Penalty Amount
$795,800,000
The FTC and State of Nevada settled charges with lead defendants of the IM Mastery Academy MLM scheme, including Chris and Isis Terry and their affiliated companies, over false earnings claims used to promote financial training programs and a multi-level marketing venture. The stipulated order imposes a $795.8 million judgment, with defendants surrendering nearly $90 million in assets including luxury real estate, vehicles, jewelry, and a yacht, totaling over $100 million with prior judgments from other involved defendants. The order also bans defendants from selling trading-training services, prohibits false earnings claims, and restricts deceptive practices including negative-option misrepresentations and telemarketing violations.
The stipulated order imposes a $795.8 million judgment, partially satisfied by surrender of nearly $90 million in assets including luxury homes, vehicles, jewelry, and a yacht, with total payments from all defendants exceeding $100 million. Defendants are permanently banned from selling trading-training services and investment opportunities, prohibited from making false or unsubstantiated earnings claims, and barred from deceptive misrepresentations regarding goods/services, refunds, and negative-option features. Defendants must obtain express informed consent and provide simple cancellation mechanisms for negative-option sales, and are prohibited from violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule. The remaining judgment is suspended pending truthful financial disclosures, with full amount due if defendants misrepresent their finances.
In-house teams should review all vendor agreements with marketing firms, MLM service providers, and financial training vendors for clauses related to earnings claims, ensuring all representations have reasonable basis and prohibiting false or baseless statements. Contracts involving negative-option features (e.g., subscription services) must include express informed consent requirements, simple cancellation mechanisms, and clear refund/cancellation policy disclosures. Telemarketing service provider agreements should require strict compliance with the Telemarketing Sales Rule, and MLM distributor agreements must ban false earnings claims, misrepresentations about consumer experience requirements, and undisclosed product restrictions. All customer-facing agreements should include clauses prohibiting deceptive misrepresentations and mandating required disclosures for negative-option sales.
Entity
Chris Terry, Isis Terry, IM Mastery Academy, IYOVIA, iMarketsLive, IM Academy
Industry
Financial ServicesOfficial Press Release
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/05/lead-defendants-im-mastery-academy-mlm-scheme-turn-over-tens-millions-dollars-assets-settle-ftc
IMMastery Order
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/IMMastery-Order.pdf
immastery order emergencyinjunction
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/immastery-order-emergencyinjunction.pdf
Federal Trade Commission Enforcement Page
https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement
"Chris and Isis Terry and their companies"
"five individual and corporate IM Mastery Academy defendants, including ringleaders Chris and Isis Terry"
"imposes a $795.8 million judgment"
"surrender assets valued at nearly $90 million"
"bars the defendants from violating the Commission’s Telemarketing Sales Rule"
"used false or baseless earnings claims to persuade people to pay for financial training programs and a multi-level-marketing business venture"
The FTC, Utah, and Nevada sued Lens.com Inc., alleging that it advertised artificially low contact lens prices while hiding mandatory checkout charges and misleading consumers about its AutoRefill subscription. The complaint seeks to stop the alleged practices; the court has not yet decided the case, and no penalty or remedy has been imposed.
The FTC issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking seeking public comment on whether ad-optimization tools offered by online platforms may help scammers impersonate businesses and government agencies. This is a proposed regulatory inquiry, not an enforcement action against a named company; no penalty or remedy was imposed.
$2.5B
A federal court approved a revised order in the FTC's Amazon Prime case under which Amazon will accelerate and expand redress payments under the September 2025 $2.5 billion settlement, which resolved allegations that Amazon enrolled millions of consumers in Prime subscriptions without their consent and knowingly made cancellation difficult. More consumers now qualify for refunds, the maximum payment cap rises from $51 to $200, and all future payments will be distributed automatically starting October 1, 2026, with potential supplemental $149 payments by April 2027. Amazon has already issued more than $845 million in redress payments as of September 2026.
$225.0M
The FTC and the state of Washington filed a joint complaint and proposed stipulated order requiring Amway Corp. and two affiliates—World Wide Group, L.L.C. (WWG) and Leadership Team Development Inc. (LTD)—to pay a $225 million judgment, the largest monetary recovery ever obtained from an MLM in an FTC action, over allegations that they used deceptive earnings claims and unfair tactics to recruit Independent Business Owners. The complaint alleges the companies falsely promised substantial income and recruitment success, pressured IBOs to buy products they could not resell, and instructed IBOs to falsely report sales. Nearly all of the judgment will be used as redress for IBOs who lost money, and the proposed order imposes structural reforms including a 70% resale requirement, independent audits of sales records, and a ban on approved providers charging new IBOs for first-year training.
$100.0M
FleetCor Technologies Inc. (now Corpay Inc.) and its CEO Ronald Clarke agreed to pay $100 million to settle an FTC administrative action alleging the company charged small business customers hidden and unauthorized fees for fuel cards and misrepresented gas savings, fraud-control features, and fees. A federal district court granted the FTC summary judgment on all counts in 2023, and a federal appeals court upheld that judgment and the permanent injunction in 2026. The settlement funds will be used to provide redress to harmed business customers.
FTC staff published FAQs on price transparency to help the automobile industry comply with the FTC Act, reiterating that an advertised vehicle price must be the actual price any consumer can pay, excluding only government-required charges. The guidance follows warning letters the FTC sent to 97 auto dealership groups earlier in 2026 and signals continued litigation against dealers that advertise one price but charge more through undisclosed fees. No specific entity was charged and no penalty was imposed.