Trek Alliance

October 16, 2001
By Rick Ross

I have received many complaints about an apparent multi-level marketing scheme called "Trek Alliance." This company often recruits by contacting people through Monster.com and by running ads in local newspapers.

Trek uses various names (see personal stories on this page), which may be confusing.

The complaints I have received are from people who went to what they thought were "job interviews" only to later realize these were actually recruitment events for a business scheme, which would require them to pay for "starter kits" and/or buy products.

Kale Flagg and Rich Von (a.k.a. Richard J. Vonalvensleben) founded trek Alliance, both these men were formerly associated with a company called Equinox.

Equinox, which was founded by Bill Gouldd, was shut down permanently more than a year ago by court order. The Federal Trade Commission and eight states charged Mr. Gouldd and Equinox with operating an illegal pyramid scheme, deceptive practices and fraud in both advertising and recruitment.

Very serious complaints have also surfaced about abuses within Trek Alliance. Some people formerly involved with Trek and/or subjected to their recruitment efforts seem to feel that many of the problems, which caused Equinox to be shut down, may be issues at Trek Alliance.

There has also been a very serious complaint regarding the sexual misconduct of Trek founder Rich Von. Specifically, it appears that a woman once involved with Trek in Kentucky was sexually abused by Mr. Von (see information about her complaint). Subsequently, the police issued an arrest warrant and ultimately Rich Von (a.k.a. Richard J. Vonalvensleben was convicted of "Sodomy 1st Degree").

Based upon the complaints I have received I would not recommend Trek Alliance to anyone under any circumstances and would instead advise substantial caution and due diligence before becoming involved.