Court shuts telemarketer targeting elderly with higher price

A TELEMARKETER that sold health supplements at high mark-ups has been asked to shut down by the high court.

It was wound up in public interest on Thursday (31) at the High Court of Justice in Manchester before District Judge Richmond.

The official receiver has been appointed liquidator of the company.

The Kenilworth-based Nutrizen Wellness Limited had links with third-party call centres in India.

The business had also transferred 80 per cent of its sales revenues out of the country to the call centres based in India’s Goa state, according to investigators.

Nutrizen Wellness was incorporated in 2014 and used telemarketing techniques to sell health supplements.

The insolvency service began confidential investigations into the company when it received complaints that the company was mis-selling health supplements to the elderly.

Insolvency service investigators found that the company was purchasing consumer data of individuals aged 65 and over, and then cold-calling them from third-party call centres in Goa.

Health supplements were then sold to these individuals at significant mark-ups.

One product, which retails on the high street for £2, was sold by Nutrizen for between £30–£40.

One 88-year-old customer identified by investigators spent over £700 on supplements in just 19 days.

This went against an undertaking the company had agreed with trading standards to limit sales to £300 in a single transaction, as two purchases exceeded that amount.

Investigators also uncovered discrepancies in Nutrizen Wellness’s VAT affairs, as the turnover evident in their bank account was £250,000 higher than the amount declared to HMRC.

Scott Crighton, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service, said: “Nutrizen Wellness deliberately and unconscionably targeted the elderly, pushing their products at astronomical levels of mark-up. They also underreported the true level of their income to HMRC, failing to pay the appropriate levels of VAT.

“We are pleased the courts recognise this behaviour is totally unacceptable and have shut down their activities to prevent anyone else falling victim to their practices”.

The company had already been investigated once before by trading standards.

That investigation had resulted in remedial action being required of the company, particularly addressing the overselling of their products, and false and misleading claims, among other things, the court told.