in may 2011, after an 18-month investigation, the ftc filed a lawsuit against willms. the lawsuit claimed that willms, from 2007 to 2011, had conned approximately $467 million from customers in the u.s., canada, australia, the uk, and new zealand. in september 2011, a u.s. district court judge froze willms' assets and prohibited him from continuing to sell products through negative-option. in early 2012, willms acquiesced to a $359 million settlement. as part of the settlement, willms also agreed to sell off personal property, including his mansion.