Graham Gibson, of Central Coast Nutraceuticals, what was once one of the top weight-loss rebill offers in the CPA realm has settled with the FTC for a one-time payment of $1.5M.  This is based on a complaint from 2010 that claimed that Mr. Gibson’s company billed consumers credit cards without their explicit approval and that the products made claims that were not proven, such as preventing colon cancer.

According to press releases and stories, the $1.5M settlement is based on Graham’s net worth and he will be required to sell some property in Hawaii and cash out of his current Scottsdale based home.

Graham stands by his innocence in the entire matter, “Central Coast Nutraceuticals sold many good products to millions of satisfied customers, but settling will allow us to move forward and for any remaining unsatisfied customers to receive refunda.”

Additionally, he stated that “In order to avoid a protracted legal battle we have chosen to settle with the FTC. Settling does not mean that we agree with the FTC’s allegations. We do not. CCN sold many good products to millions of satisfied customers, but settling will allow us to move forward for any remaining unsatisfied customers to receive refunds. Overall, we are happy with the outcome.”

I had the fortune right before he was raided to speak to him on the manner and did an in-depth interview with him in February 2010.It has been reprinted here, in “Target of FTC Investigation, Graham Gibson Speaks Out”

 According to Gibson, he had already taken steps to change his business and was on the front line of making changes to the industry. He had already settled with the Arizona State Attorney General a year earlier and for almost two years had changed his business model, had taken steps to be fully compliant and even hired FTC experts to advise him on what was legal, legit and compliant. The charges the FTC were accusing him were from over two years earlier, and many of those issues had already been fully resolved and that some of the specific complaints were from customers that had already been refunded. “I run one of the most honest businesses in the industry,” claimed Gibson “and have even been working the last year on an organization that would help other companies in the industry compliant. The FTC is trying to make an example out of us, because we were one of the leading companies in this part of the industry. There are ads all over the place that are much worse.”

The settlement is probably moot anyway, since the company has since gone out of business and Graham currently owns a very profitable consulting company,  Graham Gibson Consulting that among other things, helps companies avoid the problems that he was accused of.  He’s reported to be raking in the dough with that business and has several of his own products in development and launched.

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Written by pacelattin

Pace Lattin is one of the top experts in interactive advertising, affiliate marketing. Pace Lattin is known for his dedication to ethics in marketing, and focus on compliance and fraud in the industry, and has written numerous articles for publications from MediaPost, ClickZ, ADOTAS and his own blogs.

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