OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Weight-loss company Medifast will pay a $200,000 civil penalty as part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission tied to the restatement of certain financial results from 2006 through 2009.
The SEC, when deciding whether to accept the settlement, looked at actions Medifast had taken to remediate concerns. Those actions included hiring additional executive management and accounting personnel for the Owings Mills, Md., company and improving its internal controls.
Medifast Inc. said that it did not admit or deny the SEC’s findings.
In September 2012, a subsidiary of Medifast agreed to pay a $3.7 million civil penalty to settle charges that it violated a previous federal order by making unsupported claims about its weight-loss products. The Federal Trade Commission charged that claims made by Jason Pharmaceuticals Inc. in its ads for meal replacement products violated a 1992 FTC settlement order.
Medifast’s stock fell 54 cents, or 2 percent, to $26.44 in midday trading on Thursday. Over the past year, the stock has traded in a range of $21.75 to $33.29.
