Vemma served with FTC complaint about autoships

Although not formally reviewed on BehindMLM, it’s no secret that much of the criticism directed at Vemma stems from their affiliate recruitment business model.

Without going into specifics, the gist of it is you sign up as a Vemma affiliate with a monthly autoship and then recruit others who do the same.

Retail sales in this model are virtually non-existent, with affiliates instead getting paid with funds sourced from their recruited downlines (via autoship).

This has now attracted the attention of the FTC, who according to Troy Dooly served Vemma a formal complaint on Monday.

For more we turn to a 
Facebook post by Dooly
, published a few hours ago:

Vemma was served with a complaint by the FTC today.

The complaint is under seal until Friday. This is usually done so the founders of the company can’t rally support prior to the public notification.

Having talked with BK this afternoon it seems the FTC have two issues surrounding pack sales as well as autoship sales

Pack sales are no biggie and ideally up less than 7% of all product sales.

Autoships are huge! Most companies with solid products will see anywhere from 40% to 75% of all revenues come from the monthly reorder of their products.

Dooly doesn’t elaborate on exactly how much “huge” is, but does goes on to advocate supporting MLM opportunities that rely on affiliate recruitment and autoships to generate sales:

If regulators were to win in a court of law that autoships must be stopped. Then EVERY company with an autoship program will have a very hard time paying reps.

This isn’t a Vemma issue alone folks…

This is a direct sales issue and I pray the DSA and other influencers step up.

Retail sales  in Vemma are actively discouraged, by way of halving retail sales volume value within the compensation plan.

At the time of publication Vemma CEO and Founder BK Boreyko (right) has not made any mention of the FTC complaint on his own Facebook page.

I first thought the sealing of the complaint till Friday might mean he can’t address the issue, but having talked to Troy Dooly he’s obviously discussing the complaint in private – so that appears to not be the case.

Last April Boreyko
told the NY Post
that Vemma was

changing its business practices to get ahead of any possible fallout from the Federal Trade Commission’s investigation into Herbalife, which has a similar business model.

“I always want to stay on the good side of the FTC because they have guns”.

Separately a big question mark now looms over whether or not Alex Morton knew about Vemma’s FTC troubles.

The top earner in the company for many years, Morton abandoned ship a few weeks ago amid a
flurry of controversy
.

Did Morton know something the rest of the Vemma affiliate-base didn’t?

As with Boreyko, at of the time of publication there is no mention of the Vemma FTC complaint on Morton’s Facebook page.

Another high-profile Vemma affiliate who announced he’s “no longer promoting” Vemma in the last twenty-four hours is

🤖 Quick Answer

What business model has Vemma been criticized for?

Why did the FTC take action against Vemma?
The FTC initiated formal complaint proceedings due to Vemma's business model emphasizing affiliate recruitment over legitimate retail sales, with autoship purchases funding commissions rather than genuine product distribution.

What is the significance of the complaint being sealed?
Sealed complaints protect company founders from immediate reputational damage while allowing the FTC to prevent evidence destruction. The seal typically remains until Friday, when formal proceedings commence.

🔗 Related Articles

- Jifu founder alleges “legally risky business practices” (FTC?)
- Scammers celebrate AMG Supreme Court win
- Silver Star Live’s David Mayer sued by CFTC for fraud
- Fintoch collapses, “William Thompson” outed as Joel Fry
- FTC investigating IM Mastery Academy for consumer protection