Those of you who have been reading BloggingStocks regularly know that I'm a frequent critic of USANA Health Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: USNA), the multi-level marketing company that has been under attack by critics led by ex-con turned fraud investigator Barry Minkow.

Now Forbes has joined the chorus of critics. With a story that has sent the stock down more than 7% today, Forbes raises questions about the viability and legality of Usana's business model. The author, Evelyn Rusli, reiterates New Zealand's National Business Review's report that the company is being investigated by the FBI.

Nothing much seems to have changed. Usana still has no idea why their auditor left but CFO Gil Fuller has become philosophical: "Life is too short to dwell too much on it."

In addition, the piece states that Usana may be in breach of the covenants on its credit facilities as a result of its extremely aggressive share buyback program.

Despite the fact that virtually all of Minkow's allegations have turned out to be true -- and the fact that Usana hasn't really rebuked a single one specifically -- the company keeps up the personal attacks and diversions: "We believe everything he says to be false," Usana spokesman Joseph Poulos told Forbes.com. "He's a liar; he's a criminal -- he can't be trusted."

Funny. I was just thinking the same thing about Usana.

Forbes slams Usana Health Sciences (USNA) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 09 Aug 2007 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.