An extensive investigation by NPR has raised serious questions about a network of skincare kiosks and retail stores associated with an Israeli-American-owned cosmetics business, uncovering allegations that hundreds of customers were subjected to unauthorized credit card charges, deceptive sales practices and extraordinary product markups. The investigation also examined the treatment of elderly and disabled shoppers, the accuracy of product advertising and possible immigration violations involving sales employees.
The investigation, based on court records, consumer complaints, online reviews and interviews with more than 50 customers, focused on Mazal Group, a network connected to dozens of skincare brands sold through shopping mall kiosks, retail stores and spas across the United States and internationally.
The business has been associated with Eli and Daphna Oded Weingarten, an Israeli-American couple living in the Los Angeles area. According to the investigation, the network encompasses numerous cosmetics brands that are marketed as luxury skincare products, often through salespeople who approach shoppers in mall corridors and offer free samples or demonstrations.
While such kiosks have become a familiar feature of American shopping malls, NPR found allegations that some customers who accepted demonstrations subsequently discovered credit card charges far exceeding what they believed they had authorized.
The reported incidents involved amounts ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars, with some customers saying they had been pressured into purchases, misled about prices or charged for products they had not knowingly agreed to buy.
The investigation also documented complaints involving customers who were particularly vulnerable because of age, disability or medical conditions.
In one case, an elderly Michigan man suffering from dementia was reportedly charged approximately $42,000 without his knowledge. The incident raised questions about how such a substantial transaction could have occurred and what safeguards were in place to protect a customer whose ability to understand or authorize purchases was impaired.
Another case involved a disabled woman in Hawaii who alleged that a salesperson took possession of her walker and kept her at a spa for several hours while pressuring her to make purchases. According to her account, she eventually agreed to spend $2,600.
These accounts formed part of a broader pattern of consumer allegations examined by NPR. The investigation did not establish that every retailer associated with the brands engaged in improper conduct, but it raised questions about the business practices of some operators within the network.
The NPR investigation also uncovered a history of federal law enforcement activity involving businesses operating within the same industry.
Approximately a decade ago, the FBI investigated what agents described as a “credit card overcharge scheme” involving skincare kiosks connected to Mazal. The investigation ultimately resulted in more than a dozen guilty pleas involving visa fraud and money laundering, with store operators Shai Cohen and Omer Gur receiving prison sentences.
Those prosecutions involved individual operators and did not establish that every business selling Mazal products participated in criminal activity.
NPR found that allegations of aggressive and unauthorized sales practices continued years after the earlier federal investigation.
The scale of the operation is difficult to determine because individual stores frequently open, close or change names. However, one former Mazal employee estimated that the company maintained relationships with approximately 2,000 retail locations worldwide.
The investigation identified numerous skincare brands connected to the same family-owned business, including Voupre, Avinichi, Introstem, CbGäRDN, Venofye, Lionesse and Orogold Cosmetics.
Although the brands are marketed under different names, NPR found that several sell substantially similar products, sometimes with nearly identical formulations and comparable retail prices.
Former employees alleged that the proliferation of brand names helped the business obtain mall leases and continue operating when particular products or retailers accumulated negative consumer reviews.
One former employee told NPR, “The reason why they have so many brands is because they had to keep remaking brands with different names to sell it a different way to the malls so that they could get a lease.”
Another former worker said complaints about individual brands sometimes led to the introduction of new names and product lines.
“People would complain about a line, about a brand being destroyed and having a bad reputation,” the employee said. “So they would constantly come out with something fresh, something new.”
NPR also examined internal pricing documents that raised questions about the relationship between the wholesale cost of the products and the prices recommended to consumers.
According to order forms obtained by the news organization, some products carried suggested retail prices exceeding their wholesale cost by more than 100 times.
One example was Voupre’s Cannabis Caviar Transforming Mask, which reportedly cost retailers $23 per unit but carried a suggested retail price of $3,000.
Another product, Voupre Anti-Aging Rescue Solution, had a wholesale price of $19.50 and a suggested retail price of $1,300.
Joe Rowett, chief executive of VELOX, a marketing agency specializing in skincare and beauty products, described such markups as unusual even by luxury cosmetics industry standards.
“Pricing at that level typically raises red flags,” Rowett said.
The investigation found that the substantial difference between wholesale and suggested retail prices gave salespeople considerable flexibility to negotiate prices while potentially earning large commissions.
Former employees and customers also described products being displayed without clearly visible price tags, making it more difficult for shoppers to determine their actual cost before entering sales discussions.
NPR commissioned laboratory testing of one Voupre product to examine whether its ingredients matched its advertised claims.
The news organization obtained an unopened box of Voupre Anti-Aging Rescue Solution purchased by 90-year-old Suzann Roberts of Ann Arbor, Michigan, who said she had been unable to return the product.
The sample was sent to Founders Science Group, a Massachusetts laboratory specializing in chemical and pharmaceutical analysis.
Researchers examined the product for ingredients associated with anti-aging benefits, including vitamins A and E and a peptide known as acetyl hexapeptide-8.
The laboratory detected the peptide but reported that neither vitamin A nor vitamin E could be identified in the tested sample.
Robert Munroe, the laboratory’s chief executive and an experienced pharmaceutical scientist, called the findings “surprising and definitely suspicious.”
He explained that while vitamin A can deteriorate over time, vitamin E should not disappear entirely from a properly formulated product.
If a manufacturer had failed to include ingredients listed on a product’s packaging, Munroe said, “that would be misbranding.”
The laboratory’s findings were based on a single sample and did not establish that every batch of the product lacked the advertised ingredients.
Munroe also questioned whether the product’s price was justified by its formulation, comparing its principal detected active ingredient to a much less expensive skincare product.
“As far as getting peptide on the skin, you don’t need to spend $1,300 to do it,” he said.
The investigation further examined the company’s relationship with independently operated stores and the extent to which Mazal influenced their business practices.
Mazal maintained that it did not own or directly operate the retail locations selling its products and therefore was not responsible for individual sales transactions.
However, documents reviewed by NPR indicated that the company provided services extending beyond product distribution, including assistance with store design, marketing, leasing arrangements, customer relations and refund policies.
A class-action lawsuit filed in Hawaii in 2022 accused Mazal Group, members of the Weingarten and Oded families and local store operators of violating consumer protection laws through what the plaintiffs described as a “predatory and systematically unfair and deceptive enterprise.”
The case proceeded for several years before the parties reached a settlement in June 2026.
Under the agreement, Mazal Group, members of the family and two Hawaii licensees agreed to provide $950,000 in restitution, with Mazal and the family responsible for $650,000 of that amount.
The settlement was intended to compensate 110 consumers who had filed complaints with Hawaii authorities, after legal expenses and other deductions.
Mazal Group and the individual defendants denied wrongdoing, and the settlement did not constitute an admission of liability.
NPR also investigated allegations that some skincare stores employed Israeli salespeople who entered the United States on tourist visas, which generally do not authorize employment.
Former employees described the practice as longstanding within parts of the industry. The investigation also identified online communications and recruitment material suggesting that some operators continued accepting workers without appropriate employment authorization.
In one exchange, a reporter posing as a prospective employee asked a recruiter whether working on a tourist visa would be acceptable and reportedly received an affirmative response.
The earlier federal prosecutions had included immigration-related offenses, but NPR reported that comparable criminal charges had not been brought against operators in the industry for approximately a decade.
Israel’s admission to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program in 2023 has made short-term travel to the United States easier for eligible Israeli citizens, although participation in the program does not authorize ordinary paid employment.
As NPR prepared to publish its findings, Mazal Group terminated its business license in September 2026.
The company’s headquarters in Chatsworth, California, subsequently displayed the name Innovation Brands Inc., a business established by the Weingartens in 2024.
Former employees told NPR that the family had previously reorganized or discontinued businesses when particular brands encountered reputational problems.
Through its attorneys, Mazal Group disputed the investigation’s characterization of its operations and maintained that responsibility for retail sales rested with independently owned stores.
“Mazal Group does not own or operate any retail locations that sell cosmetic products or any other products for that matter. Nor does Mazal Group manufacture any products,” attorney Brian Tilker said on the company’s behalf.
The company’s lawyers also characterized NPR’s reporting as inaccurate, although they did not publicly provide a detailed response to the individual allegations.
The investigation leaves unresolved questions about the extent of the company’s responsibility for misconduct alleged at independently operated locations, the effectiveness of consumer protections governing high-pressure skincare sales and whether the business practices identified by NPR will prompt additional scrutiny from regulators or law enforcement agencies.
