White collar criminal Barry Minkow has been investigating multi-level marketing schemes such as Usana Health Sciences, Herbalife Ltd., and PrePaid Legal. One of the most recent revelations by Minkow and his Fraud Discovery Institute was that the president of Herbalife, Gregory Probert, did not have the MBA he and the company claimed in SEC filings.

This revelation led to Mr. Probert resigning from Herbalife last week. Are you asking yourself why this is a big deal? Heck, even a Goldman Sachs analyst said the lie was nothing to be concerned about.

But it’s simple. Lying by company executives in one area of their lives or business lives is not usually compartmentalized. If an executive is willing to lie about this, he may likely be willing to lie about other things. (And that’s exactly what Minkow is suggesting in regard to the Herbalife business model.)

Barry appeared on Neil Cavuto’s show on FOX Business last week:

6 Comments

  1. R Richards 05/05/2008 at 2:00 pm - Reply

    I hope this guy does something constructive by investigating President Bush and his cabinet.

  2. Renata Scherer 05/06/2008 at 8:32 pm - Reply

    I think Barry Minkow is doing a terrific job: he’s exposing the truth to the consumers. He’s telling the OTHER SIDE OF this company for all the world to see (i look forward to see the videos on You Tube)

    98,5% of distribuitors quit this business in one year. There are 1.700.000 of Herbalife distribuitors around the world (on the 65 countries where Herbalife does its “business”).

    Isn’t it BAD enough?

  3. Karen 05/07/2008 at 4:42 am - Reply

    “Given the company’s unwavering commitment to the highest standards in business ethics, the company had no other choice but to accept the resignation.”

    Yep, stuff happens but I know that in the end, Herbalife always follows a strict code of ethics. We are all sorry to see Greg go, he was definitely an asset to the company.

    “Greg made substantial contributions to Herbalife,” said Johnson. “The circumstances surrounding his resignation are disappointing but I am very pleased that Des Walsh has accepted an expanded role in the company.”

    But, given what we were told yesterday, the future is looking even brighter than before!

    Karen Umstattd
    Proud to be a member of Team Herbalife

  4. Pedro Menard 05/07/2008 at 9:25 am - Reply

    Karen,

    What was it that you “were told yesterday”? Can you share it with us? (or is it some big HBL for-your-eyes-only secret?)

    And what “strict Code of Ethics” are you talking about?
    Maybe you are forgeting the whole “in-and-out-of-China affair”, where people were lured outside the territory so they could be recruited in that endless human-chain of yours. And maybe Greg himself forgot about that code when he lied boldfaced about his degree.

    The future for Herbalife seems every day to grow grimmer and bleaker, as it seems. You cannot simply ignore reality with all it’s figures and numbers and pretend everything to be OK.

    Best Regards

  5. Renata Scherer 05/07/2008 at 7:28 pm - Reply

    “Yep, stuff happens but I know that in the end, Herbalife always follows a strict code of ethics. We are all sorry to see Greg go, he was definitely an asset to the company. ”

    Do you call lying as “stuff”? Don’t forget, this guy’s lied for a long time.

    Herbalife, in the end, will (try) to follow an infinite chain of recruition to survive.

  6. Anonymous AUST 10/17/2009 at 11:17 pm - Reply

    HL is lies, the walshes are lies, dont be stupid and buy into the crap, its all milk and cookies talk but then turns out to be the taste of oil in your mouth once youve swallowed the bait.

    Tried it, got to world team, then just got burnt in the endless cycle of being sucked dry.
    Screw herbalife.

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