly, telling the truth of what it will take to make it in this industry. Sure, there will be less recruits, but more qualified ones.
WOW! Barry Minkow is a convicted felon. How did anyone find that out? Oh, he said so in his documentation of Usana's material non-disclosures. Usana is honest an above board. Why did they not disclose that their independent medical review board members all have a financial stake in Usana?
You did less research than Minkow. USANA not only regularly discloses that members of the advisory board are distributors, they are often recognized in publications, on stage and on the website for their success as distributors. And they were'nt "rewarded" with distributorships as Minkow claimed. They were already distributors when asked to serve on the board. That claim "that USANA claimed their advisory board was independent" made me laugh. It makes their defamation suit against him that much easier.
I can see that Barry has the press hypnotized again. He even conned good old Tracy Coenen! Just like he did with the press when he was a crook (see LA Times Archives on Barry Minkow ZZZZBest). He fooled the press many times & will manipulate again, to suit his ego and greed.
USANA is not perfect, but what company is? Overall I would have to say it’s a good company. They have a 250,000 square foot manufacturing facility that voluntarily manufactures its products to pharmaceutical standards. They do use a legitimate network marketing (NWM) go to market strategy of direct sales. NWM is an accepted trade practice in the US and 60 other countries around the world
If USANA Health Sciences just wanted to build a fake/farce product pyramid scheme, why spend so many resources on land, manufacturing equipment, labs, warehousing, IT systems, employees (1000 people work for USANA) and the list goes on.
If you look at past companies brought down that “posed as legitimate NWM businesses”, you’ll see that most of their so-called products were manufactured by a third party, services were contracted out and the product was inferior. No high-end third party endorsement would be there even if you paid them.
I see external stock manipulation here. Barry and his “unknown” paying client knew that USANA was a strong company with a 15-year track record. Give the press the perception of fraud and rake in the windfall! Lets get real here! It is flagrant external stock manipulation. Mr. Minkow twists the truth about the company and people of USANA, scares the investors and stakeholders and voila! The big stock tumble! Make money on put options and the big stock rebound. USNA was at a low of $28 not too long ago, and its now around $43.
Look how Minkow tried to slag USANA associates:
Dennis Waitley is a best selling author, mentor and trainer for Olympic athletes, astronauts fortune 500 companies. His work and record speaks for itself. Regardless of weather he has a nice piece of paper with a frame. Minkow prefers to look at the credentials not the performance of Waitley. You see it’s the perception thing.
Dr. Ladd MacNamara did receive his medical degree and was a practicing doctor. He gave up his license to pursue other ways of improving both his own and others lives through USANA. If he wanted to, He could get his license to practice medicine again in Georgia, if he re-applied (see his blog). Bottom line is MacNamara has vast knowledge about healthcare and you can’t erase that from his brain. Just to make Minkow happy and other authorities, he has removed MD from his name. But he still has his nice paper and frame from his University!
Dr. Tim Wood has done a great job of running the R&D and product development for USANA. He is a PhD and his team of scientists respects him. Respect and honor is earned by hard work, not by a piece of paper and a frame. He has focused on biology and earned his distinction from his work and management skills.
How about Mr. Gill Fuller. So what! He hasn’t paid his dues to his association so he can put CPA after his name. He probably knows more, due to his experience, compared to the home based CPA that does your taxes. He’s a CFO for a company that will have almost a half billion dollars in sales. He’s worked for other large companies as well. It’s Minkow’s twisted truths that scare the novice investors away.
I’m a chef; I can put CCC (Certified Chef de Cuisine) after my name. Did you know there are many great chefs that did not attend a day of formal training in culinary arts at an educational institution? Chefs are judged by the last meal we created, not by our pretty little papers and frames on the wall. As Trump would say “What have you done for me lately?” or “Your Fired!”
You see, USANA does have real products that are best in class. They manufacture and distribute from their 250K sq. ft. facility in Salt Lake City. They have a loyal consumer base of 80 thousand preferred customers, 160 thousand associates and it’s growing! They have endorsements from Dr. Christine Northrup MD, US and CDN Olympic Speedskating Teams, Women’s Professional Tennis Circuit and the list goes on and on. It’s a real company with real products and real consumers.
Thanks for the dialogue and debate.
Klaus
I can see that Barry has the press hypnotized again. He even conned good old Tracy Coenen! Just like he did with the press when he was a crook (see LA Times Archives on Barry Minkow ZZZZBest). He fooled the press many times & will manipulate again, to suit his ego and greed.
USANA is not perfect, but what company is? Overall I would have to say it’s a good company. They have a 250,000 square foot manufacturing facility that voluntarily manufactures its products to pharmaceutical standards. They do use a legitimate network marketing (NWM) go to market strategy of direct sales. NWM is an accepted trade practice in the US and 60 other countries around the world
If USANA Health Sciences just wanted to build a fake/farce product pyramid scheme, why spend so many resources on land, manufacturing equipment, labs, warehousing, IT systems, employees (1000 people work for USANA) and the list goes on.
If you look at past companies brought down that “posed as legitimate NWM businesses”, you’ll see that most of their so-called products were manufactured by a third party, services were contracted out and the product was inferior. No high-end third party endorsement would be there even if you paid them.
I see external stock manipulation here. Barry and his “unknown” paying client knew that USANA was a strong company with a 15-year track record. Give the press the perception of fraud and rake in the windfall! Lets get real here! It is flagrant external stock manipulation. Mr. Minkow twists the truth about the company and people of USANA, scares the investors and stakeholders and voila! The big stock tumble! Make money on put options and the big stock rebound. USNA was at a low of $28 not too long ago, and its now around $43.
Look how Minkow tried to slag USANA associates:
Dennis Waitley is a best selling author, mentor and trainer for Olympic athletes, astronauts fortune 500 companies. His work and record speaks for itself. Regardless of weather he has a nice piece of paper with a frame. Minkow prefers to look at the credentials not the performance of Waitley. You see it’s the perception thing.
Dr. Ladd MacNamara did receive his medical degree and was a practicing doctor. He gave up his license to pursue other ways of improving both his own and others lives through USANA. If he wanted to, He could get his license to practice medicine again in Georgia, if he re-applied (see his blog). Bottom line is MacNamara has vast knowledge about healthcare and you can’t erase that from his brain. Just to make Minkow happy and other authorities, he has removed MD from his name. But he still has his nice paper and frame from his University!
Dr. Tim Wood has done a great job of running the R&D and product development for USANA. He is a PhD and his team of scientists respects him. Respect and honor is earned by hard work, not by a piece of paper and a frame. He has focused on biology and earned his distinction from his work and management skills.
How about Mr. Gill Fuller. So what! He hasn’t paid his dues to his association so he can put CPA after his name. He probably knows more, due to his experience, compared to the home based CPA that does your taxes. He’s a CFO for a company that will have almost a half billion dollars in sales. He’s worked for other large companies as well. It’s Minkow’s twisted truths that scare the novice investors away.
I’m a chef; I can put CCC (Certified Chef de Cuisine) after my name. Did you know there are many great chefs that did not attend a day of formal training in culinary arts at an educational institution? Chefs are judged by the last meal we created, not by our pretty little papers and frames on the wall. As Trump would say “What have you done for me lately?” or “Your Fired!”
You see, USANA does have real products that are best in class. They manufacture and distribute from their 250K sq. ft. facility in Salt Lake City. They have a loyal consumer base of 80 thousand preferred customers, 160 thousand associates and it’s growing! They have endorsements from Dr. Christine Northrup MD, US and CDN Olympic Speedskating Teams, Women’s Professional Tennis Circuit and the list goes on and on. It’s a real company with real products and real consumers.
Thanks for the dialogue and debate.
Klaus
I am a Usana associate and I am extremely annoyed with Barry Minkow, and anyone who writes comments about Network Marketing in negative form. Because of this company, I have formed a very successful Usana business with TEAM members in my downline who have done well, also. Becasue of this business, we have become close friends. It brings people together, to do something good, spreading the news about a health lifestyle and creating a stream of income to fit one'ss needs. I am not financially free by any means, but the residual income I earn every month, due to my OWN HARD WORK and WORKING TO BUILD A BUSINESS gives me the comfort I worked hard for. 92% of people who join companies like this fail because they don't work it. They don't have the mentality to be a business owner. This is not a get-rich-quick scheme! I worked my business 14 hours a week for 1.5 years before I started having success. If it was sooooooo easy to be financially rewarded, the percentage rate would be a success of 92%.
If you associate yourself with good, honest people who truly care about helping others which is what this is suppossed to be about….then it works and it does. Usana has cancelled associate memberships of people who have been quote behaving unethically.!
People who make negative comments about the network marketing industry need to better educate themselves. There are bad apples in EVERY business! It does not mean that whole thing is bad. If you eat a meal at a bad restaurant, does that mean all restaurants are bad? If you meet a few bad people, does that mean all people are bad?
A second reason for the point requirement is all real businesses have start up costs and overhead to operate the business. Our autoship every four weeks is part of our overhead to operate the business. The good news is you get to eat your overhead.
Berry Minkow is a man of low character and a convicted felon. He spent 8 years in prison for defrauding a lot of people out of $26,000,000 dollars in a stock investment scheme for a carpet cleaning business that he started in California.
As you know he bought "put" options before releasing a bunch of half truths and some outright lies about Usana Health Sciences to the Wall Street Journal. He was paid by a third party to gather and release this information. As a result of his actions, Usana is suing Berry Minkow for defamation and his attempt to manipulate stock prices for his own personal gain. Funny how people never seem to change. Once a crook, always a crook.
Dr. Wentz's has dedicated his entire life to science and helping people overcome sickness and disease. He developed over 40 viral test kits that are used in hospitals and doctors offices all over the world, including the first portable test kit for Epstein-Barr Virus which made him internationally famous in the scientific medical community.
He built the premier health and healing center in the world in Baja California called Sanoviv and brought in some of the best doctors from around the world to staff it. He built a medical center for diagnosis and prevention of disease in Africa with money out of his own pocket. He is building a second such facility in Cambodia with his own money because he sees a need. He has personally donated hundreds of thousands of his own dollars to the Children's Hunger Fund. He donated 10 million dollars to the University he graduated from. He recently won the Albert Einstein Award for outstanding achievement in the life sciences for his vision and commitment to the critical advancement of vital life-saving and life-enhancing technology to benefit mankind. He has never drawn a pay check from Usana. How many CEO's do you know who fall into that category? The bottom line, Dr. Wentz is a real man of global vision dedicated to helping others.
When you compare Dr. Myron Wentz and Usana to Berry Minkow, which one would you want to be associated with and follow?
Have some more sense, all of you and research both sides of the story. Better yet, ask a real Usana associate.
Hmmmm… all of these comments defending USANA are from distributors with a downline they need to keep happy to make money. Big deal Barry was in jail when he was 21. He has done much more good in his life then bad. Even his parole officer said he has never seen such a transformation. Network marketing is a scam in general. Ask a network marketer how much money they spend vs make if you don't believe me.