Chicago, IL – Community leaders from the Illinois Herbalife Campaign held a press conference today calling Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to conclude an investigation on nutritional supplement maker Herbalife, Inc. More than 80 complaints have been filed with her office alleging HLF is a pyramid scheme that is unfairly targeting Hispanics.
“We need the Attorney General’s office to conclude their investigation and determine how to best protect Illinois consumers from further abuses by Herbalife,” stated Representative Will Guzzardi. “Multilevel marketing schemes like Herbalife often target people with little business experience because they are the most vulnerable to high-pressure offers of entrepreneurship and financial freedom. The harsh reality is that those who fail at the Herbalife business opportunity are those who can least afford it.”
Last April, the Attorney General announced an investigation into HLF, but dozens of victims from Illinois that have filed complaints with her office claiming financial losses due to Herbalife’s deceptive practices are frustrated that they are not receiving the adequate support from Madigan’s office.
“I came forward to file a complaint because Herbalife needs to be held accountable for their actions in our community. But it has been more than a year since the investigation and we have not received an update on the investigation,” expressed Norma, a HLF victim that filed a complaint with Lisa Madigan’s office last year.
The Attorney General’s office encourages victims of Herbalife to file a complaint with their office, they welcome everyone’s complaints. Community leaders urge additional victims to come forward by calling the Illinois Herbalife Campaign hotline at (855) 701-5437.
“HLF has made billions of dollars by specifically targeting vulnerable members of the Latino community and we need Attorney General Madigan to put an end to Herbalife’s brazenly dishonest business practices,” said Olivia Hernandez, Executive Director of Centro Comunitario Juan Diego. “We’ve raised awareness of the allegations against Herbalife and shared the stories of the victims filing complaints. What else do we need to do to for Attorney General Madigan to help our community?”
