A new report from CNN underscores Georgia Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker’s fraught business record after it was revealed that he was once a partner and spokesperson for a multi-level marketing (pyramid scheme) energy company, “which was repeatedly targeted by states’ attorneys general and utility agencies over allegedly deceptive practices.”
The company, which Walker partnered with in 2012, was accused of scamming immigrants and the elderly into dangerous long-term contracts under the pretense that they would make money. For these shady practices, in 2014 the group agreed to pay $4 million, most of which went to victims who had fallen for the scam.
On the campaign trail, Walker’s business record has been heavily scrutinized. In the last few months alone he has been caught falsely claiming to own companies that “don’t exist,” exaggerating the number of employees at his company, and downplaying the “string of defaults, settlements, and lawsuits alleging that Walker and his businesses owed millions of dollars in unpaid loans.”
By: Andrew Kacynski and Em Steck | July 8, 2022
Key Points:
- “Georgia Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker was once a “partner” and “spokesman” for a subsidiary of an energy company, Just Energy, which was repeatedly targeted by states’ attorneys general and utility agencies over allegedly deceptive practices.”
- “Walker, the former football player turned businessman, and his technology company 34 Technologies in 2012 partnered with Momentis, a multi-level marketing subsidiary of Just Energy, to sell an online marketing service. Walker’s partnership with the subsidiary and the online marketing service they sold does not appear to have been targeted by the states as they investigated parent company Just Energy’s sales practices.”
- “Walker and Momentis’ relationship began in 2012, according to a CNN KFile review of his business record, when Momentis and Walker’s company partnered on a product called M-Marketing Systems. The product, sold through Momentis, was billed as an online marketing service bundle for clients offering businesses website, social, and email services. Walker was featured heavily in the promotion of the product on the Momentis company’s website and at a conference in 2012.”
- “In 2014, the Massachusetts attorney general’s office alleged that the multi-level marketing practices pushed by Just Energy and Momentis’ salespeople falsely represented or misled customers about Just Energy’s products, including that the products would save customers money, were offered through a state-run program and that the company made special efforts to purchase state-based renewable energy.”
- “The state of Massachusetts and Just Energy and Momentis agreed to enter into an “assurance of discontinuance” action — a legal agreement between the attorney general’s office and another party to resolve the alleged unlawful practice without litigation — against Just Energy. Just Energy denied all wrongdoing but agreed to pay $4,000,000, most of it going to consumers. Neither Walker nor 34 Technologies were named alongside Momentis in that action.”
Read the full report here.
Published: Jul 8, 2022 | Last Modified: Aug 26, 2022