November 4, 2025 – Litigation and Settlement with Wells Fargo Bank

During the course of our investigation of Apex’s operations, we identified troubling conduct by Wells Fargo Bank in connection with Defendants’ operation.  We discovered Defendants opened more than 100 bank accounts at the bank.  (The same bank opened dozens and dozens of accounts in a separate, but strikingly similar, receivership to which we were appointed involving risk-free trial schemes – see Triangle Media Receivership under the Cases tab.)  The bank accounts were essential in keeping the scheme open for years, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in consumer losses.

Our evidence revealed bank employees were aware the accounts were being used as part of the scheme but nevertheless continued to open accounts because of internal bank sales pressure and culture.  In March of 2020, we sought permission, via a sealed filing, from the Court to retain contingency counsel to pursue the bank, which was granted.  Later that year, after settlement attempts failed, a complaint was filed.  Over the next four years, the parties engaged in hard fought litigation.  Ultimately, after proceeding all the way to the summary judgment stage of the litigation, we reached a $33 million settlement with Wells Fargo.  The settlement has been approved by the Court but it will be at least mid-2026 before funds are released.  It will double the amount of consumer redress funds that the FTC may return to defrauded consumers.  We will post an update as additional information becomes available.

January 15, 2020

All Defendants have now entered into stipulated orders for permanent injunctions and monetary judgments, which prohibit them from employing the deceptive and illegal business practices alleged by the FTC in its original Complaint (https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/cases-proceedings/172-3189/apex-capital-group-llc).

The Receiver continues to marshal and liquidate available receivership assets and to pursue claims against third parties who may have benefited from Defendants’ unlawful practices.  Please see Status Reports in the Documents section of this webpage for detailed descriptions of the Receiver’s activities.

November 28, 2018 – Notice of FTC Lawsuit

The companies listed below have been sued by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) for practices related to their sale of consumer products, principally skin creams, and dietary supplements.  The FTC alleges that Defendants deceived consumers by advertising “Risk Free” trials, but then billed the full amount for the “trial shipment” and also enrolled customers in negative-option continuity plans without consent.

The FTC’s lawsuit was filed on November 14, 2018, naming as Defendants the companies and individuals below.  The Court entered a Temporary Restraining Order (“TRO”) on November 16, 2018, which includes an asset freeze and appoints a Temporary Receiver to take possession and control of these businesses.  The Temporary Receiver has suspended operations and is conducting a review of the businesses.  A copy of the FTC’s Complaint can be accessed under the Documents section of this website.

At least until the date of the Preliminary Injunction hearing, which is set for November 30, 2018, these companies will have very limited operations.  Your best source of information is the Receiver’s website.  If you have additional questions, please sent to info@regulatoryresolutions.com.

Defendants named in the FTC’s lawsuit:
Apex Capital Group, LLC
Capstone Capital Solutions Limited
Clik Trix Limited
Empire Partners Limited
Interzoom Capital Limited
Lead Blast Limited
Mountain Venture Solutions Limited
Nutra Global Limited
Omni Group Limited
Rendezvous IT Limited
Sky Blue Media Limited
Tactic Solutions Limited
Phillip Peikos
David Barnett