Author Biographical information:

Author John Jacob is 39 years old. He’s been married to Kathy for 15 years and they have three children. Jacob graduated from college with honors and a degree in Business. During college he attended the Marine Corps Officer Training boot camp at the Marine Corps Development and Educational Center (MCDEC) in Quantico, VA. He graduated in the honor platoon, but declined his commission as a second lieutenant, and was honorably discharged. He began working as an Auditor for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and later went to a major insurance company as an underwriter.

Then he was introduced to the subject of this book, and his life was turned inside out.

What do the following have in common?

• Politicians Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, George Bush, George W. Bush, Ollie North, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Jack Kemp, Sue Myrick
• Evangelists Robert Schuller, Billy Zeoli, Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell
• Entertainers Dr. Phil, Pat Boone, Johnny Cash, Crystal Gayle, Andy Andrews, Glen Campbell, Roy Clark
• Former political hostages, ex-POWs, and military leaders
• Olympic gymnasts
• a $283 million tax break personally crafted by the then-Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich who has reportedly accepted $50,000 a speech in fees
• a multi-billion dollar enterprise spanning 80 countries and presently involving about 3 million members
• tens of billions of dollars accrued through fraud and deception
• bizarre sex teachings
• deceptive mind control practices
• private islands in the Caribbean and Canada
• lies and deceptions
• decades of financial deception on a global scale, in the billions of dollars
• kidnap and murder in Texas
• cultism
• millions in contributions to the Republican Party
• largest fine for criminal fraud ever levied by the Canadian government
• directly affects about 1 in every 6 Americans.

Did you guess? It’s the Amway – Quixtar Corporations and their associated motivational organizations.

Jacob was introduced to Amway as a young married man, struggling to improve his family’s future through his career and by buying, renovating and maintaining rental properties as a retirement investment. At that point, he met a young, self-described "Christian multi-millionaire" who was "expanding a wholesaling business with a few key people." They had a sleek catalog and dealt in thousands of products and services of many well-known companies. The "corporate supplier" turned out to be Amway.

John and Kathy Jacobs rose to the "Emerald Direct" level, a position achieved by only near ¼ of 1% of all distributors. They developed a business that spanned the US, South America, the Philippines and Europe. They experienced first-hand the private jets, the mansions, a private island in Canada and a private three thousand-acre ranch. They spent time with Amway’s billionaire co-founder, Rich DeVos. They saw the support of high-ranking politicians, business leaders, and "Christian" leaders for Amway and its distributors.

They met Dexter Yager, Amway's most powerful, wealthy, "Christian" distributor. (Billions of dollars of Amway's revenues flow through Yager annually.) He is revered nearly as a God by members of his group, while he uses twisted Scripture, bizarre sex teachings and cult tactics in private, "leader-only" seminars.

Jacob was on track to go "Diamond," one of the highest levels of accomplishment within Amway, when his world literally blew apart. After nearly a decade of non-stop work, with 100-hour work weeks the norm, he inadvertently discovered a 20-year history of systematic, global fraud. He explains:

Jacob’s Amway organization grew as he and Kathy recruited thousands into Amway. After discovering the fraud, he took steps to inform his distributor group. Immediately, his upline leaders and Amway embarked on a mission to discredit and silence him. Since they could not dispute the facts, they tried to assassinate his character. In a very swift campaign of misinformation and disinformation, he was accused of alcoholism, drug addiction, gambling addiction, and immoral behavior. Distributors in his organization were even told he had cancer and had requested no contact from those "who truly loved him."

At the same time, he was being pressured to "sell his business" – worth millions in future profits to his upline – for under a hundred thousand dollars, and most certainly an agreement of silence. This could have resulted in a payoff for John and Kathy but also an agreement of complete silence as to the long-term abuses and deception they were aware of. When the Jacobs would agree to neither, Amway shut their income off and proceeded to starve them out for almost a year. Relentless in their determination to make this information public, the Jacobs were forced into bankruptcy, lost their medical insurance, lost their home, were forced to move their children to a new school and actually had to rely upon family and friends for food. Despite this and death threats to himself, his wife and son, John met with both the FBI and Assistant U.S. Attorney and proceeded to take any and all actions to expose the evil he had documented.

Merchants of Deception vividly describes:

• the poverty-level lifestyle he lived as a "successful" Emerald
• his gradual descent into mindless loyalty and obedience to the all-powerful upline
• the enormous inconsistencies between the Amway promises and the reality
• the demands on him and his organization to pour money into the system that was secretly making their "leader" wealthy beyond the bounds of avarice
• his huge financial, spiritual, and relationship losses, and those of the people in his group
• and the lengthy nightmare of emerging from the deceptions and mind control.

Being endorsed by respected cult expert Steve Hassan; by Assistant Attorney General of Wisconsin (retired), Bruce Craig; by Robert L. Fitzpatrick, co-author of False Profits; and other industry experts, this book is not simply a compilation of facts and figures. It is a white-knuckle, gripping, gut-wrenching account of the Jacob’ ten years involvement in, and terrifying escape from the Amway that few people know. Through Jacobs’ eyes, we see the bible thumping, flag waving, apple-pie façade stripped away to clearly reveal a deceptive mind-control cult, and the tens of billions of dollars in revenues which motivated this fraudulent organization.

Jacob explains:

Reliable estimates show that about 1 out of every 6 North Americans has had direct experience with Amway, either by becoming a distributor or having a family member join. It’s a company that inspires strong feelings, and the public is quite interested in Amway and its new permutations, Quixtar and Alticor. Additionally, Amway has grown and expanded into over 80 foreign countries and territories and is wreaking havoc with unsuspecting citizens of impoverished, third world countries. The global impact of this expansion has been incredible. Amway grew to over $1 billion a year in sales in Japan after only 12 years. It has run into regulatory problems there, as well as in Korea and China, as it continues its expansion. From Scandinavia to South Africa; from Canada to Argentina; and throughout the Pacific Rim, Amway has a presence. Revelation of the shocking tactics and deceit perpetrated upon distributors worldwide, and the involvement and endorsement at different levels of some of our most respected political and religious figures makes this book one that will be in great demand

on a global scale. No one, as a high level insider, has ever discovered and made public the well-documented facts presented in this roller coaster ride of a book. The details documented within the covers of this book are the backbone of the case for which the FBI and US Assistant Attorney’s office are now convening a grand jury for the first ever Federal indictments.