A flood of Latino organizations, spearheaded by the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), is pressing harder than ever for an official inquiry into the nutrient company Herbalife.

LULAC and its allies contend that Herbalife is a pyramid scheme that preys on the aspirations of its distributors without offering a real and legally viable opportunity for success based on normal business efforts. They say the Latino community, especially those in the lower economic spectrum, are particularly susceptible to what they see as unfair recruitment efforts, including promises—or at least very strong suggestion—of inflated financial outcomes.

"It's the worst player - bar none - operating in Latino communities across the country," said Brent Wilkes, LULAC's national executive director to KVNU radio. "They really tout this American dream...I mean, I've seen their presentations where they say, 'All you have to do is pick. Where do you want to be? How much money do you want to make? Just pick and that can happen for you, as long as you work hard. Then, what ends up happening is folks, they bite at that, they invest the money to get it, and then they end up losing that money and never getting the success that was touted for them."

Others are reinforcing Wilke's concerns that the business model is specifically bad for Latinos in particular.

"More than 60 percent of Herbalife's U.S. distributors are Latino - that's more than three times the proportion of the Latino population of the country," said Jose Calderón, President of the Hispanic Federation. "We have serious concerns about this company's deceptive practices and we are calling on Washington now to protect our communities."

The effort by LULAC to begin an official investigation started after billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman publicly accused the company of being an illegal pyramid scheme and pledging to do whatever he could to help take it down. Ackman's assertions drove down the price of Herbalife stock, but the stock surged back up when the company's own investors came in.

The situation was also fueled by a "billionaire feud" between Ackman and investor Carl Icahn, whose long position on the stock, in coordination with other big name investors, seemed to have thwarted Ackman's efforts. Both sides of that debate admit that prior personal relations between the two had more to do with their maneuvering than the merits or criticisms of the company itself.

Wilkes asserts that his actions are not connected to Ackman's, but many of his statements carry the same message.

"Herbalife's claim that it provides an opportunity for regular people without any background in business to become millionaires with an initial investment of $4,000 is outrageous," said Wilkes in a press release. "I've spoken to many victims who confirm that the only way a distributor can succeed with Herbalife is to recruit new distributors and that the most successful distributors are the ones that become "recruiting machines" - this is Herbalife's actual business model."

In late January, Senator Ed Markey, D-Mass., called on the Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether or not the business model violated any government regulations. There was an initial meeting with FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez on Feb. 5. An initial meeting with the staff of California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris took place on Jan. 24.

Herbalife President Des Walsh responded to the criticism in an interview with ABC.

"We're distressed to hear it, because frankly, we know the good that we do every day," Walsh said. "We know the fact that every single day, our Latino distributors are hard at work in the Latino community, bringing good nutrition and bringing financial empowerment. And so we believe that, frankly, Mr. Wilkes is mistaken in his views. And we look forward to the opportunity to really have him take the time to come to know Herbalife."

The company maintains that the flood of complaints is part of a coordinated strategy to damage the stock value of Herbalife shares.