The North Dakota Attorney General issied a Cease and Desist against FHTM recently. This is never good news for a business, and can often lead to additional scrutiny and sometimes similar actions in other states.
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.
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.
Was this FHTM Cease and Desist ever resolved?
An Attorney General action in any state is usually a huge negative. Years ago, TravelMax International in California got whacked with an injunction by the Kentucky Attorney General, and that was the end of the company. No one had any confidence and everyone bailed out. The company closed within a few months.
That was before the Internet made finding info about a company like FHTM, is that when someone looks for an FHTM review, they are going to find info all over the internet on everything from FHTM SCAM to info on the FHTM Attorney General action whenever they do a search.
The most important thing the company can do is to try to resolve the situation and get an article or information posted that exonerates them, something legitimate, not just the usual corporate spin that comes out of companies when this kind of thing happens.
FHTM has posted a response to this:
Dear FHTM Reps,
We are pleased to be able to tell you that we have resolved our issues with the Attorney General of North Dakota. We had very positive discussions with his office, and were very impressed with their willingness to listen to us and to work with us.
As part of our agreement with them, we must remind you that it is a misrepresentation pursuant to North Dakota law (and the laws of all 50 states and territories) to tell any person that income can be earned solely by recruiting new independent representatives. All earnings are dependent on the sales of products and services, as required by law.
Further, our agreement does not constitute an endorsement or an approval of FHTM, our business model, our products or our services.
You may now resume your business in North Dakota. Please be mindful of the above, and know that we have full confidence in you and your ability to bring honor to the FHTM name.
Paul Orberson and Tom Mills
