诺兰被永久禁“传”案 判处罚金730万美元

Court ruling imposes permanent multi-level marketing ban and $7.3 million judgment on Noland, other defendants as result of FTC actions.

法院根据联邦贸易委员会（FTC）提起的诉讼，裁定永久禁止诺兰及其他被告采用多层次营销的禁令，判处罚金730万美元。

A federal court sided with the Federal Trade Commission, ruling that James D. Noland, Jr. illegally owned and operated two pyramid schemes—Success By Health (SBH) and VOZ Travel—in violation of the FTC Act and that Noland violated a previous federal court order barring him from pyramid schemes and from misrepresenting multilevel marketing participants’ income potential.

联邦法院裁定支持联邦贸易委员会（FTC）的裁决，判定James D. Noland，Jr.（詹姆斯·D·诺兰）非法拥有和经营Success By Health（SBH）和VOZ Travel两家金字塔式传销组织，其行为违反了FTC法案。与此同时，诺兰此前还违反联邦法院禁止他从事金字塔传销和误导多层次营销参与者鼓吹收入潜力的命令。

The FTC sued Noland (also known as Jay Noland, J.D. Noland, and J. Noland), his wife Lina Noland, Scott Harris, and Thomas Sacca, in connection with SBH in January 2020 and added charges related to VOZ Travel in September 2020. The FTC alleged that they operated the businesses as pyramid schemes, making outlandish claims that “the masses” could be making more than $1 million each month by following Noland’s system, when in fact very few consumers made any money, and most lost significant sums. 

联邦贸易委员会（FTC）2020年1月对Jay Noland、J.D. Noland（诺兰，又名J. Noland）、他的妻子Lina Noland（莉娜·诺兰），以及Scott Harris（斯科特·哈里斯）和Thomas Sacca（托马斯·萨卡）提起与SBH相关的诉讼，并在2020年9月增加了对VOZ Travel的相关指控。FTC指控他们经营的这两项业务均为金字塔式传销，夸大其词地声称只要“大众”遵循诺兰系统，每月便可赚取超过100万美元，而事实上只有很少的消费者能够赚钱，大多数人损失惨重。

In its ruling, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona found that the Nolands, Harris, and Sacca violated the FTC Act by operating SBH and VOZ Travel as pyramid schemes and using false promises of “financial freedom.” In addition, the court found Harris and Sacca were aware of the order against Noland stemming from a prior FTC case, and thus, they and Noland were in contempt of that order. In its ruling, the court cited the “sheer volume of deceptive tactics and statements associated with” both SBH and VOZ Travel.

在裁决中，美国亚利桑那州地区法院认定诺兰夫妇、哈里斯和萨卡违反FTC法案，将SBH和VOZ Travel作为金字塔式传销经营，并使用“财务自由”的虚假承诺。法院还认定哈里斯和萨卡明知诺兰在此前FTC提起诉讼的案件中已被判处的禁令，因此他们和诺兰都藐视了法庭的该项禁令。法庭的裁决引用了与SBH和VOZ Travel相关的“大量欺骗性手段和陈述”。

“The court’s order holding these defendants in contempt and barring them from the multilevel marketing business should send a strong message that FTC orders should not be ignored,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The FTC will not hesitate to act with the full force of the law to protect the American public and hold recidivists accountable.”

“法院禁止藐视法庭的被告从事多层次营销活动的同时，也向公众传达了美国联邦贸易委员会的命令不应被忽视的强烈信息”。美国联邦贸易委员会消费者保护局局长塞缪尔·莱文（Samuel Levine）表示，“美国联邦贸易委员将毫不犹豫地运用法律的全部力量来保护美国公众，并让屡教不改者承担责任”。

The court also noted that Harris told an audience at one private SBH marketing event, “Is this one of those pyramid things? Hell, yeah it is. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be doing it. Do I look dumb enough to go get a job again?”

法院还注意到，哈里斯在一次SBH私人营销活动的演讲中告诉观众：“这是金字塔传销吗？没错，它就是。如果不是，我就不会干了。我难道看起来会傻到还要再去另外找份工作吗”？

In addition, the court ruled that the defendants’ false claims about Noland’s own wealth in selling the pyramid schemes were “outrageous.” Noland, for example, told SBH and VOZ Travel members, “I’ve been financially free, completely time and money free since I was 36.”  In fact, as the court found, at the age of 36, Noland “was living (or was about to start living) off credit cards.” 

此外，法庭判词指出，被告们关于诺兰在销售金字塔传销方案时对自身财富的虚假宣传“令人震惊”。例如，诺兰告诉SBH和VOZ Travel的会员们：“自从我36岁起，我就实现了财务自由，完全拥有时间和金钱的自由”。然而，事实上，正如法院调查所发现的，36岁的诺兰“当时正依靠信用卡生活（或即将开始靠信用卡生活）”。

Additionally, although Noland told SBH and VOZ members he was a multi-millionaire, the court explained that “[i]n his January 2020 sworn financial statement, Noland reported he had a negative net worth.” Similarly, at a deposition in this case, “Noland was unable to identify a time he ever had a positive net worth.”

另外，虽然诺兰告诉SBH和VOZ的会员他是一位身家数百万的富翁，但法院的判词称：“在诺兰2020年1月提交的财务声明中，他报告自己的净值为负数”。同样，在此案的庭审中，“诺兰无法指出自己何曾拥有过正值净资产”。

The defendants used these and other false claims to boost their promises that SBH affiliates would achieve their own financial freedom, like becoming millionaires, or having an income stream of $20,000 per month. Instead, the court found “the great majority of SBH affiliates were net losers” of money, and “the few who may have eked out a net positive outcome did not obtain anything close to the ‘financial freedom’ that was being offered.”  The court, for example, found that one “top retailer” in SBH earned less from those sales “than what an individual would earn from a full-time minimum wage job.”

被告们利用这些虚假宣传来强化他们的承诺，即SBH的加盟商将实现财务自由，比如成为百万富翁，或拥有每月2万美元的收入。然而，法院发现“绝大多数SBH加盟商都是净损失者”，只有“少数可能勉强获得净收益的人，也没有获得接近所承诺的‘财务自由’”。例如，法院发现，就连SBH的一位“顶级零售商”，他从销售中获得的收入“低于从事全职工作的最低工资收入”。

The court’s ruling permanently bans Noland, his wife Lina Noland, Harris and Sacca from any participation in multi-level marketing. In its ruling, the court said they “…have found themselves to be utterly incapable of operating an MLM business in a lawful manner.”  The ruling also imposes a $7.3 million judgment on Noland, Harris, and Sacca, the full amount sought by the FTC. Any amount recovered by the FTC will be used to redress consumers.

法院的裁决永久禁止诺兰、他的妻子莉娜·诺兰、哈里斯和萨卡参与任何多层次营销活动。在裁决中，法院表示他们“发现自己完全无法以合法方式经营多层次营销业务”。法庭裁决还对诺兰、哈里斯和萨卡处以730万美元的罚款，这是FTC所要求的全部金额。FTC追回的任何金额都将用于赔偿消费者。

The court also found that the defendants committed multiple “acts of dishonesty,” including “destroying evidence, violating court orders, giving false under-oath testimony, and taking no accountability for the misconduct after being caught.”

法院还发现，被告犯下了多项“不诚实行为”，包括“销毁证据、违反法庭命令、在宣誓下作伪证，以及在被发现后拒不承担不当行为责任”。

The FTC’s suit against SBH and VOZ Travel also named a number of corporate entities behind the two pyramid schemes; the case against those entities is ongoing. The FTC has extensive information and guidance for consumers about multi-level marketing and pyramid schemes on its website, as well as guidance for businesses.

美国联邦贸易委员会（FTC）对SBH和VOZ Travel提起的诉讼，还涉及这两个金字塔传销方案背后的多家公司实体，针对这些实体的案件目前仍在进行中。FTC在其网站上为消费者提供了大量关于多层次营销和金字塔传销的信息和指导，同时也为企业提供了指导。

The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and protect and educate consumers.  The FTC will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize. Learn more about consumer topics at consumer.ftc.gov, or report fraud, scams, and bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts.

美国联邦贸易委员会致力于促进竞争，保护和教育消费者。FTC永远不会要求支付金钱、发出威胁、指示你转账或承诺给你奖品。要了解更多关于消费者的问题，请访问consumer.ftc.gov，或在ReportFraud.ftc.gov上报告欺诈、骗局和不良商业行为。在社交媒体上关注FTC，阅读消费者警示和业务博客，并注册以获取最新的FTC新闻和警示。