PORTLAND, Maine (Legal Newsline) – The Federal Trade Commission, along with Maine’s Office of the Attorney General, reached a settlement with Direct Alternatives and Original Organics LLC to resolve allegations of deceptive claims and advertising.
These companies, owned by Anthony Dill and his wife Staci Dill, are Maine-based marketers of weight-loss supplements. The agencies alleged these companies violated the FTC Act and Maine consumer protection laws in their promotion and sale of AF Plus and Final Trim, two weight-loss supplements. The defendants sold more than $16 million worth of these products over the past four years, according to the FTC.
“The Dills’ companies told a blizzard of lies,” Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said. “They sold worthless weight-loss supplements, lied about their supposed ‘risk-free trial’ offers, took people’s money with unauthorized auto-renewal plans, and made it nearly impossible to return their bogus products.”
The defendants allegedly falsely claimed users would quickly and easily lose weight and reduce their weight size with the supplements and that the supplements had been proven by scientific studies.
“This company preyed on the vulnerability of consumers who seek a legitimate weight loss program,” Maine Attorney General Janet T. Mills said.
The two companies and their owners will need to surrender substantial personal and business assets due to the settlement. They are further barred from making deceptive claims about health products in the future.