USANA EXONERATED ? YES! ABSOLUTELY!
DEEP CAPTURE STORY – THE TRUTH COMES OUT
1 April 2011 – Editors Note: Here is the story of the screw job behind the USANA short sell run orchestrated by the Fraud Discovery Institute operatives Barry Minkow, Jon Taylor, Robert L. Fitzpatrick, and Tracy Cohen. Patrick Byrne below owns Overstock.com and hates short sellers because they caused him great grief. I have shortened this interview to save you time. My apologies to Bezinga.com if I massacred their content. Bezinga.com blogg the full link is below and the full interview.
Now, on Deep Capture, you've been following this Barry Minkow case pretty closely. He was charged in securities fraud against Lennar Corp; could you talk a little bit about your involvement with that?
Patrick Byrne: I have a second hat; I'm a journalist at DeepCapture.com. We've studied this crew for years, and I can tell you exactly what happened. In October 2006, Barry Minkow approached Sam Antar.
Now, according to a deposition Minkow gave in his case with Usana. He approached Sam Antar and said, "Sam, why don't we work together." Both of these guys are ex-felons, they did prison time, and they both ha present themselves to the world as, "I'm a reformed swindler," and, "it takes one to know one." That's their whole schtick !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, in October 2006, Minkow talked to Antar, according to the deposition. A few days later, a guy named Gary Weiss presented Sam Antar to the world -- reintroduced him to the world -- and said, "Here's a guy everybody should know." In April 2007, something funny happened. Gary Weiss introduces a woman with another blog, named Tracy Coenen. She starts blogging on Overstock and Usana. Well, three days later, Barry Minkow's Fraud Discovery Institute submits a smear job to the SEC saying Usana was a bunch of crooks. That was all false, and it turns out, as a federal judge in Florida has found, Barry Minkow didn’t really do any research. Just minimal cursory research, as the judge described it, before he's out there saying, "Oh, the company's a scam job," and such. Editors note: that research was done by Robert L. Fitzpatrick and Jon Taylor
There's a well known New York hedge fund manager named Whitney Tilson who Minkow has said under oath paid him $40,000 to do this stuff on Usana. So now we get to Lennar Home Builders, and pretty much the same thing. Sam Antar wired Barry Minkow, who's now about to plead guilty and get another five years -- Antar wired him $250,000. Now, originally, Barry Minkow sort of covered in his testimony for Antar and said, "Well, he just did it as a gift; he liked me or something."
Lennar deposed Sam Antar, and we have sources that tell us that under oath, Sam Antar said, "I had to pay Barry Minkow that $250,000 as a price of admission to this club," and he admitted that's how he could get in on this game. So this is how, there's basically a list of C-level bloggers – Gary Weiss, Sam Antar, Tracy Coenen – and getting fed material by Barry Minkow.
Going up on Deep Capture very shortly you’ll see an analysis of, when Barry Minkow's stuff comes out, you can look at trading records of companies like Usana and when they started seeing failures to deliver in their stock, and when they went on the Reg SHO list, which was this list of companies that were seeing a lot of, let's say, manipulation in their stock, excessive failures to deliver. In Usana's case, three days before Minkow's delivering this Fraud Discovery Institute report to the SEC accusing Usana of a bunch of smears against them -- three days before he delivers, the deliveries go wild and Usana goes on the Reg SHO list for the first time.
So what about Whitney Tilsona (big fund manager), then, with the $40,000 payment there? I think it's very interesting. I've asked Whitney Tilson for an explanation. Why would he be paying $40,000 to a swindler, felon, and now a second-time felon, like Barry Minkow? And he hasn't answered. Whitney's answer is going to be, "Well, I paid Barry Minkow to do research. Well, when Whitney Tilson, who is allegedly a legitimate New York hedge fund manager, goes out and raises money from his clients, does he say that he's making investment decisions based on the work of guys like Barry Minkow? I seriously doubt it. Nobody is paying these guys this kind of money to hear what their thoughts are on the economy or what's their analysis of these companies. They're paying these guys to come up with sort of scurrilous smears against companies and then the hedge fund doing the paying can step in front of it and short it like they did on Usana buy a bunch of puts, and do a bunch of naked short selling, which is what explains the appearance on the Reg SHO just three days before their guy, like Barry Minkow or Sam Antar, takes their report to the SEC, and they simultaneously get this little coterie of C-list bloggers -- like Gary Weiss, Tracy Coenen, Sam Antar – to repeat all the Usana smears on message boards and on their own blogs.......
31 March 2011 -- Rod Cook Editors Note: JUBILATION! Barry Minkow of the Fraud Discovery Institute is on his way back to prison. Robert L. Fitzpatrack has been found responsible in the Medifast lawsuit. He will probably be found living out of the trunk of his car and scrounging food out of garbage cans. USANA proven right after all the attacks and grief! GREAT!
USANA FORCED OUT OF “GOING PRIVATE” AFTER SCAM ATTACK
29 July 2008 -- Last week, a group of majority shareholders led by Myron Wentz gave up its bid to buy out minority stockholders and take the publicly traded company private. Why? The bid was abandoned after a special committee of the board formed to study the proposed deal deemed the $28 a share offer too low and recommended minority shareholders (Distributors) reject it.
Lawsuits looming on the horizon alleged..... Wentz Senior and others were taking advantage of the company's lower stock price caused by the Minkow Scam Fraud Discovery Institute Stock Scam and accused them of failing to protect the interests of all stockholders.
Stock Analysts around the country said the buy out to MLM Distributors (most of the minority stockholders) was too low and at least one questioned the company's management for the action.
David Wentz the son of Myron Wentz founder will be paid a base salary of $600,000 plus stock options and can earn other bonuses, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. David Wentz is taking over as CEO and running the show. None of his financials involve offshore companies and banking…. Just one MLM Software Companies he is a “secret partner” in.
USANA ILLEGAL STOCK SHORTING SCHEME?
DEEP CAPTURE - shares opinions with the MLM WatchDog
BARRY MINKOW - ROBERT FITZPATRICK - JON TAYLOR PhD CAUGHT IN SHORT SELL?
June 2008 "Deep Capture" (a hunter of illegal short sellers) concludes that convicted stock manipulator Sam Antar and securities class action litigator Howard Sirota were working in concert with convicted stock manipulator Barry Minkow’s Fraud Discovery Institute (FDI) to manipulate the share price of USANA, a public company for hidden investors. This appears to be illegal activity in ur editor's opinion! Read the Minkow deposition.
OPINION DETAILS AND DOCUMENTATION
http://www.mlmwatchdog.com/MLM_Lies_Myths_0.html
USANA 14% INTEREST FOR BUY BACK – OUCH!
June 2008 -- Unity Acquisition Corp. has begun a tender offer of $26 for shares of stock for nutritional supplement company USANA Health Sciences Inc. Dr. Wentz, the chairman of USANA formed Unity Acquisition to take the company from public to private. Unity Acquisition has arranged to borrow up to $215 million from Ableco Finance LLC of New York at 14% interest! Ed. Note: Read through all the details – offshore ownership the reason for high interest and stock given Ableco Finance? http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_9460283
USANA GOING PRIVATE - STOCK MARKET VIEW
May 2008 -- USANA Health Sciences, again enjoying a surge in stock price due to an announcement of its founder Myron Wentz (BELOW). Wentz currently owns 68% of the company. This is the second time he's expressed an interest in taking the company private. USANA weathered false allegations, most notably from convicted felon Barry Minkow, previously convicted of fraud, who founded the Fraud Discovery Institute after his release from prison. Minkow charged the MLM firm with running a pyramid scheme. The SEC investigated the accusations but closed its books without taking action. Rod Cook, Editor's Note: Why? Because USANA has 80,000 customers who do not belong to the pay plan per USANA!
Critics have to give the company and Wentz credit. According to insider-transaction tracking, Wentz bought about $3.7 million in USANA stock last August and September 2007. Then, the stock was trading around high $30s and low $40s. Today it is about 50% lower at its current price, making it a bargain for Wentz. Rod Cook Editor’s Note: Maybe Wentz should send Minkow a “thank you” note!
USANA GOING PRIVATE
By Dr. Myron Wentz
Founder & Chairman USANA
Hello, USANA Family.
I have something very important that I wanted to share with you personally. I want to say that I am sorry that you have had to struggle through some challenges over the last 13 months, as your business was attacked for others’ financial gain. It has pained me that there was so little I could do to shield you from the unscrupulous lies and deception that you were subjected to. The short sellers have made an art and a living out of distorting the facts and profiting off fear.
I am here today to tell you that I have decided to take USANA private. I am about to take on the biggest challenge of my professional career, and I’m excited to do so. I am personally taking the steps necessary to buy out all of the outstanding shares in USANA. I am doing this because I believe so much in the vision of USANA and you, our Associates, that I want to do what I can to protect you and your business.
We want to manage this great company for your benefit, and not those on Wall Street. Their only concern is the next quarter, and when to get in and out of the stock. We won’t have to deal with the detractors who are after financial gain by spreading false rumors and creating fear. There really is very little benefit to USANA being a public company, and so much more we can do for you, the USANA Family, without Wall Street’s short-term view and demand for profits, above all. I have committed to putting everything I have, and can borrow into USANA, so we can focus USANA’s resources to continuing to make a difference in peoples’ lives.
We are here for the long-term, as there is so much more we need to do for mankind. May you live life to its fullest, in happiness and health.
Dr. Myron Wentz
Founder & Chairman
USANA Health Sciences, Inc.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF UTAH, CENTRAL DIVISION
VS.
BARRY MINKOW FRAUD CREATION - THEN DISCOVERY INSTITUTE
Editorial Note: Note that this page is named MLM Scams Minkow Taylor. Lie through their teeth, short a stock, then Minkow tries to dodge in Federal Court. Quite a crew of scammers! Your editor Rod Cook.
May 2008 - Convicted felons like Barry Minkow always have a hard time when they get into a courtroom, especially a Federal District Court. To have a Federal Court sanction you? Ouch! Federal District Court, Central Utah, has just ordered Minkow lay out $1,000’s to cover the fees and costs incurred by the Usana legal council in the prosecution of the motion to compel against Minkow.
WHAT’S This?
1. Minkow’s responses to legal questioning by USANA lawyers were unresponsive and evasive, which violates Federal Rules of Discovery.
2. Minkow failed to respond to a Federal Court order.
3. Sanctions against Minkow are justified because of evasive tactics and failure to comply with Federal Court rules of discovery. Translated? That means he stalled and refused to answer legal questions asked. The Federal Court reviewed his activity and slammed him!
Ed. Note: Now Minkow will be forced pay big bucks as the court ordered, answer all Usana's interrogatory questions, and produce all requested documents. One thing is evident.... with all Minkow’s prison time, he did not spend it studying law.
GREAT WEEK FOR NETWORK MARKETERS! USANA
Yes, Your Company Could Have Been Next!
10 Jan 2008 -- Usana Health Sciences Inc., reported that a Utah state court dismissed a lawsuit by shareholders related to claims the company was operating a pyramid scheme. At almost the same time the SEC reported they were dropping their investigation of Usana! Great news for the whole MLM – Network Marketing industry!
In March of 2007 Barry Minkow of the “Fraud Discovery Institute” (FDI) put out a big nasty paper charging that the MLM Company Usana was a Pyramid Scheme. Minkow also “shorted” Usana stock to fill his ex-felon pockets (or shadow clients). The Wall Street Journal said this on March 15th 2007:
“But the Salt Lake City-based company's unusual sales system is drawing a skeptical review from Barry Minkow, the convicted stock-fraud felon turned private investigator who has bought "put" options on Usana's shares in a bet the price will fall. Usana traded yesterday at $58.77, up 24 cents, at 4 p.m. on the Nasdaq Stock Market and now has a market value of about $1 billion.”
Ed. Note: Minkow is not a very good investigator if he teamed up with John Taylor and Robert Fitzpatrick for all the unproven B.S. they have out. Your editor has Taylor's academic lies documented with screen shots from his website.
Minkow and his phony “Fraud Discovery Institute” also managed, somehow, to get the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate Usana. In addition, there were several lawsuits filed against Usana including a shareholders class action suit. Others were filed by independent distributors of Usana, claiming they couldn’t retail products.
Of course with all of this going on, Usana stock prices dropped and Minkow made a killing in the stock market with his short selling scheme.
Minkow used faulty source material for his almost 96 (plus 300+ pages of junk) page fraudulent report from the worst sources on Network Marketing in the world. He drew material from John Taylor Phd. of Pyramid Scheme .Org and his buddy Robert Fitzpatrick, both faulty researchers who put out fraudulent material about MLM – Network Marketing.
The WatchDog has long called Taylor’s research material fraudulent and a scam in itself. On his website he presented that if doing MLM and gambling in Vegas you would be better off in Vegas.
Taylor said, in reply to Len Clements analysis of his Minkow material that he had two years of statistics in pursuit of the Phd. With the MLM – Vegas fraud presentation he proved he must have been low on the learning curve. Why? In statistics this is called disparate universes. That means you can’t compare apples and fish by statistical rules.
In the process above, Usana filed a defamation lawsuit against Minkow and his FDI and asked the SEC to investigate the source of the allegations against Usana. Now that defamation lawsuit has gained power with the stockholder lawsuit being dropped and the SEC backing off. That leaves Barry Minkow, John Taylor Phd and Robert Fitzpatrick left hung out to dry. Because of all the scam information they have put out the defamation lawsuit should be very exciting. And Usana was buying back shares after the price dropped. Your editor estimates that they have about $20 million to make this a very memorable lawsuit for Minkow and any visible or invisible cohorts. Usana's stock jumped up almost 40% Jan 11, 2008!
