Done Lapre Is Done

Federal postal inspectors are probing the vitamin-selling business of a Phoenix man known for his get-rich-quick methods touted on television infomercials.


Investigators say that Don Lapre and his company, Greatest Vitamin in the World, use "deceptive and aggressive" telemarketing methods that encourage customers to spend thousands of dollars on "expensive and worthless" Internet advertising programs.

U.S. postal inspectors last week secured a search warrant and seized evidence at Lapre's Phoenix business and home.

The 43-year-old has not been charged with any crime, but a search-warrant affidavit indicates that agents are gathering evidence about possible mail, wire and telemarketing fraud.

"We are going through the evidence that was gathered," said Patricia Armstrong, a postal inspector public information officer.

"If there is enough information there, we will probably move onto an indictment."

Numerous telephone calls by The Arizona Republic to Lapre's businesses were not returned.

Armstrong said no timetable has been decided for when Postal Service and Internal Revenue Service agents will conclude the investigation into Lapre, his businesses and his associates.

Lapre, a television personality who has pitched money-making methods through classified advertisements or "900" telephone lines since the early 1990s, has been a longtime fixture in telemarketing circles throughout the Valley.

His easy-money pitches have aired mainly on cable and satellite stations and typically promise viewers a blueprint to quick wealth.

Still, along the way, Lapre also has drawn many detractors nationwide who have filed lawsuits and complaints with regulatory and industry agencies contending his wealth-building strategies are a rip-off.

Longtime presence

The former house painter told The Republic in the mid-1990s that he grossed more than $40 million one year and sold more than 500,000 "Money Making" kits during a five-year period.

Lapre's latest business venture, Greatest Vitamin in the World, seeks to recruit people to establish Web-based businesses selling vitamins.

The services promised to help customers to set up a Web site and market the business through expensive ads.

Customers have filed more than 700 complaints with the Phoenix Better Business Bureau, Arizona Attorney General's Office, Federal Trade Commission, Internet Crime Complaint Center and the postal inspection service.

The Phoenix Better Business Bureau assigned an "unsatisfactory" rating to Greatest Vitamin in the World.

The BBB reports that during the past three years it has received 473 complaints about the company, mainly from consumers seeking refunds.

The agency also said Greatest Vitamin in the World failed to back up numerous ad claims such as "Our top people made thousands and thousands of dollars doing this!" and " . . . This is the easiest way to start generating $1,000 checks over and over again!"

What the warrant wanted

The search warrant sought access to Greatest Vitamin in the World offices at Park Central Mall on Central Avenue in Phoenix, as well as other Lapre businesses, including Torica LLC, Guaranteed Traffic.com and Amazing Products International.

Investigators also searched Lapre's Phoenix home and numerous vehicles, including a 2006 BMW station wagon, 2005 Ford F250 truck and a 2005 Volkswagen Beetle.

The search warrant also listed a 2005 Range Rover registered to Lapre's wife, Sally.

Investigators say Lapre lured customers into his vitamin-selling business through TV infomercials that promised a money-back guarantee. The businesses charged an initial setup fee of $35 to establish a Web site for customers, or "independent advertisers."

How it worked

Pia Burgess of New Jersey said she was flipping through cable channels last March when she stopped on an infomercial featuring Lapre enthusiastically pitching the vitamin business.

"I figured it was just $35 to start. What could it hurt?" Burgess said.

Soon, a Greatest Vitamin representative urged her to buy more advertising. The ads would attract vitamin buyers or lure new investors, another way a customer could make money.

In all, she invested about $1,300, but she said customers did not flock to her Web site as promised.

"I'm usually not that reckless," Burgess said. "I was intimidated. I felt that in order to get this thing going, I needed to spend more money."

She pestered Greatest Vitamin representatives for her money back, but she did not get a refund until she filed a complaint with the Arizona Attorney General's Office.

The U.S. Postal Service said in a federal affidavit that once a customer signs up for the program, the Greatest Vitamin sales representatives, or "re-loaders," attempt to sell more services at high prices.

One service pitched by the company's sales representatives includes the "12,000 targeted Internet visitor program."

The program claims to send either vitamin buyers or others interested in investing in a home-based business to a customer's Web site.

"In reality, the Internet visitor traffic provided to (customers) does not appear to be targeted visitor traffic, but may be inexpensive bulk traffic or junk hits that could be provided by various means including pop-up, pop-under or banner advertisements on a Web site," the affidavit states.

The amount charged for such advertising varies. Customer service representatives try to get as much as $3,495 but take as little as $995, according to the affidavit.

Federal investigators also said that Greatest Vitamin initially would arrange about seven vitamin sales for each new customer to generate excitement.

But customers usually could not reach the minimum 20 sales required before the company would cut them a commission check.

Undercover work

Postal inspectors said the ads "did not increase vitamin sales as represented by the organization," according to the affidavit.

They also said that customers who complained to either the Better Business Bureau or attorney general were more likely to get a refund.

As part of its probe, undercover postal agents signed up to sell vitamins and some even applied for a job at the Central Avenue offices of Greatest Vitamin.

There, a company representative told the undercover agents they hired only experienced sales professionals. But the undercover agents were told the job could be lucrative.

"You're going to make a lot of money, a lot of money," agents were told by the company.