5Linx is an American

multi-level marketing Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called network marketing or pyramid selling, is a controversial marketing strategy for the sale of products or services in which the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salaried workforce selling th ...

company headquartered in

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

, New York, which offers utility and telecommunication services, health insurance, nutritional supplements, and business services. It was founded in 2001. In 2017, the co-founders of 5LINX, Craig Jerabeck, Jeb Tyler, and Jason Guck, were indicted on multiple federal fraud charges, including wire fraud and money laundering. They admitted to defrauding $2.3 million from investors, illegally depositing company revenues into personal accounts, and failing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes. Tyler and Jerabeck were sentenced to 14-month prison terms in December 2018.

History

5LINX Enterprises, Inc. was founded by Craig Jerabek, Jeb Tyler, and Jason Guck. 5Linx was incorporated in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, in 2001. In 2016, 5L Holdings, LLC was formed to acquire the assets of 5 Linx Enterprises (dissolved). In September of the same year, business entrepreneur Nelson Gerard bought the majority stock of 5L Holdings, LLC and became its Chairman. 5Linx is a

company. Representatives are rewarded for recruiting additional representatives in addition to products and services sold. Sales representatives are

independent contractors Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any other ...

, and the company does not make any claims about potential income. As of 2015, Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy A. Brown was a senior vice president and spokesperson for 5LINX. Illinois State Senator

Patricia Van Pelt Watkins Patricia Van Pelt Watkins (born November 20, 1957) is a member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 5th district, which is located on the West Side of Chicago. Prior to her service as a member of the Illinois Senate she was a community activ ...

was also a high-ranking representative until she left the company for a different multi-level marketing firm. 5Linx was on the

Inc. 500 ''Inc.'' is an American business magazine founded in 1979 and based in New York City. The magazine publishes six issues per year, along with surrounding online and social media content. The magazine also produces several live and virtual events y ...

list of fastest growing companies from 2006 until 2009. The company remained on the Inc. 5000 list as of 2014.Inc. Magazine profile
/ref> In 2009 5Linx was ranked on the

Rochester Top 100 The ''Rochester Top 100'' is an annual list of the fastest growing privately held companies in the Rochester, New York region. It is published by the Rochester Business Alliance, a regional chamber of commerce whose members include area companies s ...

list as the 2nd fastest growing company in the region. The company also made the list the following three years. In May 2015, the company sold its telecommunications branch to Birch Communications, which reduced the company's revenue by about 30%. Farshad Tafazzoli was named President in 2016.

Litigation

In September 2015, the new management of the 5LINX sued Craig Jerabeck, 5LINX Enterprises' former CEO, alleging that he breached his contract with the company by poaching 5LINX representatives for other network marketing companies. In September 2017, the three co-founders of 5LINX - Jerabeck, Tyler, and Guck - were indicted on multiple federal fraud charges, including wire fraud and money laundering. The trio admitted to defrauding $2.3 million from investors, illegally depositing company revenues into personal accounts, and failing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes. In December 2018, Tyler and Jerabeck were sentenced to a 14-month prison term for fraud and filing false tax returns and were ordered to pay back $2.3 million in restitution to investors, as well as $118,628 in unpaid taxes to the IRS. In May 2019, Jason Guck was sentenced to a 7-month prison term.

References

External links

* {{Multi-level marketing Companies based in Rochester, New York Telecommunications companies of the United States Multi-level marketing companies American companies established in 2001