James DeWolfe would monitor live calls and simultaneously e-mail the customer service representative as he or she spoke over the telephone with a customer. Id. ¶ 283. Managers and executives continually pressured customer service representatives to sell products at any cost. Id. ¶ 285. Employees were encouraged to make untrue, exaggerated, and fraudulent claims. Id.¶ 288. Customer service representatives were encouraged to ingest the products they marketed, so that they could tell a caller that they had used the product with success. Id. ¶¶ 289-90. They were encouraged to lie about symptoms and side effects caused by the products. Id. ¶ 292. Customer service representatives were fired for having low sales. Id. ¶ 298. They were not fired for defrauding the customer or the public. Id. ¶ 311.
From 2000 through the summer of 2005, the 121 Mill Street enterprise sold a product called Avacor, which was misrepresented as an all-natural hair replacement regimen, with no chemicals and no side effects. Id. ¶¶ 325-26, 363-64. The marketing of Avacor was an elaborate hoax involving fictitious clinics and treatment centers, a fabricated “medical study,” and
unsubstantiated efficacy claims. Id. ¶ 334. Avacor contained the drug Minoxidil. Id. ¶ 339. Callers were told that Avacor came with a money-back, no-risk guarantee, which was a misrepresentation. Id. ¶ 356. The 121 Mill Street enterprise shipped Avacor to customers using the U.S. Postal Service, United Parcel Service, and Parcel Direct. Id. ¶ 360. The 121 Mill Street enterprise received a percentage of all Global Vision Product revenue for Avacor sold by its customer service representatives. Id. ¶ 375. Alpine, directly and through Weaver, Maguy, and Adams, lent money to Global Vision Products so that it would continue to do business exclusively with 121 Mill Street. Id. ¶ 376.
From February 2002 through April 2003, the 121 Mill Street enterprise sold a product called Vinarol as a “new fast acting all natural herbal formula” developed to help increase ****** desire and enhance the ****** experience for both men and women. Id. ¶¶ 381, 385. Vinarol was promoted as a “100% all-natural herbal product” and a dietary supplement. Id. ¶ 388. In fact, Vinarol contained sildenafil citrate, the active ingredient found in the prescription drug Viagra. Id. ¶ 390. No form of sildenafil citrate has been approved for women. Id. ¶ 395. Both male and female customer service representatives at 121 Mill Street were given samples of Vinarol to ingest. Id. ¶ 409. Some reported blue vision, a common side effect of sildenafil citrate. Id. The 121 Mill Street enterprise sold Vinarol at least for a time after it was widely reported that Vinarol contained prescription drugs. Id. ¶ 416.
For approximately four years, the 121 Mill Street enterprise sold a product called Thermal Carb beginning sometime in 2000. Id. ¶ 419. It was marketed as an all-natural diet tool, although it initially contained the drug ephedrine, a dangerous stimulant. Id. ¶¶ 420, 422. Customer service representatives told callers that Thermal Carb would block the carbohydrates they consumed, preventing the body from producing too much insulin. Id. ¶ 424. The enterprise
also marketed Thermal Carb Fat Cutting Gel, which customers were instructed to rub on areas of their bodies to reduce cellulite and body fat. Id. ¶¶ 432, 434. Thermal Carb has never been proven to reduce weight.