MLM Company with Banking Issues
Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2014 3:17 am
I'm trying to suss something out about a MLM start up I'm forming a worse than typical impression about. Yesterday word came out that their existing bank accounts were being closed and not at their request. I guess this post is more or less a pressure test to see if their explanation holds water. I'm leaving the company name out of this in case my impressions might be ill considered.
Here is an [edited] email the company sent out yesterday:
In a video released today mention was made of "tens of thousands dollars worth of counterfeit checks" that had been drawn against their account as the reason for their bank booting them.
Some salients:
I have been watching this company for months and am less than impressed with their ethics or honesty. Even given the standards of the industry as a whole, these people seem like moral midgets to me. But my question is, how likely is their story for getting booted from their bank to be factual. They are other than honest in several ways (MLM, duh) but where does a bank's liability for check fraud end and the company those fraudulent checks were written against begin?
Here is an [edited] email the company sent out yesterday:
Dear Valued [affiliates]:
First and foremost, we would like to apologize if you are experiencing an unexpected payment issue. We were notified by our bank that there was fraudulent activity happening to our account, and as a result we were forced to close the account immediately to control the situation. Unfortunately, that unforeseen closure will affect all un-cashed checks issued prior to June 6, 2014.
In brief, all future checks will be issued from a new account; further, we anticipate that our [company name] direct deposit Visa cards will be available to all [affiliates] within the next 30 days (once the API coding is completed for all systems).
We ask you to please only contact [company name] Support if you have checks from [company] that you have not yet cashed (issued prior to June 6) or if you have accrued any overdraft fees, which we will reimburse immediately when presented with relevant bank statements.
Again, we sincerely apologize and thank you for your understanding and patience. We are working to settle this unanticipated issue promptly, and will let you know immediately when it is resolved.
With our gratitude,
Your [company] Headquarters Team
In a video released today mention was made of "tens of thousands dollars worth of counterfeit checks" that had been drawn against their account as the reason for their bank booting them.
Some salients:
- *The company is only a few months old.
*Their now former banking partner is a very large international bank. The MLM company has confirmed that they weren't given the option of closing the existing accounts and opening new accounts with the same bank.
*This MLM company's primary product is arguably, ~somewhat~ legally ambiguous on a federal and many state levels (from a DEA perspective). There are lingering legal technicalities for national banking chains maintaining accounts for businesses who's products are legal under local state laws but illegal under federal law.
I have been watching this company for months and am less than impressed with their ethics or honesty. Even given the standards of the industry as a whole, these people seem like moral midgets to me. But my question is, how likely is their story for getting booted from their bank to be factual. They are other than honest in several ways (MLM, duh) but where does a bank's liability for check fraud end and the company those fraudulent checks were written against begin?