Deepak Chopra MLM drama continues

Back in February I reported on trouble at Zrii -- the Deepak Chopra-endorsed multi-level marketing concern that peddles a "miracle juice" through a network of independent distributors. The company had terminated seven of its top distributors after a failed boardroom coup that involved allegations of professional and personal misconduct on the part of the CEO, William F. Farley.

Now The Salt Lake Tribune reports that there is more drama, this time set to unfold in the legal system: "Zrii has filed three lawsuits -- in Utah, Delaware and California -- against 56 people outlining what owner and CEO Bill Farley claims was a broad conspiracy to either buy the company on the cheap or ruin it. Farley also is alleging that a competing California-based multilevel marketer of nutritional supplements, LifeVantage, was part of the conspiracy."

Several former top executives and distributors at Zrii have left for LifeVantage, which peddles nutrtitional supplements through a similar network marketing system.

The conspiracy alleged by Zrii is pretty fantastic and will probably take a long time to sort out. For consumers though, this is just another reason to avoid Zrii and similar miracle juice-peddling multi-level marketing shops. This story hasn't gotten much national press which is good for Mr. Chopra and his relatively clean reputation as a self-help guru.