L’Dara International, a personal care multi-level marketing company, launched in late 2013 from Arizona. Ray Faltinsky serves as its CEO, President, and Founder.
Faltinsky has a history in the MLM industry. In 1995, he co-founded FreeLife International with Kevin Fournier and investors, including Anson Beard of Morgan Stanley/Dean Witter. FreeLife began as a direct sales company, initially marketing nutritional supplements, weight loss, and personal care products. The company later shifted its focus to products containing goji juice.
A 2007 CBC undercover investigation brought FreeLife under scrutiny. The company faced questions about claims its goji products offered anti-cancer and anti-aging properties. Earl Mindell, FreeLife's former spokesperson, had made several such unsubstantiated claims. The CBC investigation in January 2007 specifically examined Mindell's involvement with FreeLife, questioning the anti-cancer properties of Himalayan Goji Juice and the validity of Mindell's Ph.D. qualification. His doctorate was later proven invalid and removed from his FreeLife website biography.
Claims about goji's beneficial effect on cancer stemmed from preliminary evidence of cancer cell inhibition in vitro, meaning in a lab dish. No scientific evidence showed these effects occurred in vivo, or when consumed. H. Leon Bradlow, co-author of a study Mindell cited, stated his original research did not prove goji had anti-cancer properties.
No regulatory action against Mindell's claims is publicly known. However, in 2009, FreeLife faced a class-action lawsuit filed in Arizona. The lawsuit alleged "false claims, misrepresentations, false and deceptive advertising" concerning FreeLife's Himalayan Goji Juice, GoChi, and TaiSlim products. FreeLife settled the lawsuit in April 2010, making a donation to an "educational organization" and committing to "take steps to ensure that its goji products are not marketed as 'unheated' or 'raw.'"
Today, Faltinsky remains listed as "CEO and Founder" of Freeslim on its company website. In a 2011 FreeLife executive biography, Faltinsky wrote that with the October 2011 launch of the TAIslim 90 Day Challenge, FreeLife would "soon become 'The Worldwide Leader in Healthy Weight Loss' and achieve multi-billions in sales." He also stated, "Those Leaders who lock arms with us now are in a unique position to create an incredible financial future."