Commentary on fraud, scams, scandals, and court cases.
 

Medifast is Ordered to Pay Fees…. Five Years After Filing a SLAPP Suit

It’s taken more than five years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to dispose of the frivolous and unethical lawsuit Medifast Inc. (aka Take Shape For Life) and their dishonest attorneys filed against Tracy Coenen and Sequence Inc. You will recall that I won my anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss, and …

Marc G. Nochimson, CPA, Medifast, and Deficient Audits

Alternative Title: Marc Nochimson, CPA makes the case FOR publicly identifying audit partners. (You really need to know if a goof like this was the engagement partner!) In 2013, Marc G. Nochimson, CPA entered into a settlement agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission based on his improper professional conduct …

Medifast Cease and Desist Order and Civil Penalty

On September 18, 2013 a cease and desist order was filed pursuant to the Security and Exchange Commission’s investigation of Medifast Inc. (Medifast’s business includes Take Shape for Life, or TSFL, which is its multi-level marketing division.) Medifast materially overstated income and understated expenses from 2006 through 2009, according to …

Medifast Take Shape For Life: Endless Chain?

A recent filing in the Medifast appeal (the case in which Medifast sued me and others, and lost miserably) raises some interesting questions about whether Take Shape For Life (TSFL) is an endless chain recruitment scheme. From that filing: A. Medifast’s Evidence Does Not Prima Facie Show That FitzPatrick’s “Endless …

Medifast Lawyers Lie to the Court (Again)

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. In …

Take Shape For Life and Medifast: Court Filing Explains Pyramid Scheme Allegations

This week, response briefs were due from the defendants in the case of Medifast v. Barry Minkow, Fraud Discovery Institute, Robert FitzPatrick, Tracy Coenen, and Sequence Inc. I was dismissed from Medifast’s SLAPP suit (see information on the lawsuit here), and my brief  in the Medifast appeal can be found …

Medifast and Take Shape For Life: Appeals, Pyramid Schemes, Truth, and Lies

Yesterday my attorneys filed my response to the appeal in the lawsuit brought against me by Medifast, Inc. for my non-defamatory writings about the company and its Take Shape For Life multi-level marketing business. Medifast sued me on February 17, 2010, lied repeatedly to the court about my writings leading …

Medifast “Take Shape For Life” Lawsuit: Total Vindication for Tracy Coenen in SLAPP Suit

More than a year ago, Medifast Inc. (NYSE:MED) sued me, my company Sequence Inc, Barry Minkow, his company Fraud Discovery Institute, Robert FitzPatrick, William Lobdell, and an anonymous message board poster for defamation. Barry Minkow and FDI initiated an investigation of the company in 2008, and the rest of us …

The Truth Comes Out in the Medifast Litigation

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. Nearly …