Opatra case in Hong Kong echoes global ‘Dead Sea sales scams’, SCMP finds

Allegedly aggressive sales tactics and business operations in Hong Kong’s beauty product sector closely mirror the global ‘Dead Sea sales scams’ uncovered years ago, documents on WikiLeaks have shown. The controversy has prompted calls from experts for the city’s government to strengthen regulation by expanding proposed cooling-off period legislation to cover retail beauty goods. A check of the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks by the South China Morning Post found that shops and kiosks selling Dead Sea products using allegedly pushy sales tactics had been reported in several countries over the past two decades, affecting customers in the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and Europe. Diplomatic cables released by the website in earlier years shed light on the operations behind the billion-dollar industry, involving alleged immigration fraud, illegal labor, money laundering, and worker exploitation in the United States. One cable, prepared by former US ambassador to Israel James Cunningham in 2009, revealed that many young Israelis, generally newly released military draftees, worked in the industry on tourist visas or expired work visas, prompting US investigators to crack down. The financial incentive is great; post-IDF salaries are low and jobs scarce, hence their need to quickly finance university education and/or onward travel. Last week, Hong Kong customs officers arrested two staff members from Sayles Retail, the local distributor of the Opatra London skincare brand, following claims of aggressive sales tactics.