Trio on trial for selling dental products meant for charity

Jul 20, 2010

Three people in Utah are on trial for allegedly selling tens of thousands of dollars' worth of Nu Skin toothbrushes, toothpaste, and vitamins meant for a children's charity, according to a story in the Desert News.

Scott Lazerson, Brady Harper, and former Miss Utah Elizabeth Craig netted as much as $30,000 per month selling the products online, according to police. Authorities found more than $1 million worth of Nu Skin product at an Orem storage center earlier this year, the newspaper reported.

Lazerson never filed a request for donations to his charity, Interface Foundation, Nu Skin officials said. But over several months, Lazerson repeatedly stopped by the company's Provo warehouse to pick up damaged items the company would otherwise have discarded, a former employee testified.

Nu Skin sent Lazerson a cease and desist letter in early 2009, another employee testified, demanding that his company, Nu Lite Sales, stopped selling the products online. While Nu Lite's eBay sales then began "plummeting," its Amazon sales grew, prosecutors said.

Lazerson, Craig, and Harper are each charged with three first-degree felonies: pattern of unlawful activity, theft by receiving stolen property, and money laundering.