Oklahoma City Multi-Level Marketing Company Agrees to Distribution of $610,800 in Seized Funds to Alleged Fraud Victims

OKLAHOMA CITY – TREVO, LLC, and it principals, MARK STEVENS and HOLLI STEVENS, have agreed not to contest the distribution of $610,800 to victims of an alleged email fraud scheme.

In a civil forfeiture complaint filed in July 2016, the United States alleged that $610,800 in a bank account at Wells Fargo Bank in Trevo’s name were the proceeds of wire fraud.  Trevo is a multi-level marketing company based in Oklahoma City, with its primary international office in Nigeria.  Founded by Mark and Holli Stevens in 2009, its main product is nutritional supplement juice.

According to an affidavit incorporated into the government’s forfeiture complaint, perpetrators of a number of email fraud schemes instructed multiple victims to send money to various bank accounts under Trevo’s control at Wells Fargo Bank and BancFirst.  In some instances, perpetrators pretended to strike up romantic relationships with victims.  In others, they offered fictitious economic opportunities.  In both cases, victims agreed to send money to bank accounts as instructed.  In 2014, Trevo closed its BancFirst accounts and transferred its assets to Wells Fargo Bank.

After the United States filed its complaint and froze certain Trevo funds at Wells Fargo Bank, five individuals and one corporation notified the government they were victims of the alleged frauds and entitled to a portion of the seized funds.  Trevo also filed a claim to the seized funds.

On August 14, 2018, the United States, Trevo, and Trevo’s principals agreed the seized funds will be distributed to the six victims and that Trevo’s claim should be dismissed.  In reaching this settlement, Trevo and its principals did not admit any involvement in wire fraud and the United States did not concede its allegations lack merit.  The agreement allows the parties to avoid the delay, expense, inconvenience, and uncertainty of litigating the proper distribution of the seized funds.

This case was investigated by the FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Wilson D. McGarry, Don Evans, and Brandon Hale worked on the case in the U.S. Attorney’s Office.