Devoted to the Multi-level marketing (or MLM) industry

A Bexar County District Court judge on Thursday issued a temporary injunction against Irving, Texas-based BioPerformance Inc., filed at the request of Abbott's office. The ruling prevents the company from marketing its pills. The judge's order also freezes assets in excess of $7 million held by BioPerformance's owners Lowell Mims and Gustavo Romero.

Neither Mims nor Romero could be reached for comment.

Paco Felici, a spokesman for Attorney General Abbott, says the ruling paves the way for a civil trial to proceed against the company. The state filed a lawsuit against the company on May 16, alleging BioPerformance signed up as many as 50,000 members nationwide to sell pills to consumers in an illegal pyramid scheme. Abbott's office says the company had 4,500 members in Texas alone.

Members were recruited through the company's Web site and through a series of seminars. Members were required to pay start-up costs of between $300 and $500 to join the distribution network, the lawsuit alleges. Members earned money by recruiting other people to sell the product, according to BioPerformance's Web site.

The company's Web site also claims these pills can increase fuel efficiency by 30 percent while reducing harmful emissions by up to 50 percent. The Web site marketed these pills to consumers as a way to cope with high fuel prices. Abbott's office alleges in its lawsuit that these claims are unsubstantiated.

The company was founded in December 2005 and generated sales of at least $25 million over the past six months, according to the judge's order.

The Attorney General's office filed the lawsuit against the company in San Antonio because BioPerformance conducted local advertising and seminars in the city, Felici says.