Pyramid-Like Company Ponies Up $1 Million for Mitt Romney

http://motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/mitt-romney-melaleuca-frank-vandersloot

When Restore Our Future, the super-PAC backing Mitt Romney, disclosed its latest donors last week, the roster of deep-pocketed funders seemed fairly predictable. The biggest contributors hailed from Bain Capital, Romney's former firm, or other well-known financial companies. But there was one major donor that stood out: Melaleuca, an Idaho-based company that peddles dietary supplements, "green" cleaning products, and other items via "independent marketing executives." Melaleuca and its subsidiaries were among the biggest donors to the super-PAC, contributing a total of $1 million.

The company, which pulled in $1 billion in revenues last year, has a history of run-ins with state and federal regulators for making false claims about its supplements. Critics and former distributors have also accused the company of being little more than a pyramid scheme that misrepresents how much members of its sales force can earn for selling its products and referring new "executives" or customers to the company.

Romney has long-standing ties to the company's CEO, Frank VanderSloot, who's a fellow Mormon and Brigham Young University graduate. VanderSloot is currently one of Romney's national finance chairs, and, in the past, Romney has headlined fundraisers for his own and other candidates' campaigns at VanderSloot's Idaho ranch. Last June, VanderSloot hosted a fundraiser for Romney's presidential exploratory committee. Romney, in turn, has heaped praise on VanderSloot. When Melaleuca celebrated its 25th anniversary, Romney gave a statement lauding VanderSloot and the company in its magazine and on its website:

Under the leadership of Frank VanderSloot, Melaleuca has delivered on its promise of enhancing the lives of people. Frank's vision and sense of social responsibility is second to none and he never ceases to amaze me. Congratulations on 25 years. I can't wait to see what Melaleuca accomplishes over the next 25 years.