{"id":69971,"date":"2020-12-08T01:34:37","date_gmt":"2020-12-08T01:34:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=69971"},"modified":"2020-12-08T01:34:37","modified_gmt":"2020-12-08T01:34:37","slug":"influencer-alexis-sharkey-reportedly-mentor-possible-pyramid-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=69971","title":{"rendered":"Influencer Alexis Sharkey was reportedly \u2018mentor\u2019 at a possible pyramid scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"

Instagram star Alexis Sharkey, who\u00a0was found dead near her Houston home, worked for a company that sold shoddy hair products and was labeled by some as a \u201cpyramid scheme,\u201d reports said Monday.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old was a \u201cmentor\u201d for the beleaguered Florida-based hair and skin care product company Monat, which has faced a series of lawsuits for deceptive marketing and selling products that led to hair loss, balding and itching,\u00a0Fox News reported.<\/p>\n

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In 2019,\u00a0the Guardian reported\u00a0that Monat was a multi-level marketing scheme \u201cakin to pyramid schemes\u201d where a handful of people at the top reap thousands from workers at the bottom, who recruit others to work under them and take a cut of the profits.<\/p>\n

Brittney Pember, a work friend of Sharkey\u2019s at Monat,\u00a0told KHOU 11\u00a0the influencer \u201cworked her butt off\u201d to reach the status of executive director at the company.<\/p>\n

Monat has been labeled a \u201cscam\u201d and has faced a slew of complaints from the Better Business Bureau and the USDA dating back to 2015, a year after the company was founded, Fox News reported.<\/p>\n

In September, Monat was forced to promise it wouldn\u2019t conduct deceptive sales and marketing practices in an agreement signed with Florida\u2019s attorney general, which also required more than $80,000 in customer refunds because of the harmful products, the outlet said.<\/p>\n

The agreement came after three class-action lawsuits accused the company of fraud and deception,\u00a0KTNV reported.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cAn inherent design and\/or manufacturing defect in Monat hair care products causes significant hair loss and scalp irritation to many consumers,\u201d one of the suits alleged.<\/p>\n

Investigators are still working to figure out what happened to Sharkey\u00a0after her nude body was found\u00a0on the side of a busy road on the morning of Nov. 28 \u2014 not even 24 hours after she\u00a0went missing\u00a0following an apparent fight with her husband.<\/p>\n

Friends previously said Sharkey was scared for her life and planning to divorce husband Tom Sharkey, but the 49-year-old\u00a0pushed back on those allegations\u00a0last week, saying Alexis may have been unhappy and stressed, but it wasn\u2019t related to their marriage.<\/p>\n

Sharkey\u2019s autopsy and cause of death were still pending as of Monday morning and investigators\u00a0have yet to rule out foul play.<\/p>\n

Adv<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n