Dear Colleagues, Consumers and Pyramid Scheme Alert Supporters,

A new essay recently posted on the False Profits Blog addresses a question many of you  have raised.

Why are multi-level marketing pyramids and financial ponzis able to ensnare so many people today? What is the power behind this Main Street epidemic?

This question goes beyond the lack of law enforcement, the failure of the FTC and SEC, or the difficulty of grasping “exponential expansion.”

The case of the alleged theft of at least $31 million by Sue Sachdeva from Koss Corp. (NASDAQ:KOSS) carries on. Last week, Sachdeva was charged with 6 counts of wire fraud. Experts are saying this indictment came much faster than usual, as the Feds usually spend much more time thoroughly investigating cases. They’re speculating that a guilty plea is going to come quickly, and the indictment was the first step toward that.

The indictment is interesting. Not only did she use company funds to pay her American Express bill as we had heard, she’s also been accused of getting cashier’s checks from a bank account belonging to Koss, writing Koss checks to Petty Cash and keeping the funds, and using Koss traveler’s checks for personal purposes.

Professor David Albrecht wrote a great piece today about the push to move from U.S. GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) to IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards). His conclusion? The push to switch is motivated purely by greed.

Accounting standards exist so that financial statements have some uniformity. Users of financial statements outside of the companies producing the numbers are able to compare financial statements and understand what the users mean because standards have … standardized… financial statements.

I’ve been talking here, at DailyFinance.com, and to the media about the massive fraud at Koss Corp. and how I think it may have been committed and covered up. The time has come to get more specific about how I think it happened, and why I think the auditors did not find it.

Disclaimer: I have no inside knowledge of the situation at Koss. I have never worked for or with them, and I have never worked for or with Grant Thornton, the auditors. I haven’t seen anything other than what’s been released publicly by the press. I am merely speculating.

The contention has been made that the auditors should have found this fraud, as they are required to consider fraud in planning and performing their audits. Further, the fraud is at an estimated $31 million (my guess is it will end around $50 million), which is clearly material to Koss.  “Material” generally means it’s big enough to matter to the overall financial picture of the company. With annual sales hovering around $40 million a year at Koss Corp., $31 million (or more) stolen over a 5+ year period is certainly material.

So how did the auditors miss it? That’s easy. Three simple steps by Koss VP of Finance Sue Sachdeva could prevent the auditors from encountering evidence pointing them to the fraud.

Here’s the list of news stories related to the fraud by Koss VP of Finance Sue Sachdeva which I’ve written or been quoted in:

Accountants cite lessons learned in Koss scandal

Koss Corp: Anatomy of an Alleged $31 Million Fraud

Fraud Case Feeds Sarbox-Exemption Critics

I have been criticized for “defending” Grant Thornton, the auditors of Koss Corp, which has suffered a fraud loss of at least $31 million at the hands of the company’s Vice President of Finance, Sue Sachdeva. In fact, my comments relating to this case are not a defense of Grant Thornton, in the least. They are meant to point the finger squarely at Koss management, which is wholly responsible for this fraud.

I’m not saying that Grant Thornton did a bang-up job when it comes to Koss. I couldn’t possibly know that without knowing exactly how the fraud was carried out (Koss still hasn’t said) and without seeing GT’s workpapers and taking a good look at what they actually did. What I am saying is that audits have so little usefulness and are so awful at detecting fraud, that it’s a given that a woman like Sue Sachdeva would easily be able to get away with a massive theft.

UPDATE: On February 17, 2010, Medifast Inc. filed suit in US District Court, Southern District of California, alleging defamation, violation of California Corporations Code, and unfair business practices. On March 29, 2011, Judge Janis Sammartino dismissed all of Medifast’s claims against me in her ruling on my anti-SLAPP motion.

This week multi-level marketing expert Robert Fitzpatrick released his second report in the last year on Medifast (NYSE: MED) and their Take Shape For Life multi-level marketing division. The report highlights how little money the company’s “health coaches” actually earn from selling the products, and makes it clear that the real money (if there is any) is in recruiting new marks into the scheme.

Following the release of FitzPatrick’s first report last year, Medifast management came out with bizarre statements. The most recent version of their statement was included in a 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 9, 2009:

UPDATE: On February 17, 2010, Medifast Inc. filed suit in US District Court, Southern District of California, alleging defamation, violation of California Corporations Code, and unfair business practices. On March 29, 2011, Judge Janis Sammartino dismissed all of Medifast’s claims against me in her ruling on my anti-SLAPP motion.

Yesterday I referenced a new report on Medifast and Take Shape For Life by multi-level marketing expert Robert Fitzpatrick.. Here is more from his report. I want to highlight these things because they’re the facts that many pushers of MLMs will never tell you.

Those recruiting for MLMs are quick to tell you about how much you can make if you sell their product (often glossing over the fact that you’ll have to recruit new people into the scheme in order to have any chance of making a living), but they will never tell you that it’s next to impossible. They forget all the reasons why people in these MLMs are selling so few products and making so little money from selling.

UPDATE: On February 17, 2010, Medifast Inc. filed suit in US District Court, Southern District of California, alleging defamation, violation of California Corporations Code, and unfair business practices. On March 29, 2011, Judge Janis Sammartino dismissed all of Medifast’s claims against me in her ruling on my anti-SLAPP motion.

Robert FitzPatrick, a multi-level marketing expert known around the world for his analysis of the business model, has released a report on Medifast Inc. (NYSE:MED) and its Take Shape For Life division. TSFL is the multi-level marketing arm of the weight loss company, and is the force behind the company’s overall increase in revenue.

FitzPatrick writes:

I’ve had plenty to say about the massive fraud Koss Corp has suffered at the hands of their Vice President of Finance, Sue Sachdeva.

In this news story from Milwaukee’s ABC affiliate, WISN 12, I talk about how a company with annual revenue in the $40 million range can fall victim to a fraud loss of $31 million (current estimate, up from original estimate of $4.5 million and first revision of $20 million):