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YTB has named James M. Tackett as the newest member of their executive team. The company, which has been involved in its fair share of scandal over the last few months, appointed Mr. Tackett as the company’s new Chief Marketing Officer, a role which will no doubt be both important in the near future and difficult, as the company struggles to regain its good name.   With a lot of concern surrounding Florida politician and YTB Board member Burt Saunders, this announcement comes at a good time.

Tackett has an impressive resume within the industry as a talented writer, producer and director with over two decades of experience in TV and video production. Tackett has consulted for some big name direct sales company’s such as Avon, Shaklee, Nikken and Herbalife to name a few. Tackett has also produced in flight programming for United Airlines.

Prior to joining YTB, Tackett worked as a producer with Video Plus, a supplier to the direct sales industry.

“We are excited and honored to include James in our fine executive team,” said J. Scott Tomer, Chief Executive Officer of YTB. “With his broad experience and talent, we have positioned ourselves to take our marketing initiatives to the next level.”

YTB is still dealing with the two class action lawsuits as well as the lawsuit by the California Attorney General.

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We told you recently about politician Burt Saunders, a Florida politician who is currently running for congress. Saunders is a member of the board of YTB, the direct sales travel company that has been under fire in recent months due to claims that they are running an illegal pyramid scheme. Now it seems that Saunders for some reason is not being completely honest about his involvement with the company.

When questioned about his role with the company, Saunders claimed this week that he has only been with the company since June. Record show however that he has been involved with the company since at least 2007 with financial records showing that he received thousands of dollars in 2007 as a paid consultant for the company.

Saunders has also claimed that he does not own any stock in the travel company. However, records from the Securities and Exchange Commission show that on May 23, a month after being elected to the Board of Directors, Saunders was awarded with over 24,000 shares of YTB stock. We have a copy of these records which you can see.  

These allegations bring even more suspicion to both YTB and Saunders. There is no word on how Saunders became involved with the Illinois based company, or how a politician felt it would be in his best interest to get involved in a seemingly illegal pyramid scheme type operation. While not all direct sales companies are bad, or illegal, had Saunders done any investigating into YTB, he would have seen that there have been several complaints lodged against the company to the Better Business Bureau.

If Saunders felt that he, and the company, had not participated in any underhanded activity, why would he, or the company feel compelled to be dishonest about their relationship. I’m sure eventually the truth will come out, and I can’t imagine that it will be good for either party.

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More questions keep coming up about DSA Member company YTB and whether or not the company is completely legit. Lawsuits have been filed, board members have resigned, and allegations have been flying for months now that the company, an online travel site, is running an illegal pyramid scheme. There has also been some talk about insider deals within the company.

Now comes word that amongst the members of the Board of Directors is Florida State Senator Burt Saunders, (R-Naples). Saunders serves on the Board of YTB International which operates YourTravelBiz.com.

Saunders, who is currently running for U.S. Congress has been paid in the past by the company to be its director and has received money as a consultant for the company. Financial documents show that he had received $16,000 dollars in 2007 from the company, no word yet on whether or not he has been paid for any services this year.

Currently YTB is facing two class action suits each asking for over $100 million dollars, with California asking for restitution for victims in that state. California’s Attorney General even went so far as to call YTB a pyramid scheme.

Saunders has yet to release any official statement regarding his current affiliation with the direct sales travel company, although he did say that the law suits were “silly.” In this day and age, when every politician’s life is looked into so deeply, this could have serious repercussions for Saunders if YTB is found to have operated an illegal pyramid scheme. I wouldn’t be surprised if Saunders is the next in line to step down from the board.

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