BigSmart.com, which has been the subject of legal action by the State of Maine, and which has been under scrutiny in Pennsylvania, is fighting to keep "negative" information about it off the internet. They have managed to intimidate several message boards into closing down; to consistently remove their own distributors' critical or questioning messages from their own message board; and now they have filed a lawsuit and several subpoenas.

The plaintiff is one Harry Tahiliani, an owner of BigSmart who lives in Arizona. He is seeking more than $75,000 in addition to punitive damages to be defined by the court. The defendant is Lloyd Boone from Toronto, Canada. He has filed a motion to dismiss. According to Boone,

"The claims supporting their law suit are false, and any evidence which they appear to be relying on has been both obtained illegally under First Amendment Rights, or has been altered so as to suit their purpose. Both have been done I suspect so as to reflect a much more dismal light on the matter."

"They claim postings which I did not make. I've received threats, phone calls all hours of the day and night, people hanging up, saying nothing. Anybody that speaks out against them is told they don't understand the process."

One of the more interesting points about Tahiliani's complaint is that he claims to be a "private individual and the false, libelous per se defamatory statements are regarding private matters."

Let's see. . . Tahiliani is an owner of a multi-national, internet-based business organization, the purportedly defamatory statements were posted on discussion groups about BigSmart, and yet he is filing as a "private individual"?

A quick check of the BigSmart website shows, in the "FAQ" section, "Who has invested the venture capital? A group of private investors." The website does not disclose the ownership of the company. However, Tahiliani's claims to be a "private individual" would seem ludicrous in light of the size and scope of the company he has an ownership stake in.

Tahiliani also claims substantial harm done to him (as a private individual!), including:

"As a result of the communication. . . Plaintiff's reputation, both personally and professionally, has been damaged. . .

"Defendant directly and proximately caused Plaintiff to suffer extreme and lasting physical injury, as well as pain and suffering. These damages include, but are not limited to, severe anxiety, sleeplessness, inability to concentrate, nausea, headaches and related ailments, fear for the physical safety of his family members, all as will be shown at the time of trial, and all of which have impaired Plaintiff's bodily functions and abilities to perform within a normal context on everyday tasks."

As one of the "group of private investors," Tahiliani must know that BigSmart's CEO, Richard Slaback, is no stranger to regulatory actions. Slaback was associated with a company called Destiny Telecomm. Destiny was an MLM scheme involving prepaid calling cards, and was investigated by the Attorneys General of Florida and North Carolina. Sources have also linked Slaback with other questionable multi-level activities.

Recently, when a Pittsburg, PA television station was investigating BigSmart's activities in that area, Slaback claimed that the representative in question, Ed Lamont (formerly with Equinox International, shut down in April as an illegal pyramid scheme), was operating outside the bounds of BigSmart's policies and procedures. He then went on to tell the news team that BigSmart's lawyers were "working with" the local Better Business Bureau to resolve the problems. However, the spokesperson for the BBB said they were not working with BigSmart, although BigSmart had requested some information from them.

Other internet criticsof BigSmart, including World Wide Scam Network are being subpoenaed. A group of consumers is also preparing a petition to the US Department of Justice about BigSmart.

More about BigSmart

Read Full Text of Lawsuit

Petition to US Department of Justice About BigSmart

 You are Survivor #

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