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As wet car tires rolled along Thurman Avenue on a rainy Wednesday morning recently, 26-year-old Chelsea Bell shined the already-clean stainless steel counters inside Blended & Blessed to start a slow day of business. Across the room, a menu in cursive font listed drinks with flavors like tiger lily tea, chocolate brownie batter shake or strawberries and cream coffee — offerings that don't sound healthy, but are made with protein powder and other nutrition supplements. Blended & Blessed is the new kid on the block in German Village. The storefront, which opened at the start of May and offers shakes, energy teas and nutrition coffees, took over the lease for a former Native Cold Pressed location through next July. Ohio State University senior Camryn Colter, 21, runs the space as an independently owned and operated Herbalife Nutrition club, selling drinks made with dietary supplements produced by the Los Angeles-based company. What is a "nutrition club?&qu

SACRAMENTO - The owners of North Bay solar energy company pleaded guilty Friday to charges that they plotted a massive Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of $1 billion. As part of their plea deal, prosecutors said the husband and wife team from Martinez agreed to forfeit over $120 million in assets, including a stake in Whetstone Wine Cellars in Napa's Atlas Peak winegrowing region, a fleet of collector cars and vacation homes in the Caribbean, Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas purchased entirely with cash. Jeff Carpoff, 49, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, which carry a maximum penalty of up to 30 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney's office in Sacramento said. Paulette Carpoff, 46, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and money laundering and faces up to 15 years in prison. Prosecutors said the Carpoffs began DC Solar, based in Benicia, as a legitimate company that made solar generators mounted on

Speaking of my new friend, Caryn returns from the grocery store, laden with bags, and, within 20 minutes, my kitchen island has disappeared under a riot of Pampered Chef products, and she's encouraging me to open a bottle of wine. Which I do. We'd agreed on the menu ahead of time: It's called "Healthy in a Hurry" though somehow it involves pasta, pizza, pound cake, and the microwave, which Caryn emailed about multiple times to confirm that it existed and to ask about its size. Having people over to sell them stuff is kind of gauche, at least among twenty- and thirtysomethings in Brooklyn. Then again, we love ironically nostalgic activities—Dirty Dancing karaoke, '90s fests, and restaurants devoted to meatballs—so I have no trouble rounding up about a dozen friends, plus, of course, my mom. When they've amassed in my kitchen, Caryn begins the demo by telling us about herself: Brooklyn-born, communications major, TV producer, police officer husband, Stat

The Federal Trade Commission in conjunction with the state of Arkansas has filed a lawsuit against an organization targeting African-American communities using a pyramid scheme during the pandemic. According to the case summary filed Wednesday, LaShonda and Marlon Moore operated an illegal pyramid scheme out of Prosper, Texas, called "Blessing in No Time," or BINT Operations LLC, causing millions of dollars in losses. Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said in a news release Thursday that "this lawsuit is a continuation of my office's law enforcement sweep against illegal pyramid schemes organized or operating in Arkansas." "My office will not stand by and allow scammers to exploit Arkansas's tight-knit communities or financial fears to deceive consumers into falling for get-rich-quick schemes," she said. The Moores solicited money from people by falsely promising investment returns of up to 800%, the lawsuit states, and investors in

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Does it seem like your inbox is bombarded with offers for essential oils, detox shakes, leggings and other products? Are you regularly presented with exciting job opportunities that are light on details? If you answered "yes," you're the target of multi-level marketing. And if you know better than to get involved with an MLM, you probably decline these types of offers. But these days, it can be tough to tell the difference between a regular retail business and an MLM. So the next time you're pitched on a product or sales position, here's how to check. Advertisement A Quick Refresher On MLMs Multi-level marketing , also known as direct selling or network marketing, is a business model that involves making sales directly to your own network of friends, family and acquaintances. You are a contractor for the company and earn income from commissions on sales of inventory (that you're usually required to buy upfront). However, one o

Disc jockey ASAP, a.k.a. Marlon Moore, welcomed members to a Zoom call by saying, "You received an invite here because someone loves you. Say thank you in the chat." The meeting was for Blessings In No Time, a Black-only community started last year by Marlon and his wife, LaShonda Moore, out of their home in Prosper. The Zoom greeting is documented on a members watchdog site. Members were told that if they'd put in $1,400 (later upped to $1,425) and recruited two members, they would receive a "blessing" eight times their initial contribution — $11,200 (later upped to $11,400) — when they wanted to "bless out," or leave. For new members, two recruits could be provided for them to ease the process. If they ever wanted out earlier, they could request a refund. But the too-good-to-be-true plan fell apart in January after some BINT members said they not only didn't get the $11,200 payout but also weren't able to get a refund. The Texas attorne

The pyramid scheme has a new look and the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation is warning consumers to steer clear. Gifting clubs, such as Death Row, are illegal pyramid schemes that are scamming several Oregonians. The Death Row gifting club, not associated with Death Row Records, was operating in Oregon last year. It advertised on social media and in online forums as a community wealth share group. More than 20 Oregonians lost their initial $1,400 investments. The Death Row gifting scheme promised financial returns of at least $9,000. The division was alerted to the scheme when an Oregonian reported not receiving anything in return for their $1,400 investment. The investment was not registered with the division and no one was licensed to sell investments in Death Row. Victims invested their money using a cloud-based payment platform and communicated with others about the investment during online forums for the Death Row program. The division is still investig

Pyramids Everywhere American media blamed the massive collapse of Albanian pyramid schemes in 1997 on greedy small-time investors unschooled in the free market. It could never happen here. Daniel Petrick ▪ June 23, 2021 People gather outside of the National Bank Of Albania after the collapse of the pyramid schemes in February 1997. (In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images) Tales from Albarado: Ponzi Logics of Accumulation in Postsocialist Albania by Smoki Musaraj Cornell University Press, 2020, 216 pp. One day a villager was walking by Akşehir Lake when he saw Nasreddin Hodja pouring a bowl of yogurt into the water. "What are you doing, Hodja?" the villager asked. "I'm making yogurt," he replied. "Come on, Hodja, that won't work," the villager said. "The lake can't turn into yogurt." Hodja looked up, and said with a gleam in his eyes, "But what if it does?" —Nasreddin Hodja, c. thirteenth

CLOSE Bernie Madoff, Ponzi scheme leader, was sentenced to 150 years in jail. USA TODAY Bernie Madoff was the lone mastermind behind a massive swindle that netted billions of dollars from thousands of clients. He orchestrated the largest Ponzi scheme in history, earning him 150-year sentence in federal prison. If that sounds like a movie, Hollywood was listening: The infamous true story spawned several miniseries and documentaries. Madoff died Wednesday, but his life of crime can be revisited in projects featuring Robert De Niro and Richard Dreyfuss as the schemer. Here are the shows inspired by Madoff – and how to watch them. Michelle Pfeiffer as Ruth Madoff and Robert De Niro as Bernard Madoff leave court in the motion picture 'Wizard Of Lies.'   (Photo: Craig Blankenhorn/HBO) 'The Wizard of Lies' This 2017 HBO film was primarily based on Diana Henriques' book "The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the D

Money's tight for mums up and down the county - and earning extra isn't always the easiest thing to do when you have children to take care of too. Which is what makes this new scam so very dangerous - because it seems to offer just what's needed. Flexible hours, good money and aimed at mums. The problem is it looks an awful lot like a scam - a clever one too - and it seems to be turning mums against each other in the process. This is what happened when they tried to pull me in as well. How they found me and got in contact Searching for new work, I was updating my LinkedIn profile so I was pleased when I got some views. One woman had looked at it a few times, so I thought there was no harm in connecting with her. I was flattered when she left me an audio message. In it she raved about what an amazing profile I had and how she had a fantastic career opportunity for me. "So I have an amazing opportunity I would love to share with you," she gushed. "

One day my friend and I expressed our search for jobs in casual conversation with a fellow MVHS student. For anonymity purposes, we'll rename my friend "Tom" and our classmate "Clint." Clint's eyes lit up as he excitedly told us about a startup company he has been working for several months called Ariix. He showed us videos of the company's main product: water filters. He described how this revolutionary water filter is going to hit the public markets soon and if we are recruited now we could accumulate huge profits. Clint offered that there was an upcoming informational meeting for new recruits. We didn't take Clint seriously at first, but even though we had our doubts we figured, what is there to lose? As a fellow classmate, we didn't know super well, we thought it was generous that he would offer us a job opportunity, and a ride all the way there too. What is crucial to keep in mind is that Tom and I had no initial reason to question or doub