Visalus @ BehindMLM

Liv launched in mid 2017 and describes itself as an ‘invite-only, global lifestyle community for passionate people‘. The company is headed up by Visalus co-founders, Nick Sanicola (CEO), Blake Mallen (President) and Ryan Blair. Curiously, Visalus is not mentioned in any corporate bios or the “about us” section of Liv’s website. Although they are presented [Continue reading…]

Last July former top earner Michael Gehart filed a lawsuit against Visalus. Gehart alleged Visalus was an “illegal pyramid scheme”. He also the claimed the company ran a secret Amazon retail racket, effectively giving Gehart an unfair advantage over other Visalus affiliates. In early 2017 Visalus took control of the Amazon racket, prompting Gehart to [Continue reading…]

Roughly nine months ago a lawsuit was filed against Visalus alleging securities fraud. Allegations in the lawsuit pertain to Visalus’ Founders Equity Incentive Plan, through which an estimated $15 million was invested in virtual shares. Those who invested were promised shareholder status and “dividend payments”, which never materialized. The lawsuit is an attempt by three [Continue reading…]

Despite representing affiliates who invested in Visalus’ “Founders Equity Incentive Plan” were accepted and qualified for two years, the company recently sough to back-pedal on its representations and agreements. The dirty move appears to be a direct response to a round of document subpoenas, served on Visalus and a top affiliate by the Colorado Securities [Continue reading…]

MLM affiliates receiving giant oversized commission checks means different things to different people. Prospective affiliates might see a window of opportunity, a chance to better themselves financially. Existing affiliates might take it as a kick up the butt and commit to their business with newfound focus and enthusiasm. A regulator might see income claims used [Continue reading…]

The trouble with MLM companies offering shares is that such undertakings are rarely done within the required legal framework. If a new class-action lawsuit is to be believed, Visalus’ Founders Equity Incentive Plan is a typical example of why any internal MLM company share offering should be approached with nothing less than extreme caution.

Michael Gehart joined Visalus in February, 2010. Visalus is a weight loss MLM company founded in 2005 by Blake Mallen and Nick Sarnicola. Gehart had no prior MLM experience when he signed up as a Visalus affiliate. He was recruited by Vito Torriciano, a part-owner of the company, (at a) meeting with Nick Sarnicola, and with [Continue reading…]

The future of Visalus appears to be on the rocks, following the revelation last Friday that 87 positions will be made redundant in March. In a letter to the State of Michigan dated January 5th, Visalus wrote ViSalus, Inc. has decided to substantially reduce its operations at its office located at 340 East Big Beaver Rd., Suite 400, [Continue reading…]

Back in 2013 one of the more alarming MLM stories to surface was the case of hacking and corporate espionage between Visalus and Ocean Avenue. As per a lawsuit filed by Ocean Avenue, Visalus hired a private investigator firm to conduct acts of hacking and corporate espionage at their behest. In response to Ocean Avenue entering [Continue reading…]

Coercion, entrapment, extortion, blackmail, espionage, hacking, personal threats, racketeering, corruption… not the sort of stuff one would usually associate with the MLM industry but rather it’s what you typically might see in an action packed spy movie. Yet in the battle between Ocean Avenue and Visualus, all of the above have taken front and centre [Continue reading…]