Weight-Loss Scammers Violated| FTC Injunction, Class Action Claims

SALT LAKE CITY (CN) - Basic Research LLC and Dynakor Pharmacal defraud consumers by pushing "Akavar" diet supplement as a "foolproof" way to lose weight without dieting or exercise, according to a class-action complaint in Federal Court. Defendants Dennis Gay, Mitchell K. Friedlander and Daniel B. Mowrey Ph.D are violating a permanent FTC injunction by running the scam, and fraudulently represent Mowrey as a medical doctor, which he is not, the complaint states.

Plaintiffs, from three states, claim Basic research is "one of the largest nutraceutical companies in the United States, with annual sales revenues in excess of $50 million." They claim the defendants have made millions by pushing their snake oil Akavar through fraudulent sales pitches.

Basic Research is based in Salt Lake City and violates an FTC injunction by running its Akavar scam, the plaintiffs say. Dynakor is its affiliate, as is defendant Western Holdings LLC, of Cheyenne, Wyo.

Dennis Gay, of Payson, Utah, also violates an FTC permanent injunction by running the scam, the complaint states. He was enjoined after running a nearly identical scam for "alleged weight loss products that purport to work without diet or exercise," it states.

Mowrey and Friedlander, both of Salt Lake City, also have been permanently enjoined by the FTC from "the marketing and sale of alleged weight loss products that purport to work without diet or exercise," the complaint states.

The defendants claim that people who take their bogus product "will see excess fat 'pulled from bulging parts of your body.' Defendants also falsely alleged that the results are 'scientific fact, documented by published medical findings'," and so on. See complaint.

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