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	The Pastor, the Felon, and Quixtar
	Don Storms is an Executive Diamond in the Amway business. A former pastor, he spent 13 years with a gospel quartet traveling the country. Then he joined Jim Bakker and became a senior vice president at the PTL Club. In 1979, he and wife Ruth started their Amway business. Today, Storms is a real estate developer in Charlotte, NC in addition to his Amway business. Kevin Trudeau is a marketer extraordinaire, with a more-than-checkered past. A twice-convicted felon, he served time in a Federal penitentiary, for credit card fraud. The Federal Trade Commission has prosecuted him more than once for making and airing fraudulent infomercials. He has been the subject of investigations by 18 state Attorneys General and the US Postal Service. His involvement in Nutrition for Life, Inc. (NFLI), a multilevel marketing business based in Houston, TX, ended ignominiously after the SEC began investigating his distributor recruitment practices On April 17, 1996, the Illinois Attorney General filed suit against Trudeau and a partner for running an illegal pyramid scheme with Nutrition for Life and Nightingale-Conant, another MLM dealing in motivational books and tapes. The State of Michigan ordered Trudeau to cease all marketing in the state related to his business, the Trudeau Marketing Group. What do the Pastor and the felon have in common? Charisma and Quixtar! My attention was first drawn to the Quixtar/Trudeau connection by a spam e-mail I received. (For Amway's official posture on spam, see VP Ken McDonald's statements.) This letter stated, in part (complete with the all-caps version of internet shouting): "PLEASE CONTACT ME RIGHT AWAY! URGENT! URGENT! URGENT! DON'T LET THIS ONE GET AWAY FROM YOU. THE LARGEST, MOST EXPLOSIVE MLM OPPORTUNITY OF ALL TIME IS NOW UNDERWAY. IT IS UNIMAGINABLY HUGE. HUGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY ARE BEHIND IT, HUGE CORPORATIONS LIKE MICROSOFT AND IBM,. . . "IT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT THAT YOU RESERVE YOUR POSITION NOW IN THE TRUDEAU TRAINING TEAM ORGANIZATION, WHICH NOW WITHOUT QUESTION THE MOST UNBELIEVABLE MLM MARKETING GROUP IN HISTORY. KEVIN TRUDEAU, WHO IS THE HUGE IN THE TV INFOMERCIAL BUSINESS WORLDWIDE, AND HIS ORGANIZATION OF INFORMERCIAL DISTRIBUTORS (TO WHICH I BELONG) ARE BUILDING AN EXCLUSIVE MARKETING ORGANIZATION IN COOPERATION WITH AND DIRECTLY DOWNLINE FROM THE BIGGEST LEADERS IN THE NETWORK MARKETING INDUSTRY TODAY, THE JODY VICTOR, DEXTER YAGER, DON STORMS, BLAINE ATHORN GROUP."

The Pastor, the Felon, and Quixtar

Don Storms is an Executive Diamond in the Amway business. A former pastor, he spent 13 years with a gospel quartet traveling the country. Then he joined Jim Bakker and became a senior vice president at the PTL Club. In 1979, he and wife Ruth started their Amway business. Today, Storms is a real estate developer in Charlotte, NC in addition to his Amway business.

Kevin Trudeau is a marketer extraordinaire, with a more-than-checkered past. A twice-convicted felon, he served time in a Federal penitentiary, for credit card fraud. The Federal Trade Commission has prosecuted him more than once for making and airing fraudulent infomercials. He has been the subject of investigations by 18 state Attorneys General and the US Postal Service. His involvement in Nutrition for Life, Inc. (NFLI), a multilevel marketing business based in Houston, TX, ended ignominiously after the SEC began investigating his distributor recruitment practices On April 17, 1996, the Illinois Attorney General filed suit against Trudeau and a partner for running an illegal pyramid scheme with Nutrition for Life and Nightingale-Conant, another MLM dealing in motivational books and tapes. The State of Michigan ordered Trudeau to cease all marketing in the state related to his business, the Trudeau Marketing Group.

What do the Pastor and the felon have in common? Charisma and Quixtar!

My attention was first drawn to the Quixtar/Trudeau connection by a spam e-mail I received. (For Amway's official posture on spam, see VP Ken McDonald's statements.) This letter stated, in part (complete with the all-caps version of internet shouting):

"PLEASE CONTACT ME RIGHT AWAY! URGENT! URGENT! URGENT! DON'T LET THIS ONE GET AWAY FROM YOU. THE LARGEST, MOST EXPLOSIVE MLM OPPORTUNITY OF ALL TIME IS NOW UNDERWAY. IT IS UNIMAGINABLY HUGE. HUGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY ARE BEHIND IT, HUGE CORPORATIONS LIKE MICROSOFT AND IBM,. . .

"IT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT THAT YOU RESERVE YOUR POSITION NOW IN THE TRUDEAU TRAINING TEAM ORGANIZATION, WHICH NOW WITHOUT QUESTION THE MOST UNBELIEVABLE MLM MARKETING GROUP IN HISTORY. KEVIN TRUDEAU, WHO IS THE HUGE IN THE TV INFOMERCIAL BUSINESS WORLDWIDE, AND HIS ORGANIZATION OF INFORMERCIAL DISTRIBUTORS (TO WHICH I BELONG) ARE BUILDING AN EXCLUSIVE MARKETING ORGANIZATION IN COOPERATION WITH AND DIRECTLY DOWNLINE FROM THE BIGGEST LEADERS IN THE NETWORK MARKETING INDUSTRY TODAY, THE JODY VICTOR, DEXTER YAGER, DON STORMS, BLAINE ATHORN GROUP."

Some quick research turned up the following:

On June 30, 1999, Kevin Trudeau placed an announcement on the Trudeau Marketing Group's voicemail system. It seems that Trudeau's long-time pal and business associate Blaine Athorne -- who fired Trudeau after his 1989 credit card fraud -- has hired the Trudeau Marketing Group in an exclusive relationship with his Amway/Quixtar organization. Athorne is personally sponsored by Don Storms.

Trudeau's announcement describes briefly his earlier experience with network marketing as part of NFLI. According to him, it was the "changing dynamics" in that company, which made it impossible for him to continue as a distributor. "I no longer could promote that business. . . [because of] disagreement in management." Hmm. Is it possible that management disagreement might have something to do with the conviction for running an illegal pyramid scheme and the $1 million fine that Trudeau had to pay as a result of his informercial fraud? The Postal Service investigation? The investigations by all those Attorneys General?

About Quixtar, Trudeau says: "I believe in my heart of hearts is the ultimate network marketing opportunity of all times. . ." Now, how could you not believe a guy with all that going for him?

Among the claims that Trudeau makes for Quixtar, he states: "You'll be able to buy hundreds of thousands and eventually millions of products at very good pricing -- similar to Sam's Club."

Then comes the big ta-da!

"I have chosen after multiple meetings with corporate executives, top distributors and lawyers that it would be in the best interests of everyone if I did not become a distributor in Amway or Quixtar. I have formed a company called the Trudeau Training Team. The Trudeau Training Team has signed an exclusive marketing and sales arrangement with Storms Enterprises Inc. . . Don Storms has personally sponsored my long-time friend and business associate Blaine Athorne. Blaine Athorne is going to be the founding distributor in our downline organization. . . My company has signed an exclusive marketing and sales training contract with Blaine Athorne’s distributorship and downline, and Don Storms.

"Many of the marketing strategies that I've employed in the past will be utilized in this organization."

I wonder which of his successful marketing strategies he is referring to here. The fraud? The illegal pyramid scheme? But wait -- it gets better! In typical Amway tag-team fashion, he gets Don Storms on the phone for "credibility." Remember Don? Former pastor, PTL Club executive, gospel singer? According to Trudeau, Storms is "my dear close friend and one of the greatest network marketers of all time."

Storms passes the credibility baton back to Trudeau by saying that "Kevin Trudeau's training [is] the best in the world."

Then he claims that "From out of the gate it's [Quixtar] going to be profitable the first day." Wow, Don, that's quite the claim! Profitable the first day! Does that mean it's going to be profitable for every distributor on the first day? Gee, I'm impressed. Storms continues: "It'll be the biggest, the best, and don't you wait one second."

So -- there you have it, folks. An excellent example of the quality of ethical and legal behavior we can expect from Quixtar and its distributors, complete with appropriate earnings claims.

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This page updated Jul-13-99