FTC Sues Genesis Tech Subscription Enterprise of 15 Companies and Eight Individuals, Five Products Took In Nearly $250 Million
At the request of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a federal court has temporarily halted a sprawling enterprise of deceptive subscription schemes, the FTC announced on June 17, 2026. The FTC alleges that the Genesis Tech enterprise, comprised of 15 corporations and eight individuals, deceived consumers with hidden costs and recurring charges while failing to provide simple mechanisms to cancel subscriptions. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
According to the FTC, Genesis Tech and its founder-CEOs Vladimir Mnogoletny and Vasily Ulianov built and operated the enterprise through a network of entities, including affiliates incorporated in Cyprus and operating in Ukraine that market to U.S. consumers and access U.S. payment processing through counterparts incorporated in Delaware. Its products include the fitness and nutrition apps MadMuscles, Harna and Unimeal; Wisey, a self-help course that claims it can diagnose and treat ADHD symptoms; the PDF editing tools PDF Guru and PDF Master; Lumi, a fashion consulting service; and Nebula, offering horoscope readings and psychic chats. The complaint alleges that from early 2023 to mid-2025, five of the products accounted for nearly a quarter billion dollars in global revenue.
The complaint alleges three recurring tactics: advertising products as free or available for a low one-time cost, often with a money-back guarantee, while relegating auto-renewal terms to the smallest print on the page; charging consumers without authorization, including double-charging for the same product or adding more products without the consumer's knowledge or consent; and making cancellation difficult, for example by omitting cancellation options from websites and apps or requiring consumers to explain why they want to cancel, and continuing to charge users even after confirming cancellation. The FTC further alleges that the enterprise continually launches new products, registers new corporate identities and opens new merchant accounts, channeling gains through cross-border transfers to evade fraud monitoring.
The FTC alleges the practices violate the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA). The Commission voted 2-0 to authorize filing the complaint, which also names Stamatis Skianis, Oksana Kucher, Iryna Oleksyn, Olga Garbuzenko, Rostyslav Ivanitsa and Viktoriia Savchuk. The FTC notes that it files a complaint when it has reason to believe the named defendants are violating or are about to violate the law and that a proceeding is in the public interest; the case will be decided by the court.
Source: Federal Trade Commission
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于美国华盛顿特区的联邦贸易委员会总部 Apex 大楼（资料照片）。Gryffindor 摄，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Apex Building, headquarters of the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. (file photo). Photo by Gryffindor, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
