Herbalife ‘scam victims cheated out of HK$50 million in direct-sales scheme'

Two women who claimed to be presidents of one of the world’s biggest nutrition and weight loss companies took more than HK$50 million in product orders before disappearing, the alleged scam victims said today.

Some 60 people said they had been duped by two women, surnamed Choi and Ng, who claimed to be presidents in the Hong Kong office of multilevel marketing company Herbalife.

Choi and Ng allegedly told the victims they could buy Herbalife products at a cheaper price from them directly on which they could make a resale profit of between 5 per cent and 10 per cent.

The victims said that initially they received the goods and made a profit, so they started to invest more money in the scheme. However, they said the two so-called presidents disappeared at the end of last month and they had been unable to find them.

One of the victims, who gave her surname as Tsang, said she had lost HK$2.6 million in the scheme. She said she had known one of the women for years and that she had approached her around two years ago to invest in the products.

“I believed she was a president of the company. Herbalife’s office had her photo,” Tsang said.