Trek Alliance charged with unlawful sales practices by the Attorney General of Wisconsin

Press Release: State of Wisconsin Department of Justice/July 16, 2001

Madison -- Attorney General Jim Doyle announced today that his office has filed a complaint against a California company, its officers and two sales persons for using misrepresentations and other unlawful practices to sell distributorships for the resale of household products and water treatment devices.

Doyle said that the complaint has been filed in Dane County Circuit Court against Trek Alliance, Inc., Truckee, California. Also named in the state's complaint are the firm's officers Harry Flagg, Incline Village, Nevada, and Richard Vonalvensleben a/k/a/ Rich Von, Morgan Hill, California, and two sales persons Joseph Delisle, St. Paul, Minnesota, and Travis Just, Rush City, Minnesota. Trek Alliance is a multilevel marketing company that offers distributorships for consumer products including cleaning products, vitamins, nutritional supplements, skin care products and water filtration devices.

According to the complaint, Trek Alliance made the following deceptive claims to recruit distributors for the products it offers:

• misrepresented income potential for prospective recruits;
  
• misrepresented that clerical and management positions were available when they were not;
  
• failed to disclose that an investment was required to become a distributorship; and
  
• failed to disclose that the water treatment devices it promotes could not be lawfully sold in Wisconsin.

According to the Department of Justice's complaint, Wisconsin residents have suffered financial loses as a result of Trek Alliance's practices, and the company will continue to engage in the above violations unless enjoined from doing so. Doyle said that the state is seeking restitution for Wisconsin residents who were financially harmed by Trek Alliance's practices, civil forfeitures for the alleged violations and an injunction preventing Trek Alliance, its officers and employees from doing business in the state.

The complaint was based on an investigation conducted by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. The case has been assigned to Dane County Circuit Court Judge Stuart A. Schwartz.