Today’s multilevel marketing (MLM) organizations look nothing like the Amway and Herbalife of the past. Cosmetics and nutritional supplements may still dominate the industry, but companies have expanded into product lines of every sort: essential oils, kitchen gadgets, yoga pants, software, consulting, and pretty much anything else you can imagine. This product expansion, combined with…

One of the most pervasive threats to payment service providers is transaction laundering — which is often used to process credit card transactions for illicit pharmaceuticals or intellectual property infringement, but increasingly is used for cannabidiol (CBD) products. Since the change in legal status of certain forms of CBD as a result of the 2018…

Last month, six people associated with Blackstone Labs were charged in an indictment to market and sell illegal dietary supplements for use in bodybuilding and weight loss. The indictment is significant because of the size and reach of Blackstone Labs, and because of the way it is alleged to have deceptively labeled products for years.…