AG's office sues Irving firm over gas additive

12:02 PM CDT on Wednesday, May 17, 2006
From Staff Reports



The Texas attorney general’s office on Wednesday sued an Irving company that marketed a gasoline additive it claimed would boost gas mileage and save consumers money.

At an Austin news conference, Attorney General Greg Abbott said he had obtained a temporary restraining order and asset freeze against BioPerformance Inc. The company advertised its products through the Internet and seminars held in Texas and other states.

Mr. Abbott said the company sold the additive in pill and powder form and claimed it was a non-toxic way to increase fuel efficiency by 30 percent or more and cut vehicle emissions by nearly 50 percent.

"These claims are bogus,” Mr. Abbott said. “The pill does absolutely nothing to improve gas mileage. The company is merely a smokescreen to trigger the recruitment of more and more paying members into what appears to be an illegal pyramid scheme."

In a news release, Mr. Abbott said scientists at the University of Texas at Austin and at a Florida university concluded that the pills are comprised mainly of naphthalene, a chemical found in mothballs that can be toxic. An attorney general's office lab expert concluded the product actually decreased engine performance.

At BioPerformance seminars, interested parties are encouraged to become “dealers” at startup costs of between $300 and $500, but promised the chance to earn sports cars, mansions and luxury vacations. Mr. Abbott said financial success in the plan depended on how many other people a member could recruit to become dealers.

On its Web site, the company boasts almost 4,500 Texas members with $25 million in sales since December 2005.

An attempt to contact BioPerformance president and owner Lowell Mims on Wednesday revealed that the firm’s Irving telephone number had been disconnected.

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