The Florida state attorney general’s office is pursuing an investigation of vitamin and healthcare products manufacturer Rexall Sundown Inc., Boca Raton, FL, for what it alleges are questionable business practices in relation to the company’s direct marketing sales and distribution operations.
Heading up the investigation is David Aronberg, an assistant attorney general based in Fort Lauderdale, who says his office has subpoenaed documents from the company’s distributors, as well as from its Rexall Showcase International office.
According to Aronberg, the state of Florida is pursuing tips that some of the company’s operating units may have violated state laws by participating in pyramid scams that create revenue through fraud and deception rather than actual sales of products. The Florida attorney general’s office has also requested that the Internal Revenue Service make available tax records for two of Rexall’s distributors, according to published reports.
News of the actions was also reported in The Wall Street Journal following an investigation of the company’s practices by New Times, a local newspaper critical of the Rexall’s marketing tactics.
Rexall competes primarily with GNC, Herbalife and Perrigo. It also owns the popular, creatine-based Met-Rx Engineered Nutrition product, and it is the primary domestic distributor of the controversial herbal brand Cellasene, which has been touted as a homeopathic remedy for cellulite.
