I can only think of two words to describe embattled multi-level marketing firm Mannatech's (NASDAQ: MTEX) latest press release: transparent and pathetic.

In case you haven't been following, the Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot filed a lawsuit against the company in July accusing the company of illegal sales and marketing practices, "falsely claiming its products cure, mitigate, treat or prevent diseases such as cancer, autism and Down's syndrome, in violation of state and federal laws." (source: WSJ).

Well now Mannatech has a whipping boy of sorts. With great fanfare, including a press release, the company announced it had terminated the distributorship or Raymond Gebauer, who has been convicted of tax evasion:

"Mr. Gebauer's conviction places him in violation of his Associate agreement with Mannatech," said Terry Persinger, President and COO of Mannatech. "We expect, and the Company's policies require, all Mannatech Associates to comply with applicable laws, including tax laws."

Is Mannatech just putting out this press release to brag that it does take compliance with the law very seriously? Of course. Is anyone likely to buy it? Of course not. The Attorney General's complaint contained ample evidence to show just how seriously Mannatech takes the law. Now that it's under scrutiny, it has some work to do. But for now, we'll have to settle for PR work.

Gebauer was one of the company's top distributors, with a down-line of 718,000 people. The stock is up 2% in early-morning trading.

Mannatech's (MTEX) pathetic press release originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 20 Aug 2007 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.