FTC Orders Couple to Repay $16M Over Sales of Phony Weight Loss Pills

A couple peddling fake weight loss supplements will lose a lot more than excess flab, thanks to a Federal Trade Commission settlement requiring them to repay $16.4 million by liquidating all of their worldly possessions.

The FTC announced last week that Anthony and Staci Dill are settling allegations that they sold $16.4 million-worth of phony weight loss pills since 2012 by making false promotional claims about their efficacy, enrolling customers in monthly auto-renewal monthly programs without their consent and illegally charging consumers trying the product “risk free.”

These activities were conducted through the Maine couple’s two businesses — Direct Alternatives and Original Organics — and violated the FTC Act and Maine’s consumer protection laws, according to an FTC release.

The FTC’s release states that the couple “told a blizzard of lies,” hawking “worthless weight-loss supplements” via radio ads claiming that the pills were “scientifically proven” to spur weight loss. At least one of these ads claimed to be a public service announcement.